Raiders HC sends clear message to star RB Ashton Jeanty about his future

The Las Vegas Raiders are one of the most intriguing teams during this NFL offseason. They have the first overall pick, a new, exciting head coach, and plenty of young talent to work with. One of those talents is running back Ashton Jeanty, and new HC Klint Kubiak has just sent him a message.

Kubiak sent some praise to projected first-overall pick Fernando Mendoza, but also spoke recently on the usage of RB Ashton Jeanty. In a shocking turn of events, Kubiak said, “We definitely want a two-man show [at RB]… it’s a long season. You don’t want to put all the carries and targets on one guy. It’s important Ashton Jeanty has a wingman.”

Jeanty was seen as a workhorse who was absolutely unstoppable back in the day in Boise State. The Raiders failed to utilize him properly during his rookie year, so everyone expected Kubiak to come to the team and give him the spotlight. Instead, he wants to take half of the spotlight off him with a committee.

The Raiders don’t have another good RB on their roster

Last year, the Raiders also had reliable veteran Raheem Mostert on the roster, but now he is a free agent, so the Raiders would have to bring in another running back to create a reliable committee. They do have Zamir White in the final year of a 4-year, $4.4 million rookie contract. It remains to be seen if White is part of Kubiak’s plan, or if the Raiders will seek a new guy to join Jeanty on the RB depth chart.

Breece Hall, Kenneth Walker III (who just won Super Bowl MVP in large part thanks to Kubiak), and Travis Etienne Jr. are scheduled to become free agents, though it is more than likely they all return to their respective teams. After them, names like Kenneth Gainwell, Rachaad White, Rico Dowdle, and Tyler Allgeier would be the most recognizable. Gainwell, White, and Dowdle have thrived in committees before, while Allgeier was the backup for the Falcons but still saw a fare share of snaps, especially in the red zone.

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Kubiak had plenty of success using a RB-by-committee

Kubiak might be in love with the committee approach because of his success last season with the Seahawks during the Super Bowl-winning campaign. He used almost a 50/50 committee between Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet. Walker had 1,309 scrimmage yards and five touchdowns, while Charbonnet racked up 874 scrimmage yards, and 12 touchdowns.

Jeanty had 975 yards in 266 rushes, which brings him a 3.7 yards per attempt. However, it needs to be mentioned that the Raiders had one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL. Hence, Jeanty needs help but not only with another RB taking part of the load. Instead, he needs an offensive line that can actually open holes for him.