Silver Minings: Josh Jacobs viewed as potential MVP candidate

There’s been a lot of talk this offseason about Derek Carr potentially being a dark horse MVP candidate for the 2020 season, but what about Josh Jacobs?

Dan Hanzus of NFL.com gave his MVP candidate from every AFC team, and his choice was the second-year running back. Here’s what he had to say about Jacobs:

With all due respect to Kyler Murray (who will pop up later this week in the second part of this column), Jacobs deserved Offensive Rookie Of the Year honors in 2019. He was one of the most productive running backs in football before a shoulder injury curtailed his season in December. Pro Football Focus graded Jacobs out as the league’s most elusive rusher to go with a top-five grade in yards after contact. Add the comments made by general manager Mike Mayock, who said at the NFL Scouting Combine that he expected Jacobs to have a bigger role in the Raiders’ passing game in 2020. We’re about to see Jacobs make a jump to All-Pro-level production in Year 2.

He’s not wrong. Many people believe Jacobs should have been named the Offensive Rookie of the Year last year. In only 13 games, Jacobs rushed for nearly 1,200 yards and seven touchdowns. He averaged 4.8 yards per carry along with 88 yards per game. Had Jacobs been healthy for all of 2019, who knows what kind of numbers he could have had.

Jacobs will be entering his second year in 2020 and has a lot he can improve on from his rookie campaign. The award has become a really quarterback-driven award, so you would think Jacobs would need to put up numbers we’ve never seen. However, if the Raiders can win the division in 2020 and Jacobs is leading the way, there’s no reason Jacobs shouldn’t be able to make a strong case.

In other Raiders’ links:

• Both Derek Carr and Darren Waller have been practicing recently, and they’re looking like they are in pretty good shape.
• Check out these stunning new photos of Allegiant Stadium.
• Clutch Points ranked the five greatest Raiders of ALL-TIME. Do you agree with their list?
• Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, told Axios that he’s “very optimistic” about the league’s season moving forward this fall — but cautioned that it won’t be “football as usual.”