6. Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders
Running back truthers regarded the Raiders’ selection of Jacobs with the 24th overall pick in the first round of the 2019 draft with the standard degree of skepticism — not just because he’s a running back, but because he was never able to manage more than 120 carries in a season in Alabama’s always-loaded backfield. Turned out, all Jacobs needed was more reps to prove his value. In his regular-season debut against the Broncos, Jacobs ran 23 times f for 85 yards and two touchdowns, adding a 28-yard catch for good measure. His worst game of the season was a 10-carry, 34-yard go against the Jets, but there really wasn’t another game in which he was bottled up like that, and he averaged less than four yards per carry in just three of his games. More common were games like his two against the Chiefs — Jacobs beat up the eventual Super Bowl champs for 203 yards on 31 carries. Jacobs proved right away that he could be a high-volume sustainer with six games in which he carried the ball at least 20 times, and no other back broke more rushing tackles in the regular season than Jacobs with 69.
No Raiders rookie in franchise history put up more yards from scrimmage than Josh Jacobs' 1,316 in 2019. And no NFL player broke more tackles in the regular season than Jacobs' 69. Not Chubb, not Henry, not Carson.
He good. pic.twitter.com/z2CgMDTsjE
— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) July 26, 2020
Only 17 running backs have been taken in the first round since 2010, but Jacobs could prove to be the best of the lot down the road.