It was quite the year for running back Jalen Richard both on and off the field.In addition to a break out season with the Raiders Bo Jackson Jersey White , he also become a father of a baby girl.Let’s not forget there were rumblings in the preseason that Richard or DeAndre Washington could be cut.In a season that was full of disappointments, Jalen Richard was not one of them.Statistically, he had a career year.Rushing 55 attempts 259 yards4.7 ypc1 TDReceiving 68 receptions (81 targets)607 yards8.9 yprAs you can see Richard was used primarily as an option in the passing game or when playing from behind.His 68 receptions was tied for the team lead (J. Cook).He also ranked seventh in the league among players at his position.Richard, a 2016 undrafted free agent, has developed into one of the league’s best pass catching running backs.He received high praise from his head coach during the season. “Jalen Richard might be the MVP of our team,” Gruden said.“He’s a mean guy, tough guy when the game starts.He is always hard to tackle.”Richard’s role in this offense is no longer in question going forward.Gruden, definitely sees Richard as a big part of his long-term plans for the Raiders.“He is a Charlie Garner type back,” Gruden said.“He’s a guy that someday I think could run for 1,000 yards and catch 1,000 yards worth of passes.He’s a guy we can line up in the slot, we can line him up out wide.” Looking ahead to the 2019 season, there is some uncertainty surrounding the running back position.Jon Gruden said earlier this week that he would welcome Marshawn Lynch back.Doug Martin was serviceable as a back up, Richard’s spot on the roster appears to be safe. More backs are needed because Richard has not shown the ability to be the complete back that his coach believes he can be. While he has great hands and quickness, he often times doesn’t have the best vision. As this play late in the season against the Bengals showed. Pass protection can also be an issue. Being undersized will make picking up oncoming blitzers a difficult task.Richard will need to improve his strength and technique. Richard has found his niche in Gruden’s offense. He has a weapon out of the backfield and dependable check down and screen play option for Derek Carr. It’s a tradition unlike any other, especially since it’s a tradition that could end in any given year.Via Max Olson of TheAthletic.com, 49 of 144 players who left college with remaining eligibility went undrafted in 2019.As noted last night https://www.raiderslockerroom.com/authentic-derek-carr-jersey , for some of the players who quickly signed as undrafted free agents (like Bills quarterback Tyree Jackson), not being drafted is arguably better than being picked late in the process. Still, more than a few of the guys who could have kept playing college football decided to stop playing college football in order to play pro football, and now they may never will.Of course, this doesn’t mean that more college football would have made them any better. (For some reason, it’s typically assumed that more college football makes a player into a better pro prospect; there’s a chance he’s as good as he’s ever going to be.) But it does mean that it’s too late for them to return to playing for no pay, even though they’ve officially gotten no pay to play.So why wouldn’t college football let players test the waters and then return to college football if they aren’t drafted, or if they don’t like where or how low they went? First, that approach would cause more players with remaining eligibility to roll the dice and possibly leave, thinning the ranks of college football. Second, it would make NFL teams potentially squander draft picks on guys who then say “no thanks” to playing under a low-round contract for a low-rent team, and return to school in the hopes of landing in a higher slot and/or with a better team a year later.The current system works for college football and pro football because it forces players to make an “all-in” decision, prompting plenty of them to choose to stay put. Then, each year, the NCAA and the NFL can point to the guys who made the James Holzhauer Daily Double move and lost in order to scare future players with remaining college eligibility to continue to bust their asses — and risk their necks (and the rest of their bodies) — by playing football for free.