The Las Vegas Raiders need to fix their rushing attack if they want to reach their goals this year.
Klint Kubiak seems hellbent on establishing the run, and rightfully so, but whatever they've been doing to begin the 2026 NFL season has not worked at all. They are currently 30th in the NFL in total rushing yards and 31st in yards per attempt. Neither the totals nor the efficiency has been good.
And while history suggests that patience is required for Kubiak's run game to take flight, things were never this bad with the Seattle Seahawks. The Raiders have an issue, both with their run-blocking and with their running backs not seeing or taking advantage of the lanes that are actually paved.
But last week against the Buffalo Bills, the run game was better, at least incrementally. And that's because Las Vegas deployed a different strategy with different splits and usage for Ashton Jeanty and Mike Washington Jr. The latter being injured, however, could throw a wrench into things.
Raiders deployed ideal RB splits and usage in Week 6 vs. Bills
It has been apparent all season that Jeanty is not playing at full strength. Kubiak won't admit that, but Jeanty has said himself multiple times that he "hopes to be 100% soon," or something of that ilk. That is a big reason why he doesn't look as explosive and the run game is suffering with his high usage.
For weeks, many have advocated for Washington Jr. to get a larger snap share, not just because Jeanty is banged up, but because he has something to offer, and it would keep defenses on their toes. In Week 6 against the Bills, though, the Raiders pretty much had it figured out.
Instead of running Jeanty into the ground, they only played him on 57.6 percent of the snaps, and they put in Washington Jr. for 34.8 percent. But sparing Jeanty some reps was not the only thing that made sense about this setup.
Jeanty only ran the ball 10 times in his 38 snaps, but he was heavily involved in the passing game. Rather than having him pound the ball between the tackles and get beat up more, he was targeted six times and caught four passes for 36 yards.
So, Jeanty still got a good amount of touches, but there was less wear and tear on his body. Washington Jr. played a career high in snaps as a result, and tied his career high in both carries and touches. He ran 9 times for 43 yards, which is 4.8 yards per carry, and he caught a 7-yard pass.
It's not like the Raiders suddenly had the ground game figured out; they ran for only 65 yards. But Jeanty did get his first rushing touchdown of the year, and Las Vegas had its highest yards per carry since Week 3, and its second-highest since Week 1. It was better, even though it wasn't good.
Splitting the running back touches somewhat equally between Washington Jr.'s runs, Jeanty's runs and Jeanty being targeted in the passing game is pretty much ideal at this juncture, and Kubiak pulled it off last Sunday. But with Washington Jr. potentially on the shelf, that plan is null and void.
Las Vegas can't use same strategy if Mike Washington Jr. misses Week 7
Washington Jr. has pretty much been an Ironman since his arrival in Las Vegas back in April, but he popped up on the injury report ahead of Week 7's game against the Los Angeles Rams. He's dealing with both a foot injury and a back injury. It's unclear when this occurred.
Being a limited participant on Wednesday isn't always a red flag, as teams typically take the first practice of the week to let players get healthy or give them time off. But Washington Jr. was downgraded to a non-participant on Thursday, which is worrisome. His status for Sunday is in doubt.
Without Washington Jr. in the lineup, or even if he's at less than 100%, Las Vegas probably won't play him as much as it did a week ago. To be fair, the team hasn't let that stop them with Jeanty, but if Washington Jr. doesn't play, then there is nothing they can do.
This would put the Raiders back into a situation where they need to lean on a hobbled Jeanty to run the ball consistently, or they'd have to employ the talents of Dylan Laube to do so. And while he's a good player, that isn't really his strong suit. Roman Hemby would likely be activated in this scenario.
But Hemby is an undrafted free agent rookie who didn't exactly impress in the preseason and hasn't made his NFL debut yet. Asking him to contribute meaningfully against a tough Rams defense in his first real professional game may be unwise and isn't likely to yield significantly positive results.
So, let's just hope that Washington Jr. sips some magic elixir and is completely fine for Sunday's game against Los Angeles, and the Raiders continue to improve their rushing attack by splitting carries between Washington Jr. and Jeanty. If not, things could get ugly. Or inefficient. Maybe both.
Add us as a preferred source on Google