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Raiders: Positional pairs to bring back during 2023 free agency

By Micah McDonald

Nov 20, 2022; Denver, Colorado, USA; Las Vegas Raiders safety Duron Harmon (30) celebrates the overtime win over the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 20, 2022; Denver, Colorado, USA; Las Vegas Raiders safety Duron Harmon (30) celebrates the overtime win over the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 10, 2022; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs (28) celebrates a touchdown with fullback Jakob Johnson (45) and guard Lester Cotton Sr. (67) in the first half against the Las Vegas Raiders at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: ​Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 10, 2022; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs (28) celebrates a touchdown with fullback Jakob Johnson (45) and guard Lester Cotton Sr. (67) in the first half against the Las Vegas Raiders at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: ​Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /

Raiders: Positional pairs to bring back during 2023 free agency

JJ’s so nice, they did it twice

  • Josh Jacobs & Jakob Johnson

I don’t have to sit here and explain to you why Josh Jacobs should be given the bag and not allowed to leave the facility until a contract is signed as soon as possible. If you’re reading this, I assume you like the Raiders, and if you like the Raiders, I assume you watched them play.

If you watched them play, you saw why this team was able to stay in games and pick up a lot of the 6 wins they did: because of Josh Jacobs. Not only did he set major personal and Raiders rushing records this year, but he also was the NFL’s rushing leader and ended the season with over 2,000 all-purpose yards.

One thing that flies under the radar when talking about Jacobs’ magnificent career is what his wingman the other JJ brings to the table. It’s baffling to me that in this day and age with all the crazy different stats and metrics they have for ranking people, the fullback assist isn’t one of them.

Until they come up with a way to keep track of how many touchdowns were successful due to a perfectly executed block by the fullback, we won’t fully be able to grasp just how effective they are.

One tell that is more than just coincidence though is the direct correlation between Josh Jacobs’s biggest games and the percentage of offensive snaps Jakob Johnson was on the field. In all of Jacobs’ 100+ yard games this season, Johnson was in on 26% or more for the offensive snaps. In 4 of the 6 games, he was in on 33-39% of the offensive snaps.

There are only 3 other teams that used a fullback more this season, and two of them claimed a spot in the playoffs going into wild-card weekend.

Word is already out that Jacobs and the Raiders mutually want to make this relationship work for the future. The same should be said for his German, neck roll-wearing counterpart. Yes, he may find favor being a former Patriot with McDaniels and Zeigler, but if I can do some simple numbers crunching to see why Johnson deserves to be back, I guarantee you they’ve seen it also.

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