Oakland Raiders: Could be more to Keith Smith signing than meets the eye

The Oakland Raiders poached veteran fullback Keith Smith from the Cowboys – but, how do Gruden and company actually plan on using him?

Oakland Raiders HC Jon Gruden has vowed to turn the clock back. Smart phones will be replaced by old rotary dials. Cars by horse and buggies. Text messages will be delivered by carrier pigeon, and all computers will be replaced by stone tablets and chisels.

Okay, maybe he won’t be that extreme. He is vowing though, to take his football team back to a simpler era – one in which, a fullback is used in offensive sets regularly.

Revolutionary, right?

Which makes Thursday’s signing of Dallas “fullback” Keith Smith almost a non-story to most. Okay, so they added a fullback to the roster. No big deal, right? All’s good in the hood, as the kids say. Or, maybe they don’t. In that case, just insert whatever the kids are saying these days.

Anyway, back to Smith.

When one peruses Oakland’s roster, one can’t help but notice that fullback Jamize Olawale is still on said roster. You will be forgiven for not remembering who he is – it’s not like he was used a whole lot in the previous regime’s offensive system.

But, Olawale is a solid blocker and, with his speed, can even add a little pizazz to the offense now and again. He’s been known to break off a few big plays here and there. And given that he’s already under contract for 2018 (though, he does carry a small dead money hit of $190k if he’s cut), one would think he’ll probably remain on the roster. More than likely.

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Which makes the addition of Smith interesting. Would Gruden actually carry two fullbacks on the roster?

Given the fact that the backfield is now jammed up with DeAndre Washington, Jalen Richard, Marshawn Lynch, Olawale, possibly Elijah Hood (no guarantee there), Doug Martin, and now Smith, it doesn’t stand to reason that Gruden is going to carry all those backs on the 53-man roster.

Even taking Hood out of the equation, that gives the Raiders six running backs – two of them fullbacks. That seems like an awful lot of running backs in that room. Especially when you consider that during Gruden’s first tenure with the team (1998-2001), he typically carried three running backs and one fullback on the roster.

Smith will, of course, he’ll be a core special teamer, as Rich Bisaccia – formerly Dallas’ special teams coordinator and now Oakland’s – apparently played a role in his recruitment. And it’s possible that he could be viewed as depth at the fullback position and nothing more than that.

Though, $4.2 million over two years seems a little high for a guy to be a special teamer.

Now, it’s always possible, of course, that some of those names above – even Smith – aren’t going to make it out of training camp. It seems likely, given the amount of bodies that will be jockeying for touches in the backfield.

But, in giving a little look into Smith’s past, one can’t help but wonder if Gruden is actually looking at him as a fullback at all. Or at least, as only a fullback.

Smith played four years at San Jose State as a linebacker amassing 476 tackles (234 solo), 29 tackles for a loss, five sacks, two interceptions, four passes defensed, forced three fumbles, and recovered two others.

Though he went undrafted back in 2014, the Cowboys signed him as a UDFA, and for the first two years of his career, he bounced between the active roster and the practice squad. Dallas though, thought highly enough of his athleticism, that they asked him to switch positions, bettering his chances of making the roster.

Hence, he switched to fullback and has played the last two years there for the Cowboys, helping blow open holes for Ezekiel Elliott. In two seasons playing the position, Smith has rarely touched the ball, but has had a big hand in helping Elliott become one of the league’s most dangerous backs.

Again though, given the presence of Olawale – unless they’re planning on cutting him – it doesn’t necessarily seem to make sense that Gruden would keep two fullbacks on the active roster.

Which brings us back to Smith’s original, and natural position – linebacker. McKenzie and new DC Paul Guenther both prefer finding linebacker talent in the later rounds and the scores of UDFA’s — and Smith was definitely that. Could they be looking at bringing him in for the defense, rather than the offense?

The Raiders obviously have a glaring need for help on the second level of their defense. They have reportedly made an offer to bring NaVorro Bowman back to the fold, but he’s currently weighing other offers and may not be back at all.

If Bowman opts to go elsewhere, it leaves the Raiders in a bind, with only Corey James, Marquel Lee, and Nicholas Morrow at the position. And Morrow is the only one who inspires any sort of confidence, since James and Lee have yet to pan out as three-down linebackers and have yet to give any indication they’ll ever be up to the job.

Which makes having a guy like Smith on the roster potentially so intriguing. At six-foot, 240 pounds, he’s got the size. He runs a 4.9, so he’s got decent – though not elite – speed. But then, neither does Bowman.

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As a linebacker, Smith is solid against the run and moves well through traffic. He has solid instincts and can diagnose plays well, is a good tackler, and is adequate (though not spectacular) against the pass – but, he’s got the size and speed to usually stay with opposing tight ends.

And for whatever it’s worth, it was Smith, who ended then-Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr‘s streak of 305 consecutive passes without an interception, picking off a pass and helping lead a 65-62 San Jose State upset of the number-16 Bulldogs.

None of this is to say that’s definitely what Gruden and company have in mind for Smith. It very well could be that they brought him in to simply be a special teamer and backup fullback. This could be nothing more than pie in the sky, tin foil hat, conspiracy theory.

But, it is an interesting footnote to Smith’s signing. He changed positions once, moving from linebacker to fullback – given Oakland’s dire need for competent bodies in their linebackers room, is it out of the realm of possibility that he moves back to his natural position? Is it really that outlandish to think that, given the dearth of talent at the position, they’d at least kick the tires and see what they have in him?

No telling just yet, but it is perhaps, something interesting to keep an eye on as the rest of the offseason unfolds.

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