Denarious Moore has been the rookie that everyone has been talking about this preseason. After impressing viewers in training camp, Moore continued to impress in his first two preseason games, leading many to dub him the steal of the 2011 draft.
However, one must wonder, had speedy runningback Taiwan Jones been healthy up to this point, would he have stolen Moore’s thunder?
Jones returned to practice this week, and has been impressing everyone with his speed, including Darren McFadden, a guy with some speed of his own. On a number of plays, Jones was seen hitting the hole hard before kicking it into a whole other gear as he left the Raiders’ speedy secondary in the dust on his way to the endzone.
In fact, Jones has been so impressive that there are already reports out that the Raiders will have a special package of plays designed specifically for him. Hue Jackson and the Raiders want to be able to make use of his blazing speed and give defensive coordinators yet another player to worry about.
In typical Raiders fashion, Oakland is building a team that is full of incredible athletes that will create headaches for defensive coordinators around the league. Just imagine for a second if you will. It is third down, four yards to go and the Raiders’ offensive package is set up as follows:
Halfback: Taiwan Jones
Fullback: Marcel Reece
WR1: Jacoby Ford
WR2: Denarius Moore
Slot Receiver: Darren McFadden (the Raiders have lined him up in the slot before, and personally, I think they should do it more often considering the depth at the RB position.)
If all five of those guys are on the field at the same time, I do not think there is a single team in the NFL with enough athleticism on its defense to adequately account for every one of them.
Jones will probably not get a whole lot of touches each game his rookie season, but it is good to know that the Raiders do plan on getting the ball in his hands so he can put that explosive speed to work.