Las Vegas Raiders: Overall impact of signing RB Kenyan Drake
How will the Raiders use Kenyan Drake?
Remember all the talk about the role that Jon Gruden had planned for WR/QB/RB Lynn Bowden when he was chosen in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft? Gruden had a “joker” role in mind for Bowden where he could line up all over the field as a running back or receiver and cause all sorts of matchup problems.
Wait, the #Raiders have a RB in Josh Jacobs. Why yes, that’s true. Jon Gruden sees Kenyan Drake as a jack-of-all-trades — a joker, as they say. He’ll figure prominently in the passing game. And is also close with Jacobs, as well. https://t.co/P5cJu9VKwa
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 18, 2021
According to reports, Gruden sees Kenyan Drake as a perfect fit for that role and he has the numbers to back that up. Drake has 3 seasons with over 1,000 scrimmage yards and has amassed more than 1,200 yards receiving and six touchdowns in his short career so far.
Drake will likely be utilized the way the Raiders used the combination of Devontae Booker and Jalen Richard where the pair totaled 115 rushes and 44 targets in the passing game. We can expect Drake to get around 15 touches per game as the Raiders will look to spell Josh Jacobs and keep him from suffering another late-season injury.
Jon Gruden has always preferred a two-headed backfield and he tried to implement this with Devontae Booker and did so with moderate success. The Raiders’ run game as a whole struggled last season and Gruden will hope that having a more dynamic back in Drake will help add some explosiveness to the offense.