Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly watches warm ups before the start of the College Football Playoff National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on January 20, 2025. Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Chip Kelly Should Improve Raiders' Run Game

Originally posted on Las Vegas Raiders on SI
By Carter Landis | Last updated Apr 9, 2025 10:00 AM ET

The Las Vegas Raiders were arguably the least effective rushing attack in the league in 2024.

They ranked last in rushing yards per game, at under 80 per game, and advanced stats say the team was near the bottom of the league in producing points on the ground.

Whether it was playcalling, the offensive line, or the lack of talent in the running back room, several factors contributed to how poorly the Raiders ran the ball last season. General Manager John Spytek and head coach Pete Carroll want to improve that in 2025.

The Raiders hired Chip Kelly as their offensive coordinator after he engineered an elite rushing attack with the Ohio State Buckeyes en route to a national championship. Kelly will look to replicate that production at the professional level.

In 2024, Kelly’s Buckeyes ranked second in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game with 166.4, trailing only Penn State, which made the College Football Playoff semifinal. In the previous season, OSU ranked 8th in rushing.

It was clear that the addition of Kelly boosted the Raiders’ run game.

Kelly’s teams were led by two backs who will be selected early in the 2025 NFL Draft in TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. Could the Raiders add one of these backs, maintaining familiarity with Kelly’s scheme?

If not, the Raiders may select Boise State star Ashton Jeanty with the No. 6 overall selection. Jeanty is far and away the best running back in a class full of productive ones.

It is hard to win in the NFL these days if you do not have an effective ground game. The Raiders learned that the hard way, failing to run the ball well and only winning four games.

Kelly runs an outside zone run scheme, meaning the offensive line all shifts in the same direction as the play. It has worked for many teams in the NFL, namely Kyle Shanahan’s San Francisco 49ers.

Kelly’s run scheme is easy for running backs to learn, so finding a talented back in the draft to pair with Raheem Mostert as a speed specialist should vastly improve the Raiders’ ground game.

It can only go up from here.

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This article first appeared on Las Vegas Raiders on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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