Oakland Raiders: Role of Marshawn Lynch and rest of backfield

After losing their leading rusher and signing Marshawn Lynch out of retirement, the backfield of the Oakland Raiders is in a state of flux and unknown.

The Oakland Raiders were an interesting situation in the league last season. Their rushing game ended up being sixth in the league, and yet none of their running backs rushed for over 800 yards. This is mostly due to the amount of time split between rookies Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington, who rushed for 491 and 467 yards respectively.

The leading rusher on the team, Latavius Murray, signed a three-year contract in March with the Minnesota Vikings. The Raiders were faced will a dilemma on how to replace the 788 yards and 12 touchdowns Murray rushed for last season. Their solution? Marshawn Lynch.

Lynch retired from the Seattle Seahawks after the 2015 season in which he only played 7 games due to injury. The Raiders and Lynch, an Oakland native, discovered a mutual interest during this offseason and Lynch decided to unretire only to play for Oakland.

In Lynch Oakland gets one of the strongest power backs of the generation. Lynch is an incredible talent who has rushed for over 1,000 yards six times during his nine-year career. Lynch is also a touchdown machine, scoring 57 rushing touchdowns in the 82 games he played in Seattle. For comparison, Richard and Washington combined for a total of 3 touchdowns last season.

It is important to note that Lynch will likely not be the three-down back he was with Seattle. Lynch is now 31 years old. The list of successful running backs after 30 is a short one and expecting Lynch to have over 300 attempts as he did in Seattle is unrealistic. The good news for Lynch and the Raiders is Richard and Washington and still likely to be featured heavily in this offense. The skills of the young backs also complement Lynch’s role, rather than step on it.

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Lynch is a strong downhill runner who breaks tackles by sheer will power and great vision. Washington is a small, versatile runner who can do a little bit of everything. Washington is a reliable pass catcher, can line up in the slot if needed, or can be physical at the line. Richard is a pass catching speed demon who can have a similar role of players like Darren Sproles and Danny Woodhead.

While Lynch is by far the biggest name on the roster Oakland will likely take advantage of all their back and will plug-and-play them based on the situation.

Oakland also drafted North Carolina running back Elijah Hood in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft. While Hood will likely not get a lot of time to play due to the crowded backfield, he is a powerful back who can be put in for pass blocking and could vulture some goal-line touches from Richard and Washington at times.

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It is more likely that Hood could be groomed by the Oakland offensive staff to be the eventual replacement of Lynch to keep a power option is this new backfield system.