The Las Vegas Raiders are headed into their eighth season with quarterback Derek Carr and their fourth season with coach Jon Gruden. The duo has gone just 19-29 together but the last two seasons have shown signs of hope. Carr is a fairly average quarterback locked in at a pretty average price tag for the next couple of years. Gruden is in the middle of his huge contract with the Raiders. You know by now what to expect from the two. The defense is bad and there's no other way around it.
The Raiders are hoping for some magical bounce-back season from Yannick Ngakoue as defensive end, but don't count on it happening. If the Raiders hope to have a record above .500 in the new NFL season then they'll need some extra help on offense.
Raiders X Factor: The Josh Jacobs and Kenyan Drake running back duo
The Raiders took Josh Jacobs with the 24th overall pick in 2019 and things haven't gone perfectly. The rookie season from Jacobs was solid with him averaging 4.8 yards per carry and scoring seven touchdowns on 242 attempts. When 2020 rolled around, the strategy of running all the time with Jacobs increased as he ran 273 times but the production was disappointing. He lost nearly a full yard per carry, dropping to 3.9 but somehow scoring 12 touchdowns. He wasn't as good when it came to efficiency but you could be sure Jacobs was going to score once the Raiders were within striking distance of the end zone.
Now with the new season set to begin, it looks like the Raiders will be attempting a running back-by-committee approach. It could be compared to what the Packers have done with Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams in previous seasons. Jones, a promising young running back, has always been balanced out or hasn't been fully let loose due to Williams right behind him. The Raiders must not have loved Jacobs getting virtually every carry last season so they brought in Kenyan Drake.
Drake was touted as the lead back for the Arizona Cardinals last season but ultimately was a disappointment. He was expected to be the lead runner because of his breakout 2019 second half, but things just didn't translate to a full season and now he's the backup to a former bell-cow running back in Jacobs. When looking at the careers of both, Drake actually has better efficiency with 4.5 yards per attempt than Jacobs' 4.3 yards. Neither one is very old either with Drake being 27 and Jacobs still being just 23. The breakout the Raiders were looking for from Jacobs could still be on the horizon.
The reason they are paired together as an X factor is because it's unclear how good they can be as a duo. Both were given the chance last season to completely take over the running game for their respective teams and both fell short of expectations. What happens when you combine them? The likely approach will be Jacobs getting first and second down duties with Drake coming in for the pass-catching plays for the most part. They could do that or they could just have the duo rotate regularly with no set downs, keeping the opposing defenses on their feet. Drake is a bit faster than Jacobs, at least according to the 40-time scores. Drake ran a 4.45 40-yard dash while Jacobs was at 4.60.
The duo is going to have to be solid and be the main focal point of the Raiders offense. Carr has some weapons in Darren Waller, Henry Ruggs III, and Hunter Renfrow but the offensive line will limit the ceiling of the passing game. The running game needs to be established and at least pose a threat for opposing defenses to worry about. If that goes according to plan then the Raiders are slightly closer to improving from their 8-8 record last season.
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