Raiders RB Mike Washington Jr.'s ambitions come with no ceiling

May 01, 2026 at 03:56 PM

Raiders Columnist

BIG goals.

And the Raiders' fourth-round draft pick doesn't really care if you think he's aiming too high. After all, this is a well-traveled running back whose college career took him from Buffalo to New Mexico State to Arkansas to the NFL and Las Vegas so confidence and, yes, discipline have played major roles in his journey.

When he said in the afterglow of the Raiders using the No. 122 overall draft choice on him that he was "looking to be a legend [and] I'm going to be a legend," it deserved a follow up. As in, what, exactly, did he mean by that?

"It means I'm gonna do everything that I say," Washington told me without flinching on the most recent episode of Upon Further Review. "I'm looking to put on a Gold Jacket, you know? And I know it's big words, but I have high expectations of myself and I've always been that way.

"Some people may hear this and they laugh, but people have been laughing at me my whole life. So I always use that as a chip on my shoulder just to prove everybody wrong. So that's what I mean by that – I have super high expectations of myself and I will exceed those."

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There's no laughing in this corner. After all, you have to be sure of yourself to make it in the NFL, let alone life. And discipline, as noted before, has set him on that path.

Consider: Washington's father is a major crimes investigator for the Utica (N.Y.) Police Department, his mother is the founder and executive director of the Patty-Roy Foundation, a nonprofit to help the homeless, and his older brother is a former Marine and bodybuilder who is now a police officer in Dallas.

"It was instilled in me since Day 1," Washington said.

"Now, that's kind of just what I implement into my game, into my routines, just being disciplined. And not motivated. Because being motivated is an emotion, it comes and goes. But discipline is something you do whether you're sad, happy, tired. It has nothing to do with motivation. [Discipline] is doing it on a day-to-day basis, no matter how you feel."

And those are things Washington can control.

What he was "blessed" with is size (6-foot-2, 228 pounds), speed (4.33 in the 40) and agility (a 39-inch vertical).

Washington smiled.

"With the genetics thing, I mean, it's talent," he said, "but it's hard work at the same time. I've been gifted with genetics and being able to have this talent, but my hard work has met my talent. So now, I'm able to excel at whatever I really put my mind to."

Touché.

All of which begs the ultimate X's and O's question on Day 1 of rookie minicamp - how does Washington, who averaged 6.4 yards per carry in rushing for 1,070 yards and 8eight touchdowns last fall, fit in a backfield already boasting last year's No. 6 overall draft pick in Ashton Jeanty, who was a 25-yard pickup away from a 1,000-yard rookie season?

Think of last year's Super Bowl champions and remember who called plays for the Seahawks with a pair of productive backs. Yeah, that was new Raiders coach Klint Kubiak, then Seattle's offensive coordinator, who worked with new Raiders OC Andrew Janocko, then Seattle's QB coach.

"Yeah, I mean, we were excited to get him, for sure," Raiders director of college scouting Brandon Yeargan said of Washington. "Super productive, high character.

"We feel like he's a really good fit for Coach Kubiak and Andrew's scheme in the wide-zone system. So, pretty fired about him, and the person he is too."

In Kubiak's two-headed rushing attack, Kenneth Walker III rushed for 1,027 yards and five TDs and won Super Bowl MVP honors while Zach Charbonnet rushed for 730 yards and 12 scores.

So THAT's how Washington, who told me he is most comfortable running in "any type of gap scheme and zone schemes," fits with the Raiders.

In fact, former Raiders linebacker-turned-Raiders radio analyst Kirk Morrison already has a nickname for the duo of Jeanty and Washington – the Silver Surfer and Black Lightning.

Silver Surfer and Black Lightning
— Kirk Morrison (@kirkmorrison) April 25, 2026

Washington smiled. Again.

"Really, honestly, just complement him," Washington said of joining Jeanty. "Then being a sponge. Being a sponge will be my biggest asset because I'm a huge sponge and I like to learn from everybody."

On every stop.

But especially on that initial jaunt from Buffalo to Las Cruces, N.M., where his eyes spied something different.

"Never seen a mountain a day in my life," he said. "First time going out there, seeing mountains, seeing the tumbleweeds, I was just like, 'Whoa, am I in a cartoon or something?'

"It was wild, but it was a huge culture shock going out there. Super hot, too."

Hot? Well, then, welcome to Las Vegas, city of immeasurable goals.

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Las Vegas Raiders long snapper Tyler Duzansky (46) at day one of 2026 Rookie Minicamp at Intermountain Health Performance Center.