If you’ve watched the Los Angeles Chargers over the past two seasons, you’d know they have a glaring weakness right up the middle of their defense. Currently, they allow the most yards per carry (5.4). Last week, the Las Vegas Raiders ran for a season-high 283 yards against the Seattle Seahawks with Josh Jacobs at the forefront (229 yards and two touchdowns).
Do the math, and you’ll realize why the Silver and Black can avenge its Week 1 loss to the Chargers.
With that said, the Raiders have question marks in the backfield. Can Jacobs replicate most of what he did against the Seahawks with a lingering calf issue? If not, who’s capable of splitting the rushing workload to exploit the Chargers’ biggest defensive weakness?
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Jacobs won’t see the practice field much as he gets hours of treatment.
In the past, Jacobs has played through injuries, and his Week 12 performance looks even more remarkable when you consider he ran through Seattle’s defense with a bad calf. But the Raiders shouldn’t have to rely on him rushing for 200-plus yards on a full workload when they selected two running backs in this year’s draft.
While no one should have an issue with head coach Josh McDaniels’ decision to ride his workhorse running back to victories, he’s squandered a chance to get a No. 2 ball-carrier ready for this type of situation.
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Las Vegas Raiders’ rookie running backs are an afterthought
Jacobs has battled nick and bruises in previous years, but he’s only missed six games between 2019 and 2021. However, McDaniels obviously felt the need to add depth at the position. Vegas selected Zamir White and Brittain Brown in the fourth and seventh rounds, respectively, of the 2022 draft. Yet the two rookies have 10 carries combined, and White has all of them.
Typically, seventh-round picks make little impact, but the Raiders haven’t developed a backup plan for their featured running back with so few carries for White. Remember, Jacobs has missed a handful of games in his first three seasons and has limped off the field several times.
Why not allow White to establish a rhythm and handle about five carries per game? The rookie hasn’t recorded more than two rush attempts in a single contest.
McDaniels can feed Jacobs as the workhorse ball-carrier and still allow White to get his feet wet in the offense. Derek Carr has the second-most rush attempts on the team with 17. The Raiders haven’t prepared themselves for an emergency in case Jacobs suffers an injury or needs to dial back on his workload.
In fairness, we have no idea what White looks like at practice. Usually, rookie running backs fail to get significant snaps for two reasons: poor practices or the inability to pick up pass-protection assignments.
White hasn’t been on the field enough for anyone aside from the Raiders’ coaches to fully evaluate his pass-blocking ability beyond what he’s done at practice. The Georgia product has taken the field for just four percent of the offensive snaps (28 plays) in 10 games. Something doesn’t quite add up, and it’s more than just the fact that Jacobs looks phenomenal running the football right now. Maybe White just isn’t ready to play a meaningful number of the offensive snaps and tote the rock.
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Using Ameer Abdullah in the short passing game
Nevertheless, if that’s the case, the Raiders don’t have a viable backup plan to spell Jacobs other than utilize the short passing game with Ameer Abdullah, who caught three passes for 39 yards and a touchdown last week.
During his time in New England, McDaniels often used the short passing game to mimic the run, which increased the importance of a reliable pass-catching running back.
If Jacobs isn’t a full go on Sunday, the Raiders can opt to feature Abdullah a little more after he racked up 55 yards on six touches last week, but that doesn’t directly take advantage of the Chargers’ weak run defense because it removes the physical aspect of the Raiders’ upper hand.
Secondly, the Chargers have done well covering pass-catching running backs, allowing 5.5 receptions and 27.1 yards per game to players at the position, which is lower than the leaguewide average marks of 6.3 receptions and 35.9 receiving yards per contest, per Football Outsiders (subscription required).
Obviously, in the best-case scenario, Jacobs plays well through injury, and no one bats an eye, but McDaniels must do a better job of preparing his team’s depth to attack an opponent’s fatal flaw. Without a clear-cut No. 2 ball-carrier, Vegas will push its chips to the middle of the table on Jacobs’ ability to run the ball at an optimal level with an leg injury, which isn’t a bad bet, but it’s still a very risky gamble.
Maurice Moton covers the Raiders for Sportsnaut. You can follow him on Twitter at @MoeMoton.