Oakland Raiders have some tough decisions to make at running back in the near future

The Marshawn Lynch suspension only highlights the issues the Oakland Raiders have at the running back position.

Last Thursday’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs was huge for the Oakland Raiders and their playoff hopes, but this is still far from a complete football team.

The lack of a consistent, dependable threat both running and receiving the ball out of the backfield has been the biggest difference between the 2016 and 2017 versions of the Raiders. Oakland finished the 2016 season as the sixth-best rushing team in the league in terms of total yards gained. They were 11th in total carries with 434 and 10th in the league in terms of yards per carry at 4.4.

Through the first seven weeks of the 2017 season, the Raiders are 25th in the league in total carries, averaging just 21.7 per outing. That’s over five fewer carries per game than they averaged in 2016. That reduction in carries has led to only 650 rushing yards — good enough for 23rd in the NFL. Despite only averaging a tenth of a yard per carry less than they did a year ago, there seems to be an overall lack of confidence when it comes to Oakland handing the ball off.

One would be naïve to think Marshawn Lynch‘s presence hasn’t had at least some impact on those numbers. He’s a power runner who demands a large volume of carries. The problem with that demand is that he’s just not producing. Lynch has had more than twice as many carries as Jalen Richard, Oakland’s second leading rusher, but is averaging nearly a yard less per touch.

Additionally, offensive coordinator Todd Downing doesn’t appear to be anywhere near as confident in Lynch as a receiver as Bill Musgrave was with Latavius Murray last season. Lynch has been targeted just ten times in 2017, putting him on pace for just over 22 targets this season. Murray, one the other hand, was targeted 42 times, catching 33 total passes en route to lead all Raider running backs in receiving yards as well as rushing yards.

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The bottom line is this: while Lynch’s signing may have been a feel-good story to excite the fans in the offseason, his presence on the Raider roster has been nothing short of a distraction both on and off the field. His style altered the identity of the offense and made the unit less effective. Not until his ejection on Thursday night did Derek Carr and company look anything like the offense that took the field in 2016.

Moving forward, the Raiders might need to make an uncomfortable decision if they want to get back on the offensive trajectory they had been on prior to the 2017 campaign. The best plan for the immediate future would be to alternate between Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington — two backs who fit the offensive scheme better than Lynch does — and make them the co-feature backs between the 20s. They then need to relegate Lynch to short-yardage duties when he returns from his suspension. If Lynch resists, it may be time to think about life after Marshawn sooner rather than later.

Regardless of how the 2017 campaign pans out, Reggie McKenzie and the Raider brass will need to make another tough decision in the offseason. Are Richard or Washington capable of being feature backs in the offense moving forward? Or will there be a difference-maker at running back with a more complete and schematically relevant skill set available when the Silver and Black are on the clock in the NFL Draft in 2018?

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Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington begin their part of that decision-making process this Sunday in Buffalo.