Raiders running back Josh Jacobs turned heads as a rookie in 2019, but he could be an even more dangerous weapon during the 2020 season.
When Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock made Alabama running back Josh Jacobs the 24th overall selection in the 2019 NFL Draft it was met with hesitation by some who felt it may not be wise to use a first round selection on a running back who was not the bell cow on his college team. However, it didn’t take long for Jacobs to prove the doubters wrong.
The 22-year old star set a new Raiders rookie rushing mark by racking up 1,150 yards and he scored seven touchdowns in only 13 games. His accomplishments caught the attention of his peers, who voted him to the NFL top-100 players of 2020, ranked 72nd overall.
Jacobs used his combination of power, speed, elusiveness, and elite contact balance to make defenders look silly when trying to tackle him. In fact, according to Pro Football Focus he led all runners with 69 broken tackles.
Nobody was harder to tackle in 2019 pic.twitter.com/ikhYJ6urAc
— PFF Fantasy Football (@PFF_Fantasy) January 22, 2020
As good as his rookie season was, Jacobs knows he still has room to improve.
“I would grade it…I would say a B,” said Jacobs of his rookie year. “It’s a lot of yards that I feel like I left on the table. It’s a lot of plays that I feel like I could have contributed more.”
One of the areas specifically that Jacobs would like to see growth is as a pass catcher.
“I’ve kind of established the run aspect of my game, I feel like I want to improve that even more but also blocking. I want to put some of that on film, but obviously catching too. My goal is to catch at least 60 balls.”
60 catches is a lofty goal considering he managed only 20 in year one.
Now we will take a look at both sides of the argument and come to a conclusion for the question: Will Josh Jacobs go over or under 60 catches in 2020.