I was poking around Twitter today when I saw the above tweet by an Oakland Raiders beat writer. The Raiders announced the signing of running back Trent Richardson to a two-year contract. He joins Reggie Bush as a former first round pick headed to the Bay Area. The San Francisco 49ers agreed to terms with Reggie Bush on what is being described as a one-year contract.
David Neumann will have more breakdown Wednesday on Bush and his potential impact. In the meantime, what do you expect between the two new Bay Area running backs? Odds seem pretty good that Bush will be a complementary option behind Carlos Hyde. Things could change over the next five months, but I see Bush as more involved in the passing game.
On the other hand, Richardson joins a running back group in Oakland that is fairly young. The team also signed Roy Helu, but Latavius Murray seemed like the guy who would be getting the biggest opportunity in 2015. Murray closed out 2014 as the team's starter in the final four games. He averaged 5.2 yards per carry on the season, and looked like a pretty capable back at times. Richardson is signed for $3.9 million over the two years, with incentives that could push it up to $4 million per year. It would seem like he is getting a pretty significant opportunity in Oakland.
Odds are probably not entirely awful that Richardson would in fact end up putting up better raw numbers than Bush. However, if Bush is actually effective in 2015, and the 49ers actually use screen passes and other similar players, he could give the 49ers more than Richardson in total value. His raw numbers might not be as high as Richardson if the latter ends up starting, but his value in the passing game could be huge.
Or, both guys end up doing nothing and we laugh about all this. Either way, we'll wait and see what the next season brings us.
Noted RT @Jerrymcd: Guessing the Raiders get more out of Trent Richardson than the 49ers will out of Reggie Bush. pic.twitter.com/o7SYtlzt3S
— Niners Nation (@NinersNation) March 17, 2015