Las Vegas Raiders rookie first-round running back Ashton Jeanty looked every bit like a future featured back in the first half of preseason Week 2 against the San Francisco 49ers.
The No. 6 overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft scored his first touchdown of the preseason and gained 33 yards on seven attempts (4.7 yards per carry).
On Jeanty’s longest run, he bulldozed through 5-foot-10, 200-pound 49ers defensive back Deommodore Lenoir for a 13-yard gain to San Francisco’s 25-yard line. He punched in a touchdown from one yard out six plays later.
The Raiders made Jeanty the highest-drafted running back since the New York Giants selected Saquon Barkley at No. 2 overall in 2018. Jeanty is the sixth running back over the past 10 seasons (since 2016) to be selected in the top 10 of the NFL Draft, also joining Ezekiel Elliott, Leonard Fournette, Christian McCaffrey and Bijan Robinson.
Of the five previous, three rushed for 1,000 yards as a rookie, and each gained over 1,000 yards from scrimmage. Elliott led the league in rushing (1,631 yards) in 2016, and Barkley led the NFL in yards from scrimmage (2,028) two years later.
Last season at Boise State, Jeanty had one of the best seasons by a running back in recent history, ending the season with 374 carries, 2,601 rushing yards (seven yards per attempt) and 29 rushing touchdowns. He finished second in Heisman voting.
If Jeanty parlays his impressive performance against the 49ers into regular-season success, the Raiders could make noise in the deep AFC.
Quarterback Geno Smith and wide receiver Jakobi Meyers are painfully underrated, and the offense also boasts second-year tight end Brock Bowers, who had 112 receptions, 1,194 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie.
Head coach Pete Carroll has a track record of success wherever he’s coached, posting only four non-winning seasons in 18 previous seasons as an NFL head coach and reaching the playoffs 12 times.
Jeanty showed glimpses of why he was so highly thought of coming out of college on Saturday, a great sign for the Raiders. The sooner they get him going, the likelier they can ride him to success.
