The Raiders weren’t able to run the ball effectively in 2024, but with the additions of offensive coordinator Chip Kelly and the best running back prospect since Saquon Barkley, there is reason to believe the running game in Las Vegas is going to improve dramatically in 2025.
Ashton Jeanty is already being discussed as one of the league’s best running backs and Yahoo/FOX Sports host Jason Fitz believes the former Boise State star is going to take the NFL by storm in his first season.
Fitz also believes Kelly and company are planning to run the ball early and often in 2025 – maybe even more than most are expecting.
“I will continue to scream that this offense is going to run the football more than Raiders fans want. I’ve watched enough Chip Kelly that I believe that,” Fitz said this week on Raider Nation Radio’s Morning Tailgate.
“I genuinely believe this year, Ashton Jeanty is a fantasy football league winner. That’s how many touches I think he’s going to get across the board. I think he has a Christian McCaffrey-like impact to this Raiders office in year one, in year one.”
Fitz would be the first to admit he might be a little biased in his outlook, but he said the consensus among league experts this year is that the Raiders are going to be improved.
“Every single national expert that I’ve talked to… believes the Raiders are going to be substantially better this season,” Fitz continued. “Every one of them do, every single one… has said, ‘This team is taking a massive leap forward’ and they’re not just saying that. These are the same people that are usually busting [me]… telling me how tragic it is to be a Raiders fan. And the number one reason they all say is, look, it doesn’t get worse than the quarterback situation was last year. And now it’s gotten much better.”
As for the Jeanty/Barkley comparison, Fitz thinks the Raiders now have the talent in place to be as effective on offense as teams like the 49ers and Eagles.
“The beauty of San Francisco’s offense is that they have had for years the best running back in the league and they’ve had around it a bunch of wide receivers that now have a everybody’s job is easier. The beauty of Philadelphia’s offense is that they had Saquon and then they had a couple of guys that could just flat out beat you. The Raiders, I genuinely believe have that in a different way because Brock Bowers is a tight end.”
In short, if Jeanty is available in the first round of your fantasy football draft… it might not be the worst idea to take him.
x: @raidersbeat
The difference between the 49ers and Eagles is they have proven playoff caliber qbs where the Raiders up to this point do not. I think we have the tools on offense to be good but it’s all going to come down to qb play. Our qb is soon to be 35 has been in the league 12 years and led his teams to the playoffs once.
I don’t love Geno, but the quarterbacks on the Eagles/Whiners are carried by great rosters.
Better than having Mr Roger’s neighborhood. 40 plus.😳