1. Las Vegas Raiders
- Josh Jacobs, Zamir White, Ameer Abdullah, Brandon Bolden
The Las Vegas Raiders have the best running back situation in the AFC West in 2023 but the margins are incredibly small between the top three teams in the division. We already dove into why the Broncos rank above the Chargers and while the Raiders are two spots higher, they are not miles better than the Chargers.
This is not like the quarterback position, where the top two teams in the division are head and shoulders above the other two teams in the division. The difference here between the Raiders, Broncos and Chargers is much smaller.
Vegas has the best running back in the division in Josh Jacobs. Jacobs is coming off of an exceptional season and is such a threat in both the passing and running game. Now, if Jacobs ends up holding out because of his contract situation that would be a huge blow to the team (and their place on this ranking).
We could pick apart the depth at the running back position for the Raiders but it still has more upside than the Chargers. The Broncos might have the better RB2 on their roster but the Raiders are good enough to complement Jacobs as the RB1.
It will be interesting to see what the Raiders' offense looks like in 2023. Jimmy Garoppolo is a downgrade from Derek Carr. This could be a team that runs the ball like it is 2003, not 2023.