Las Vegas Raiders running back room after cutting Kenyan Drake
By Preston Seyl
The Las Vegas Raiders made a bold move on Monday, cutting veteran Kenyan Drake, so what does the running back room look like now?
The Las Vegas Raiders’ new regime continues to show that it is not business as usual for the franchise. On Monday, the team decided to cut Kenyan Drake, a veteran running back who was signed last year to be the No. 2 behind Josh Jacobs.
Cutting Drake was not a shock at all to us, as we discussed the possibility only hours before the hammer came down on him. Drake is a solid player, but there were others having a better camp than him, so despite the money, David Ziegler decided it was time to cut ties.
What does the Raiders running back room look like now?
Now, the Raiders will go into their third preseason game with a backfield that includes Josh Jacobs, Brandon Bolden, Zamir White, and Ameer Abdullah. Bolden is a lock to make the roster, as he has familiarity with Josh McDaniels from their time in New England, and there is no way Josh Jacobs or Zamir White get cut.
The big wildcard here has been the play of Ameer Abdullah, who looked so good coming out of Nebraska, only to falter during his time in Detroit. He beat out Drake for the fourth running back role this offseason and was rewarded on Monday with a vote of confidence from the front office, and the coaching staff.
The new regime wants a physical brand of football established and Kenyan doesn’t fit that mold, as he is more of a receiving finesse back that McDaniels is not longing for in his offense. With cutting Kenyan Drake the Raiders will have a dead cap hit of 3.6 million this year and 4.4 million in 2023 per ESPN staff writer Paul Gutierrez.
This is still a really deep backfield with a proven starter in Josh Jacobs and Zamir White ascending in the depth chart as RB2 in a battle with Brandon Bolden should be interesting to see how that shakes out.