Silver And Black Pride
A couple weeks back, I wrote about needing to be patient about the Raiders playing their rookies and that has aged like fine milk sitting on the counter. The Raiders are 2-5, they are the definition of awful. Somehow, they might not be the worst team in the NFL but they sure are close, a case can be made that they are worse than the 2024, 2018, and 2014 Raiders (maybe not 2014 but it’s close). The offense is a mess, the defense is a mess, and the special teams unit is not only the worst in the NFL but on pace to be one of the worst in NFL history. Sitting at 2-5, there’s no chance at a wild card spot, not that one was really in the future picture anyway. The Raiders made 11 selections in May, time to look at their production and where things are heading:
Jeanty is getting playtime, he’s logged 111 attempts for 445 yards and 3 TD with another 15 receptions, 86 yards and two touchdowns. The issue doesn’t come with his limit of playtime but how poorly he’s been used. Jeanty has been on the field for just 47% of the Raiders third down snaps often seeing Zamir White, Raheem Mostert, or Dylan Laube play instead which is acceptable due to Jeanty’s average pass blocking however in short yardage situations no one other than Jeanty should be on the field. Jeanty struggled through the Raiders first three games logging just a 3.5 YPC and after back to back games over 4.5 YPC he’s down to 3.4 in the Raiders last two games and a total of 3.9 on the season. Jeanty is top 10 in yards, breakaway rate, elusiveness rating, and forced missed tackles. Jeanty only posed 6 touches for 21 yards vs the Chiefs, a horrendous rate for a team looking to “establish the run”, despite those 6 touches he still posted 23 yards after contact (yes 23) and forced 4 missed tackles. Drafting a runningback top 10 as a rebuilding team is already a questionable decision, but failing to utilize that selection makes it worse.
The Raiders selected Bech 58th overall, and in his rookie season he’s logged 7 receptions for 73 yards. Bech originally was behind Dont’e Thornton for a starting role but pushed out Thornton due to his ability to create separation and stronger hands. At 6’2/215 Bech is a solidified player to play in the slot, similar to what he did at TCU, only the Raiders have played him in the slot on 9.7% of his snaps compared to a near 90% mark in college. With the rumors of trading Jakobi Meyers rising, there’s the likely assumption that Bech will see more targets, snaps, and hopefully production. The Raiders passing offense is dead and exclusively going through Meyers and Tucker but Bech needs to be more involved. The 2nd rounder is averaging 1.87 yards of separation, which is 27th among all...
