Raiders’ perfect move in 2025 NFL Draft

When the draft board got shaken by the news of Jacksonville’s trade with the Cleveland Browns, that could have been another moment of panic for the Raiders. Would the Browns slide to No. 5 and take Jeanty? Did Spytek need to call the Patriots for a preemptive strike?

Nope. Hold fast. And the perfect draft move came from staying put in Round 1. The Raiders didn’t have to give up a thing and they still got a player who could be the most impactful pick for the 2025 season.

Wait? What about Cam Ward? Travis Hunter? Abdul Carter? Let’s take a quick look. Ward will almost surely need time to develop. He’s not entering a loaded situation where he can get off to an immediate great start. His progress will likely come toward the latter stages of the regular season.

Hunter is more likely to pop. But his problem will be figuring out the intricacies of the NFL on both sides of the football. It’s a mental blockade that could slow his rookie-year progress.

As for Carter, it’s going to take a while for him to learn his way around some of the better tackles in the league. He’ll get there, but there’s no guarantee of a double-digit-sack season.

But could Ashton Jeanty outshine them all?

And that brings us to Jeanty. He could go for 100 yards rushing in his first NFL game. A 1,000-yard season isn’t just likely, it’s expected. Yes, that’s a lot of pressure. But the Raiders did their homework and drafted a home run.

Spytek said he expects a lot from Jeanty, according to Sports Illustrated via raiders.com.

“I hope people could see on the TV screens that the Raiders scouts, coaches, and everybody were super fired up to get Ashton Jeanty,” Spytek said. “Just a player that we’ve been targeting for a while here, and just a great kid that can really run the football. We’re excited to bring him to Vegas and be a part of Raider Nation.”

Spytek said the process led the Raiders strongly to Jeanty.

“As we went through the evaluation, we talked to him and we talked to people around him at Boise and the people that support him,” Spytek said. “You get to know the kind of person he is and the competitor he is, and it made a lot of sense at a position that we need, that we really value in coach Carroll’s system and Chip’s system. He can be a foundational piece for us, and he’s going to chew up a lot of yards and score a lot of touchdowns, is the hope.”

Raiders won’t hesitate to put him to work

Another reason why this is a gem of a pick is because the Raiders will do everything they can to make Jeanty an immediate success. This works well for the organization. It makes it look good. Plus, Jeanty gets to work under offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.

“That’s an exciting partnership there with Chip and a player like Ashton that can do so many different things,” Spytek said. “I think one thing that people miss is that, yeah, he can really run the football, but he had 43 catches as a (sophomore) for over 10 yards a catch. So he’s hopefully one of those players that when the offense breaks the huddle, they have to find him, otherwise he’s standing in the end zone.”

Jeanty drew rave reviews in the pre-draft process. NFL.com tabbed him as a Pro Bowl talent.

“He’s the ultimate yardage creator, with the talent and skill set to succeed independent of the quality of his blocking,” Lance Zierlein wrote. “Jeanty’s speed forces linebackers to flow hard outside, creating cutback lanes and chunk runs, while his vision, balance, and elusiveness get it done along the interior. The threat of what he can do on the ground should create ideal play-action opportunities for his team, allowing his next play-caller to, say, unburden a young quarterback or any other passer being asked to shoulder too much of the offense.

“He’s compact and muscular, but there could be some minor concerns surrounding his massive workload in 2024. This top-flight running back is capable of becoming the face of an offense in a league where the pendulum might be swinging back to the running game. Jeanty has future All-Pro talent.”

There’s massive upside for the Raiders, and that’s why this was a perfect draft move.