The Las Vegas Raiders want to establish the run in 2025 after finishing with the worst run game in the league a season before.
Head coach Pete Carroll is known for leading teams with strong rushing attacks from his days at USC and in Seattle. A generational running back like Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty is bound to be tied to the Raiders. Perhaps no other prospect outside of Shedeur Sanders has been projected to the Raiders more in the upcoming NFL Draft.
The 33rd Team’s James Foster has the Raiders selecting Jeanty in his most recent post-early free agency mock draft.
“The Raiders secured their quarterback of the near future, trading a third round pick for Geno Smith, and they add more offensive firepower with Ashton Jeanty,” wrote Foster. “Jeanty is a complete three-down back who’s a chore to bring down.”
A scouting report on Jeanty is all you need to understand how promising the 2,000-yard prospect is.
“Jeanty is undoubtedly one of the best players eligible for the 2025 NFL Draft when you disregard positional value,” wrote 33rd Team’s Kyle Crabbs. “This highly productive running back creates a ton of added value to his touches thanks to an elite ability to create yards after contact and is capable of hitting home run carries through traffic. Jeanty showcases top-tier vision and contact balance while offering a sufficient skill set on passing downs, making him a viable option for any kind of offensive system, be it outside zone or gap-principled.
“Most importantly, his well-rounded resume should allow him to offer the kind of snap usage that will be required to justify a selection in the 1st-round of the 2025 NFL Draft. “
According to Crabbs, it is the ability to hit home runs and play smash-mouth football that make Jeanty special.
“Jeanty’s compact frame naturally offers him leverage at first contact. It makes him a difficult player to get underneath when he’s coming downhill,” he wrote. “Those who would opt to cut him down low in the open field have been made to look silly on more than one occasion, as Jeanty has a nasty hurdle move that allows him to clear smaller defenders in the secondary who know they can’t thump pads with him 1-on-1.
“When Jeanty hits the open field, he illustrates the necessary burst to break angles in space and convert those opportunities into long-run touchdowns. He has been caught from behind occasionally, but player tracking data has suggested he’s capable of breaking into speeds of up to 21mph in a live-game setting — plenty of acceleration and long speed for the next level.”
Jeanty is a game-changer who can walk in and change an offense Day 1.
