Ashton Jeanty is the unquestioned top tailback on the depth chart as the Las Vegas Raiders enter all-important training camp.
But what’s the pecking order behind the Silver & Black’s prized running back?
That’s one of the questions slated to be answered when Las Vegas as a whole comes together on July 28 when veteran players join the rookies (who reported this past Thursday). From there, the Raiders engage in several practices before a trio of preseason clashes starting on August 13 versus the visiting Arizona Cardinals.
Let’s start with the current running backs on the roster then shift to preliminary pecking order, and where the competition lies.
Joining Jeanty, the sixth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, are: 2026 fourth-rounder Mike Washington Jr. out of Arkansas, 2024 sixth-rounder Dylan Laube, and undrafted free agents Chris Collier (2024) and Roman Hemby (2026). Interestingly enough, the way each tailback name is listed, is the preliminary pecking order.
And the competition that looms is for that RB3 role that Laube currently has a grip on. But out of the backend trio of Laube, Collier, and Hemby, it’s the latter that brings intriguing size and physicality that other two don’t.
By The Numbers
Roman Hemby, Running Back, Indiana
- 2025: 16 games, 230 carries, 1,120 yards, 7 touchdowns; 17 receptions, 165 yards; 9 kick returns, 203 yards.
- Career: (2021-25; Maryland and Indiana), 58 games, 711 carries, 3,467 yards, 29 touchdowns; 129 receptions, 1,086 yards, 5 touchdowns; 16 kick returns, 287 yards.
Spending most of his collegiate career at Maryland before a standout 2025 campaign during Indiana’s national championship run, Hemby stands 6-feet and 210 pounds and offers a more natural, physical, between-the-tackles power style than Laube or Collier.
Alongside Hoosier backfield mate Kaelon Black (selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round of the 2026 draft; 90th overall), Hemby helped power Indiana’s ground game with a team-leading 230 carries for 1,120 yards with seven end zone visits. Black led the Hoosiers with 10 rushing touchdowns (alongside 1,040 yards on 186 carries). Both provided Indiana with grinder-type tailbacks who welcomed contact and typically fell forward for additional yards when eventually brought down.
Hemby, in particular, was the more violent of the two Indiana halfbacks and thrives as a decisive runner in both gap and zone schemes. He’s a reliable back to pound the rock inside and brings added value of pass protector and pass catcher out of the backfield. Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak is installing his preferred wide/outside zone scheme in Las Vegas, but he (alongside offensive line coach Rick Dennison and offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko) adapted to incorporate more gap/power elements into the ground game during their respective times with the Seattle Seahawks last season.
Which makes a running back with Hemby’s profile and traits an attractive option. Jeanty and Washington bring elements of drive through contact as physical power runners who can thrive between the tackles or one-cut and dash outside for yardage.
Unlike Laube and Collier who are more agile ball carriers who don’t have the physical makeup for the collision style the aforementioned tailbacks bring to the table. Laube (5-foot-9 and 204 pounds) is a pass-catching type runner who has the hands and foot quickness, but hasn’t put it together for two previous Raiders coaching staffs to earn any significant offensive snaps (just 29 total and he’s got eight career carries for nine yards and three receptions for 18 yards to show for it). Collier, meanwhile, stands 5-foot-10 and 203 pounds and is of similar ilk physically and trait-wise, and he’s logged 19 career offensive snaps (16 with the Raiders in 2025) and has five carries for 12 yards and one reception for minus-four yards as he heads into Year 3 like Laube.
Thus, the opportunity is there for Hemby to showcase the skillsets that made him a dependable running back at Indiana as the Raiders embark on training camp and upcoming preseason tilts.
As our Matt Holder penned this past Tuesday, Washington has the clear-cut path towards a roster spot and complementary role to Jeanty as RB2. And I agree, unless the Arkansas speed/power back face plants as the rest of the offseason proceeds, he’s likeliest to earn the backup role and provide a change-of-pace option behind Jeanty.
The rest of the group has plenty to prove, however. Despite heading into Year 3, Laube and Collier remain unproven products at age 26, and of course, as an undrafted free agent, Hemby (23 years old) is even more neophyte coming from Indiana to Las Vegas.
There’s one particular area where Laube has an edge over Collier and Hemby, however: Special teams work.
With 33 kick returns for 855 yards (long of 38), the New Hampshire product was one of the primary return specialists alongside veteran tailback Raheem Mostert (23 kick returns for 673 yards; long of 54). Laube also notched five special teams tackles and was called out by new special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis earlier this offseason.
“I think he’s done a great job throughout the OTAs,” DeCamillis said of Laube. “He’s another one that’s really, really sharp, gets the game and he knows the way he’s going to make it is by the more he can do, and he’s accentuated that all the way through camp. I really like him so far. … I think he’s going to be a good player for us.”
Collier and Hemby are no strangers to special teams work, either. In Hemby’s case, he was a core special teamer at both Maryland and Indiana and returned nine kickoffs for 203 yards. And displaying both prowess in DeCamillis’ and Kubiak’s respective units is Hemby’s best path towards a 53-man roster spot.
It’s viable that Laube locks in as a special teams option while Hemby slots in as RB3 behind Jeanty and Washington. It’s also possible that Hemby doesn’t make any traction.
This is what makes the training camp progress intriguing.
