Oakland Raiders add Mack Brown to the running back room

The Oakland Raiders added running back depth to their crowded backfield by signing Mack Brown on Saturday.

The Oakland Raiders backfield is becoming more crowded in hopes of having a strong offense going into the 2019 season. According to the team site, Mack Brown was signed and the team waived Guard Lukayas McNeil to make room for Brown.

This move makes sense after the recent comments by Gruden regarding the growth of the offense, and offensive line in particular, along with the wide receiver core.

Mack Brown joined the draft class in 2015 but went undrafted and eventually was signed by the Houston Texans onto the practice squad. His rookie season was on the Redskins practice squad where he played 12 games during the 2015-17 seasons. He moved on to the Minnesota Vikings from 2017-18 seasons. He’s racked up 111 yards and 1 score in his short career.

The Raiders ended the year with a lackluster running back talent which is a big reason the team was in the bottom half of the league offensive stats. During that time, they drafted Josh Jacobs and brought back Deandre Washington, Jalen Richard, and Doug Martin.

Jacobs is going to be a big part of the offense, according to Nick on Just Blog Baby:

"Jacobs will likely be asked to carry the ball 15-20 times per game. As well as, Doug Martin getting his share in the running game, and Jalen Richard being the teams primary pass catcher out of the backfield."

In the same article, he mentions what Doug Martin thinks of Jacobs:

"“Josh Jacobs, he’s a good kid with good character,” Martin said. “You all heard his story, I read up on it myself. I commend him for being as strong as he is, and that being said I came here to mentor, push him, show him that I’ve been in the league eight years, so I am a vet now. I can’t believe it, but that’s the case and so I’m here to just be that role model for him.“If he has any questions, I’m here for him to ask them. Like I said, he has good character, but at the same time he looks like he can just run you over, so he’s going to be great for the team.”"

Mack Brown went to college at Florida and played for the Gators for 5 seasons from 2010-2014. Playing for over 40 games, he racked up over 800 yards and 4 touchdowns.

2019 is going to be a big year for the Raiders.