Oakland Raiders running back Josh Jacobs managed to make franchise history by breaking Marcus Allen’s record for rushing yards by a rookie during the 31-24 win over the Detroit Lions in Week 9.
The Raiders made quite the investment in Jacobs by using one of their three first-round picks on him during the 2019 NFL Draft and it is safe to say that he has been as good as advertised. He managed to gash the Lions defense for 120 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries to help secure the nailbiting victory.
It took just eight games into the 2019 NFL season for Jacobs to surpass Allen’s previous record of 697 yards. He still has plenty of time left to add on to his historic start to the year.
Although Jacobs is honored to join such elite company, he is happy to just play his role at a high level, via Alex Butler of UPI:
“It’s great just because of who he is and to be in the company with him,” Jacobs said. “I don’t really look at accolades and stats like that, I just try to play my game.”
It is undoubtedly encouraging to see that Jacobs is not concerned with racking up individual statistics. Fortunately, his efforts were not spoiled as the Raiders managed to close out a clutch victory to get themselves back in the win column.
While the 21-year-old may not care much for the accolades, there is no question that some are well on their way considering he has easily established himself as the frontrunner to take home NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. He is currently sixth in the league with 740 rushing yards and is averaging nearly five yards per carry.
It is no secret that head coach Jon Gruden has made an effort to establish a strong run game early on and it has only improved with the return of their starting offensive line. Gruden has not been hesitant with having Jacobs serve as the central force of the league’s sixth-best rushing attack.
Fortunately, the rookie has proven capable of handling the heavy workload thus far and is certainly showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. Regardless, Gruden may want to exercise some caution in order to ensure that Jacobs is not experiencing any unnecessary wear and tear so early in his career.
The win against Detroit has put Oakland back in the driver’s seat for the second half of the season and they will be looking to keep it going in Week 10 against the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday Night Football.
