Is there enough room on Jon Gruden’s roster to keep DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard?
There were rumors leading up to the draft that the Raiders were quietly shopping one of their third-down runners and The Athletic’s Vic Tafur still believes one will be gone by the time the 2018 season begins.
“I don’t think DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard both make the roster, because they are the same size and have similar skill sets,” Tafur wrote on Friday.
Richard had a dynamic rookie season and probably outplayed Washington by just a fraction, but Richard dropped off some in his second season and had real problems with ball security – to such a degree that he led all non-quarterbacks in fumbles (8) in 2017.
Washington tailed off even more than Richard in 2017 (but without the fumbles) and saw his yards-per-carry drop from 5.4 YPC in 2016 to 2.7 YPC in 2017.
At one time, Richard probably had a leg up on Washington in terms of value because of his contributions on special teams, but Gruden recently added a pair of punt returners – and Richard wasn’t that impressive as a returner in the first place.
Richard still has a career average of 5.5 YPC (compared to Washington’s 4.3) and both runners catch the ball well out of the backfield.
If Washington and Richard are, in fact, fighting over a roster spot, it will interesting to see which player Gruden settles on because both are good players.
After myself watching every Raiders game of the past two seasons, it’s a tough call to make. Maybe a very slight lean toward Richard, who might have a higher ceiling in terms of potential.
Ideally, both will find a way to hang around for another year, but that scenario might not be in the cards.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Richard is the better runner by far. He’s averaged 4+ yards per carry compared to Washington who averages less than 3 (terrible). Richard had the fumbles, yes, but most were during return duties; which he won’t be doing this season.
Depth Chart: 1-Lynch, 2-Martin, 3-Richard, 4-Smith (FB), and Practice Squad – Chris Warren or Henry Poggi
Since they did not draft a RB, I think it is less of an issue. Why not? They are both better than Martin with higher PFF grades and despite playing in a crappy implementation of an offense run by Downing last year. I think it is more on Martin to beat one of them out for a spot (most likely Washington) than for them to be considered cuts.
They should cut Martin and keep Richard and Washington. Lynch with those 2 backs. Use a FB a lot for extra yards
same player same skill set
one has to go
and whoever leaves can take seth roberts with them
Jalen needs to stay I believe he’s a little better than Washington and he’s a totally cool guy who loves the Raiders I’ve talked to him a few times on Twitter he gave a shout out to my boys by name