The Las Vegas Raiders' run game needs a strong kick in the backside ahead of the 2026 NFL season. They've finished dead last in the league in both total rushing yards and yards per attempt in each of the last two years, and a professional football team cannot thrive with so little ball control.
Hiring Klint Kubiak and Rick Dennison, whose rushing attack ranked near the top of the league last year, is a start. Developing young stud Ashton Jeanty even more will be pivotal as well, and it goes without saying that the Silver and Black need to bolster the trenches.
But Jeanty also needs a complementary piece to spell him. Kubiak needs two running backs that he can rely on. Defenses need to be on their heels, not knowing who'll be running at them. Luckily for John Spytek, Atlanta Falcons running back Tyler Allgeier will be staring him in the face in free agency.
Raiders must land Tyler Allgeier in free agency as Ashton Jeanty complement
First, let's look at Allgeier's résumé: As a fifth-round rookie who was inactive in Week 1, Allgeier still finished the 2022 season with 1,014 rushing yards and three touchdowns, adding 139 receiving yards and a touchdown through the air. He averaged 4.9 yards per carry in his first season.
Once Bijan Robinson was drafted by Atlanta, however, Allgeier had to take a back seat. But he still found a way to impact the game. Over the next three years, on a fraction of the touches, Allgeier averaged 739.3 scrimmage yards and 5.3 touchdowns per season. That's a significant contribution.
To make him even more appealing, Allgeier's market value, as predicted by Spotrac and Over the Cap, is south of $2 million. If Allgeier can produce that much alongside Robinson, one of the best backs in the NFL, he surely can alongside Jeanty, making Allgeier worth way more than that predicted value.
Spytek should give Allegier a two-year deal worth up to $5 million, just to ensure that he signs. Having a legitimate option alongside Jeanty will increase his longevity, make him even more effective and efficient, and mirror what Kubiak ran in Seattle with Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet.
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Allgeier also has extensive experience in zone running schemes, which is what Kubiak will install in Las Vegas. 76.3% of his career carries have been in zone schemes, and in the two seasons in which he ran his highest percentage of his carries in that scheme, he averaged 4.9 and 4.7 yards per rush.
Las Vegas also needs to find ways to limit the amount of hits that Jeanty takes, and Allgeier can be that thumper in short-yardage situations. The former college linebacker has scored 16 of his 18 career NFL rushing touchdowns from inside the six-yard line, and his last four from the one-yard line.
Between his consistent production, ability to find value with an alpha dog running back in the room, and experience running in zone blocking schemes, Allgeier could be the antidote for the Raiders' rushing woes. Combine that with his cheap price tag, and he could be the inexpensive missing piece.
Although he may want to find greener pastures in free agency and sign with a team where he can be the featured back, that isn't likely to happen. The best Allgeier will do is a split backfield, and although that won't be the exact scenario in Las Vegas, he could still make a major impact for the Raiders.