Raiders HC Klint Kubiak says what most are thinking out loud when it comes to RB Ashton Jeanty
The Raiders are going to go through Ashton Jeanty.
Hiring Klint Kubiak as head coach gives the Las Vegas Raiders a prime opportunity to revamp their offense—and potentially reshape the entire franchise this offseason.
Kubiak is an offensive genius, and he’s watched up close and personal for a long time now when it comes to team building and winning. His father, Gary Kubiak, has won many Super Bowls, even with the Raiders’ rival, the Denver Broncos. And then Kubiak just won a Super Bowl as the OC with the Seattle Seahawks. So, this hire was the right one for what Vegas needs. Now, it’s about turning the team around and putting the pieces together, whether they are already on the team or not.
What we do know is that Kubiak will have a handful of pieces already on the roster to get him started. There’s Maxx Crosby, Brock Bowers, potentially Fernando Mendoza, oh, and Ashton Jeanty. Kubiak’s system calls for an elite run game. Luckily for him, there’s already an elite RB on the roster, and he’s going to be a huge part of how the team operates in 2026—but we already knew that.
“He’s a three-down back, so he should be able to help you in multiple ways,” Kubiak told reporters at the NFL Combine. “Run the football, catching it, protecting—if you’re going to be on the field on all three downs yoy have to be able to do all three of those, and he has that. I really liked diving into his rookie season.
“He’s going to be a major building block of our offense, but his success will be because the offensive line is blocking well, our second back is running well, the quarterback is making good decisions— we want to bring the best out of Jeanty, but that comes with the team playing well. He has all of the tools to be successful.”
The Raiders will want to make Jeanty the focal point, while also taking pressure off him
Despite being a rookie on the league’s worst offense, Jeanty still finished just under 1,000 rushing yards, an impressive feat. However, he ranked 7th in total carries with 266, but only 18th in total rushing yards. The Raiders relied heavily on him, but he didn’t produce.
This wasn’t Jeanty’s fault. His tape shows frequent hits behind the line due to poor blocking—780 out of his 975 rushing yards came after contact, and he led the league with 43 broken tackles. According to Sports Info Solutions, he was hit at the line 139 times, more than any other player.
Jeanty endured a heavy workload as a rookie and had 750 carries in three years at Boise State—over 1,000 in four years. Running backs have short careers, so Kubiak must reduce Jeanty’s workload.
“Yeah, we definitely want to have a two-man show there, guys who can share the load. It’s a long season,” Kubiak said. “You don’t want to put all of the carries and targets on one guy. So, right now, we are identifying guys who are available here in the draft, identifying the free agents, and looking at our own roster and seeing who can take that role. It is important that Jeanty has a wingman.”
The Raiders have their guy in Jeanty. Now, they have to make sure they keep him for years to come.
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