In 2023, the Las Vegas Raiders finished 8-9. It was a horrific start to the season with Josh McDaniels as their head coach. He was fired mid-season and Antonio Pierce was promoted to interim head coach. Pierce had supporters in the locker room and was hired full-time this offseason. Now, the Raiders are looking to fill the gaps after losing several key players to free agency.
The most notable loss for Las Vegas this offseason is All-Pro RB Josh Jacobs. He signed with the Green Bay Packers and left a huge vacancy at RB. Yesterday, Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz was the first to report that RB Alexander Mattison is signing with the Raiders. The former Viking was released by Minnesota earlier this month. Mattison has five years of NFL experience and was a backup to Dalvin Cook for most of his time with the Vikings.
Alexander Mattison should have the opportunity to start for Las Vegas in 2024
BREAKING: Free agent RB Alexander Mattison is signing with the #Raiders, sources tell @BleacherReport.
Still just 25 years old, Mattison had 17 TDs in five seasons with the #Vikings. pic.twitter.com/EZ4Tq9Q5aR
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) March 18, 2024
With the 102nd overall pick in the 2019 Draft, Alexander Mattison was selected by the Vikings out of Boise State. Through the first four years of his career, Mattison made six starts. The former third-round pick was the backup RB to Pro Bowler Dalvin Cook. However, he more than doubled his career starts in 2023. Minnesota dropped Cook before the start of the season and Mattison finally got his chance to be their RB1. The 25-year-old played in 16 of their 17 games and made 13 starts.
Minnesota gave Mattison a year to prove he could be their future RB1. Sadly, he didn’t do enough and was released this offseason. To replace Mattison, the Vikings signed former Packers RB Aaron Jones. After five seasons with the Vikings, Mattison gets a chance to start fresh with the Raiders. Depending on how they draft in 2024, he could be competing for the starting job next season. As of now, his only other competition to be the starter is Zamir White.
Josh Jacobs to Alexander Mattison is the biggest downgrade at RB a team has made since Dalvin Cook to Alexander Mattison happened way back in 2023
— Ronnie Evans ❇️ (@RonnieAEvans) March 18, 2024
White is a former fourth-round pick by Las Vegas in 2022. The 24-year-old played his college ball at Georgia and has seen limited playing time. Former Raiders RB Josh Jacobs was dealing with a quad injury. In his place, White got to start the final four weeks of the 2023 regular season. He did not disappoint for the Raiders and was impressive running the ball. In two of his four starts, White went over 100+ rushing yards. That included a career-high 145 rushing yards in a win vs. Kansas City. If the team doesn’t draft another RB, Alexander Mattison, and Zamir White will fight for the top RB spot next season. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.
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