Despite having Ashton Jeanty leading the backfield, the Raiders still chose to use a fourth-round pick on a running back. Mike Washington will certainly slot in behind Jeanty, but the rookie might be carving out a role in the offense.

While his fellow rookie Fernando Mendoza struggled, Washington provided most of the spark for the Raiders offense on Thursday against the Texans. Washington ran the ball nine times for 56 yards and caught two passes for 18 more. The rookie running back had 74 yards, while the Raiders only totaled 141 in the first half.

In both preseason games, Washington has ripped off a huge play. Against the Cardinals, he had a 53-yard run and followed that up with a 33-yard run in Houston. He is responsible for two of the four Raiders’ plays to go for more than 30 yards this preseason.

Kubiak rode two running backs last season

Kubiak is only the Raiders head coach because of the Seahawks’ success last season. His offensive play calling helped Seattle win the Super Bowl and caused the Raiders to chase him in the offseason.

Last year, Kubiak used two running backs. Kenneth Walker carried the ball 221 times in the regular season, while his backup, Zach Charbonnet, had 184 rushes. The passing game was split too, as Walker hauled in 31 passes to Charbonnet’s 20.

That is the exact opposite of what the Raiders did with Jeanty last season. The Raiders gave their sixth overall pick 86.6 percent of all running back carries and 76.8 percent of running back targets. If a running back was going to touch the ball last season, it was going to be Jeanty.

Part of that is because of Jeanty’s draft capital. In an effort to justify taking a running back in the top 10, the Raiders wanted to see him stuff the stat sheet.

Kubiak wasn’t around for that draft pick and may not have the same thought process for handing out carries. If Kubiak thinks splitting the backfield was critical to Seattle’s success last season, he may try to do it in Las Vegas too. Kubiak’s boss, general manager John Spytek, is the one who made the pick, so someone in the building does want to prove that the Jeanty pick was the right move.

It is important to note that Jeanty has played just one drive in the preseason. The Raiders clearly view him as the starter, and are much more willing to let Washington take the unnecessary hits in a preseason game than Jeanty.