Washington Jr. Played the Audition. Now We Find Out If He Passed.

The foot injury that kept Jeanty questionable heading into New England has apparently lingered, and the Raiders are now finding out whether the insurance policy they built in August actually covers anything. Back then, Klint Kubiak called Washington Jr. "phenomenal" in preseason work, and the team seemed genuinely comfortable with the contingency. Comfortable in August is different from comfortable when the regular season is on the line.

Jeanty ran for 975 yards and five touchdowns last season and added another five scores as a receiver — he is the offensive engine this team designed its 2026 identity around. Losing him for any stretch of time isn't a depth question, it's a structural one. Washington Jr. gets the carries, but the offense doesn't just swap one back for another and stay the same.

What matters now is straightforward: Washington Jr. either shows he can hold the ground Jeanty cleared, or the Raiders learn something harder about how thin this roster actually runs when the first name on the depth chart goes down. I wrote before the New England game that this was his audition. The results of that audition are what we're sorting through now.