The Oakland Raiders added veteran running backs Trent Richardson and Roy Helu to compete with youngster Latavius Murray for touches. While Helu's job appears to be safe, Richardson's tenure Northern California could be short lived.
The former third-overall pick of the Cleveland Browns back in 2012 could very well find himself as one of the veteran roster cuts in Jack Del Rio's first training camp as the Raiders' head coach.
This shouldn't come as much of a surprise, especially considering Richardson's struggles with the Indianapolis Colts over the past two seasons and the fact that he failed to stand out during off-season activities. The 25-year-old running back—a shell of his former self— has put up 1,627 yards and five scores over the past two seasons. That came on the heels of him tallying over 1,300 total yards and 12 scores as a rookie in 2012.
Fantasy Slant
Richardson was never going to be a viable fantasy option this year. That idea flew the coop all the way back in 2013. Though, this recent bit of news just adds to speculation that Murray will find himself as at least the team's two-down running back this year with Helu taking a majority of the third-down reps.
To those outside of the Raiders' organization, Murray came out of the blue last season. Not seeing regular touches until Week 12, the Central Florida product tallied over 530 total yards in the team's final six games. Even without reaching the end zone, Murray finished as the 19th-best fantasy running back in the final quarter of the season. With more touches expected this year more balance on offense, that's likely going to be Murray's floor in 2015. As of right now, Murray's ADP has him as the 19th running back off the board. This makes him a tremendous value play.