The Raiders placed a significant bet on Ashton Jeanty when they selected him with the sixth overall pick in last year’s draft, but from a statistical standpoint, Jeanty’s first NFL season was largely a disappointment.
Jeanty ran for 975 yards as a rookie but was hit at or behind the line of scrimmage on 57 percent of his attempts. The Heisman runner up led all rookies in rushing yards in 2025, but thanks to an underachieving offensive line and an inferior coaching staff, Jeanty didn’t make the impact on the league that many were expecting.
The good news for Jeanty is that Klint Kubiak is the new head coach in Las Vegas, and Kubiak has a tremendous record of getting the most out of running backs.
Kubiak also brought in an offensive line coach that has been instrumental in the careers of some of the most dynamic running backs in the league over the last decade.
The future looks to be bright for Jeanty, and one of the greatest running backs to ever play is expecting a huge bounce back from Jeanty in his second season.
“I am huge on Ashton Jeanty,” former Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson said on the Fantasy Points podcast this week.
“I think [Jeanty] showed some qualities on a bad team that you see from top running backs,” Tomlinson continued. “I’m just going to tell you, his first year reminded me of mine. It was tough sledding. I think I averaged 3.7 or 3.8 yards per carry my rookie year. I’m absolutely targeting Ashton Jeanty [in fantasy football]. I’m planning on coming out of my [fantasy football] draft with Ashton. Let me just say that.”
Raiders expected to feature Jeanty in McCaffrey-like role in 2026
Kubiak has a history of using a running back by committee approach but based on everything he has said in the offseason, Jeanty isn’t going to spend much time on the sideline.
“I said it before. I think it’s important to have a quality second [running] back, but the best players have got to play and we’ve got to get [Jeanty] on the field as much as we can,” Kubiak told members of the media during OTAs.
“I don’t know the play snap percentage, but I think Christian McCaffrey, his play snap percentage is high. So those great backs, they don’t want to come off the field.”
Considering the investment the Raiders made in Jeanty, it makes sense that they will want to feature him in a full-time role, and every indication is that he will be able to handle the workload.
If you have an opportunity to draft Jeanty in your fantasy football leagues… don’t hesitate to do it.
x: @raidersbeat