Since Klint Kubiak arrived in Las Vegas, one of the major talking points around the Raiders’ offense has been the role of Ashton Jeanty.
Kubiak has hinted at the idea of giving Jeanty a workload similar to what Christian McCaffrey has in San Francisco – and if that happens it would be a shift from his approach in Seattle.
But Kubiak has talked differently in recent weeks, and it’s starting to sound like Jeanty could end up sharing his workload again.
Former Raider great Lincoln Kennedy discussed the Raiders’ backfield last week and he believes a running-back-by-committee approach is coming, regardless of Jeanty’s health.
“I’m a firm believer that this group is going to be running back by committee,” Kennedy said last week on the Raiders Squad Show.
“But… when you talk about the parameters of your offense, you don’t want to take a guy off, be it Ashton Jeanty or Mike Washington, for someone else that doesn’t do as good of a job or changes up because maybe he’s a better pass blocker or maybe he’s better out of the backfield. I think all these backs can do that.”
Kennedy added that he prefers the best players to be on the field as much as possible and has concerns about ball security with the backups.
“My biggest question with Dylan [Laube] is his ball security,” Kennedy continued. “It’s also with Mike Washington because he had a history of it. Now, we haven’t seen him put on the ground there yet, but there have been some times where that ball has been a little loose and I’m a little worried about that.”
The other situation involving Jeanty right now is the matter of his injured ankle.
It has been nine days since Jeanty was helped off the practice field following a freakish non-contact injury to his leg.
At the time, there was concern that Jeanty’s season might be in jeopardy, but it’s starting to sound like he’ll be available for the regular season opener on September 13.
Former NFL team doctor David Chao commented on an image of Jeanty walking last week and said based on what he sees in the photo, he would guess that Jeanty will be ready for the season opener.
“I feel better about Jeanty right now,” Chao said on Monday.
“And the reason why is he wasn’t in a boot, wasn’t on crutches, he didn’t have a visible limp. Yes, there was some tape on his shoe or his sock underneath [on] Thursday, a few days ago, to the preseason game. The next game is two and a half weeks from that date. I think he’s going to be there.”
x: @raidersbeat