Jakob Johnson's Impact on the Las Vegas Raiders' Offense
The Las Vegas Raiders have always been known as a franchise to utilize the fullback in their offense.
That trend is still apparent today, even as the play of the fullback has become somewhat of a dying art.
"I think for us, in terms of fullback, I think it brings us an element of toughness, downhill runs, and we feel like we can control the line of scrimmage with a fullback on the field," said Raiders offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi in his Tuesday press conference. "And it depends on the game plan, right? Obviously, we go into each week saying, 'What personnel groupings give us certain things we can try to attack from what we're trying to do offensively?' And if we are seeing that [Jakob] Jak [Johnson] being on the field gives us a certain look we want to try to exploit, then we'll do that. If it's not, then we won't. So, just the capability of doing that per week and then we like doing that, so we'll continue to do it."
Jakob Johnson is the latest fullback to be incorporated in the Raiders' offensive system.
Lombardi said that execution on plays like play-action are made possible by the contribution of all 11 offensive players on the field, and Johnson is no exception.
“Jak brings something to the table in terms of hard work and dependability as a player," Lombardi said. "He's a phenomenal person, works extremely hard, and he brings some continuity. I would say he’s the type of player that every coach wants to have in their room. Coach Kennedy [Polamalu] obviously has him in his room. But in terms of just playing fullback, he brings an element of toughness. But it's not just him. The offensive line, the tight ends and the receivers all have to do their job in the running game.
"So whether you line up in 21 personnel or 11 personnel, I think I said it to you guys last time, the receivers, ‘No block, no rock, right?’ So they got to block, too. Mack Hollins, Davante [Adams], Hunter [Renfrow], whoever's out there needs to do their job. Foster [Moreau] at tight end, Darren [Waller] at tight end, Jesper [Horsted], anybody here. It really takes all 11 guys. So whatever the run-scheme is, sure, Jak -- you see him more downhill and more kind of coming down hill hitting linebackers, that's his skillset. But it doesn't matter what run you call, you got to execute it well and you got to play tough."
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