Mike Washington has seemingly usurped Ashton Jeanty as the lead running back for the Las Vegas Raiders.

While there’s a lot of focus on the distribution of the rushing attempts, former Raiders Pro Bowl fullback Marcel Reece believes the duo will find complementary roles that benefit the offense the most.

“I know Ashton Jeanty is a good running back,” Reece, who played for the Raiders from 2008 through 2016, said in an exclusive interview with Casino.org. “Now he has a counterpart, Mike Washington, that is absolutely explosive and is going to be a special back in this league. 

“Klint Kubiak is going to figure it out. Figure out what runs Ashton is great at, what runs Mike is great at, and allow the two of them to be a two-headed monster.”

Washington carried the ball 25 times in Sunday’s win over the Jets, compared to two for Jeanty.

Jeanty, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2025 draft, is averaging only 3.1 yards per carry this season, but Reece isn’t ready to give up on him. He believes Jeanty is a couple chunk runs away from making his numbers look much more respectable.

“What’s missing out of those carries is the explosive runs, right?” Reece said. “Because now all of a sudden you get explosive runs, and that’s how that average moves up. If you’re matriculating down the field and it’s like four yards here, four yards there, that is not how the game works. …

“When they start to get those explosive runs, that’s when you’re going to start to see the success in the stats, because the stats don’t tell the story.”

Jeanty has been making an impact in the passing game, catching 37 passes for 376 yards and three touchdowns this season. He had three catches for 64 yards on Sunday, including a 45-yard gain.

“We saw it last year with him at the end of the season, where you’re starting to see Ashton Jeanty,” Reece said. “This is what we saw from him in college. You’re starting to see a 30-yard burst out in the first half of a game, and then all of a sudden he has a 25-yard run in the second half of a game. You’re like, ‘Okay, maybe he is the guy that we thought, that top five pick.’ I think we’re going to start seeing a lot of those runs here as we get to the midway of the season.”

Reece also sees a player who is going to get more comfortable in Kubiak’s run scheme as time goes on.

“He has a new run game, new run scheme, so it takes time,” Reece said. “I like to say that when you’re on the defensive end of the ball, that it’s like throwing lighter fluid on top of a fire. When you’re on the offensive side, you’re starting a fire with wood sticks, right? It takes time, but once it gets roaring, it’s sustainable and it’s good.”

Reece: Raiders Should Think Long-Term at Trade Deadline

The Raiders are in an interesting spot at 4-4 as the trade deadline approaches.

They are only a game back of a playoff spot in the AFC, but are also clearly looking toward the future with No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza eventually taking over as quarterback.

Reece said it wouldn’t make sense to blow up any long-term plans for a boost this season.

“When I was in Las Vegas as an executive, we were not worried about the short term,” Reece said. “How do we build a team to be sustainable? Not just this year, but far beyond this year. Yes, we want to make a playoff run. Yes, we want to do a lot of different things, but for me, trades make the most sense if you’re really (winning) like gangbusters and you have a major injury that puts one of your stars out for the year. 

“Then you make a trade to kind of replace and it’s plug and play. If there’s something that isn’t plug and play, then you don’t go blow your team up for this year or lose equity for the following year.”

Could the Raiders be sellers?

While Kirk Cousins is playing well, he’s been mentioned in myriad trade rumors. 

Star edge rusher Maxx Crosby, who was dealt this offseason to the Ravens before returning after a failed physical, is endlessly spoken about as a trade candidate.

“If another club presents you something that is giving you two to three draft picks in the future, you have to truly evaluate that and say, ‘Is this going to help me for the long term?’” Reece said. “And how does it impact my current team right now? You don’t just sell off for the future, and you don’t go buy for the present (without thinking long-term). You have to have a clear balance and a clear vision for your team and your club.”

Reece: No Reason to ‘Rush’ Fernando Mendoza

Cousins has a passer rating of 101.4 this season with 19 touchdowns against only five interceptions. 

While Mendoza will eventually get his chance in Las Vegas, Reece says the team should remain patient.

“There’s no reason at all to rush Fernando Mendoza into playing right now,” Reece said. “I would ask, why are we putting Fernando Mendoza in? That would be the question, and try to understand what answer ensues after that. 

“Kirk Cousins has been playing winning football. Now they have to continue to start to put things back together as a whole and play complementary football on all three phases of the game. But when you’re talking about the quarterback position, I think Kirk Cousins has been playing winning football.”

Reece isn’t even sure he would play Mendoza this season if the Raiders were eliminated from playoff contention, depending on the injury situation offensively.

“What’s the health looking like on the outside and the playmakers for him to be successful?” Reece said. “And what’s the health looking like on your offensive line for him to be protected? You don’t put your new franchise quarterback out there if you don’t have the best offensive line that you have, that you can put out there to have him protected. You don’t play this game for experiments. You’ve got to play it for longevity.”

Even though Mendoza isn’t getting live reps, Reece says his rookie year experience is still preparing him to become a productive player when it is his turn.

“Fernando is going to be a fantastic football player when his time comes in this quarterback position,” Reece said. “You have to be able to absorb as much as humanly possible, as fast as humanly possible.

“And I learned that from some of the greatest quarterbacks that this league has ever seen. Whether it’s Tom Brady, who’s one of my best friends in the world, and Carson Palmer, who I played with, you have to understand a lot really, really fast at the quarterback position. This time that he’s waiting right now, it is going to pay dividends for him in the long run.”

Reece: Raiders Can Make the Playoffs

Las Vegas is not generally seen as a potential playoff team, but they are in the hunt halfway through the season.

Reece believes they will ‘steal’ some wins in the next few weeks and have a shot to make a surprise postseason appearance in Year 1 under Kubiak.

“I think they’re going to be in the race and in the hunt right at the end there, for a number of different reasons,” Reece said. “I think that some of that is attrition from the rest of the division. There are some injuries around our division right now that are going to give some teams some struggles. And I think we’re going to steal some games that people don’t think we’re going to win on paper here in the midseason.”

Reece said AFC upsets would pay off huge when it comes to tiebreakers.

“When you get to that middle eight of the season, that’s where you got to really steal some conference games,” Reece said. “Because when you get halfway through a season — we always say the conference games count as two, right? They count as two, and when you win more of those than you lose, you put yourself right in the hunt at the end there.”

Reece is happy with the trajectory of the franchise, and believes Brady and owner Mark Davis are doing a nice job getting the organization back on track.

“Tom is the greatest leader the football field has ever seen,” Reece said. “Point-blank and period. There’s no argument about that. And Mark Davis is one of my mentors and almost like a father figure to me and someone I love dearly and hold close to my heart. 

“So the Raiders are exactly where, under that leadership, where they should be right now from that perspective. The Raiders are in a great spot. I think that Raider fans have something to be excited about. Raider Nation should be excited of what’s to come in the future.”