Trent Richardson is something of a forgotten man for most NFL fans, despite his being a high former first-round pick only a few short years ago. After flaming out in Cleveland and proving ultimately unable to carry the load in Indianapolis, Richardson now finds himself a reclamation project for Jack Del Rio, Mike Tice and the rest of the Oakland Raiders coaching staff.
Richardson, who joins a now-crowded backfield in Oakland that also consists of Latavius Murray and the recently added Roy Helu, along with Michael Dyer and George Atkinson, has apparently already bucked the trend of his NFL career thus far and, more importantly has, per Tice, looked very much like he could be a contributing member to the Raiders runner corps in 2015.
"Each one has their own style," Tice told Sirius XM NFL Radio, via the Raiders official website. "I like the (Latavius) Murray kid. He really came on in that veteran mini-camp. He got his legs under him and showed some quickness, some good finish. I thought the young man out of Alabama (Richardson) came on. He lost some weight, his quickness came around.
"And then the young man we picked up out of Washington (Helu), a local boy out of San Ramon, I think he had an outstanding offseason and he shows good quickness, good awareness."
The growth shown by Murray, the weight lost and quickness gained by Richardson and the continued solid efforts of free agent pickup Helu has to have Raiders fans licking their chops for what should be a much-improved Oakland offense next year.
With young franchise quarterback Derek Carr looking to build upon a promising rookie season wherein he operated like a savvy veteran, well beyond his NFL years, and recent first-round pick Amari Cooper looking very much like the potential perennial Pro Bowler and star Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie thought he could be when he nabbed him with the fourth pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, any improvements in the backfield will only serve to increase the lethality of an Oakland offensive attack that just hasn't been up to snuff in recent seasons.
With Richardson signed to a modest two-year, $3.85 million deal, it won't cost the Raiders much to see if he can finally realize the potential that made him such a high draft pick in 2012. But it would certainly go a long way toward helping the Raiders turn around their recent run of mediocrity if he can improve on his career 3.3 yard per carry average and finally become the bruising, dominant ballcarrier the Browns brass were once certain he could be.
