Las Vegas Raiders fans have been waiting all year long for running back Ashton Jeanty to have his breakout game, and it finally came last week against the Houston Texans. Jeanty had 128 yards rushing on 24 carries, and he also got his second touchdown on his lone reception of the day, which went for 60 yards and a score. Simply put, he was dominant.
That’s a lot of production from a running back, and it’s part of the reason Jeanty was drafted so high. He was billed as a dual-threat running back coming out of Boise State, and while he’s shone flashes of that kind of ability before, this was the first game where he’s really put it together at the highest level.
It’s been a disappointing season for Jeanty for sure, but he’s also been reliable and durable, which means his numbers are starting to add up. He’s produced a total of 1,154 combined yards on the ground and as a receiver so far this year. And Jeanty still has an outside shot to get to a thousand yards rushing if he can produce against the Giants this Sunday, then again against a Kansas City Chiefs team that will sit most of its starters in the season finale.
But do these stats really mean anything, or are they just the NFL equivalent of empty calories? Jeanty hasn’t had many holes or running lanes to run through, and it’s been frustrating to see him try to hit a hole that isn’t there or get hit in the backfield before he even has a chance to read the play.
The answer is yes, to at least some extent, because they establish a baseline of sorts of Jeanty. They know he’ll post, they know he can catch the ball, and they can expect a high level of production if he’s given genuine opportunuites, either in space after catching the ball or behind an offensive line that can give him room to run.
There’s a downside to this, though. Based on what we’ve seen so far, Jeanty was badly overdraft, which means he’s on the rookie deal for a #6 pick. Compare that to the production the Raiders’ divisional rivals like the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers have gotten from running backs like RJ Harvey and Omarion Hampton, for instance, and that adds to a lot of wasted money. And that money could easily be used to help the Raiders with other positions where they desperately need an upgrade.