After a gritty rookie year behind a struggling line, Las Vegas Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty could have a monster season in Year 2.
The Las Vegas Raiders enter the 2026 NFL season with a lot of new faces on the coaching staff and on the roster.
Klint Kubiak is the new head coach after the Raiders ended the ugly Pete Carroll experiment. Fernando Mendoza should be QB1 at some point, but there is a chance that veteran Kirk Cousins takes the first snap of the season for Las Vegas.
And, 2025 first-round pick Ashton Jeanty is back, and his role should be even better with Chip Kelly out as the offensive coordinator and a much-improved offense line that includes the signing of Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum.
Matt Okada of NFL.com named some breakout candidates for 2026, and in the "Award Winners" category were Jaxson Dart, Travis Hunter, and Jeanty.
Jeanty still managed to have 975 yards and five scores on 266 carries, but the offensive line didn't do him any favors, as Okada mentions with some eye-opening stats.
"Over the last 40 years, six rookie running backs drafted in the top 10 scored double-digit touchdowns for a team with a losing record. Jeanty is the most recent, joining Trent Richardson, Saquon Barkley, Todd Gurley and Hall of Famers LaDainian Tomlinson and Barry Sanders. Jeanty succeeded despite subpar blocking and an abysmal offense. He was hit behind the line of scrimmage on more than half of his attempts (51.5 percent) and a whopping 88.5 percent of his rushing yards came after contact, per NFL Pro," Okada wrote.
Now, Kelly calling the plays certainly didn't help, and he was fired midseason after a disastrous start.
Jeanty had just two games with 100 or more rushing yards, but that also is due to the fact that the Raiders lost all but three games, meaning they were playing catch-up more often than not.
Going into 2026, the Raiders selected Arkansas RB Mike Washington Jr. and signed Indiana Hoosiers RB Roman Hemby to an UDFA deal, so there is some much-needed depth in the RB room that wasn't there in 2026.
That means Jeanty might not see 266 carries again, but he could cross the 1,000-yard mark and he should, hopefully, score more than five touchdowns on the ground, especially with what Kubiak did as the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks this past season.
There are a lot of reasons to feel positive about Jeanty going into Year 2 of his NFL career, and he should be poised for a breakout campaign if everything goes according to plan - even if the Raiders lose a lot of games.