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The Las Vegas Raiders are planning to release veteran running back Kenyan Drake, per Tom Pelissero. Drake has been in the league for six seasons and could certainly wind up on another roster ahead of the regular season starting.
Drake began his career in 2016 when he was drafted in the third round by the Miami Dolphins. In 2019, he was traded to the Arizona Cardinals and played there through 2020. In the 2021 offseason, he signed a two-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders but had struggled in the preseason. He is being cut in favor of Josh Jacobs, the rookie Zamir White and veteran Ameer Abdullah.
Fantasy football fallout: Kenyan Drake released from Raiders
At FantasyPros, Kenyan Drake was being drafted as the overall RB64 in half-PPR scoring. As far as backup running backs go, Drake wasn’t being drafted with lofty expectations. Even though new head coach Josh McDaniels comes from the Bill Belichick coaching tree, Drake hadn’t been getting the touches in the preseason to inspire much confidence for the upcoming year.
Impact on running backs
White should see the highest uptick in ADP from this move. The rookie has shown promise in the preseason and likely attributed to Drake being released. Josh Jacobs takes a lot of hits when he runs as he typically is among league leaders in broken tackles. Whether he gets hurt or stays healthy the whole season, White makes for an intriguing backup to roster. He should now be selected in the RB44-48 range with Drake out of town. Abdullah would only draw fantasy interest in the deepest of leagues, but he has been used in passing situations in the preseason. Barring a league deeper than 14-teams, Abdullah can remain on the waiver wire.