Oakland Raiders: Josh Jacobs in position for early NFL success

The Oakland Raiders spent a first round draft pick on Alabama running back Josh Jacobs, and he could be in line for a special rookie year in 2019.

With their second of three first round draft picks this past April, the Oakland Raiders selected Alabama running back Josh Jacobs with the No. 24 overall pick. While running backs are not known to go in the first round, Jacobs is a special talent, and was widely considered the best at his position in this draft class.

As the offseason programs start, the Raiders have a cluster of running backs, including Doug Martin, Jalen Richard, DeAndre Washington, and Chris Warren III to name a few. Last offseason, Warren actually led the NFL in rushing during the preseason, but a knee injury forced him to miss his entire rookie season.

While this is certainly a position group to keep an eye on this summer, when you spend a first round pick on a running back, the expectation is that he is going to start. For Jacobs, the Raiders will put him in position to not only start, but have success early, thanks to some solid veterans alongside him on the depth chart, and a head coach who knows how to utilize running backs.

In 2018, the Raiders had to use a bunch of different guys at the running back spot, especially when Marshawn Lynch went down due to injury early in the season. Martin certainly stepped up, but he is getting up there in age, and was brought back to be more of a mentor to Jacobs, a role he has really cherished so far this offseason.

Jacobs showed during his time at Alabama that he can not only run the ball effectively, but is also fantastic in the passing game, something Gruden loves from his running backs. He spoke about having that feature back a lot last season, and in Jacobs, he finally has that guy in his second go-around as head coach of the Raiders.

Last season, Gruden was able to get solid contributions from Lynch, Martin, and Richard, who became one of the better pass-catching running backs in the NFL. Jacobs has the talent to be all three of those players rolled into one, and after being used so sparingly in college, he has plenty of tread on the tires.