2. Re-establish the run game
Josh Jacobs was not offered a contract by Tom Telesco and the Raiders' front office this offseason, so he chose to sign a multi-year deal with the Green Bay Packers.
In 2024, he and the Packers had a top-five rushing attack in the NFL and Jacobs was the main catalyst. By contrast, the Raiders had the worst rushing offense in the entire league at just 82.4 yards per game.
This mark was the worst in the league by nearly 10 yards and they were the only team in the NFL who averaged less than 90 yards per game.
In a year where the run game returned to prominence because of the usage of high safeties, the Raiders failed to adapt and take advantage.
The duo of Zamir White and Alexander Mattison only mustered a combined 583 yards and 5 touchdowns on the season in nearly 200 carries.
Sincere McCormick and Ameer Abdullah filled in for these two later in the season and nearly matched their production in half the opportunities. Both McCormick and Abdullah averaged 4.7 yards per carry compared to Mattison's 3.2 and White's 2.8.
There are a handful of elite running back prospects coming out in the draft, including Ashton Jeanty of Boise State, Quinshon Judkins of Ohio State, and Omarion Hampton of North Carolina. Even the middle rounds will have great prospects like Devin Neal of Kansas and Cam Skattebo of Arizona State.
While there are a handful of free agent running back options like Najee Harris and Aaron Jones, the team could just invest in the draft and hope to return to rushing dominance in 2025.