Jacobs is willing to carry the load
It’s up to Derek Carr to distribute the ball like a point guard, but it will be Josh Jacobs taking the shots.
Yes, the Raiders proved they’re willing to push the ball downfield on occasion to rookie Henry Ruggs III in their 34-30 win over the Carolina Panthers in Week 1.
But if you know anything about coach Jon Gruden, there’s a part of him that identifies with the old John McKay line at USC about wearing out opponents using one player as a ball-carrying sledgehammer:
“The ball isn’t heavy, and besides he doesn’t belong to a union.”
Jacobs is in a union, but the only limits placed upon his usage will be his own 5-foot-10, 220-pound body and how it stands up to the pounding of an NFL season. With one-sixteenth of the precincts reporting, it’s so far, so good.
“I thought about how would I feel after this game,” Jacobs said Wednesday during a zoom conference call. “I feel good. I remember last year I felt like I was in a car crash.”
Jacobs tied his career high set against Chicago in London last season with 29 touches with 25 carries for 93 yards and four receptions for 46 more. He scored three touchdowns, all on runs inside the 10-yard line.
Afterward, in one of those Grudenesque moment of hyperbole, he said, “That was a little bit like Walter Payton used to play.”
That’s Payton, as in the NFL player who amassed 4,430 rushes and receptions in 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears en route to the Hall of Fame. That’s surpassed only by Emmitt Smith, and Payton actually averaged more touches per game, 22.8 to 21.8.
Jacobs is at 20.8 touches per game in 14 career games and if anything, given Gruden’s plan to involve him more in the receiving game, that figure could go up instead of down.
If the Raiders are the playoff contender they hope to be, Jacobs will carry much of the freight, given he’s averaged 24.9 touches in the seven games they’ve won in which he’s played.
Jacobs was never a full-time back at Alabama, sharing the load with both Damien Harris and Najee Harris. It was a bit of a gamble to make him a bell cow back with the No. 24 pick in the 2019 draft.
Jacobs fractured a shoulder in the sixth game of the season as a rookie but played on through 13 games, rushing for 1,150 yards. He now has a better idea of how to prepare for an NFL season.
“It’s football. I can’t remember when I went into a game fully fresh, no nicks, no bruises,” Jacobs said. “It comes with the game. It’s all mental, really. Like when you’re feeling hurt or whatever, your mind puts you at another level and that’s kind of
what I did last year with the shoulder.”
One of Jacobs’ best assets is breaking tackles, with 87 percent of his yardage against the Panthers coming after contact according to Pro Football Focus. The Raiders will rely on their medical staff to determine Jacobs’ workload to some extent, but mostly they’ll listen to the running back himself.
“It’s definitely a personal decision,” Jacobs said. “They kind of gave me free reign to shuttle myself in and out. When the game is on the line, I always want to be in the game. For me, I’d rather take my chances out there.”
It’s a situation that bears watching and will go a long way toward determining if the Raiders are truly a playoff contender. He’ll be the focal point of every defensive game plan. Jacobs had his 29 touches against
Carolina in 49 snaps. Eight times he has averaged 50 percent or better in terms of ratio of touches to snaps.
Translation: When Jacobs is on the field, there’s better than a 50-50 chance he’ll have the ball in his hands.
The difference this year will be adding receptions to the mix. The six targets and four catches exceeded anything Jacobs did as a rookie. And there’s an ancillary benefit of catching the ball as opposed to running it.
WOODSON A HALL NOMINEE » It was pretty much a foregone conclusion, but former Raiders and Green Bay Packers defensive back Charles Woodson joined coach Tom Flores as nominees for the Class of 2021. It’s a strong class, given the presence of quarterback
Peyton Manning and wide receiver Calvin Johnson as first-time nominees.
Playing 11 seasons for the Raiders and seven with the Packers, Woodson was a three-time All-Pro, ninetime Pro Bowler, Defensive Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. He finished with 65 interceptions (tied for fifth alltime) and 11 touchdowns on defensive returns.
Flores was named as a coaches nominee on Aug. 18 and will be subject to a yes or no vote by the 48 selectors, needing 80 percent for induction.
SAINTS STAR THOMAS TO MISS RAIDERS » Saints AllPro wide receiver Michael Thomas is expected to miss multiple games with a high ankle sprain, including Monday’s game in Las Vegas.
Thomas was injured in the Saints’ season-opening win over Tampa Bay but didn’t believe he’d miss the Raiders game -- until a follow-up evaluation Tuesday revealed his ankle was in worse shape than he believed, according to ESPN.