How Raiders Ashton Jeanty Is Improving All-Around Game

Originally posted on Las Vegas Raiders on SI
By Michael Canelo | Last updated Aug 20, 2025 2:00 PM ET

The Las Vegas Raiders are going to have one of the best young running backs, if not the best one in the league, this season. Raiders starting running back Ashton Jeanty is looking to give the team the running back they've been looking for. The Silver and Black know how good Jeanty is, and that is why they took him with the sixth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Jeanty has flashed a bit of what he brings to the table for the Raiders in the preseason. Jeanty is a good back with a lot of speed. That is what the Raiders were looking for in a running back. It was the team's biggest need, and they got a good one in Jeanty.

Head coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly like to run the ball. They are going to make it a big part of the offense, and it is going to be interesting how much they use Jeanty this season.

One thing that is unknown about Jeanty is his ability to do the things that do not go on the stat sheet for a running back. That is when the running back is blocking for the quarterback and picking up the blitz. That is something that is not known from his game because in college, he will rarely do it. But that is something that he has been working on since being drafted by the Raiders. It has a lot to do with Jeanty wanting to do whatever it takes to win games for the team this season.

Our Hondo Carpenter and Ezekiel Trezevant talked about Jeanty on a recent episode of the "Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast."

Ashton Jeanty improving his game

"Like Ashton Jeanty taking a hit," said Carpenter. "They do not want him going to New England, and he has only been touched a couple of times. Because it is going to be a pounding. They are not abusing him."

"To your point, I think with Ashton Jeanty specifically, all the talk about can Jeanty withstand the physicality of the NFL, that has made it to this locker room. They hear the talk, and they are going to make sure that they make sure it is not going to be a thing."

"I did not think he was good in pass protection, but that is because they did not ask him for it ... I have been stunned, he takes pride in blocking."