Raiders’ rookie tackle DJ Glaze drew his third consecutive start on Sunday with Pittsburgh headed to Las Vegas, tasking the former Maryland lineman with arguably his toughest assignment in All-Pro edge TJ Watt. Despite the Steelers leaving with a 32-13 win, Glaze held his ground and drew praise from head coach Antonio Pierce.
Glaze finished with the third-lowest pressure rate among rookie offensive linemen on Sunday, allowing just one pressure on 41 pass block snaps, while he enters week seven as the fourth-highest graded offensive tackle among rookies, behind only Joe Alt, JC Latham and Roger Rosengarten.
“[TJ] Watt is a special player, and we've now seen DJ [Glaze] for three weeks in a row now, and I don't think he's given up a sack,” Pierce said on Monday. “I know had the penalties last week, but to watch what he did in the passing game, especially against Watt. We've talked about [DJ] when he's going against Maxx [Crosby] and these guys in training camp, his ability to stay in front of people, use his hands. I mean, he's really light on his feet, really good athlete. Now yeah did we chip and do some things with the help him out? Of course, he's a rookie going against an All-Pro, one the best in the game but I thought throughout the body of work was really – that's a bright future for us if he can keep that going.”
Glaze became the first day two NFL Draft pick out of Maryland since Bruce Campbell did so in 2010, immediately drawing praise from general manager Tom Telesco for his versatility despite being projected by the Raiders as a tackle.
“From my first game [against] the Panthers to last week in Denver, you can see strides. That's what you hope for, just to constantly get better and especially to do it against elite competition like Za'Darius Smith, Jadeveon Clowney, all those guys.”
Glaze is one of five former Maryland linemen currently in the NFL alongside Spencer Anderson (Steelers), Corey Bullock (Ravens), Jaelyn Duncan (Titans) and Michael Dunn (Browns).
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