Jacobs Stands Out Even as Raiders Struggle

Despite the Las Vegas Raiders suffering another devastating loss on Thursday Night Football against the Los Angeles Rams, Josh Jacobs again showed that he is one of the best running backs in the National Football League.

The Raiders showed that Jacobs would be their top offensive option early in the game. The Rams stacked their defense against him, but Jacobs rushed for 99 yards and a touchdown, missing by an eyelash his fourth consecutive game and seventh this season over the century mark.

Jacobs was slowed by quadricep and calf injuries lately. He even returned to the game against the Rams after sustaining a painful injury to his right pinky after the finger was popped back into place, taped up, and X-rays proved negative.

"(Nick) Chubb (of the Cleveland Browns) continues to be virtually unstoppable, but Josh Jacobs has leapfrogged him into pole position for the All-Pro spot thanks to some incredible performances," Sam Monson on Pro Football Focus wrote recently.

"Jacobs has 76 broken tackles, 11 more than any other running back. He is averaging 3.9 yards per carry after contact and has been thriving behind an offensive line that doesn't rank among the league's best in run blocking."

Jacobs leads the NFL with 1,402 yards rushing and has run for 11 touchdowns, including seven of 20 yards or more and an 84-yarder that beat the Los Angeles Chargers in overtime two games ago while catching 44 passes for 346 yards.

That puts Jacobs on pace to rush for more than 1,800 rushing yards this season, which would shatter Marcus Allen's franchise record of 1,759 set in 1985, and Jacobs is on track for more than 2,300 total yards this season.

In fewer than four full seasons, Jacobs has rushed for 4,489 yards and 39 touchdowns, good for fifth on the Raiders' all-time list, and with a little more than 300 yards in the last four games, he will pass Napoleon Kauffman for No. 4 on the list behind Allen, Mark van Eeghen and Clem Daniels.

"They should have been running you like this all along," Allen told Jacobs earlier this season.

Allen has become a mentor for Jacobs, even though he might lose some or all of his franchise records.

Part of that came from Allen learning that Jacobs grew up homeless in Tulsa, Okla, for a time.

"It's really a testimony that where you start doesn't mean you have to finish there," Allen told ESPN. "So, I was taken by the story. Obviously, anybody who comes from a situation like that, you're rooting for them.

"And then, being drafted by the team, the Raider organization that I have great affection for, I wasn't really trying to be an advisor. I was just really telling him I was impressed by him. That's really it."

Said Jacobs of Allen: "I was always a fan of his."

When Raiders' new General Manager Dave Ziegler and Coach Josh McDaniels showed up in Las Vegas before this season, they decided not to pick up Jacobs' fifth-year option, and he could become a few agents after this season.

However, the Raiders could and should at least put the franchise tag on Jacobs or sign him to a new, long-term contract. And he has said that he wants to remain in Silver and Black.

Allen has told Raiders owner Mark Davis in no uncertain terms: "You are going to have to pay this dude."

And Jacobs deserves it.

The Raiders return to action back home at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022, when they host the New England Patriots. That game will kick off at 4:05 p.m. EST/1:05 p.m. PST and can be seen on FOX.

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