Will Ashton Jeanty be part of a timeshare in the Raiders backfield now that Klint Kubiak is the head coach, and Mike Washington was added in the fourth round of this year’s draft?
Based on Kubiak’s comments this week, it sounds like the coaching staff considers Jeanty as a player that can have a Christian McCaffrey-type role in Las Vegas, but is that realistic expectation or just coach speak in May?
We’ll find out the truth in September, but the California Post’s Vinny Bonsignore thinks the Raiders need to keep Jeanty on the field because he’s a dynamic player, but also to justify his draft position and salary.
“I think it’s going to be, or should be, 75 to 80 percent of the time with Ashton Jeanty out there on the field, and then have somebody that comes in there, and that probably will be Mike Washington, filling in when he can and having a nice role for himself,” Bonsignore said on Raider Nation Radio’s JT the Brick Show.
“That’s why you drafted [Jeanty]. That’s why Christian McCaffrey was drafted where he was drafted,” Bonsignore continued.
“I hate to say it this way, but if you’re going to invest that highly in a running back, you want to get the bang for your buck because they become really high paid running backs in the league simply because of where running backs are getting paid nowadays. The top of the market for running back is nowhere near what it is for other premium positions like a quarterback or a defensive end, an offensive tackle… So, to even just justify making that pick, you have to get the most out of it, especially at this time.”
What was interesting about Bonsignore’s comments are that the Raiders had Jeanty on the field for 78 percent of offensive snaps in his rookie year, so the biggest challenge for the new coaching staff will be to get more production from Jeanty when the second-year running back is on the field.
For what it’s worth, Jeanty commented on his workload going forward, and he wants to be on the field as much as possible.
“Obviously, I want to help the team win as much as I can, and if I don’t have to, I don’t want to come off the field,” Jeanty told reporters on Wednesday.
Kubiak is known to prefer a two-back system and has said as much in the last few months. But if there was ever a time to deviate from that approach a little, this might be the year.
x: @raidersbeat