Oakland Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 8 loss to Houston Texans
By Nico Di Fede
Stock Up: Josh Jacobs, Alec Ingold, Foster Moreau
At this point, it pretty much goes without saying that Josh Jacobs is going to be listed here. Despite his banged-up shoulder, Jacobs rushed for 66 yards on 15 carries and also hauled in two receptions for 15 yards.
66 yards is nothing special for Jacobs, but he was reliable and got chunk yardage when not hit behind the line of scrimmage — something that usually hasn’t affected him much this season.
He was ranked second in the NFL in both average yards after contact per carry and second in total missed tackles forced prior to Sundays game in Houston. The hurt shoulder is likely the culprit when it comes to the few negative-yardage runs he had as the stats above show he usually breaks the first line of defense.
As it stands now, Jacobs is on pace for 1,417 rushing yards and around eight touchdowns, which would easily be the second-best single rushing season in franchise history, only behind Marcus Allen‘s 1985 1,759-yard, 11-touchdown season.
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Now if you include receiving, he would be lower on the list, but it would still be a top-five season by a Raiders back, only behind Allen’s 1984 and 85 seasons, as well as Napolean Kaufman‘s 1997 season. That is great company and Jacobs is already writing himself into the history books.
The blocking has of course been the wheel that keeps the running game-turning and both rookies Foster Moreau and Alec Ingold have had a significant role in that. Against Houston, the Raiders ran a formation you do not see very often in today’s NFL, the full house formation.
That puts both Foster Moreau and Alec Ingold in the backfield in a three-point stance to lead the way for Jacobs. As always the two did a good job in that department.
Outside of that, Ingold rushed for a first on 3rd-and-1 on the Raiders third drive which resulted in a touchdown. That was Ingold’s third career carry and all three of them have been for first downs.
Moreau caught one pass for 10 yards and a first during the fourth quarter. The rookie has proved to have reliable hands when called upon and has been the perfect complement to Darren Waller.