The Oakland Raiders are resurrecting their running game!
They are traditionally known to have a power-running game with the deep ball on offense. And in 2015, the deep ball started to come back as 2nd-year quarterback Derek Carr got going. But the running game has been absent the last few years.
GM Reggie McKenzie allowed Dennis Allen, his last head coach, to experiment with zone-blocking. And after that failed miserably, McKenzie pulled the plug on zone-blocking and later Allen. Then he hired Jack Del Rio, a man who has the same vision of what Raider football is, to coach the team.
They want to play smash-mouth football and be intimidators on both sides of the ball like in years past. What they’ve done on the defensive side of the ball already has all the headlines. But what they now have on offense will resurrect the running game, which is equally important.
The Raiders will have an easier time holding lead and not have to lean so heavily on Carr.
Turn the page for a look at the ingredients of their running game.
Next: Latavius Murray