Rookie Mike Washington Jr. is ready for what comes next

Sep 10, 2026 at 10:05 AM

Raiders Columnist

Yeah, you could say Mike Washington Jr. made a name for himself this offseason.

MORE than made a name for himself.

The Raiders rookie running back captured the unofficial fan favorite title of "Most Intriguing" through the exhibition season with his hard-charging running style and breakaway runs and switching his uniform number from 30 to 4.

"Well, there's a lot of growth that still needs to be done," Washington told me in a Raiders Podcast Network interview. "But I credit all of my, I guess you'd call it preseason success, really to the team. We go out there every day, practice - and you know it's hot out there - we go to work, man.

"And literally, to be able to put everything together within the three [preseason] games, I credit that to the O-line, just everybody being there for each other and, you know, representing each other."

Washington represented the Raiders well in the preseason, rushing for a team-leading 168 yards on 23 carries for a 7.3-yards-per-rush average. Included were a pair of breathtaking long runs - a 53-yard sprint down the left side of the field against the Cardinals followed by a 33-yard gallop up the gut at Houston.

"I gotta go score," he said with a laugh. "I know I didn't but, you know, it's gonna end up happening one of these times I break it off again."

All of rookie Mike Washington Jr.'s 168 rushing yards from preseason 🏴‍☠️ @Raiders

How many will he rack up this season?

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He also caught a pair of passes for 18 yards.

All in all, not bad for a fourth-round draft pick who came out of high school a 2-star recruit and the No. 169-ranked running back in the class of 2021 who played his college ball at Buffalo, New Mexico State and Arkansas, right?

Well…

As Washington reiterated, this is where he's supposed to be. This is what he's supposed to be doing as he preps for his regular season NFL debut Sunday against the Dolphins at Allegiant Stadium.

And as Raiders General Manager John Spytek said last week, it was rookie coach Klint Kubiak who "stood on a table for that kid" as Day 3 of the NFL Draft began in the spring.

"This is the perfect scheme fit and we can make this player into a good player, he has what we're looking for," Spytek said of Washington. "[But] it's hard for any rookie to really carve out meaningful minutes and be as productive as you want them to be. And Mike certainly had a great preseason - nobody's taking that away from him - but it gets very real, very fast here now.

"But I think we're all excited about the track that Mike is on, and I think we have an expectation that he's going to help us win football games this year."

Washington did not flinch.

"I mean, now it's just time to prove him right," Washington said.

Whether it's to aid Ashton Jeanty or to have his own package of plays. Remember, Jeanty suffered an ankle injury Aug. 23 and was listed as a full participant in Wednesday’s injury report.

Washington, though, maintains a simple philosophy - stay ready so you don't have to get ready.

"He's still a maturing player," Kubiak told JT The Brick of Washington. "A talented man that we're going to keep giving opportunities to. He's earned more opportunities and he's done a good job in the preseason but now we're going against live bullets for 17 weeks in a row here before the playoffs. So he's just got to keep maturing."

Again, Washington did not blink when he was read those comments.

The last time Washington joined me in the podcast studio, he had just finished Day 1 of rookie minicamp. Now, on the cusp of his rookie season, he was a tad more mellow.

More serene.

Totally belying his on-field persona and running style.

So what, exactly, did Washington, the fifth of seven children, learn about himself through rookie minicamp, OTAs, mandatory minicamp, training camp and the three-game exhibition season?

"Really, I could do anything through my Lord and Savior," Washington said. "I know it may sound cliché, but I've been able to take leaps, from when I first started in OTAs up until now, and I credit that to my Lord and Savior, and just being able to battle through the mental growing pains of being a rookie.

"Every day is a lesson, and that's how I take it."

That's another way of making a name for yourself.