Alec Ingold the Unsung Hero of Raiders' 2019 Rookie Class
Fullback Alec Ingold of the Las Vegas Raiders might be the most unheralded and underrated player in the impressive 2019 rookie class of General Manager Mike Mayock and Coach Jon Gruden.
But not if you ask Gruden.
After the Raiders beat the Chicago Bears, 24-21, in London last season, Gruden said of Ingold: “You watch the first touchdown, he’s knocking a guy down, off his feet. On the goal line play at the end of the game, he leaves his feet, launches, and makes a great play. We’ve asked him to run the ball in short-yardage, fourth-and-1 in Indy, third-and-1 the other night, he’s gotten the first down. He’s playing on special teams.
“I love that guy. I don’t want him to hear me say that, but I really deep down like that guy a lot. He’s what the (fullback) position is all about. … If I’ve done anything right since I’ve been (back) here coaching the Raiders, it was the recruiting call I made to Ingold.”
The 6-1, 242-pound Ingold was signed by the Raiders as an undrafted free agent out of Wisconsin, but Gruden knew all about him, having coached him in the 2019 Senior Bowl.
One of the first things Gruden did after the draft was put in a call to the disappointed Ingold, who agreed to a contract with the Silver and Black.
“He was really ticked off he didn’t get drafted,” Gruden said.
Ingold, who beat out veteran Keith Smith, took out his anger on opposing blockers last season as the lead blocker for fellow rookie running back Josh Jacobs, who became his friend at the Senior Bowl.
With help from Ingold, Jacobs set a Raiders’ rookie rushing record of 1,150 yards while playing in only 13 games because of injuries.
“He’s been huge,” Jacobs said of his running mate. “Besides the offensive line, he’s the next biggest thing. I think I’m third in the whole process.”
Ingold’s value to the Raiders does not show up in his statistics, as he rushed only 10 times for 17 yards and no touchdowns, although he did catch six passes for 44 yards and a score.
At Wisconsin, where he did not start full-time until his senior year, but he was a very capable short-yardage runner, rushing for 143 yards on 26 carries in his final season, including six touchdowns.
For his career, he had 103 carries for 343 yards and 17 touchdowns and also made 14 receptions for 185 yards and four TDs.
But he knows what it takes to play fullback and be effective.
“You have to be comfortable in tight spaces, you have to have good balance and good instincts of where your body is in relation to everyone else,” Ingold said. “So I think that’s huge.”
Ingold, a dual-threat quarterback at Bay Port High in Green Bay, was Wisconsin Player of the Year as a senior, rushing for 4,216 yards and passing for 2,811 yards in 34 games in his career, in addition to winning the 220-pound division in the State Wrestling Championship after going undefeated in 41 matches.
Growing up in Green Bay, Ingold admits to being “a Brett Favre guy” and later “an Aaron Rodgers guy.”
Now, he’s a Derek Carr guy.
“Being able to work with Derek every single day, he’s a guy that’s been as much of a pro that I can imagine,” Ingold said of his quarterback. “I love the guy to death and I think seeing a guy that puts so much effort and blood, sweat, and tears into an organization, I know he’s committed 100 percent regardless and just being around a guy like that makes me want to commit my blood, sweat, and tears to a program.
“He’s a leader by example, every day he shows up with that same intensity that same grind whether we are running routes in the offseason or it’s Week 6 of the regular season, it’s all the same to him and I think that’s a guy I definitely try to emulate my game after when it’s the approach to the game and the approach to details.”
Carr labeled Ingold’s game as “violent,” and added, “The film doesn’t do it justice—and the film looks pretty good.”
It’s safe to say that Gruden, Carr, Jacobs, and the rest of the Raiders are Alec Ingold guys.
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