Should the Oakland Raiders shut down star running back Josh Jacobs?

Joshacobs missed the Oakland Raiders most recent loss due to his injured shoulder, and the question is now whether not he should be shut down.

Oakland Raiders running back Josh Jacobs presence was noticeably absent in Sunday’s loss to the Tennessee Titans, as the offensive woes continued, and the Raiders lost a must-win game to get into the playoffs. With playoff hopes essentially crushed, should the fifth-ranked running back sit out the remainder of the season?

Many teams have disregarded running backs all together since the NFL has become more about flashy plays and chunk yardage gains. However, some teams have built their offense around the running game, and Baltimore is a good example.

Not only are they the top rushing team in theleague, but their time of possession stands alone at the top with over 34 minutes a game, a full two minutes longer than the second team, San Francisco, at 32 minutes. The top two teams, Baltimore and San Francisco, also have the top-two rushing offenses being in respective order as the TOP rankings.

Both of those teams combined have a 22-4 record this season, mainly due to their domination of the clock and the ground game.

Josh Jacobs is scheduled to have an MRI on his shoulder after having a fractured shoulder since the Green Bay blowout loss. Whatever that MRI says, I take the side of shutting him down for the season. The Raiders have to win out and need help from other teams to make it into the playoffs, mainly teams that haven’t been hot playing teams who have been hot.

They need the Titans to lose two of their remaining three games and also need Buffalo to lay in egg in both their games as well, both highly unlikely.

Jacobs is an invaluable player to the Raiders franchise and is the key to its success. Jacobs has not only been a great NFL story, but a great personal story after expressing how he was homeless for a portion of his childhood. He’s also one of the one rookies I know of to turn down being on TV in favor of studying and becoming a better player.

The rookie running back is invaluable for two reasons: His work ethic and his desire to play the game. Watching the Tennessee Titans game, I saw the camera pan over to him in street clothes and the look of disappointment and frustration on his face, I immediately thought this guy is the real deal. He’s frustrated he can’t be on the field, but you can see his anger and he began to fire up his team and get them more in the right headspace.

Even if the MRI comes back clean, I’d like to see the Raiders place Jacobs on the Injured Reserve list and have his first full offseason to come back better than this year and dominate the NFL.