Rookies Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington have added a new dynamic to the Oakland Raiders offense. An injury to Latavius Murray has thrust Richard and Washington into featured roles, but believe it or not, an offense built around their ‘Mighty Mites’ has been the Raiders plan all along.
The Oakland Raiders Have Always Planned for a Running Back Committee in 2016
The Raiders never intended for Murray to be their workhorse. Oakland was active in the market for running backs even prior to the 2015 season; they made a run at signing top free agent DeMarco Murray before eventually agreeing to terms with Roy Helu on a two-year, four million dollar deal. Helu was expected to complement Latavius Murray and provide a threat in the passing game, but injuries and ineffectiveness prevented him from doing so.
Murray shouldered an overwhelming majority of the workload as a result, receiving 307 total touches, while no other Raider back got more than 40. Unsurprisingly, adding complimentary backs remained a priority for the organization in the 2016 offseason.
Oakland flirted with Doug Martin, the top available free agent, before drafting Washington in the fifth round and bringing in Richard as an undrafted free agent (UDFA). Plenty of talented backs were available in the later rounds of the draft. Jordan Howard, Wendell Smallwood, and Dwayne Washington were all chosen after DeAndre Washington, yet Oakland went with (DeAndre) Washington and Richard. The Raiders weren’t looking to add just any depth at the position; they were looking to add running backs who could play in space and contribute in the passing game.
Unique Skill Sets
Washington and Richard are similar in stature and style — both are 5’8″, and each possesses innate open field shiftiness and the ability to run routes as a receiver. The duo was fully unleashed for the first time Sunday in the absence of Murray, and we saw glimpses of what the two are capable of providing to the offense. Their skills as both runners and receivers create matchup nightmares for opponents, a scary proposition considering the team already has one of the most formidable wide receiver tandems in the league on the outside.
The two give the Raiders offense the type of spark they were missing in 2015. Running backs were featured in the passing game last year — Murray had 41 receptions and Marcel Reece had 30 — but no one on the roster created mismatches in space the way that Richard and Washington do. They combined for 96 yards on 11 receptions in Week Five, and their roles will likely continue to expand, even when Murray returns.
The Mighty Mites aren’t perfect. Richard’s two drops and Washington’s fumble in Week Four come to mind as examples of the inevitable side effects of inexperience. Neither player has had much success in short yardage situations, either. Ideally, Latavius Murray would be available to handle that work.
But plays like this make mistakes more tolerable. The Raiders will get to find out what they have in their two rookies over the next few weeks, and when Murray gets healthy, he may be returning to a more explosive offense than the one he left.
Main Photo:
