Raiders hope Osemele's ‘nastiness' becomes infectious

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ALAMEDA – Jalen Richard’s first NFL carry was a thing of beauty. The Raiders undrafted rookie running back hesitated a bit, found a crease on the left flank, burst through it and scored a vital 75-yard touchdown run that helped his team earn a dramatic 35-34 victory over New Orleans.

Lost in all that drama is the real reason Richard got loose. Tight end Lee Smith stifled a defensive end in the backfield. Guard Jon Feliciano cleared a defensive tackle out of the way. Saints linebacker Craig Robertson, however, remained in prime position to mitigate the gain.

One problem. Kelechi Osemele hadn’t hit anybody yet. He engaged Robertson, walled him off to the left and, once Richard was through, tossed him to the ground to eliminate the possibility of pursuit.

The Raiders scored. Osemele knocked a man flat on his back and got credit for a pancake block. That, Osemele says, is as good as it gets.

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” Osemele said on Thursday. “It usually doesn’t work out like that, though. Usually, you have a pancake block and the run gets stuffed for 2 yards. For the run to bust out and you get a pancake block to spring it, that’s the stuff you dream about it. Those are the moments you visualize in your head before the game. That was awesome.”

It was one of 13.5 knockdowns that day. If that seems like a lot, it is.

Osemele played 73 offensive snaps against New Orleans. He knocked an opponent down 18 percent of the time. That’s a ton, and not a coincidence.

Osemele doesn’t just want to open a crease or protect his quarterback. He wants to maim. He wants to break an opponent’s spirit with relentless force and aggression.

“When a guy gets that many knockdowns and plays at that level, other guys are going to see it and want to emulate it,” offensive line coach Mike Tice said. “That was great that, in the first game of the year, we got what we thought we were paying for.”

The Raiders paid a premium for this talent. Osemele signed a five-year, $58.5 million contract with $25.4 million in guaranteed salary over the first two years. That’s a record for an offensive guard, a required sum to get the guy they wanted.

The Raiders have spent big on offensive linemen to ensure they get the right personalities on the front. They wanted Osemele, and ensured his import.

“When we looked at him in free agency, we wanted to add a personality to the group that added nastiness,” Tice said. “We call it a different thing but, being able to print it, we’ll call it nastiness. We wanted to add that. We felt like Menelik had that but was hurt last year. We feel like Jon (Feliciano) has that temperament. We feel like some guys have it at some times. A guy like Kelechi was the best finisher available, and we felt like we could bring his personality into the (meeting) room and it would permeate and it would help.”

His attitude never changes in practice or play. It caused friction and a few training camp scuffles, but Osemele’s a player the Raiders want on their side when it matters most.

Osemele's pursuit of dominance is relentless. He’s 6-foot-5 and somehow cut at 335 pounds. He wants to break the opposition down mentally with raw physicality.

“You can definitely feel it, especially when you’re kicking somebody’s (butt) the entire game,” Osemele said. “Then they get a little timid and scared, and you know you’ve got them. …You keep hitting him and hitting him and hitting him, and eventually you can tell he just doesn’t want it anymore.”

The Raiders want to build a bully on both fronts, and Osemele can lead that effort.

“Menelik was telling me a story of how he saw me (pancake) a dude over the pile, and it got him psyched and hyped up,” Osemele said. “Even things like Derek Carr jumping over people can get you pumped. I thought that was pretty awesome. Things that excite people and get them on their feet can inspire.

“This is a game with a lot of adrenaline. To get people to play it violently, you need somebody to be the initiator.”

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