The Las Vegas Raiders offense was beyond solid last year. After finishing in the top-ten in almost every efficiency metric, the Raiders still were missing pieces to score points and take it to the next level.
Then came the draft which was supposed to be one the deepest the league has seen since 2014 for wide receivers. A player who was starting-caliber was available in the later rounds and the Raiders pounced like lions on gazelles in the wild.
They drafted three wide receivers with their first four picks in the draft, adding depth to a much-needed position, but one player is bound to a unique role. That man is Lynn Bowden from Kentucky, who will be playing the Joker role.
What is the Joker’s Role? It depends on what offensive coordinator you ask. Traditionally it is for a tight end, which is considered the H-back. It was made famous by Don Coryell, who would move Kellen Winslow everywhere on the field to create favorable matchups in the offense. However, over time it has evolved into doing it all players who can be ambiguous to any position on the field.
Lynn Bowden will fill that role in 2020 for the Raiders and will test Gruden’s creativity and schemes. It’s time to make this offense explosive.
Do it All Bowden
Bowden did it all at the University of Kentucky. He was primarily a wide receiver during his first two seasons of college football. He was productive his sophomore year racking 725 yards on 67 receptions with 5 touchdowns.
In 2019 he started off strong again with 30 receptions over the first 5 games. But with all the quarterbacks injured, Bowden stepped up for his team and advised his coach he wanted to make the switch to the quarterback position.
As a starting QB for Wildcats, he was 6-2 and led the SEC in rushing with 1468 yards. According to Pro Football Focus, Bowden broke 48 tackles on his 166 designed runs. He finished the season with two straight 200-yard rushing performances helping the Wildcats finish the season with a winning record in a tough SEC conference.
Which brings all back to the Joker position that he is slated for at the next level. Gruden has a chance to display his creativity with Bowden and show off he’s ready for the modern NFL.
The Wildcat
When you see a player ran for 1,468 yards while playing quarterback, the wild cat is the first formation that comes to mind. Bowden’s ability to be to force defenses to play 11 on 11 might lead to chunk yards in the running game.
The Wildcat was made famous by the late Tony Sparano and the Miami Dolphins in 2008. The formation with Reggie Brown even caught the great Bill Belichick off guard and helped lead the Dolphins to the playoffs.
Bowden was excellent running the zone read while playing quarterback for Kentucky. The play below is a perfect example. He does an excellent job of reading the linebackers, getting them to commit to the running back. Once they commit, he keeps and burst through the hole at full speed.
Against Virginia Tech, he had 233 rushing yards and helped them upset the Hokies. This play was to tie the game and was a quarterback draw on 3rd and 8.
Bowden does a great job making a man miss in the backfield, which then leads to him on another house call making defenders look silly on the way to a huge touchdown.
This element can help in the red zone, and Gruden can even do packages with all three running backs on the field. Gruden has tons of opportunities to open this up and create mismatches and havoc on defensive coordinators’ brains.
Targets out of the Backfield.
Bowden’s natural position is at wide receiver, where he primarily played in college. He brings that flavor to the table as well, and with him designated to play running back, linebackers might start shaking in their boots when he gets lined up outside.
A great play the Raiders have run before is the mesh/wheel play design from Chip Kelly. Kelly added a nice wrinkle to the Air Raid staple having the running back run a wheel route out of the backfield to create a one on one match up with the linebacker.
Against the Bengals back in 2018, the Raiders execute this play with Jalen Richard in the backfield. The mesh helps move the cornerback out of the position of the play, especially with man to man coverage. This gives Richard the one on one to the outside. He easily wins the matchup with a nice throw from Derek Carr for the explosive play.
Another great way to use Bowden is to move him out of the backfield into the slot. In 2016, Kyle Shanahan did this at a high amount with Tevin Coleman leading to large gains on offense.
Here it was against the Broncos in 2016. The Falcons move Tevin Coleman out of the backfield into the slot to Matt Ryan’s left. The Falcons will be running four verticals against Cover 2 man coverage out of 21 personnel (two running backs, one tight end).
This gets Coleman one on one with a linebacker in the slot. And with the safety learning towards Sanu, it opens up the middle of the field for Coleman and an easy pitch and catch for the touchdown.
Bowden can be used in a plethora of ways and will genuinely test Gruden’s creativity as a play-caller. If he can get the most of Bowden, this offense will hard to stop on any down and distance.
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