Oakland Raiders: Five Players Who Have The Most To Prove In 2015
By Kevin Saito
Aug 28, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Indianapolis Colts running back Trent Richardson (34) against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Perhaps nobody currently on Oakland’s roster has more to prove than Trent Richardson. After a pretty stellar career at Alabama where he was absolutely electric coming out of the backfield, Richardson has been anything but stellar as a pro.
Following a rookie season that was fairly productive in Cleveland, Richardson has gone on to do almost nothing else on the field. He was so bad, that even running back starved Cleveland, opted to cut their losses and trade him away. Richardson didn’t fare much better in his new home in Indianpolis, compiling less than 1,000 yards in almost two full seasons for the Colts.
That lack of production led Indianapolis to cut their losses and just cut Richardson outright. As with Crabtree, McKenzie and the Raiders were right there to scoop him up – much to the amusement of Raider-haters around the world.
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But Del Rio – who is a pretty decent judge of NFL talent, and has a reputation for getting solid contributions from even middling talents – obviously sees something in Richardson he thinks he can bring out of the running back.
Comfort with the system and being a good fit in it is a big deal. And for Richardson, he thinks that the system and schemes Oakland will be running, in a lot of ways, mirror what he used to do at Alabama – when he had some pretty stunning successes.
If it’s true, that he just wasn’t a good fit in the systems that Cleveland and Indianapolis were running, and running a system that allows him to do some of the same things he did at Alabama – and he finds that form that made him one of the most electric backs in the nation – Oakland may well have gotten one of the biggest steals of free agency this year.
Of course, if it’s not a system fit issue, and Richardson can’t regain that form again, his time not just with the Raiders, but in the NFL will be short. This very well may be his final – and best – opportunity to play.
Next: Latavius Murray