Oakland Raiders: Five potential Draft Day running back targets
By Kevin Saito
Rashaad Penny (San Diego State University)
Though he gets knocked for playing in the Mountain West Conference, it can’t be denied that Penny was one of the most productive running backs in all of college football in 2017, putting up more yards than Bryce Love or a guy named Saquon Barkley.
Now, this isn’t to say that Penny is a better back than Love or Barkley, this is just to say that in his first season of being the Aztecs’ featured back, he responded incredibly well. For the season, Penny posted 2,248 rushing yards – on an impressive 7.8 yards per carry average – and 23 touchdowns.
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Yeah, there’s a difference between the MWC and the Pac-12 and Big-10. We get it. The point though, is that when Penny had the ball in his hands, he made things happen – something the Raiders need in a featured back.
At five-foot-eleven, 220 pounds, Penny has the size to be a banger inside. And with 4.4 speed, he’s got the quickness to get outside in a hurry. He’s a patient runner with good field vision, can be very elusive, and tough to bring down right away. He goes through arm tackles with ease, and has the lower body strength to power through people.
If there’s a knock on him, it’s that some scouts don’t believe he has the explosiveness to break off the long runs and be a home-run hitter in the NFL. They believe he has the size and athleticism to be an every down back in the league, but isn’t going to be a “score from anywhere” threat some other backs might be.
Given what we’ve seen of him though, Penny could be a very productive back for the Raiders and could take the baton from Lynch and run with it – and run very well.