The Raiders’ run game has spent the last few seasons dragging the whole offense down, but training camp is giving Las Vegas a different kind of look this year. The work on the ground has become a clear point of emphasis, and the team is showing signs that it wants to build its offense from that foundation.
That’s a big shift for a team that finished with the fewest rushing yards in the NFL in two of the past three seasons, and third-fewest in the other. Injuries, uneven play, poor quarterback performance, a thin offensive line and shaky positional coaching all fed into the problem. The Raiders cycled through running backs and offensive coordinators at a dizzying pace, and even using the No. 6 pick on Ashton Jeanty last year didn’t stop them from finishing last in rushing.
Jeanty still managed to break the franchise rookie record for scrimmage yards while running behind what was described as arguably the worst offensive line in the league and with the quarterback who finished with the most interceptions last season. That made the bigger issue pretty clear: the lack of production on the ground was about far more than the back carrying the ball.
This offseason, the Raiders attacked the problem directly. They brought in offensive line coach Rick Dennison and signed center Tyler Linderbaum, two moves that should help reshape the unit in front of Jeanty. The front office clearly invested in the offense, and the people around Jeanty now look like they can help unlock a much better season.
The names around him matter, too. With Klint Kubiak, Andrew Janocko, Dennison, and Linderbaum in the mix, Jeanty appears positioned for a breakout.
But the bigger point from camp is that the Raiders are not treating him like the only answer. They are building depth behind him, too, which should help both the offense and Jeanty’s long-term workload.
That showed up in the preseason loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Jeanty was efficient in limited work, and rookie Mike Washington broke loose for a 53-yard run that would have ranked among the Raiders’ longest runs last season. Las Vegas also still has Dylan Laube, who has earned a roster spot over the past two seasons through special teams and has also looked better as a runner this offseason.
Sunday’s practice put the emphasis on display again. The Raiders leaned hard into their ground game work, and it stood out as more concentrated attention than the offense seemed to get in that area a year ago. The approach under Kubiak is different, and the repetition has been obvious throughout offseason workouts and camp.
The Raiders are showing they want to run the ball and are willing to take what defenses give them, whether that means Jeanty grinding out three-yard gains or Washington flashing explosive speed. Based on what has happened in camp, Las Vegas does not look like a team headed for another season near the bottom of the rushing rankings.
There is still plenty to clean up, but the trend is clear: every practice under Kubiak has brought some level of progress. The loss to Arizona seemed to sharpen that even more, as the Raiders looked more polished than they had before their first preseason game. With a joint practice and a second preseason game coming up in just a few days, the direction is encouraging.
The Raiders are putting in the work and actually getting better. Now the task is simple: keep that momentum going and get to Week 1 as healthy as possible.
In Other News...
Brock Bowers' Absence Just Put Raiders Fans On Edge
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What makes this one linger is the silence around it. The Raiders have not attached any official explanation to Bowers absence, and for a player whose workload has mattered so much to the offense, any missed practice naturally gets watched a little more closely as the week goes on. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Suddenly Have A Tough Roster Call At Defensive End
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For a team sorting through the back end of the defensive line, that kind of showing can quickly complicate the numbers game. Johnson now looks like the type of player who forces the coaching staff to keep taking a harder look, especially when the Raiders are weighing production, versatility and who can earn a spot on the 53-man roster. [Read more 🡒]
Overlooked Raiders Just Gave The Coaching Staff Early Roster Answers
The Raiders preseason opener against the Cardinals turned up more than just the usual first-look takeaways for fans tracking the roster bubble. A few players who did not draw the loudest buzz still made their case in ways the coaching staff will notice, especially on the lines and in the middle of the defense. Charles Grant, Atonio Mafi and Caleb Rogers each stood out with their blocking work, while Treven Ma'ae, Greedy Vance Jr., Cody Lindenberg and Dalton Johnson chipped in with effective tackling and coverage snaps.
Tyler Duzansky also made a quiet push in the long-snapping battle, grading out ahead of his competition and adding another small but meaningful data point for a staff trying to sort through the back end of the roster. In a preseason setting, those kinds of contributions can matter just as much as the flash plays, because they help separate the players who are simply filling out camp bodies from the ones who are starting to build real trust. [Read more 🡒]