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The Oakland Raiders are sitting in a position that very few other NFL teams can say they're fortunate enough to be in. Not only do they have an excellent starting running back in Marshawn Lynch, but they have two electrifying backups in second-year pros Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington.
Overall, the Raiders have one of the most exciting and intriguing groups of running backs in the NFL but also face an interesting situation with their three-headed monster.
How exactly should head coach Jack Del Rio and offensive coordinator Todd Downing deploy their three weapons in the backfield?
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Sure, Lynch will be the clear-cut No. 1 running back from Day 1, but he's also 31 years old. He should be fresh coming off a full season away from the NFL, and will likely have no problem carrying the workload. But, do the Raiders really want to overwork Beast Mode before the home stretch of the season and hopefully the playoffs, which is when the team would certainly need him most?
Not a chance, which is where Lynch's two young backfield mates will come into play.
How the Raiders should utilize Lynch
It's going to be hard to say that the Raiders shouldn't give Lynch the bulk of the carries, but he shouldn't be a 20-plus carry guy this season. Maybe there are games when that's needed, but overall expecting him to flirt with the 280-315 total carries he saw during the four seasons he played at least 15 games with the Seattle Seahawks is unrealistic. A total of 12-15 carries per game would keep him around the 200-220 number on the season, which sounds like a solid range that would likely keep him fresh.
If the Raiders can keep Lynch's touches around this number, it'll set him up to have a ton left in the tank when the playoffs begin and help his offense wear down opposing defenses when it matters most. This makes a lot of sense, especially when considering what Richard and Washington are capable of doing.
Rolling out Richard and Washington
Last season, Richard had 83 carries in 16 games (nearly 5.2 carries per game), while Washington had 87 carries in 14 games (around 6.2 carries per game). If both players are able to flirt with the 6-8 carry range per game this season, with each seeing some action as the third-down back, then there should be strong numbers across the board.
Not only that but if the trio can get a nice rotation going that keeps each player fresh, it's also going to help out the passing game. The better the rushing attack is, the more opposing defenses will get worn down. Then, Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree and the other weapons can attack and really look to open up the field.
The Raiders may opt against running the ball quite that much on a single-game basis, and if that's the case, they can essentially rotate between the "hot hand" of either Richard or Washington.
SportsLine projects Lynch to get 222 touches in all, but don't be surprised if Richard and Washington see a lot more passing-game work than these numbers anticipate:
| | RuAtt | RuYd | RuAvg | RuTD | Recpt | ReYd | ReAvg | ReTD | FP* |
| Marshawn Lynch | 190 | 781 | 4.1 | 9 | 32 | 188 | 5.9 | 1 | 158 |
| DeAndre Washington | 68 | 330 | 4.9 | 2 | 9 | 63 | 7.0 | 0 | 49 |
| Jalen Richard | 34 | 185 | 5.4 | 2 | 11 | 73 | 6.5 | 1 | 38 |
*Fantasy points
Regardless of how you look at it, the Raiders are in a great spot with their backfield heading into 2017. Now it's just time to sit back and wait to see how it all plays out.
