Ashton Jeanty

Led by first-time general manager John Spytek, the Vegas front office, per Russini, has spent “substantial time” doing “homework” on Jeanty after he rushed for nearly 4,000 yards and 33 touchdowns over his final two seasons at Boise State. There is reportedly some pushback about investing the team’s premium first rounder on Jeanty when it could be used to bolster an offensive line that Pro Football Focus graded as 2024’s 14th best pass blocking unit and 29th best run blocking unit. LSU’s Will Campbell and Alabama’s Tyler Booker could be targets for Vegas if they forgo Jeanty in the first. The Bears, according to Russini, are “hoping” Jeanty falls to them at No. 10.

Anonymous coaches and prospect evaluators from across the league spoke to The Athletic about the 2025 draft class, and time and again, Jeanty’s pass protection was raised as a major issue for an otherwise stellar running back prospect. A running backs coach told The Athletic that Jeanty’s “contact balance, elusiveness, acceleration, competitiveness all jump out at you off the tape,” but that “his pass protection is bad. That bothers me right there.” An offensive coordinator said, “I think he’s a little liability in pass protection, and I don’t know how flat-out fast he is.” Pro Football Focus in 2024 graded Jeanty 112th out of 148 qualifying running backs in pass protection. Jeanty, who rushed for nearly 4,000 yards and 33 touchdowns over his final two seasons at Boise State, also earned PFF’s top overall grade among backs last year. He’s fully expected to go in the first five or six picks of the draft.

Jeremiah, one of the most dialed-in draft experts every year, believes Jeanty would be a “statement pick” for the Jaguars. He notes that he doesn’t think the Jaguars are “committed” to Travis Etienne long-term, and that they’ve got to get Trevor Lawrence up and running to justify the contract extension he got. Jeanty increasingly feels likely to go inside the top seven picks between the trade-up rumors and being linked to the Raiders and Jaguars in the past week. Obviously from a fantasy perspective, picking Jeanty would be a mortal blow to both Etienne and Tank Bigsby.

Spytek philosophized on the running back position’s current state and celebrated his alma mater, the University of Michigan, for continuing to value the position. Although he refrained from opining on Jeanty, specifically, Spytek said, “when you sit, where we sit,” ostensibly referencing the No. 6 overall pick, “the idea is to add elite players at any position.” Jeanty certainly qualifies, and he would understand command a first-round fantasy pick were he to play under head coach Pete Carroll and OC Chip Kelly.