Marshawn Lynch Raiders poised to give Oakland memorable run

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Marshawn Lynch, Raiders poised to give Oakland memorable run   Published: Apr 26, 2017 at 06:08 AM           Senior National Columnist                          It had never seemed right that Marshawn Lynch's  Caleb Joseph Jersey career would fizzle to an end with at the 1-yard line with the in the balance, with injuries shortening what would have been his final season, with sent into the vacuum created by a subsequent just a year after Seattle's debacle.     Lynch is famously the silent type, of course, but his level of play commanded more attention and demanded a better send-off than all of that.     Lynch can rewrite the ending now, about 14 months after he called it quits, in the sweetest po sible way. Now that the and that will send Lynch from Seattle to Oakland, he will play in the city he loves, for a team on the brink of potential greatne s.      There are plenty of questions to be answered, most urgently about how much Lynch might have left. At 31, he is certainly nearing the traditional finish line for running backs. But he was off all of 2016, and despite that limited him to seven games in 2015, he has a relatively innocuous injury history. Perhaps more importantly, what he did when he was healthy is so dominating that it erases any concern that maybe the should have looked for a young back with much le s mileage in a deep draft of running backs.      Consider this: Lynch leads the NFL in rushing touchdowns (51) since 2011, despite mi sing the entire 2016 season and more than half of the 2015 season. That's more than , or , , had in that span. It is stunning.      Lynch was younger for many of those years. But in 2014, his last full season, Lynch rushed for 1,306 yards and an NFL Pedro Alvarez Jersey -leading 13 touchdowns, averaged 4.7 yards per carry and caught 37 pa ses for a career-high 367 yards and four touchdowns. Considering that last year, the ' leading rusher was , with 788 yards (4 yards per carry) and 12 rushing touchdowns and zero receiving, Lynch need only be close to what he was in 2014 to be a marked upgrade from what the had.     At the Jeremy Hellickson Jersey  same time, Lynch provides the experience and physicality the running game desperately needed. The other four backs on the roster after Murray departed for Minnesota have a combined 260 career carries, according to NFL Network research. And there is little question that, despite the presence of and in the pa sing game, the fare better with a real rushing attack. Last season, when the went 12-4 and were challenging the for home-field advantage before Carr was hurt, the ranked sixth in rushing yards per game. In 2015, when they went 7-9, they ranked 28th. When they were 3-13 in 2014, they were dead last.         The are one of the small handful of teams that appear to have a chance to catch the , who have managed to improve from the team that won the le s than three months ago. The have a collection of dynamic offensive playmakers and a defensive superstar in . They had won eight of their last nine games before Carr got hurt in the next to last game of the regular season, to keep the pre sure on the for home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs. Adding Lynch gets them closer.      That the e sentially gave Lynch away is  Brad Brach Jersey worth noting. The relationship between Lynch and the had long been strained, even if Lynch was loved by teammates. As the prepared for the playoffs in 2015, there was -- at best -- a lack of communication between Lynch and Pete Carroll about whether Lynch would be available to play. It was obvious that if Lynch followed through on his desire to play again, it would not be in Seattle.      But if all that raises legitimate questions about what his attitude will be now, they are probably questions that the expect will be answered quickly.      This is, after all, a very short-term deal, and Lynch should be motivated by being able to play in his beloved Oakland. Lynch devotes much of his time and money to the East Bay (including a retirement-year appearance with President Bill Clinton), and he remains deeply connected to the University of California.     "I think every indication I got is he was excited to play for the ," Oakland head coach Jack Del Rio said in a pre-draft news conference.      There is one more thing: This is like a parting gift to fans in Oakland. They know they will lose their team to Las Vegas, but who -- like a couple going through a long, awkward separation -- must still live together for a while more. The league is counting on the being good and full of compelling personalities to smooth over the hurt feelings and keep people coming to the deteriorating stadium. When Al Davis was alive and the were in their heyday, they were a delightful collection of ruffians and oddballs. Davis would likely have loved Lynch, whose quirkine s is a throwback to a time when the were the rogues and villains who made the NFL more fun.         The , like everyone else, will soon embrace the corporate sheen of the modern NFL. But this last run with Lynch is a much more apt departure for them, and him, too.             This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be mi sing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link  Mark Trumbo Jersey in our site footer to report an i sue.
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