The Las Vegas Raiders’ running back room was largely a disaster during the team’s ’24 campaign. Zamir White, who headed into the year as Sin City’s premier back, struggled greatly throughout the year. Alexander Mattison was largely ineffective as well, although the first-year Raider did provide a spark at times.
For the most part, the unit’s best moments came from an unexpected source in Sincere McCormick.
As a result of that, the Raiders have completely reset their running back room this offseason. Ashton Jeanty was selected with the sixth-overall pick in this year’s draft, projecting to be the focal point of Las Vegas’ offense as a whole.
However, while Jeanty will certainly get a majority of the carries, he’s not the only name in the backfield that could make an impact.
Raheem Mostert was picked up this offseason as well. Just a couple years removed from leading the league in touchdowns, the veteran runner is looking to prove he still has gas left in the tank.
While Mostert’s ’24 campaign with the Miami Dolphins wasn’t quite as impressive as the year prior, the 33-year-old is hoping to get back on track with the Silver and Black.
Las Vegas Raiders 2025 outlook: Raheem Mostert
The last two years
In Mostert, the Raiders could get one of two versions of the same player. They’ll hope it’s the 2023 version.
That year, in 2023, Mostert put together what was easily the best season of his career.
With 209 carries, Mostert managed to compile 1,012 yards on the ground. Most impressive of all, the now-former Dolphins running back led the entire league in rushing touchdowns with 18.
However, the 2024 season was a much less successful one, both for the Purdue alum and the Dolphins as a whole.
Although he still played in 13 games, Mostert’s usage dropped tremendously. The 209 carries from his ’23 campaign dropped to 85 in ’24. The efficiency dropped in a big way as well, picking up only 278 yards on the ground throughout the year. He found the end zone just twice; 16 less touchdowns than the year prior.
As to why his performance dropped so much, there are a few possibilities. One could be his age. Turning 32 last year, Mostert has reached ‘elder status’ at the running back position. Perhaps that translated on the field.
On the other hand, the Dolphins had plenty of struggles offensively at large during their ’24 campaign. Miami’s quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, suffered a head injury early in the year that sidelined him for quite a bit. And while Tagovailoa returned later in the season, the offense continued to look disjointed and without rhythm. Perhaps that was the main source of Mostert’s struggles.
What might Mostert look like in 2025?
When Chip Kelly was running Ohio State’s offense in 2024, he had a terrific running back tandem in Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson. Kelly did a good job managing the two at once, each passing 1,000 rushing yards during the regular season.
It’s safe to say the Raiders’ backfield will look different than Ohio State’s. In Las Vegas, there’s a clear workhorse in Ashton Jeanty. Mostert and the rest of Sin City’s runners will have their touches, but the split won’t be nearly as even as it was in Columbus.
Because of that, it’s hard to project Mostert’s role.
Mostert has averaged 125 attempts per season across his career without ever being the true lead-back. That’s a top-heavy number, however, with only four-of-10 seasons in the National Football League welcoming 86-plus carries.
Because of his age and Jeanty’s presence, it’s a safe bet that the 33-year-old will see another campaign with 85 or less carries; the same number he had this past season in Miami, and is likely to float around again in 2025.
Mostert was far from effective last year, picking up only 3.3 yards per attempt. That may be an outlier, though. His career average is 5.0 yards per attempt, and his struggles in 2024 came with both a bad offensive line and lack of quality quarterback play.
There’s a chance both are much improved with the Raiders this year. If Mostert runs the ball 80 times and averages just 4.0 yards per carry, that still comes out to 320 yards in total. There’s a good chance he’s more efficient than that, too.
Behind Jeanty, that’s not bad support from Mostert.
Mostert is edging into his mid-30s, and is coming off of a downright forgettable campaign. Because of that, it’s hard to judge how large of a role he might play this year. Still, based on all the context clues, there’s a realistic chance he has a nice rebound season in the desert.
