Oakland Raiders: Run Game Struggles Not On Offensive Line

In 2014, the Oakland Raiders had the worst offense in the NFL in terms of yards per game. They were 26th in passing ahead of six teams only one of which made the playoffs in the Seattle Seahawks. The Raiders finished dead last in rush yards per game finishing with an abysmal 77.5 yards per game.

Now conventional wisdom would have you blame the offensive line for the Raiders’ inability to run the ball and many people did. Because of that rushing number, many believed that the offensive line as a whole performed poorly but that was not the case.

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In terms of pass protection, the Raiders finished 6th in the league with just 28 sacks allowed. That number is made all the more significant by the fact that the Raiders had the 4th most passing attempts in the league. One could argue that 28 sacks in over 600 passing attempts is not just good, it is great.

However the question we have to ask is, if the Raiders O-Line was so good at protecting Derek Carr, why couldn’t they open up holes for the stable of running backs? Well the answer to that question is very simple. If you put a washed up player like Maurice Jones-Drew or a player that has lost his burst in Darren McFadden in the backfield, then the run game will struggle mightily.

If you put a capable running back in the backfield like Latavius Murray, then things change very rapidly. The difference in the three players’ yards per rush tells a story on its own. Drew rushed for 2.2 yards per carry, McFadden at 3.4, and Murray finished the season at 5.2.

Granted Murray’s is skewed because of his huge performance against Kansas City (4 carries for 112 yards) but that alone should show that he was the difference maker and it was not the offensive line holding back the run game.

Instead of just looking at each individual player’s average, we can also take a look at how the team did as a whole in the run game when Murray was the leading rusher versus McFadden or even Derek Carr.

With Latavius Murray as the leading rusher, the Raiders averaged 103 yards per game on the ground, boosted by big games of 179 and 140 against the Chiefs and Buffalo Bills respectively. The Bills struggled against the run all season long but the Chiefs were a top five run defense and the Raiders put up nearly 200 yards on them. That 103 per game average is still not good enough for a top 15 spot but it is a marked improvement over the actual average of just 77.

In contrast to the numbers with Murray, with McFadden or Carr as the leading rusher, the Raiders averaged just 63 yards per game. More than 10 yards less than their season average. The Raiders offensive line was one of the few position groups that was not a concern last season and Reggie McKenzie still made it a priority to improve it.

He essentially swapped Stefen Wisniewski, a perennial underachiever, with a mauler in former Chief Rodney Hudson. McKenzie also drafted two offensive linemen who may be long term projects but could surprise and compete right away. So with an improved offensive line, a new stable of backs ready to prove themselves, and a commitment to it under Offensive Coordinator Bill Musgrave, the Oakland Raiders’ run game next season may end up being the team’s strength.

Next: Oakland Raiders 2015 NFL Draft Grades

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