For the Radiers, having a player with Jacoby Ford’s speed on the field as much as possible is crucial. Ford ran a 4.28-second 40-yard dash at the combine. Yet, he said his 40-time is irrelevant “because I’m still accelerating after 40 yards.” First-year Oakland head coach Hue Jackson, who was Oakland’s offensive coordinator last season, made it clear at the combine in February that he has big plans for Ford in Oakland’s offense moving forward.
“The guy is fast, and he scores touchdowns,” Jackson said. “So there’s no question any time I can get the ball in his hands, I want to do that. I mean, he’s a tremendous talent. Obviously we saw him last year at the combine run as fast as anybody in a long time, and obviously he came to the Raiders and proved that to be true. The guy is a tremendous special teams player and ended up being our starting Z receiver and had a tremendous first year.”
Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. believes Ford is ready to be a solid contributor as a starting receiver. Williamson admitted that he wasn’t expecting Ford to be as polished as a receiver as he was as a rookie. Williamson thinks Ford can be an effective No. 2 receiver.
Ford is working toward being an Oakland mainstay at receiver and he will join quarterback Jason Campbell in workouts next week on the East Coast.
