Is Ashton Jeanty in for a breakout season for the Las Vegas Raiders in Year 2 of his NFL career?
Despite an ankle injury suffered in the preseason that sparked some concern, hopes are high that the No. 6 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft can make a major leap during the 2026 NFL season.
Although the numbers weren’t as explosive as expected coming off the type of dominance he displayed on the ground at Boise State, Jeanty still put together a solid rookie season. In fact, given the Raiders' woes along the offensive line, the numbers were encouraging.
Jeanty led all rookies with 975 rushing yards on 266 carries with five touchdowns. He also showed off his dual-threat ability with 55 receptions for 346 yards and five more scores.
The question entering Year 2 is whether Jeanty can become even more dynamic in the passing game.
With the Raiders expected to start the season with veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins under center, there should be less pressure on Jeanty and the running game to protect the quarterback than there would be had No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza started the season. That doesn’t diminish the importance of a breakout season from Jeanty.
If anything, he should have more opportunities to become the all-around back he aspires to be at the NFL level.
Klint Kubiak wants to unleash Ashton Jeanty
Earlier this spring, Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak made his plans for Jeanty quite clear, stating that the team will lean heavily on the second-year running back in hopes that he can make a similar impact to Christian McCaffrey.
"We want to put a lot of pressure on Ashton," Kubiak said, via ESPN. "... I don't know the play snap percentage, but you look at Christian McCaffrey, his play snap percentage is high. So, those great backs, they don't want to come off the field."
While Kubiak didn’t expect to have to monitor Jeanty’s ankle prior to the season, the injury may have provided an unexpected benefit for the Raiders.
First, it wasn’t as serious as initially feared. More importantly, it gave rookie running back Mike Washington Jr. additional opportunities to show what he can do. His emergence gives Kubiak and the Raiders offense the potential for a dangerous two-headed backfield.
Suddenly, there is less pressure on Jeanty to carry the entire workload.
“I think that they’re both going to prepare to play a lot of football,” Kubiak said, as transcribed by NFL.com. “As these games unfold, you react to the game. I think we’ve got two guys that we’re really excited about. We’ve got some younger guys that we’re really excited about, too. … They’ve just got to make the most of every rep that they get.
"I'm not making any promises on percentages of play time. It’s when you get to a game sometimes a guy who think is gonna have five carries has 20. Sometimes the guy that you think is just going to be a scat protection back is in there blocking six-man protection for 20 reps. We’ve got to get ready for them to play all three phases.”
Jeanty's Year 2 challenge goes beyond the numbers
With the amount of rest Jeanty has received since the injury, he should be ready to go by the time the Raiders kick off the season against the Miami Dolphins in Week 1.
Now with two capable backs in the backfield, Kubiak can afford to be patient with Jeanty and his snap count early in the season, especially given how important the second-year star is to the offense.
But the Year 2 challenge ultimately falls on Jeanty.
He needs to build off his encouraging rookie season and rediscover more of the punishing, explosive running style that set the college football world on fire during his historic 2024 season at Boise State. If Jeanty combines that version of himself with the receiving ability he flashed as a rookie, Year 2 could be when he develops into the complete NFL running back the Raiders envisioned when they selected him No. 6 overall.
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