Alarm Bells Around Jeanty Are Growing, Per This Report

The Las Vegas Raiders finally had a few good moments with their running game against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, but they didn’t involve lead running back Ashton Jeanty. 

Jeanty had just 22 carries on ten carries, and instead it was rookie running back Mike Washington Jr. who gave them some production, with 43 yards on nine carries, including a key 18-yard run in the fourth quarter that helped trigger a comeback.  

Coach Klint Kubiak has been adamant about sticking with Jeanty, but it’s fair to wonder how long this can last, per a report from Ryan McFadden of ESPN. Jeanty is clearly playing hurt, and he doesn’t have the kind of burst Washington showed on his 18-yarder, when the interior running lane quickly got clogged but he was able to bounce the run outside. 

That’s the kind of run the Raiders need right now, and it’s almost the only way they can get it given that they’re reconfiguring their offensive line on the fly. It wouldn’t be at all surprising to see Washington get more snaps, especially since Kubiak’s big message on Sunday was about closing games out, which is partially about having a running back to control the clock and get it done. 

None of this is fair to Jeanty, but that’s life in the NFL. He’s had moments where he looks like he can justify his draft status, but they’re relatively few and far between, and his good games aren’t all that frequent either. 

From a broader perspective, Jeanty is starting to look more like he is, which is an undersized, somewhat productive back who was seriously overdrafted. He also had a key pass drop in the second half, despite the Raiders talking him up as a receiver in another strength that hasn’t quite been there. 

Making this move would track with what Kubiak is doing as a whole as he continues to do his roster rebuild. He’s slowly shedding players from the old regimes as he sees them in action, and many of the players he’s been adding have been those he’s seen from his time with the Seattle Seahawks and his connections with the San Francisco 49ers. 

Kubiak also reportedly “pounded the table” for Washington during the draft this year, and he got his man despite the running back’s injury history, which is why he fell to the Raiders in the fourth round. Washington brings size and explosiveness to the running game, and that’s what the Raiders need right now.