Red Raiders in the NFL: A down week across the board

Michael Crabtree - WR (Oakland Raiders)

In the up and down season that is the Oakland Raiders, Crabtree appears to be along for the ride. He turned in an underwhelming performance against the Dolphins, catching 3 passes on 4 targets for 40 yards. One reason for the seemingly low numbers from Crabtree was quarterback Derek Carr spreading the love through the air this week. Seven different Raiders had receptions, led surprisingly by Jared Cook. The Raiders have a bye week upcoming and would do good to reassess their offensive approach. Right now, the team as a whole is on a roller coaster despite having solid weapons like Crabtree at the skill positions.

DeAndre Washington - RB (Oakland Raiders)

DeAndre Washington resumed a more familiar role this week as Marshawn Lynch returned from his one game suspension. Although, some would say he took an even bigger step back than that. He was out carried by fellow backup Jalen Richard, 5 to 4. Washington was able to be more effective with his running opportunities, though, running for 16 yards, while Richard only managed 14 yards on the ground. The most glaring piece to Washington’s game that was missing on Sunday was in the passing game, a facet in which he usually shines. He was only targeted once and actually lost 2 yards on that reception. We’re hoping this week’s performance was simply an anomaly, because Washington has shown he can be an asset to the Raiders offense.

Jakeem Grant - WR (Miami Dolphins)

The story of lack of utilization continued for Jakeem Grant this week. He was not targeted at all on offense. His only action was on special teams where had 2 kickoff returns for a total of 47 yards and 1 punt return for 5 yards. At this point, it’s going to take an injury to Miami’s receiving core for Grant to get a real opportunity to play on offense.