Raiders vs. Saints

Expect plenty of passing and plenty of scoring.

People loved and hated former Raiders coach Hue Jackson, but my biggest criticism had nothing to do with his overstated style.

Jackson kept Kyle Boller as the backup quarterback last season even though he had no faith in him. When starter Jason Campbell went down with a broken clavicle in Week 7, Jackson panicked and Oakland traded a first- and second-round pick for Carson Palmer.

Palmer has been good, but even his mom would admit that’s a steep price tag for a quarterback coming off semiretirement who will be 33 next month.

Two weeks ago, the Raiders lost running backs Darren McFadden and Mike Goodson to high ankle sprains. Taiwan Jones would appear to be next in line, but the coaching staff has no faith in the second-year speedster.

Jones had two carries for 6 yards last week, and fullback Marcel Reece started at tailback and had five carries for 11 yards in the first half, when the game was still in doubt. He finished with 13 carries for 48 yards, and promoted practicesquader Jeremy Stewart had seven for 22 yards.

Jones, the fastest player at the 2011 NFL combine, has problems holding on to the ball. Forget about after contact, we’re talking about handoffs in practice.

Which begs the question, why don’t the Raiders pick up an experienced free agent running back like Steve Slaton, Joseph Addai, Ryan Torain or Ryan Grant?

“No, because it’s that time of year where there’s not a ton of guys that you really want to cut somebody for to bring in,” Palmer said.

Really? The Raiders are 3-6 with bad depth.

They would rather go with Reece, who was a receiver in college. He is a big-time playmaker at fullback but has very little experience at finding and hitting holes as a tailback. This preseason would have been a nice time for that, but this idea was not on the team’s radar — Reece didn’t carry the ball in those four games.

And then he had one — a botched reverse — in the first seven games before McFadden and Goodson got hurt.

I’m not saying Jones is the answer. I just don’t get how when the No. 1 and No. 2 running backs get hurt, the No. 3 guy — and he still is — doesn’t get the ball.