Saturday, August 31, 2024; Statesboro, Georgia; Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty gains yardage against Georgia Southern during the season opener on Saturday, August 31, 2024 at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia. Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

An Underrated Aspect of Ashton Jeanty's Game

Originally posted on Las Vegas Raiders on SI
By Ezekiel Trezevant | Last updated May 23, 2025 12:00 PM ET

From the offensive coordinator to the offensive line, the Las Vegas Raiders struggled to run the ball for various reasons other than the multiple running backs they have used over the past two seasons. While Las Vegas has struggled at the quarterback position, their ground game has struggled as well.

One of the primary factors that has held the Raiders' ground game back has been an offensive line that has struggled a decent amount of the time, failing to give their running backs enough time to get going out of the backfield. This has forced the Raiders' group of running backs into unideal situations.

A vital part of any elite running back's skillset, is the ability to break tackles, or at least not be as bad at doing so as the Raiders' running backs have been at it over the last two seasons. While the Raiders' offensive line needs improvement, breaking tackles is an area Raiders running backs can improve.

Bradley Locker of Pro Football Focus believes that while the bar for all-time rookie seasons is high, Jeanty could register one of, if not the best, rookie seasons ever. The Raiders need Jeanty to perform well this season for everything else on their offense to work as intended.

"Jeanty’s bread and butter is forcing missed tackles, whether via eluding a defender with a juke or simply bowling them over and fighting through arm tackles. Based on his proclivity for making defenders miss, Jeanty is in a good position to climb that rookie list, too," Locker said.

"No rookie RB in PFF history has ever forced 70 or more missed tackles, and Josh Jacobs’ 69 is the most since 2006. Moreover, just seven first-year running backs have secured even 60 missed tackles forced. Jeanty registered a staggering .405 missed tackles forced per carry mark last year, and if that translates while he receives at least 200 carries, he’d sit around 91 missed tackles forced in his first year with the Las Vegas Raiders. There’s a real chance that Jeanty could stand alone in PFF history by at least 25 missed tackles forced."

"Frankly, Jeanty is so formidable that he could fit essentially any scheme. The good news for Kelly is that, since 2023, Jeanty churned out an 84.0 PFF rushing grade or better on each of the above concepts, including a 96.7 mark on outside zones and 94.6 on counters."

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This article first appeared on Las Vegas Raiders on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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