Last time Oakland Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio was a head coach, the running game was very important to him. He had Bill Musgrave, who likes to run the ball down his opponents throats, as his offensive coordinator. The two got back together with the Raiders last year and the Raiders weren’t very good in the running game.
They were ranked No. 28 in rushing in 2015 and lost a few close games because they couldn’t ice them by running the ball. Del Rio is a former linebacker that wants his teams to be physical and a strong running game is a part of it. So even though he has a franchise quarterback and receiver, he wants to improve the running game and vowed to do so a couple of weeks ago.
He said in an interview with SiriusXM NFL radio, “We didn’t run effectively enough. That’s one of the things we’re addressing right now. Some of it is who we were running it with. Some of it is how we’re blocking for that runner and some of it is coaching and play design.
“Also at issue was the number of times we did it. We didn’t run as much because we weren’t as effective as we needed to be. It’s one of those things that snowballed in a bad way.”
And among the first to strike with big money during the free agency tampering period were the Raiders. The team agreed in principle to a 5-year deal worth a maximum of $60 million Tuesday with former Baltimore Ravens guard/tackle Kelechi Osemele. The 26-year-old Osemele was impressive when pressed into duty as a left tackle after playing guard for over four years in the NFL.
So the Raiders have options, not having to break the back for 32-year-old impending free agent Donald Penn. If Penn comes back to the Raiders, Osemele can play guard, giving the Raiders a physical presence inside. If not, Osemele will give the Raiders one of the most physical left tackles in the NFL.
Either way, he makes the Raiders more physical up front!
That’s why they’re paying the No. 3-rated free agent the big bucks!