Sin City Raiders

At the time of this writing, the Las Vegas Raiders still have one more game to play with the Denver Broncos coming to Allegiant Stadium on Sunday. But with a loss to the Indianapolis Colts officially, mathematically eliminating the Silver and Black from playoff contention, we can start to shift our focus onto the offseason.

Of course, the biggest question is what Mark Davis will decide to do with Antonio Pierce’s interim tag. But looking ahead to next season, I’ll start with some lower-hanging fruit from the questions tree. Whether it is Pierce or another coach, who will they have at running back in 2024?

As a fan, I would rather not say this. But in reality, it is very probable that Josh Jacobs will be wearing a different uniform next season. I say probable because stranger things have happened in football. But if I were a betting man, I would put money on the Raiders parting with Jacobs.

Jacobs earned a place in Raider Nation’s heart simply by being a first-round pick that wasn’t a bust. Not only was he not a bust, but he gave you the production you wanted from a first-rounder.

He made a strong first impression his rookie year as he averaged 4.8 yards per carry on his way to 1,150 yards. Going in deeper than the stats, Jacobs gave Raider Nation much more.

The Raiders opened 2019 on Monday night against the Denver Broncos in Oakland. The team had just concluded the Antonio Brown disaster as fans in the Oakland Coliseum broke out in “F**k A.B.” chants. Jacobs helped the Raiders move on from that fiasco as he racked up 113 total yards and two touchdowns. Jacobs had another memorable moment in primetime later that same season on a game-winning 18 yard touchdown run against the Chargers on a Thursday night in Oakland; the last primetime game at the Oakland Coliseum.

He did slow down in 2020 (although he ran for 1,065 yards and 12 touchdowns, his average dropped almost a full yard) and 2021. Although he ran for only 872 yards in 2021, he showed up when the team needed him as he ran for 132 yards and a touchdown in another primetime game against the Chargers. This game concluded a wild 2021 season that saw the Raiders overcome seemingly endless adversity and reach the playoffs; with their playoff spot clinched in this overtime win.

Although the Raiders would miss out on the playoffs in a disappointing 2022 season, Jacobs emerged as the league’s rushing champion. He would average a career-high 4.9 yards per carry, catch 53 passes and tie his career-high with 12 touchdowns. It was a season where Jacobs had his greatest game as a pro when he ran for 229 yards and two touchdowns; including the 85-yard game-winner in Seattle.

His 2022 season would end up being the last year of his rookie contract after the team decided not to exercise his fifth-year option due to injury concerns and a declining market for running backs. Going into 2023, the Raiders would put the franchise tag on the reigning rushing champ and then the two sides would later agree on a revision of the tag; paying Jacobs about $12 million for the season.

And that brings us to Week 18 of the 2023 season.

Jacobs has been out the last three games and with the playoffs now out of reach for the team and free agency looming for him, it would be hard to imagine why Jacobs would suit up against Denver.

While Jacobs has been out, second-year back Zamir White has seized the opportunity to show what he could potentially do as the lead back next season. He averaged four yards per carry against the Chargers, broke away for a 43-yard run and another 15 yarder in running out the clock against the Kansas City Chiefs and had over 100 total yards against the Colts.

The day and age we are in does Jacobs no favors. With the NFL being a salary cap league and front offices looking for ways to spend responsibly, teams are skeptical of handing out long-term contracts to running backs when they could just use a committee approach to the position and invest heavily elsewhere, like the offensive linemen who block for the backs. What is more important? The scheme or the player? We can dive down that rabbit hole another time.

The point of this writing isn’t to go into the running back market, the appreciation (or lack thereof) for backs or the trend of using committees over bell-cows, the point is to say that Josh Jacobs has been a fun Raider to watch over the last five years. He has given us highlight-reel runs, our first rushing champion since Marcus Allen in 1985 and he was a rare recent first-round pick that had success in Silver and Black.