Raiders-Dolphins Week 11: The return of Alec Ingold

Early in the 2022 offseason, the new Las Vegas Raiders’ leadership regime of Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler let popular fullback Alex Ingold become a free agent.

It was a surprise of sorts because Ingold was an affordable player who was excellent on and off the field.

But Ingold’s departure was a sign of things to come. McDaniels and Ziegler moved away from several players as they built their roster with players who were with them with the New England Patriots.

McDaniels and Ziegler ended up signing former New England fullback Jakob Johnson to replace Ingold and be a part of their system. In fairness, Johnson was been a nice piece of the Raiders’ offense until he was released Friday because he longer fits the Raiders’ new offense under interim offensive coordinator Bo Hardagree.

Still, Ingold’s nice career (which started when then-coach Jon Gruden signed him out of Wisconsin as an undrafted free agent in 2019) has continued under Mike McDaniel in Miami.

Like he was with the Raiders, Ingold, whose Las Vegas career ended with a torn ACL, is a big part of the Dolphins’ offense. Ingold averages about 30-40 percent play time in Miami this season.

Johnson, who has missed the past two games with a concussion, has averaged around 25 percent play time this season.

No mater how much Ingold, who is close friends with Las Vegas’ tailback Josh Jacobs, plays Sunday, he will surely be fired up to face the Raiders.