The Raiders walked away from the 2025 draft with arguably the most exciting running back prospect since Saquon Barkley.
Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty had been mocked to the Raiders for months leading up to the draft, but some were beginning to wonder if he was going to be on the board when the Raiders were on the clock.
Jeanty was believed to be the Jacksonville Jaguars’ most likely target with the no. 5 pick if they had not traded with the Cleveland Browns for the second pick.
When the trade came together for the Browns and Jaguars, the biggest threat to the Raiders getting Jeanty was a possible trade up from someone drafting behind them.
According to the Chicago Tribune’s Dan Wiederer, the Bears were the team looking at a move up for Jeanty and Chicago has taken some criticism since the draft for not landing one of the top running backs in this year’s draft.
“Jeanty was widely considered one of the truly elite prospects of the draft class, regardless of position,” Wiederer wrote last week. “And while the Bears made exploratory but purposeful calls to gauge trade-up possibilities, Poles couldn’t justify the price tag for jumping ahead of the Raiders at No. 6, even with the Browns open for business on trades at No. 5. In all likelihood, the Bears would have had to send the No. 10 pick plus at least one of their original second-round picks to make such a move.”
Interestingly, there hasn’t been any talk about the phones ringing while the Raiders were on the clock.
That doesn’t mean teams didn’t call about the no. 6 pick, but considering the players at the top of this year’s draft, the Raiders were fortunate to have an opportunity at a prospect like Jeanty.
Based on comments from Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter last week, the Raiders had five prospects they really liked at the top of the draft. Considering they owned the sixth pick, it could have been interesting for John Spytek and company if the draft had played a little differently in the first five picks.
“I can tell you this. I do not believe they would have taken Jeanty if they could have gotten Cam Ward. And I do not believe they would have taken Jeanty had they could have gotten Abdul Carter,” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast.
“I think if they walked away with Cam Ward, if they walked away with Abdul Carter, they walked away with Jeanty, they were going to be happy. I think they would have taken Abdul and then Cam Ward.” Carpenter continued. “And if Jeanty wouldn’t have been there, you know, a Mason Graham, a Jalon Walker… [but] probably Jalon.”
x: @raidersbeat