The Extra Point: Raiders Running Back Kenyan Drake Still All About Mismatches

Look for the Las Vegas Raiders to do what Alabama did with running back Kenyan Drake, get him the ball in open space and matched up against slower defenders.

Christopher Walsh | Jun 28, 2021

Kenyan Drake can't be blamed for feeling a little deja vu with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Once again he's backing up a proven Alabama starting running back who can grind out yards. This time its Josh Jacobs instead of Derrick Henry.

Drake's also a lot more than just a relief option. A weapon in the passing game, he's a dangerous problem for defenses that won't want to put a linebacker on him in coverage.

Additionally, as every Crimson Tide fan well remembers from games like the 2015 season's national championship against Clemson, when Drake took a kick return 95 yards to put Alabama up 38-27 with just under eight minutes left, get him in the ball in space and anything can happen.

"(I’m) just trying to create mismatches,” Drake recently said during a Raiders' minicamp.

“When you have a back as myself, or really any of our backs, you line up out wide and you have a linebacker or safety that goes out there, it gives you obviously a cover indicator, and with that we just want to take advantage of the mismatches that we feel like we have in the backfield on defenders when they match up man-to-man with us.

"Obviously with anybody else on our offense, man-to-man, we feel like we should be able to win a good clip of that."

As Raider Maven noted, Drake has found success receiving during his NFL career. So far he has 169 receptions for 1,244 yards and six touchdowns.

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The Extra Point is a regular weekday feature on BamaCentral+, and often includes video and other elements from our FanNation parters. Other recent segments include:

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Published Jun 28, 2021

CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of BamaCentral, which first published in 2018. He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004, and is the author of 26 books including Decade of Dominance, 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Nick Saban vs. College Football, and Bama Dynasty: The Crimson Tide's Road to College Football Immortality. He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.