The Athletic's Vic Tafur believes a bell cow role for Josh Jacobs is "unlikely" in 2022.
Tafur went as far as to suggest new head coach Josh McDaniels believes rookie Zamir White is already a superior option to Jacobs and Kenyan Drake. Both Raiders veteran backs will likely be gone after the 2022 season, Tafur said, and the team doesn't see Jacobs as an every-down back in part because he's struggled through a litany of injuries during his three years in the NFL and has shown no explosion as a runner. Former Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew, now an NFL Network analyst, said White fits well with McDaniels' no-frills running scheme. The Raiders are "not that creative a running team, they don’t create explosive plays in the running game — they’re like downhill, A-gap, a little power, they’re not a zone-stretch team," Jones-Drew said. "And if you watch his tape, that’s what [White] is. That’s what he does well.” Drake and former Patriots RB Brandon Bolden, meanwhile, could share pass-catching duties in what could be a maddening backfield for fantasy purposes.
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Zamir White
, Kenyan Drake
SOURCE:
The Athletic
Jun 13, 2022, 11:59 AM ET