When the Raiders drafted Josh Jacobs in the first round of the draft last year, Jon Gruden told Jacobs that he wanted him to win the league’s Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Part of those expectations from Gruden were on Jacobs, but he placed a lot on himself, too. Gruden is an offensive guru and he hand-picked Jacobs to be the bell cow of the Raiders running game.
When Jacobs was snubbed by the Associated Press voters for the award, Gruden was none too happy.
“I think that people out here, Oakland and Las Vegas, and Jon Gruden especially, thought he should have been Rookie of the Year,” The Athletic’s Vic Tafur said to CBS Sports on Friday. “So when he wasn’t Rookie of the Year, I think Jon [Gruden] took it personally. Jon was upset about it. I think he wants to make people realize they made a big mistake.”
For what it’s worth, Jacobs absolutely deserved the award. Not only did he have a more impressive rookie season than Kyler Murray, he did it with a fracture in his shoulder that forced the Raiders to end his season in week 15. Murray, on the other hand, closed out the year with 6 touchdowns and 7 interceptions… which is barely better than closing out the season by not playing at all.
twitter: @raidersbeat
A definite injustice. Here’s hoping JJ hits 2000 scrimmage yds
Exactly! We all know Josh Jacobs was robbed of the award but it’s all good. Just watch this season and years to come. #RN4L #RN4E