Ashton Jeanty lays down the hammer on the reality of his expectations in rookie year with the Las Vegas Raiders
If's fair to believe that Ashton Jeanty will come in his rookie year and make a significant impact for the Las Vegas Raiders. But, some of that belief is rooted in knowing just how bad their offense and run game was last year — historically bad. The Raiders did not take him No. 6 overall […]
If's fair to believe that Ashton Jeanty will come in his rookie year and make a significant impact for the Las Vegas Raiders. But, some of that belief is rooted in knowing just how bad their offense and run game was last year — historically bad.
The Raiders did not take him No. 6 overall for him to be a guy they sit for a few years and develop. Jeanty is coming in as the immediate starter, and that's because he's good enough to do that. A combination of having a bad running back room, a bad run scheme that didn't fit the players well, injuries, and bad play calling ended up getting the Raiders a terrible run game.
Going into the 2025 season, the Raiders have already improved their run game by getting a head coach in Pete Carroll who was always successful running the ball back to his days with the Seattle Seahawks, and hiring Chip Kelly as their offensive coordinator, who made Shady McCoy the rushing leader when he coached the Philadelphia Eagles.
So, yes, there should be some expectations for Jeanty to be an impactful rookie. But, he's making sure everyone isn't expecting anything crazy from him in year one.
"Yeah, I mean I wouldn't say I'll get 2,600 yards again right off the rip, but definitely to just be a great asset to this team, a great teammate, and just help bring wins home each and every week," Jeanty said at his introductory press conference when asked what his expectations are.
Jeanty just had one of the greatest college seasons ever, and even got the stamp of approval from Barry Sanders. Eric Dickerson in 1983 has the greatest rookie running back season of all time, where he rushed for over 1,800 yards and had 18 rushing touchdowns. Yeah, pretty insane, so having 2,600 yards as a rookie would almost be 1,000 yards more than that.
Jeanty has the potential to be a legit superstar in the NFL. In fact, most are expeting him to at some point be an All-Pro player. And, he can do it, especially if the Raiders keep doing what they have done to try and fix the run game so far. With a guy like Carroll at the helm, we know the Raiders are going to run the ball.
And when they run the ball, it only helps Geno Smith, and if he plays well, and the run game is good, this can be a good football team.
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