It wasn’t too long ago, Jalen Richard was one of the most important players on the Raiders’ offense. In 2018, Richard set career highs in receptions (68) and receiving yards (609) as he was one of Derek Carr’s favorite weapons in the passing game.
But after the team selected Josh Jacobs in the first round, Richard has seen his usage fall dramatically. In fact, he’s even lost snaps to backup DeAndre Washington, as well. However, Richard is still an important part of this offense and showed that on Sunday.
On the team’s final drive of the game, Richard touched the ball just four times and tallied 64 yards to get the Raiders into scoring position. He was able to create chunk plays with his legs, helping steal a game at home against the Lions.
Pro Football Focus was impressed with his performance in limited time, giving him an overall grade of 85.6. He was the team’s second-highest graded player on offense, just behind quarterback Derek Carr. Take a look at top five highest-graded offensive players from Week 9, via Pro Football Focus:
With Jacobs in the lineup and on the field, Ricard’s snaps are bound to be limited. However, he has continually shown just how valuable of a player he is and can be to this Raiders’ offense. Expect him to continue to steal passing down work from Jacobs this season as he helps lighten some of the rookie’s workload.
