Oakland Raiders: Running Back Options Not Named Lynch Or Peterson
By Kevin Saito
The Oakland Raiders are expected to add another running back after letting Latavius Murray walk away as a free agent – let’s look at a few options that could be solid fits.
Having let Latavius Murray walk away as a free agent – reportedly, without even offering him a deal – the Oakland Raiders have created a hole in the backfield they need to fill.
While the common wisdom is that Murray was allowed to walk so the Raiders could get a younger, more cost effective replacement, the rumors about Marshawn Lynch coming out of retirement to join the Silver and Black persist.
Given the fact that Lynch is coming off a year away from football – and the year before that was an injury riddled affair that saw his productivity fall off the table – bringing the former Seahawk in to be the bellcow could very well be a mistake. Unless, of course, he agreed to a rock bottom basement deal with the team – say, playing for the veteran minimum?
There are no guarantees Lynch is coming. Or if he does, that he’ll even be even more than a shadow of what he used to be. Which means, the Raiders need to think about other ways to fill the hole created by Murray’s departure. And the most cost-effective way to do that is via the upcoming NFL Draft.
With some top-notch talent in the pool, the Raiders should be able to find some running backs who can be a complementary piece to last season’s rookie standouts DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard.
They need to find the thunder to accommodate that lightning. They need to re-form the three-headed beast that was so effective and helped vault Oakland’s offense into the stratosphere last season.
GM Reggie McKenzie has had some success in identifying talent, even in the later rounds – remember, Murray was a sixth-round pick – so, given their other pressing needs, it’s possible, if not probable, that he’ll wait until the later rounds to address their need for a complementary back.
So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at a few running back options for the Raiders…