Josh Jacobs is entering Year 5 of his NFL career and he is still only 25 years old. He won’t turn 26 until after the 2023 season and by then, he’ll have racked up nearly 6,000 rushing yards (and potentially more).
Despite the shrinking value of running backs around the league, Jacobs continues to be one of the most dynamic runners in the NFL. And it finally feels like he is getting the respect he deserves from the national media.
In a recent article by CBS Sports, they ranked the top 25 players in the NFL that are 25 and under going into the 2023 season. That list included Jacobs, who was ranked as the second-best young running back in the league. Here is what the site had to say about the NFL’s leading rusher from last year:
Running backs may be replaceable in today’s NFL, but if you want an old-fashioned workhorse who actually works, Jacobs is your guy. Always bruising but especially explosive in 2022, he’s also underrated out of the backfield, where he’s logged 107 catches for almost 750 yards the last two years. His tackle-shedding burst has often single-handedly kept Las Vegas alive.
It’s worth noting that the site was using the Week 1 cut-off of age 25, which means Maxx Crosby didn’t make the list as he turns 26 in August. Jacobs was the only player from the Raiders on the list, coming in at No. 16.
Most running backs don’t start to decline until age 27 or 28. So that means Jacobs clearly has multiple years of peak production still coming. And while the Raiders might be hesitant to give him a big contract, it’s pretty obvious that he is among the best running backs in the league and that should change anytime soon.
