Analyst not fooled at all by Ashton Jeanty smokescreens by Raiders

For months leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders drafting Ashton Jeanty felt like an inevitability.

Coming off a season where the Boise State running back nearly broke the single-season rushing record in college, Jeanty entered the draft as the most exciting prospect at the position since Saquon Barkley. With the Raiders drafting sixth overall, rejuvenating what was the league’s worst rushing attack last season made Jeanty fit like a glove for them. Of course, they tried to make it not seem too obvious and risk other interesting teams cutting in front of them, so general manager John Spytek threw out a few smokescreens to try and take the attention off of their plans.

A month after the draft and with Jeanty now a part of the Raiders, one draft analyst knew what was happening from the start.

Jeanty being drafted by the Raiders was considered the ‘worst-kept secret’ of the entire draft.

Grading the Raiders’ draft haul, analyst Tony Pauline explained how he was not fooled by the deception Spytek tried to throw out to the rest of the NFL.

“The Raiders coveting Ashton Jeanty was the worst-kept secret in the draft, but as the first round drew closer, the bigger question was if the Boise State running back would be available at No. 6,” Pauline wrote. “After the [Jacksonville] Jaguars traded up for [Colorado cornerback and wide receiver] Travis Hunter and the [Cleveland] Browns took [Michigan defensive tackle] Mason Graham, Jeanty fell to the Raiders, and they took little time in running the card to the table.”

Pauline was onto the deception, but not every draft analyst was as keen as him during the process.

“After talking with some people in the league over the weekend, I no longer expect Jeanty to be the pick at 6,” fellow draft analyst Todd McShay said before the draft. “Don’t be surprised if the Raiders start a run on edge rushers at 6, with Jalon Walker and Mykel Williams the most obvious fits. Many teams have Walker higher on their board, but my gut tells me Pete Carroll could bet on traits and take Williams here.”

The Raiders could have gone a number of directions with the sixth pick, whether it was an edge rusher or an offensive tackle like Texas’s Kelvin Banks. There was even the possibility of the Raiders trading down and targeting North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton, who ended up with the Los Angeles Chargers with the 22nd overall pick. In the end, however, Jeanty was the prospect that the team connected with the most, and they were likely ecstatic to see the board fall favorably to them.

Jeanty is now a Raider as predicted, and it will not be long until fans get to see for themselves if that was the right decision.