Who Will Win the Oakland Raiders' Starting Running Back Battle?

There are two different types of running backs vying for the starting position with the Oakland Raiders. On one hand, you have a larger back who needs more carries but can control the tempo of a game. Then you have a leaner back capable of breaking away for 90 yards at any point in the game.

Trent Richardson is the former and Latavius Murray is the latter. Who should win the position battle?

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Murray Not Ready

Head coach Jack Del Rio has preached about earning your spot. What if I told you Murray has 82 career carries, which is equivalent to four games for a workhorse RB carrying the ball 20-21 times per game? Should that limited body of work vault him into the starting position?

My concern with Murray is he’s still a very raw talent learning the game, much like a mid-round pick out of college. Why thrust him into the starting position after only six significant games of NFL football?

Week	Carries	Yards	Touchdowns
11	4	43	0
12	4	112	2
14	23	76	0
15	12	59	0
16	23	86	0
17	10	37	0

Murray carried the ball 20-plus times in only two of those six games and only scored two touchdowns—both in the same game. His sample showed his potential, but was he spectacular? Outside of a 90-yard TD run against the Kansas City Chiefs, Murray’s numbers were average. After the Chiefs game he carried the ball 68 times for 258 yards over the span of four games; that’s not spectacular, that’s OK.

Murray was placed on injured reserve after getting his ankle scoped in his rookie year. In that same Chiefs game where he showed potential, he was dinged with a concussion, forcing him to miss the following game against the St. Louis Rams.

As a result, we have six games in which he played significant time, two notable injuries, two career touchdowns scored in the same game and one 90-yard dash. Does that really sound like a running back ready to take over the starting job?

The second-year RB is only 24 years old and has time to develop. There’s no need to rush him into the featured back position if he isn’t quite ready. As Bleacher Report’s Chris Hansen pointed out, the Raiders’ offseason moves indicate they’re not totally sold on Murray carrying the bulk of the load:

Raiders' Offensive Line Setup for Richardson 

The right side of the Raiders' offensive line is a bit shaky but one thing to note is the size of the linemen on that side of the ball. Austin Howard is a 6’7”, 333-pound offensive tackle who is larger than the projected starting right guard, whether it’s Khalif Barnes (6’6”, 305 pounds) or Jon Feliciano (6’4”, 323 pounds). The Raiders are going with bulk, which bodes well for Richardson as an in-between-the-crease ball-carrier.

Generally, coaches prefer more athletic linemen who are able to move around in space with quickness to accommodate RBs with a fast-twitch change-of-direction style of running. In Oakland's case, its projected starting right tackle, Howard, compares in size to starting guard Gabe Jackson (6’3”, 336 pounds). 

Oakland's larger linemen will benefit Richardson in a similar fashion reminiscent of his days at Alabama. This isn’t to say Murray cannot have success behind the same run protection, but Richardson has already proved to be successful with this particular setup.

Richardson’s confidence in the Raiders’ system even pushed him to use the term “bell cow” running back, which is a dying breed in the league per Scott Bair of CSNBayarea.com:

"

We went over the offense and saw a lot of stuff that I saw in college,” Richardson said. “I know this playbook already, especially when it comes to the run. I know what they expect and how they’re going to spread the field, putting me in a position to be successful. With that, in talking to [Head] Coach [Jack Del Rio], he just said there is just a lot of opportunity out here. He said he isn’t going to promise me anything, but if I come in and work, I can be that bell cow.

"

Murray has two seasons in Oakland, which gives him the edge as far as familiarity, but Richardson isn’t coming in clueless. He has a handle on the system the Raiders plan to run and it seems taylor-made to help the bruising RB flourish.

Pass Protection

Many forget running the ball isn’t the be-all end-all of becoming a premier RB. A complete tailback has to pick up blitz assignments and become another line of protection for the quarterback on passing downs.

Oakland has done so much to build around Derek Carr during the offseason, whether it’s adding wide receivers, upgrading to a tight end who blocks well or in this case signing an RB who excels at picking up blocking assignments on cue. Say what you want about Richardson’s rushing numbers with the Indianapolis Colts, but he was eighth-best among RBs in pass-blocking efficiency per ProFootballFocus.

If the point is to provide Carr with ample time to dissect a defense, it makes sense to add an RB who can become a supplement to what can be a disastrous pass-blocking display on the right side of the offensive line.

Ultimately, it all depends on what you want out of a featured back. Do you want someone who can control tempo and limit the possessions of an opposing high-powered offense or do you want lightning in a bottle? Lightning in a bottle isn’t hard to come by, but a player who controls the tempo of the game is what Marshawn Lynch does to a T.

Rob Carr/Getty Images

I’m not saying Richardson will become Lynch, but before he became “Beast Mode” in Seattle, he was just a serviceable RB in Buffalo traded for a fourth-round pick and a conditional pick.

Sounds comical now, just like the running jokes about Richardson’s yards per run average, but a rugged tailback steamrolling through a defensive line with a chip on his shoulder will be the last thing Raiders opponents laugh about on Sundays.

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