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Before the Las Vegas Raiders landed a deal with Devontae Booker, the team looked into a couple of former star running backs. It was previously reported that they made an offer to Frank Gore who ended up with the New York Jets. It’s now being reported by NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo that the Raiders were talking with six-time Pro Bowler LeSean McCoy.
McCoy most recently played with the Kansas City Chiefs where he had the most lackluster season of his career. However, he was one of the most consistent running backs in the NFL during the 2010s and was placed on the All-Decade team. His years as one of the top rushers in the league are behind him, but he would’ve been an interesting pickup for the team. It appears the Raiders ended up favoring Booker’s youth in the end.
Raiders Trying Not to Rely on Josh Jacobs
The Raiders doing their due diligence on running backs this offseason shows that they’d like to have stronger depth in 2020. Last season, when Josh Jacobs got hurt, the offense slowed down significantly. Jacobs is a stud and should have a huge season, but the team needs to be prepared in case he gets hurt.
In a perfect world, Jacobs will get 90% of the carries next season. The Raiders run the ball a lot and can’t overwork their star running back too much. Luckily, the depth chart is already looking stronger than it did last season.
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Jon Gruden Praises Lynn Bowden Jr.
Booker isn’t the only running back the team has added as the Raiders drafted Lynn Bowden Jr. in the third round of the recent draft. He played a lot of positions in college and it doesn’t appear he’s going to be the primary backup running back. That said, the team will figure out how to use him in creative ways. In a recent interview with Jerry McDonald of The Mercury News, head coach Jon Gruden praised Bowden’s football intelligence:
I remember putting a play on the board at the combine for Bowden and we put in a concept and we told him what all five guys do. Then we’d say Derek might audible to this and then five guys have to do this. Then we’d erase the board and talk about other things. Then we told Bowden to get up on the board and put the concept in and tell us what all five guys do and erase it and tell us what all five guys do if Derek audibles. And he hit it out of the park. He sees football. He understands football concepts. He’s been a quarterback in the SEC so he’s had to operate at the line of scrimmage. He’s had to recognize defenses. He’s had to communicate.
Bowden is clearly a very smart football player. That should work in his favor as the Raiders will likely try to utilize him in a number of ways. He has a lot of potential to be a matchup nightmare all over the offense.
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