The Las Vegas Raiders selected Josh Jacobs with the 24th pick of the 2019 NFL Draft. One year later, the running back seems to be the best selection of the three the Silver and Black made back then.Â
Josh Jacobs has proven to be the Raiders best draft pick in 2019
The Las Vegas Raiders entered last years draft with three selections in the first round. With those, they selected Clelin Ferrell, Jacobs, and Johnathan Abram with those picks. Out of the three, the Alabama product had the most productive rookie season. On the other hand, Ferrell didn’t fulfill his potential and Abram missed the year with a shoulder injury.
Jacobs finished his rookie campaign with 1,150 yards and seven touchdowns while averaging 4.5 yards per carry. Pro Football Focus named him the second most elusive player at his position only behind Nick Chubb. He broke 69 tackles as a runner and was even a runner-up for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award. To sum it up, he was pretty much the heart and soul of the Raiders offense in 2019.
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Another ranking, another mention of Josh Jacobs
Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire has been putting up a list of the best players in the NFL by position. In his running back rankings, Jacobs was sixth. Before the Raiders running back were premiere players such as Joe Mixon and Saquon Barkley. Meanwhile, Nick Chubb, Christian McCaffrey, and Derrick Henry ended above the Alabama product.
Besides outlining Jacobs strengths, Farrar talked about how his bad games were few and far between.
His worst game of the season was a 10-carry, 34-yard go against the Jets, but there really wasn’t another game in which he was bottled up like that, and he averaged less than four yards per carry in just three of his games. More common were games like his two against the Chiefs — Jacobs beat up the eventual Super Bowl champs for 203 yards on 31 carries.
If Jacobs can repeat that kind of production against the Chiefs and the Raiders field a competent defense, they will have a shot at defeating the Super Bowl champions in the regular season. Also, to ensure the sophomore running back doesn’t miss games again, the Silver and Black drafted Lynn Bowden Jr to take off some of the load.
Josh Jacobs kick-started the Raiders offense in 2019. Now, it’s up to the team to keep it at full throttle.
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