Raiders Starting Running Back Named Most Underrated Player on Team
It was a bit of a shocker when the Las Vegas Raiders did not pick up any of their 2019 first-rounders fifth-year options.
Of the three players drafted in 2019, Raiders star running back Josh Jacobs seemed to be the most surprising.
“The Raiders elected not to pick up Jacobs' fifth-year option, doing the same for their other two first-round picks from that season. It was, by any definition, a pretty disastrous first round for the Raiders, but Jacobs shouldn’t fall into the same category as the other two players,” Pro Football Focus’ Sam Monson noted.
As the Raiders continue to overhaul their roster, General Manager Dave Ziegler and coach Josh McDaniels have been criticized for some of the moves made this offseason, including the addition of running backs to the roster.
But, there is a reason those critics are in the media, and Ziegler and McDaniels have Super Bowl Rings and are leading an NFL franchise.
Jacobs, the 24-year-old running back missed the 1,000-yard-mark for the first time in his career last season.
In 2021, he missed two games early in the season, and still managed to carry the ball 217 times, gained 872 rushing yards, and scored nine rushing touchdowns, while having career bests in receptions (54) and receiving yards (348).
“He has actually been a very good running back in the NFL, but injuries have hampered him and, more importantly, the Raiders' offensive line has fallen apart, which makes his chances of success much smaller. Jacobs has never earned a PFF rushing grade lower than 79.4 and boasts 180 forced missed tackles across three seasons,” Monson added.
In the last couple of seasons, Jacobs has carried much of the Raiders' load in the backfield. Totaling 3,839 yards and 28 touchdowns in 43 games for the Silver and Black, Jacobs certainly has viable stats.
Most of his success came early in his career, as he became only the 33rd player in NFL history to begin his career with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons on the ground and just the third player in franchise history with multiple seasons of at least 1,000 rushing yards (2019, 2020).
As he enters his fourth season with the Raiders, Jacobs continues to be one of the best running backs in the NFL, but he will have competition in the backfield this offseason, as the Raiders have brought in many new faces, including rookie draft picks Brittain Brown and Zamir White.
Kenyan Drake, was an exceptional complementary running back to Jacobs last season until he was sidelined with a season-ending injury.
The Raiders have seven running backs on their roster, and with the freshly added legs, Jacobs seems to be in a position to prove that he can be the leading ball carrier for the Raiders or could be in the market for another team to pick up his services.
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