Dylan Laube: The Roster Spot Hidden in Plain Sight
On the Radar
Dylan Laube matters because his clearest path onto the 2026 Raiders is not through Ashton Jeanty’s carries—it is through all the game-day jobs most fans never count.
That makes August different for Laube. The roster file lists him behind Jeanty and Mike Washington Jr. at running back, but first at kick returner. In a crowded backfield, that second label may matter more than the first.
The Surface Read
The box-score crowd sees a third-year back with almost no offensive résumé. Laube played only 27 offensive snaps in 2025, finishing with seven carries for nine yards and three catches for 18. If the evaluation ends there, the conclusion arrives quickly: replaceable.
That conclusion misses how the bottom of an NFL roster is actually built. Coaches are not filling 53 isolated depth-chart slots. They are trying to cover dozens of Sunday jobs with a limited number of active players. Laube’s 855 kick-return yards ranked 10th in the league last season, and he handled 202 special-teams snaps. He also contributed in coverage.
The headline hunters are grading him like a backup runner. The Raiders may be grading him like a roster solution.
The Sharper Read
Laube’s real value is multiplicity without substitution.
If he dresses as the third running back, returns kicks and works on coverage units, one active roster spot answers several contingency questions. He can absorb a return-game injury, cover emergency backfield snaps and keep a core special-teams player from being exposed on offense. That is not glamorous. Neither is a fire extinguisher until the kitchen starts smoking.
His college profile explains why the idea remains alive. At New Hampshire, Laube produced 7,197 all-purpose yards, including 1,791 as a receiver and more than 2,600 in the return game. That history does not guarantee an offensive package in Las Vegas, but it shows the skill set is broader than his NFL rushing line suggests.
The smart question, then, is not whether Laube can take carries from Jeanty. It is whether he can become trustworthy enough in protection, route assignments and ball security that the offense can use him without announcing, “special-teams player on the field.” If he clears that threshold, his versatility becomes usable instead of theoretical.
The Watch List
Kick-return ownership: Is Laube still taking the first return reps, or is Dareke Young cutting into them?
Coverage-unit presence: Track whether he remains involved beyond returns. Multiple phases strengthen his roster case.
Third-down work: Watch for pass-protection and route reps, not just carries. Trust is earned before touches arrive.
RB3 competition: Rep order behind Jeanty and Washington matters, but Laube’s special-teams workload may break a close tie.
Wednesday in Silver & Black Ops, we go beneath the depth chart and into the roster math: how return value, protection trust and offensive disguise determine whether Laube is merely active—or actually useful.
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