Las Vegas Raiders: Overall impact of signing RB Kenyan Drake

Why did the Raiders sign Kenyan Drake?

To put it simply, Kenyan Drake is a very good football player. Originally a third-round pick of the Miami Dolphins in 2016, Drake struggled to find his footing in the NFL and was little more than a backup running back for the first three years of his career.

In 2019, in the midst of the Dolphins’ tank job, Drake was traded to the Arizona Cardinals for conditional 2020 sixth-round draft pick and things began to click. In 8 games with Arizona, Drake rushed for 643 yards and 8 touchdowns and caught 28 passes for 171 yards. All of a sudden he looked like he could be a feature back and earned a one-year extension with the Cardinals.

2020 was a similar story as he continued to be productive despite dealing some injuries and in 13 starts, Drake rushed 239 times for 955 yards, 10 touchdowns, and caught 25 passes for 137 yards. An extension may have been in the works for Drake but Arizona chose to let him test the open market and now he is a member of the Raiders.

Bringing Drake to Las Vegas gives the Raiders another weapon in the backfield and as shown by his career 169 receptions for 1,244 yards, a player that can be just as dangerous in the passing game as he is on the ground. That versatility will allow Jon Gruden to use him in several ways.