The Raiders have struggled to run the ball in recent weeks, but Derek Carr says it’s only a matter of time before the running game in Las Vegas is going to break out.
Carr has a history with the three most influential offensive coaches in the Raiders’ building, and Carr believes the process involved in resurrecting the running game in Las Vegas might take a while, but the coaches and players will figure it out.
“The run game hasn’t been going well yet, but I promise you, the one thing I know about Klint [Kubiak], I know and [offensive line coach Rick Dennison and [offensive coordinator] Andrew Janocko, that thing is going to get humming,” Carr said on the Home Grown podcast.
“When it happens, now it may it may be this year, it may be next year when they add a couple more pieces that fit, whatever that is, whenever that gets going, they might score 50 a game. You know what’s crazy is they couldn’t even get to the line of scrimmage last year in the run game. This has already shown some actual life. There are some life things that have been shown. Is it great yet? No. Some of those things you can change overnight. They’ve done the schematic change, now they’re learning a new system for however many times in a row. Once they get this down, I promise they’ll be fine.”
Raiders coaching staff looking for answers
Last week, head coach Klint Kubiak stressed the importance of getting back to running the ball effectively, and acknowledged the team has to get back to doing some of the things they did well in week 1.
“Going back to that first game, just as a whole unit, we played better,” Kubiak said. “We were more efficient running the football, and that’s something we’ve got to get back to and it’s something that we’re diligent about. We’re practicing, and it’s players and coaches working together.”
The challenge for Kubiak and the Raiders, though, is that not every team is the Miami Dolphins.
Additionally, opposing defenses have been selling out to stop the run, and that is part of the reason why Kirk Cousins has been able to put up big numbers.
One theme that has been flying under the radar this week is that changes could be coming on the interior of the Raiders’ offensive line. Caleb Rogers has been pushing Jackson Powers-Johnson and Spencer Burford, and the second-year guard could be in line for an increased role this week against the Bills.
x: @raidersbeat
Who?
It will only ever happen if Kubiak benches Jeanty and makes Washington the starter.