Former Steelers’ safety Ryan Clark has made a few bold (and ridiculous) statements in his 10 years at ESPN, and his comments this week on Raiders’ running back Ashton Jeanty could someday make the ‘Mount Rushmore’ of his crazy arguments.
On ESPN’s First Take on Friday, Clark said he doesn’t think Jeanty has the “it” factor that separates the great running backs.
“To me, Ashton Jeanty doesn’t have that pop, doesn’t have that thing that makes him different,” Clark said.
“What’s Ashton Jeanty’s ‘it’ factor? Because when you got it, you got it, and it pops,” Clark continued. “I don’t think this is a load management thing. I think this is a production thing. This is a pop thing… Ashton Jeanty is playing at Boise State, he’s getting a ton of carries and young men got tired of hitting him. These boys [in the NFL], you think Derwin James is going to get tired of hitting him? You think these [linebackers] in the league are going to get tired of hitting him?”
“I’m telling you all, when Ladanian Tomlinson put his foot in the ground, he would be so far away from you on the next step,” Clark contineud. “The explosion, the lateral quickness, it was different. I don’t see that from Ashton Jeanty. I didn’t see that from him at Boise… to me, I think you get into [training] camp and you realize this might not have been the pick.”
Clark went on to say that Jeanty was hiding his lack of athleticism by not working out at the combine and skipping drills at his pro day.
Jeanty didn’t put up big numbers in his first two NFL games, but a lot of his lack of production is tied to the offensive line in Las Vegas.
Going back to last year and beyond, the Raiders’ have featured one of the worst run-blocking offensive lines in the NFL, and Raider Nation Radio host ‘JT the Brick’ called them out this week ahead of the Commanders game.
It started with Chris Simms a week ago, and Jeanty now has a growing list of doubters among the talking heads in NFL media.
“Ashton Jeanty, I know he’s the star but… I don’t like the way Ashton Jeanty looks,” Simms said last week on PFT Live.
“He has not impressed me once yet. There’s a lack of explosion that I think is lacking for a guy that was drafted in the top 10. I’m hoping I’m wrong because I loved watching him in college football, but I’ve not been thoroughly impressed at all.”
If Jeanty needs any bulletin board material going into week 3, he isn’t going to have to look hard to find it before Sunday.
x: @raidersbeat
Jeanty needs to prove these guys wrong. Personally, I didn’t like the team picking him so high in Rd1, there were just too many good backs in this draft. I didn’t like the way he looked against Penn State in the playoff, plus he played in a weaker conference. If he doesn’t pan out what a colossal mistake by Brady and co. Like I’ve said Brady has never built a team, he’s just a fancy name being used by the organization.
Agreed on everything. How do you make a one year Boise State. RB the second highest paid back before he’s touched the field? ESPECIALLY when your OL is terrible.
Man I wish people stop bringing up the Penn St game. Please name another Boise St that Penn St had to worry about. If all they had to do is stop Jeanty, then you expect him to look bad. That is easy.
I swear The NFL has something on Davis and are telling him who he can’t draft. Year after year, head scratching drafts. Jeanty and not Membou?
You could see Jeanty didn’t have the “pop” in college. There were not the attributes of an NFL star there. Evasiveness and the lateral speed. There will be a hole open up, maybe one over from the play design and he doesn’t see it, or knows he can’t change direction fast enough to get there. Straight ahead is all he has.
Bring back Sincere McCormick to spell Jeanty. White and Mosert aren’t cutting it!
Have to see how he evolves this season. In fact he need 20 touches a game. Receptions and runs combined. But he needs to lower his center of gravity. Gotta be able to provide protection.
Chip needs to school him harder. Run like Pacheco does.
Everything that reasonable Raider fans already knew before the draft. He was great for Boise but not the NFL. Can he be OK, yes but was a waste of the 6th pick.