Raiders reveal Klint Kubiak pushed for intriguing draft pick

When Day 3 of the NFL draft arrived, Klint Kubiak apparently had one player he wasn’t willing to leave without.

Raiders general manager John Spytek revealed Monday that Kubiak was the driving force behind Las Vegas selecting Arkansas running back Mike Washington Jr. in the fourth round.

“Klint deserves a lot of credit for drafting Mike Washington,” Spytek said, according to ESPN’s Ryan McFadden. “He stood on the table for that at the start of Day 3, and this is the perfect scheme fit.”

The Raiders backed up Kubiak’s conviction by moving up. Las Vegas sent picks No. 134 and No. 208 to Atlanta to climb to No. 122 and secure Washington.

It isn’t difficult to see what Kubiak liked.

After arriving in Las Vegas following his run as Seattle’s offensive coordinator, Kubiak brought with him a rushing attack built heavily around outside zone concepts, decisive cuts and multiple backs.

In Seattle, Kubiak resisted treating Kenneth Walker III as a traditional bell cow, instead referring to both Walker III and Zach Charbonnet as “starters” and finding ways to keep both involved. The broader idea was to keep the run game physical and varied without forcing one back to carry every touch.

Washington Jr. fits that approach naturally.

He rushed for 1,070 yards and eight touchdowns during his lone season at Arkansas while averaging 6.4 yards per carry — ninth-best nationally. At 6-foot-1 and 223 pounds, he also ran a 4.33-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.

His game is especially suited to the one-cut nature of Kubiak’s system. Washington can press a zone run toward the edge, force defenders to flow laterally and then plant his foot and accelerate through a crease. His size gives him the ability to finish runs inside, while his speed makes a missed fit at the second level potentially expensive.

Washington and Ashton Jeanty are not a classic thunder-and-lightning pairing. Both can create explosive plays and run through contact, but they do it differently.

Jeanty is the more compact, creative runner, with exceptional contact balance and the ability to manufacture yards when a play gets muddy. Washington Jr. is bigger and more linear, using his 4.33 speed to press the edge, hit a crease and get downhill quickly.

That distinction gives Kubiak different answers without dramatically changing the offense’s identity. Jeanty can create in nontraditional running situations, while Washington can be especially dangerous when the zone scheme creates a clean runway.

Rather than simply serving as Jeanty’s understudy, Washington Jr. gives Kubiak another legitimate way to attack a defense — similar to how he used Walker III and Charbonnet as complementary options in Seattle.

Four months later, Kubiak’s draft-day conviction is looking increasingly important.

Washington Jr. rushed for 119 yards on just 15 carries through his first two preseason appearances, including a 53-yard run. And with Ashton Jeanty’s ankle injury creating uncertainty in the Raiders backfield, Washington has received valuable work with the starters.

Kubiak recently said the rookie has done a “phenomenal job of growing up really fast” while learning NFL protections, blitzes and routes.

Spytek went a step further Monday, saying the Raiders will be “counting on Washington to win games.”

That’s a sizable expectation for the No. 122 pick.

Then again, Kubiak was pounding the table for him for a reason.

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