Oakland Raiders: Stacking up the running backs against the AFC West

Oakland Raiders

Key Contributors: Marshawn Lynch, Doug Martin, Jalen Richard, DeAndre Washington

Make no mistake, the gap between Kansas City’s rushing attack and the rest of the division is a wide one. The Raiders rank second in the AFC West largely because of that beast of an offensive line.

In 2016, Oakland’s line was being talked about as one of the best – if not, the best – in all of football. And behind Latavius Murray, they had the league’s sixth-best rushing attack.

2017 saw the departure of Murray, as well as a deviation from the power run game in favor of former OC Todd Downing’s scheme – which was little more than a confused mess. Downing stripped Oakland’s line and running game of their identity, took them away from what they did best, and the results were disastrous – as we all saw.

This year though, with Gruden back at the helm and his deeply ingrained philosophy of pounding the football, Oakland’s line will get back to doing what they do best – lining up and blowing people off the ball.

Lynch emerged as a powerful runner, showing glimpses of his old Beast Mode self, in the late stages of the year. On the season, Lynch ran for more than 900 yards, but was most effective over the last five or six games.

Now, with the line getting back to its smashmouth self – and running behind a legit fullback in Keith Smith – Lynch very well could turn back the clock and prove to be as effective as he was back in his Seattle days when he also had a good line and a solid fullback clearing the way for him.

Oakland does have a problem with depth though – although, it’s not as severe as Denver and LA. But, behind Lynch, the Raiders are relying on Doug Martin to be the guy who twice ran for 1,400 yards – and not the guy who failed to crack even 500 yards in his other four seasons.

Which is obviously, a very dicey proposition.

They also have Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington in the backfield, though it remains to be seen, given their very similar skill sets, whether or not both will be on the final 53-man roster.

Oakland has a lot of questions to answer, but if Lynch can be the same back he was over the last half dozen games last season, with the change in philosophy, the improvements to the line, and the addition of a power fullback, the Raiders’ running attack could once again be potent.