Another day, another running back off the free agent market. This time it’s ex-Cowboys runner Rico Dowdle who agreed to a one-year deal with the Carolina Panthers. Unfortunately for the Raiders, this comes one day after Najee Harris agreed to terms with the Los Angeles Chargers. What will Pete Carroll, who made it clear he wishes to run the football often, do now?
The same thing he seemed to be doing anyway—getting ready to draft Boise State superstar Ashton Jeanty.
Jeanty, the No. 5 prospect on Pro Football Focus‘ big board, has all the tools Pete Carroll loves in a running back. Perhaps that’s why Jeanty and Carroll had a deep conversation about “The art of playing running back,” as the 21-year-old puts it.
For that matter, Jeanty has all of the tools Sin City’s offensive coordinator Chip Kelly loves in his lead backs. Patience, vision, balance, footwork, and, as Marshawn Lynch might say, the ability to run through a motherf.. you get it.
With Pete Carroll and the Raiders being in prime position to draft such an ideal prospect, it only makes sense that Las Vegas hasn’t made any attempt to add a running back to the team’s unit despite the position arguably being the worst in full after trading for Geno Smith.
Is Pete Carroll getting ready to add Ashton Jeanty to the Raiders?
It’s hard to find a positive stat or analytic that Jeanty didn’t lead the nation in this past season. Rushing yards (2,287), rushing touchdowns (28), yards after contact (1,695), forced missed tackles (125), 10-plus yard runs (55), 15-plus yard runs (33), and first downs (106) were all bests in the entirety of the FBS.
Not-so-surprisingly, the Boise State runner’s grade of 95.3 via Pro Football Focus far exceeded all of his peers nationwide.
We’ve all heard the anti-Jeanty sentiment by now; he plays in the Mountain West division. And while that is, of course, true, the 5-foot-9 back was able to do great things when playing the top teams in the country all the same. That proved true in Week 2 against Oregon, who went onto finish the ’24 season undefeated en route to securing the No. 1 seed.
Matched up with Oregon, Jeanty totaled 192 rushing yards, the third-most in the country, while notching three rushing touchdowns. 111 of 192 yards came after contact, forcing eight missed tackles throughout the day. The most forced missed tackles any single runner recorded that week was nine, one less than Jeanty’s mark.
Against Penn State in the playoffs, Jeanty forced 16 missed tackles, three more than any other player during the week. Incredibly, the Heisman runner-up totaled a mere 18 yards before being touched throughout the entire contest, ending his day with 99 total rushing yards.
At this moment in time, Las Vegas appears to be Jeanty’s next stop. And, if that does happen, Raider Nation should expect their offense, now featuring Geno Smith, Ashton Jeanty, Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers to make a leap into unrecognizable territory in 2025.
That will really help make Pete Carroll’s goal of winning immediately become much more attainable.
*Top Photo: Brian Losness/Imagn Images
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