Las Vegas Raiders could have just made a grave mistake by cutting one veteran, and it may very well come back to haunt them
The Las Vegas Raiders are cutting their roster down from 90 to 53 players, and they cut veteran running back Dare Ogunbowale.
The Las Vegas Raiders may have just made their first major mistake during the roster cuts period. By Sunday afternoon, every team must have their initial 53-man roster complete. That means cutting from 90 to 53. For the Raiders, one of their first cuts was veteran RB Dare Ogunbowale.
And this move could end up being a major issue. Sure, Ogunbowale isn’t a guy worthy of being a starter, and may not even be a second guy in the NFL anymore. But he brings something the Raiders don’t have, and desperately need. If Ogunbowale is not on the initial 53-man roster, and it appears he won’t be, that means Vegas is likely sticking with Ashton Jeanty, Mike Washington Jr., and Dylan Laube as their main three RBs.
And there’s a possibility Roman Hemby is the fourth if they keep four. That four has a combined 274 career NFL carries. Jeanty has 266 of those. Laube has eight, with seven last year. The other two guys are rookies. That’s not much experience. And if Jeanty ever gets hurt again and has to miss a lot of time, they will be doomed with basically no experience at all.
Ogunbowale may not be the best running back, but he should certainly be the third guy on the roster. I get Laube has the special teams experience, and he has been great there. But the Raiders have plenty of other players with special teams experience. They don’t have any with multiple years of RB experience. Not to mention, Ogunbowale has that and special teams experience. In the preseason, he finished with 89 rushing yards and a rushing TD on just 16 touches. Not to mention, that was with the putrid backup offensive line.
Dare Ogunbowale has the experience that the Raiders need
Ogunbowale has been in the NFL for nine years now. He’s got 177 career carries, 594 career rushing yards, and five career rushing touchdowns. And his numbers in the passing game are even better. Ogunbowale has 850 career receiving yards and two receiving TDs. He has 61 career special teams tackles and 22 career kick returns for over 400 yards. Oh, not to mention, he’s 1/1 on field goal attempts in his career, too.
Yes, you read that right: he has kicked a field goal. And, as a cherry on top, Ogunbowale has six kickoffs, with three of them being touchbacks before this new kickoff rule was a thing. So, Ogunbowale was the perfect guy for the RB3 job. This could end up being a big mistake, as there’s really not much else out there. Luckily, the Raiders are No.1 on the waiver wire. If they see someone with some experience they want, they could get them. This is not to diminish what Luabe has done, either. He’s certainly earned his spot.
