Josh Jacobs took the league by storm in his rookie year, but yards haven’t been coming as easily in his second season.
After averaging 4.8 yards per carry as a rookie, Jacobs is getting 3.6 yards per carry through four games this year. He is on pace for 322 rushing attempts this year (compared to 242 last year), but at the rate he’s going, he will rush for only 50 more yards than he did a year ago.
Beyond the raw numbers, Jacobs has already been tackled for a loss on 12 carries (out of 83 rushing attempts) which is almost as many negative plays as he had in all of his rookie year (16).
One of the reasons for Jacobs’ decrease in production is the fact that he is getting a lot carries against a stacked box (8+ defenders), but it’s worrisome that he is only averaging 3.69 yards per carry against boxes of seven or fewer defenders – which ranks him 39th out of 45 qualified running backs.
Another strange dynamic in the Raiders backfield is the fact that Devontae Booker (on just 10 carries) is averaging 5.9 yards per carry, while Jalen Richard and Theo Riddick are combining to average 9.8 yards per carry (on 6 carries). It’s a small sample size, but an oddity nonetheless.
We know Jacobs has been dealing with minor injuries this year, but his biggest issue still seems to be the blocking in front of him. The Raiders offensive line is Pro Football Focus’s 20th ranked run-blocking line. Kolton Miller has been one of the best left tackles in the league in terms of pass protection, but he has struggled as a run blocker. The fact that Richie Incognito and Trent Brown have missed time (all but three snaps in Brown’s case) is also a factor in the Raiders struggling run game.
The Raiders currently have the 16th-ranked run game in the NFL (115.3 yards per game) and are being forced to throw on 57.6% of their offensive plays. In theory, the more a team passes, the more productive their running plays should be (on a per carry basis), but that hasn’t been the case through the Raiders first four games.
If all goes as planned, the return of Incognito and Brown will come soon, but we already know Incognito (injured reserve) won’t be back this week.
Brown will be apparently back when he is good and well ready… whenever that is.
twitter: @raidersbeat
You can get more yardage by going double type and more play action you have to the best tight ends gruden is making bad calls at times for the one you should have went for when he was in other teams 30-yd line some calls don’t make sense You have two of the fastest receivers should be sending too long quick slant across the middle
Gruden, No Es Couch Nunca Lo Fue, Bajo La Sombra De al davis Crecio, Llego a Tampa Con Un team armado pot tony dongy. Luego No Hizo Nada igual. Que Ahora, Tiene a Mayock Que ya Demostro Con Los Jugadores Que Trajo Pero Gruden Con Su Ofensiva Costa Oeste No Va a Ningun Lado. Bill Musgrave Es La Respuesta En La Ofensiva.