The Las Vegas Raiders had the NFL's worst rushing attack by a noticeable margin last season (79.8 yards per game). Head coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly will surely fix that immediately, however it ultimately looks in 2025. Signing Raheem Mostert is not enough.
It's easy to tie Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty to Raiders with the sixth overall pick in the draft. But there has seemingly been some effort to trade for an established running back, and it surely extended further then pursuing a possible reunion with Carroll.
Trade speculation is easy this time of year, with the draft approaching, etc. The Raiders could have an opportunity to trade down from No. 6 overall, and take advantage of a team who apparently "loves" Jeanty. Of course, said team would have to make room on their running back depth chart for Jeanty.
Raiders should not allow Bears to offload D'Andre Swift onto them
Back in February, Moe Moton of Bleacher Report offered up a trade proposal where the Raiders would acquire running back D'Andre Swift from the Chicago Bears for a 2025 fifth-round pick. With the draft less than two weeks away, Moton brought back the same idea with a new proposal.
"Chicago Bears Get: 2025 1st-Round Pick (No. 6 Overall Pick)
Las Vegas Raiders Get: 2025 1st-Round Pick (No. 10 Overall Pick), 2025 3rd-Round Pick (No. 72 Overall Pick), RB D’Andre Swift"
"One year after the Detroit Lions promoted Ben Johnson to offensive coordinator, they traded D'Andre Swift and a 2023 seventh-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for a 2023 seventh-round pick and a 2025 fourth-round pick.....Last season, with the Chicago Bears, he accumulated a career-high 1,345 scrimmage yards."
"But Johnson, who's now the Bears' head coach, may want a different type of running back leading his backfield. Don't be surprised if he adds a running back early in the upcoming draft and puts Swift on the trade block."
Moton noted the aforementioned buzz from ESPN's Matt Miller that the Bears "love" Jeanty, and used it as the impetus for the trade proposal to come to fruition.
"If Jeanty is available when the Raiders go on the clock for the No. 6 pick, the Bears can package Swift and a couple of premium picks to move up for Jeanty."
"The Raiders can upgrade the backfield by acquiring Swift and then draft a running back with one of three Day 2 picks to significantly improve their ground game, which finished with the fewest rushing yards last season."
Swift played every game for the first time in his career last season, which yielded a career-high 295 touches in the first year of the three-year, $24 million deal the Bears gave him. He also averaged career-lows in yards per carry (3.8) and yards per touch (4.6) last season.
On the surface, surrendering the sixth overall pick for the 10th overall pick, a third-round pick and Swift looks like a steal of a deal for the Raiders. Johnson may want to trade Swift, after having an up-close view of his inability to be a reliable lead back over three seasons in Detroit. He just needs a plan to be in place (Jeanty?) before doing so.
Swift might be the most overrated running back in the NFL right now, and few people know that better than Johnson. There may just need to be a plan in place (Jeanty?) before a real effort to trade Swift is made.
But why should the Raiders accommodate the implementation of that plan? Trading down from No. 6 with the Bears is possible, but taking on Swift as part of the trade is unnecessary. It allows the Bears to draft Jeanty, while the Raiders add someone who is not capable of being a lead back in a good rushing attack. They already have one of those kind of backs, and at least he's older/cheaper (Mostert).
The Bears probably want to offload Swift to someone, but someone else can be the next team who thinks they can get his full potential out of him. The Raiders don't have to be the sucker the other 31 teams in the league take advantage of anymore.