Raiders Change Running Back Roles As Jeanty Gets Demoted

The Las Vegas Raiders made a big change at running back against the New York Jets, demoting Ashton Jeanty to receiving back as rookie Mike Washington Jr. continued to step up and give the Raiders yardage on the ground. 

Washington didn’t get many carries in the first half, but when he did he was consistently able to get three or four yards on the kinds of plays where Jeanty was getting stoned. Jeanty’s only carry in the first half was a short yardage run on their down, and he got stuffed for a yard and came up short. 

The rookie running back took over in the third quarter, as he contributed a pair of runs when the Raiders opened the second half with a nice touchdown drive. It was very obvious when Jeanty entered the game that they weren’t going to run, and the running back’s contributions initially consisted of a pair of safety-valve receptions for 19 yards. 

The pattern continued as the game went along, and at one point Jeanty was being outrushed by Cousins when the quarterback executed a quarterback sneak for a touchdown, with Cousins having three yards to just one for Jeanty.

Jeanty did redeem himself to some extent during the Raiders’ third touchdown drive of the second half, as he got loose for a 45-yard catch-and-run from the flat that ended inside the Jets 10-yard line. 

But it was Washington who took over down the stretch when he did some tough running between the tackles with the Raiders ahead by two, 35-33, and Las Vegas needing a clock-killing first down. The rookie got it for them, and the result was a 53-yard field goal by Matt Gay that allowed the Raiders to win the game. 

The final stats verified the stark contrast between their respective roles, with Washington getting 83 yards on 25 carries, and his low average per carry didn’t come close to reflecting his value as the rookie took over the role.

Jeanty did the same as the receiving back, as he wound up catching three passses for 64 yards, with most of those yards coming on that one explosive play. 

It will be interesting to see what coach Klint Kubiak has to say about all this given how obvious the strategy was. He’ll probably have some sort of situational explanation, but it was more than obvious what was happening, both at the beginning and as the game played out.