Raiders Roster Evaluation: Theo Riddick
The 2021 NFL Draft is now behind us, and that means teams across the NFL are in the process of piecing together their entire rosters.
The Las Vegas Raiders are likely no different before what could be a pivotal fourth season of the second Jon Gruden era.
That's why we'll be going over roster evaluations for the Raiders players and position groups to see how everyone's stock measures up heading into the summer.
The Raiders will have no shortage of options at running back this season, especially after signing former starter Kenyan Drake.
There are a couple of running backs who were in-house that the Raiders could still make big roles for, and one of them is Theo Riddick.
A former sixth-round pick of the Detroit Lions in 2013, by the end of the 2015 season Riddick had established himself as one of the best receivers out of the backfield in the NFL.
He finished the 2015 season with a career-high 80 receptions for 697 yards and three touchdowns.
Riddick didn't have fewer than 53 catches from 2016 to 2018, becoming one of former Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford's favorite targets.
He also was rated very highly by Pro Football Focus in that time period, never ranking lower than 28th at running back from 2015 to 2018.
Riddick was cut by the Lions after the 2018 season and signed a free-agent deal with the Denver Broncos.
Unfortunately for Riddick, he was placed on Injured Reserve before the start of the 2019 season and never played a game for Denver.
However, that led him to the Raiders, who signed him to a one-year deal last August.
Riddick went back and forth from the Raiders practice squad, being active for four games and having only 11 combined carries and catches.
Even with the limited usage, the Raiders brought Riddick back this offseason on another one-year contract.
There will be a lot of mouths to feed in the Raiders backfield, but when it comes to needing a proven safety valve next to Derek Carr, Riddick might be the best equipped to take that role on passing downs.
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