Oakland Raiders: Top 5 takeaways from Week 4 victory over the Indianapolis Colts
4. Trevor Davis shines in his debut
Just over a week ago, the Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers struck a deal sending Trevor Davis to the silver and black. As a Bay Area native, it serves as a sort of temporary homecoming.
While he was inactive last week, he got his opportunity this week against the Indianapolis Colts — mostly as a result of the scratch of J.J. Nelson.
The receiver had a breakout performance for the Raiders on Sunday. He recorded a career-long 60-yard rushing touchdown — his first touchdown on a carry in his career.
The play itself was crafty and was something that Gruden surely looked forward to utilizing at some point in the day. Ironically, Davis wasn’t in the plans to get the call on the sweep — instead, Nelson was the primary guy at practice to get the call.
But when Davis got his opportunity, he was able to show off an impressive burst of speed that allowed him to blow past anybody wearing blue.
He didn’t have any receptions, but his two rushing attempts were impressive.
Following his first rush that led to a touchdown, Davis was given the handoff on a reverse before cutting all the way back to the opposite sideline and picking up 18 yards. It seemed like a play that was dead on arrival, but Davis made something of it.
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Davis is certainly going to be utilized in a number of ways moving forward, even as the team gets healthy.
His dynamic play style should be welcomed and adds to an offensive scheme that can be a bit convoluted and demanding at times. With his speed and quickness, he should fit in well.
He also showed an ability to handle punt and kick return duties — an underrated aspect of any game that a team wants to solidify as early on as possible.
It will be interesting to see how Gruden plans on using Davis down the line. With the Raiders continuing to spread out the offensive responsibilities — and continue to lean on Josh Jacobs — Davis’ role might change.
But given his strong debut with the team, he seems like he might, at the very least, be getting a couple more opportunities to show off those bursts of speed in the future.