Josh McDaniels explains why Raiders made running assist a priority in free agency

Anybody who paid shut attention to the Raiders’ roster coming into this offseason would stammer you their high wants had been wide receiver, trusty address, cornerback, and defensive address.

You may even resolve it a chunk farther, and add guard, heart, and linebacker as smartly.

Most of those positions had been addressed this free agency, but one space that obtained a rather just quantity of early attention used to be that of running assist.

Even with starting up running backs Josh Jacobs and Kenyan Drake returning along with oldschool undrafted free agent Trey Ragas and fullback Sutton Smith, fresh head coach Josh McDaniels silent prioritized the gap, restructuring Drake’s deal to place him, and including Brandon Bolden, Ameer Abdullah, and fullback Jakob Johnson all inner basically the most important two days of free agency, making for a fairly crowded running assist room.

“That’s a space that’s exhausting to terminate wholesome, it trusty is,” McDaniels said of running assist. “They touch the ball higher than every person but the quarterback, and they also choose up hit higher than any one.

“Now we accept about a guys that are rehabbing now and to be able to accept depth in that room is serious attributable to whenever you don’t accept quality depth in the running assist room this day in the NFL, plenty of times you’re going to flee into some points and a few injuries , and then you definately choose up caught in attempting to scheme a transient transaction right via the center of the season.

“So, we’ve consistently tried to accept as unparalleled depth in that room as we are in a position to. I deem it’s a space that it’s actually serious to accept factual gamers, nevertheless it’s also actually factual to accept factual depth that you just presumably can streak in there and they also will motivate plenty of roles.”

Seven running backs is a lot to be carrying today of the year when there are no longer any practices going on. Every so usually, one or two of the backs added in the offseason advance either from the draft or undrafted free agency. We’re silent a month off from that.

Drake used to be lost in week 12 of last season, so that you just resolve when McDaniels talks about backs who are rehabbing, he’s speaking of him. Jacobs fought via an ankle damage unparalleled of last season, but he used to be silent running smartly even into the playoff sport, so that you just’d resolve by the time the team takes the discipline for any staunch observe, he wishes to be magnificent.

It’s sure McDaniels is taking the kind that you just presumably can’t accept sufficient running backs, figuring by the time coaching camp is over, one or extra of them will mosey down with an damage. And it’s getting priority or positions that are either less at risk of endure injuries or are extra with out wretchedness replaceable on immediate peep.

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