{"id":4057,"date":"2016-10-15T11:13:12","date_gmt":"2016-10-15T15:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/?p=4057"},"modified":"2016-10-15T11:13:12","modified_gmt":"2016-10-15T15:13:12","slug":"the-oakland-raiders-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2016\/10\/15\/the-oakland-raiders-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"The Oakland Raiders Have Always Planned for a Running Back Committee in 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rookies\u00a0Jalen Richard<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and DeAndre Washington<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0have added\u00a0a new dynamic to the Oakland Raiders<\/strong> offense. An injury\u00a0to Latavius Murray<\/a><\/strong> has thrust Richard and Washington into featured roles, but believe it or not, an\u00a0offense built around their ‘Mighty Mites’<\/a> has been\u00a0the Raiders plan all along.<\/p>\n

The Oakland Raiders Have Always Planned for a Running Back Committee in 2016<\/h2>\n

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<\/a><\/strong> before eventually agreeing to terms with Roy Helu<\/a><\/strong> on a two-year, four million dollar\u00a0deal. Helu was expected to complement Latavius\u00a0Murray and provide a threat in the passing game, but injuries and ineffectiveness prevented him from doing so.<\/p>\n

Murray shouldered an overwhelming majority of the workload as a result, receiving\u00a0307 total touches, while no other Raider back got more than 40. Unsurprisingly, adding complimentary backs\u00a0remained a priority for the organization in the 2016 offseason.<\/p>\n

Oakland flirted with Doug Martin<\/a><\/strong>, the top available free agent, before drafting Washington in the fifth round and bringing in\u00a0Richard as an undrafted free agent (UDFA). Plenty of talented backs were available in the later rounds of the draft. Jordan Howard<\/a><\/strong>, Wendell Smallwood<\/a><\/strong>, and Dwayne Washington<\/a><\/strong> were all chosen after DeAndre Washington, yet Oakland went with\u00a0(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.<\/p>\n

Unique Skill Sets<\/h3>\n

Washington and Richard are similar in stature and style — both are 5’8″, and\u00a0each possesses innate open field shiftiness\u00a0and\u00a0the 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\u00a0the two are capable of providing to the offense. Their skills as both runners and receivers create matchup nightmares<\/a> for opponents, a scary proposition considering the team already has one of the most formidable\u00a0wide receiver tandems\u00a0in the league on the outside.<\/p>\n

The two give\u00a0the Raiders offense the type of spark they were missing\u00a0in 2015. Running backs were featured in the passing game last year — Murray had 41 receptions and Marcel Reece<\/a><\/strong> had 30 —\u00a0but no one on the roster created\u00a0mismatches 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.<\/p>\n

The Mighty Mites aren’t perfect. Richard’s two drops and Washington’s fumble in Week\u00a0Four come to mind\u00a0as examples of the inevitable side effects of inexperience. Neither player has had much success\u00a0in short yardage situations, either. Ideally, Latavius Murray would be available to handle that work.<\/p>\n

But plays like this<\/a> make mistakes more tolerable. The Raiders will get to find out what they have in their two rookies over the next few weeks, and\u00a0when Murray gets\u00a0healthy, he may be returning to a more explosive offense than the one he left.<\/p>\n

Main Photo:<\/p>\n

\n
Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n