RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. When the Las Vegas Raiders used the sixth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on a running back, expectations shot up.
Teams rarely use a top-10 pick on a running back — a position many treat with a committee approach — unless they believe they're getting a generational talent. That's what people thought the Raiders were getting in Ashton Jeanty.
Jeanty arrived off a record-breaking season at Boise State, where he rushed for 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns on 374 carries, averaging 7.0 yards per carry. He won nearly every major national award and finished as Heisman Trophy runner-up.
But he couldn't carry that explosiveness over to his first NFL season. Jeanty finished the year with just 975 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 266 carries, averaging 3.7 yards per carry — among the lowest marks in the league among starting running backs. He did add 346 receiving yards, but he struggled to find room on the ground all season, and the Raiders fell to 3-14.
Looking ahead to 2026, though, Jeanty is in a much better position. The Raiders overhauled the offensive line — a major reason for his inefficiency last season — and brought in Klint Kubiak as head coach. Kubiak's offensive scheme just helped the Seattle Seahawks win the Super Bowl. Vegas plays in a tough division, but there's real belief that Jeanty is poised to show why the franchise took him sixth overall a year ago.
Jeanty recently spoke about his rookie struggles and why he expects this season to look different. "When everything is not going well, continuing to go to work and having hope and faith," Jeanty said, via The Associated Press . "I think that'll carry into this year. Just taking it one week at a time, whether you win or you lose, you've got to attack the next game and the next week with the same mindset."
After a full year in the league, Jeanty has also come to understand his impact as a leader, both in the locker room and on the field. "It's always tough being in the first year trying to figure out so much stuff," Jeanty said. "But this year, there's a lot of expectations for me, and I think I've got to make a big jump. I think that starts with helping my teammates as well and just being a better teammate."
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This is still a young Raiders roster. With Jeanty, rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza, and tight end Brock Bowers — entering just his third season — there's bound to be some growing pains in 2026, especially under a new head coach. But there's also real reason for optimism.
The team added several playmakers on defense this offseason, including Quay Walker, Nakobe Dean, Kwity Paye, and Taron Johnson. And after identifying protection as the offense's primary issue, Vegas made one of the biggest splashes of free agency, signing Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum to a three-year, $81 million deal. The Raiders also brought in Kirk Cousins to help speed Mendoza's development and added outside weapons like wide receivers Jalen Nailor and Malik Benson.
All of this should help take some pressure off Jeanty as he looks to establish himself as one of the NFL's best backs in 2026.
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