When it comes to the Las Vegas Raiders offense, there are a lot of question marks heading into next season. There is uncertainty upfront along the offensive line, there are always rumors surrounding Derek Carr, and nobody knows what they plan to do at the wide receiver spots this offseason.
At tight end and running back, the Raiders have two players who everyone in the fan base can agree on, Josh Jacobs and Darren Waller. These are two guys who made their first Pro Bowls this past season, are still very young and are considered some of the premier players at their respective positions in the NFL.
In Jacobs, the Raiders have that three-down back that Jon Gruden covets, but as he enters his third season in the league, they have to start thinking long-term when it comes to him. Running backs have a very short shelf live at the NFL level, and Jacobs has already gotten a ton of carries through his first two seasons.
Raiders must be smart with Josh Jacobs moving forward
As the Raiders scrambled seemingly every week to put a starting five up front together along the offensive line, Jacobs took some major punishment. Through his first two seasons, he has already missed time due to injuries, and while he is still very young, he has missed four games and averaged less than four yards per carry last season.
To watch Raiders games last season was to see our franchise running back get pounded weekly, and his yards per carry would be even less if he was not top-ten in the league when it comes to yards after contact. Las Vegas has to get smarter when it comes to Jacobs in terms of who they put upfront along the offensive line, and who they bring in to spell him, as they look to maximize his potential entering Year 3.
Devontae Booker did a nice job backing up Jacobs last season, but the franchise needs to find someone who can take a little more of the load off of his back in 2021. Jacobs has posted back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons since being selected in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft and is already top-20 in franchise history in rushing yards, so there is no reason he should not finish as one of the greatest backs ever put on a Raiders uniform.
To do so, Gruden and company have to be smarter with his usage.