It would be easy enough to sit here and write about first-team All-Pro superstar tight end Brock Bowers, rookie phenom running back Ashton Jeanty, or even 1,000-yard receiver Jakobi Meyers who didn’t drop any amount of passes on 100-plus throws his way. But there isn’t much need to do that–not when first-year Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith has it covered.
And, fortunately, Smith can’t stop raving about his new weapons.
“Man, I’m loving it, man,” Smith said in regards to his new stable of weaponry in Sin City. “They’re making my job tremendously easy. To be out here with these young, talented players, man. I think we have a really good team, a really good array of weapons, and just a bunch of different guys that can do a lot of great things.
“Obviously Brock is who he is. Getting to know Tre, getting to know Jakobi, watching Michael [Mayer] go out there and make plays. You know, Ashton’s coming along. It’s really easy for me. I just gotta go out there and be myself and get the ball into their hands and let them be special.”
It’s not hard to see why the 34-year-old signal caller is excited about his new teammates, either.
Bowers, a 1,194-yard, 112-catch pass-catcher one season ago who set the rookie record for most single-season receptions regardless of position, proved to be a legitimate superstar in the National Football League during Year 1. Many pundits of the sport believe he’s the game’s top tight end already, even.
Meyers ended his ’24 campaign as the first player in The 33rd Team‘s database to ever record zero drops in a season with 100-plus targets. The 28-year-old was recently labeled the most underrated player on the entirety of the Las Vegas Raiders roster via Pro Football Focus.
Geno Smith can’t get enough of his new Las Vegas Raiders weapons
The deep ball has been Geno Smith’s bread and butter since becoming a starting quarterback [again] in 2022. And he’s been making it look easy.
During his first season back under center full-time, Smith completed 47.6% of pass-attempts 20-plus yards downfield. This was the second-highest percentage on such attempts. Perhaps more impressively, the West Virginia alum posted a ‘big time throw’ – throws with excellent ball placement and timing – percentage of 41.3%. That was the highest mark league-wide on downfield passes.
The next season, in 2023, Smith once again made launching the ball deep look like child’s play. His 38.2% big time throw percentage on throws 20-plus yards downfield led all starting quarterbacks for the second straight year.
This past season, Smith completed 46.3% of his passes when going deep; the third-highest mark among all signal callers league-wide. D.K. Metcalf, his top-target during his ’24 campaign, finished first in catches (16) while recording the fourth-most yards (486) and second-most scores (5) on deep passes.
You can bet Smith is excited about the speedy Tre Tucker and 6-foot-5 freak athlete Dont’e Thornton Jr., the latter who posted an official 4.30 40-time during this year’s NFL Combine.
And while he won’t [directly] contribute much on downfield passes, you can bet Smith is also excited about Ashton Jeanty. After all, with Jeanty’s presence in the backfield, the passing-game will naturally open up in a big way.
Oh yeah–the 5-foot-8 Jeanty also runs like a “Rolling ball of butcher knives,” as current Ravens senior secondary coach Chuck Pagano put it.
Geno Smith certainly doesn’t disagree.
And then, there’s Ashton Jeanty
There’s no leaving anybody out for Smith–especially not his premier rookie runner in the backfield.
“You know, I think, Ashton, just from getting to know him, he’s so wise beyond his years,” Sin City’s signal caller said of his team’s sixth-overall pick this past April.
“Just super humble. For all the accolades he’s gotten, to be one of the highest drafted running backs drafted in a while. Super humble. Super hard working. Asking the right questions; he wants to learn from the vets. And, I mean he’s special with that ball in his hands, we know that. And we gotta keep getting it to him so he can go out there and be great.”
To Smith’s point, we certainly do know how special the Boise State alum is with the ball in his hands. During his ’24 campaign, the Heisman runner-up finished the year with 152 forced missed tackles and 1,970 yards after contact, both which stand as single-season records in college football.
No runner in college football this past decade has come within 48 forced missed tackles of that 152 mark in any season. And, unbelievably, Jeanty’s 1,970 yards post-contact was over 250 more yards than any runner this past year had in general; pre- and post-contact combined.
This wasn’t simply a product of playing Mountain West division opponents, either. Against Penn State, for example, the Boise State superstar totaled 16 forced missed tackles–a number greater than any other running back in the entirety of the FBS was able to total in any week, against any level of competition.
192 rushing yards against Oregon certainly doesn’t hurt his case, either.
To learn all about Ashton Jeanty, his fit with the Raiders, and more, such as Jeanty’s collegiate accomplishments, production against greater competition, and how elite running backs produce in the NFL with less-than-ideal offensive lines, you can watch our full film breakdown video of the 22-year-old, here.
Or, search manually on YouTube @ Ramble digital Media.
*Top Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
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