Oakland Raiders pre-training camp 53-man roster prediction
By Sanjit T.
Running Back:(4) Josh Jacobs, Jalen Richard, Doug Martin, Chris Warren III
Josh Jacobs will be the Raiders primary back, if that’s not day one, it’ll be within the first 8 weeks. Oakland’s offense will also feature other backs who will come in and play many different roles. Jon Gruden has mentioned that he wants to build a New Orleans Saints type of offense.
Gruden went out and drafted Josh Jacobs in the first round, who I’ve compared to Alvin Kamara. I believe when Jacobs lines up at receiver, which he did about 25% in college, Doug Martin will be the primary back on early downs.
If it is 3rd down, and Jacobs goes into motion, I believe the running back who will stay in the backfield will be Jalen Richard.
Both Martin and Richard played well last year. Doug Martin rushed for 723 yards and averaged 4.2 yards per carry while Jalen Richard had 259 yards rushing and 607 yards receiving. In total, four running backs had at least 10 carries last year, and the Raiders threw the ball to the running backs over 100 times. I expect this trend to continue.
Like last year, I believe we will keep four backs on the roster. Between Chris Warren and Deandre Washington, I believe Warren has shown more potential, and it would be smart to keep Warren over Washington.