Texas Tech alums in the NFL: DeAndre Washington fighting for roster spot

In his third year in the NFL, former Texas Tech running back DeAndre Washington is engaged in a tough battle for a roster spot with the Oakland Raiders.

As the NFL preseason nears its mid point, a former Texas Tech football standout finds himself entrenched in a fierce battle for a roster spot. DeAndre Washington, who amassed back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons for the Red Raiders in 2014-15 is one of a handful of backs looking to secure the final running back position for the Oakland Raiders.

In his first two seasons with the Raiders, Washington has been a solid backup. He has run for 620 yards and four touchdowns on 144 career carries.

But last season, the former All-Big 12 selection saw his numbers take a dip. Washington’s carries dropped from 87 to 57 and his yards went from 467 in his rookie season to just 153 as his yards per carry fell from 5.4 to 2.7.

That has opened the door for a bevy of new running backs to challenge for Washington’s job. And the biggest threat comes from a former Red Raider nemesis.

Former Texas Longhorn Chris Warren III, a rookie who went undrafted in this spring’s draft, turned heads by running for 86 yards on just 13 carries in the Raiders’ first preseason game.

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A big back at 6-foot-2, 246-pounds, Warren’s physical running style is a perfect fit for what the Raiders look to do on offense. Behind an huge and talented offensive line, Oakland has built a power running game around starting RB Marshawn Lynch while adding veteran running back Doug Martin.

Warren has the size to play a similar game as Lynch in new head coach John Gruden’s offense.

Texas Tech fans certainly have unpleasant memories of playing Warren. In 2015, the then true freshman ran for 276 yards and four touchdowns in a losing effort against the Red Raiders.

But inconsistencies and ineffectiveness caused Warren to fall out of favor with new Texas head coach Tom Herman in 2017 and the once-dominant freshman left school after his junior season only to be passed over in the draft.

Now it appears that he has found his game again and is threatening to take carries away from Washington.

But Washington was also productive in the Raiders’ first preseason game. Averaging 6.3 yards per carry against Detroit, the 205-pounder ran for 38 yards including a nice 15-yard gain.

Many believe that Washington is no longer actually competing with Warren III but rather he must beat out Jalen Richard for the final running back spot on the roster. Richard, a Southern Miss product who is also a third-year back, has had numbers similar to Washington in his career.

Richard has amassed 766 yards and two touchdowns on 139 carries in two years. But unlike Washington, Richard saw his stats improve last year when he put up 491 yards on 83 rushes, with the majority of that work coming at the expense of DeAndre Washington.

If the Oakland coaches see the competition between the two as a virtual tie, Washington might have an advantage because of the contract situations of the two players. Richard is set to be a restricted free agent after this year while Washington has two years left on his initial contract meaning Oakland might be more inclined to keep the player that has a longer guaranteed future with the organization.

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The fact that one of the most productive Texas Tech running backs of the past two decades is struggling to simply stay on an NFL roster shows how great the jump from college to the NFL is. This will be a fun battle to watch and should give Texas Tech fans a reason to watch Oakland’s next preseason game, which is scheduled for today at 3 pm when the Raiders take on the Los Angeles Rams on the NFL Network.

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