Through the first 13 games of the season, you can make a strong case that Josh Jacobs should have been the Rookie of the Year. On just 262 touches, Jacobs totaled 1,316 yards and seven touchdowns before ending the season on the injured reserve list with a shoulder injury.
While Jacobs’ rookie season was highly impressive, many wondered why the Raiders didn’t feature the former Alabama star more. In those 13 games he played, there were three games in which Jacobs saw 12 or fewer touches. For a player that proved to be that dynamic and efficient, it’s unacceptable that they went away from him so often.
In a recent mailbag by Vic Tafur of The Athletic, he mentioned that head coach Jon Gruden recognized that he went away from Jacobs too often last season. According to Tafur, Gruden has promised to get his star running back more touches this season:
“I heard that Gruden was so mad last year that Jacobs didn’t win Offensive Rookie of the Year (the third-best rookie, Kyler Murray, did because he is a quarterback) that he vowed that Jacobs would get more carries and more receptions to prove what a crime the voters had committed.”
The easiest way to ensure that Jacobs gets more touches in the 2020 season is to use him more as a receiver. Coming out of Alabama, that was considered one of his strengths as he is a fantastic pass-blocker and has shown soft hands whenever targeted.
But despite his passing game accolades in the SEC, Jacobs caught just 20 passes last year and only saw more than three targets in one contest. Jalen Richard will still do a lot of heavy lifting in the passing game, but getting Jacobs more targets and receptions on early downs could prove to be highly beneficial to the offense.
After averaging 20 touches per game last season, it wouldn’t be a surprise if that number rises to 21 or 22 this year. And if Gruden is serious about trying to get him more involved in the passing game, there is a chance he could see 24-25 touches per game. Expect Jacobs to continue to be a workhorse for the Raiders this season and for him to put up monster numbers in his sophomore season.
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