Josh Jacobs puts the Raiders on blast despite recent culture shift with Antonio Pierce
The numbers over the past two-plus decades when it comes to the Silver and Black are incredibly disturbing. The team hasn’t won an AFC West title since 2002, when they reached Super Bowl XXXVII. That was also the last season the Raiders came up with a postseason win, defeating the Tennessee Titans in the AFC title game.
Since 2003, the franchise currently known as the Las Vegas Raiders own a 124-215 regular-season record, and came up short in their only two postseason games (2016 and 2021) over that span. All told, 13 of the 21 campaigns would result with at least 10 losses. Ironically, current sideline leader Antonio Pierce is the club’s 13 different head coach since 2003.
Josh Jacobs didn’t like what was happening in Vegas
It was a weird five years for former University of Alabama running back Josh Jacobs. He was one of three first-round draft choices by the Raiders in 2019. He ran for 1,150 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie. He followed that up with 1,065 yards rushing and 12 TDs, and was named to the Pro Bowl in 2020. There was a bit of a falloff in his third season (872 yards) but that would change in a big way in 2022.
Jacobs led the NFL with 1,653 yards on the ground and 2,053 total yards from scrimmage (12 TDs), but before the season began the club announced they would not pick up the fifth-year option on the first-round pick. Instead, the Raiders slapped the franchise tag on the productive pro. He wound up signing a one-year $11.791 million restructured contract extension (via Spotrac).
The five-year veteran wasn’t on the open market long this offseason. The Green Bay Packers came calling to the tune of four years and $48 million. There seems to be a sense of relief when it comes to the Jacobs, who takes over as the main threat out of the backfield for Aaron Jones. It’s safe to say he is now with an organization that is not accustomed to losing seasons.
Going from the success of Alabama to the Raiders struggles, Josh Jacobs couldn't believe players were "cool with losing."@iAM_JoshJacobs | @JOEL9ONE pic.twitter.com/5hfPTSmzGg
— Green Light with Chris Long (@greenlight) June 7, 2024
The 26-year-old running back finishes his Raiders’ career with 6,993 yards from scrimmage and 46 touchdowns. It will be interesting to see what kind of overall numbers he puts up with Matt LaFleur’s team and rising quarterback Jordan Love. FYI, Jacobs has 197 regular-season receptions but has never caught a TD pass.
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