For Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty, his introduction to NFL life wasn’t a fun experience. Jeanty came to a team with a new but experienced coach, Pete Carroll, so despite the pressure that comes with being a top ten draft pick, the Boise State product expected to win fairly quickly.
What happened instead was the opposite of that. Jeanty not only didn’t win right away, but he experienced the worst the NFL has to offer, playing for a team that finished 3-14 while trying to run behind an offensive line that couldn’t produce holes for him.
To his credit, Jeanty held up physically, and he didn’t go off and complain about his situation. That speaks to his character, and according to Dalton Wasserman of Pro Football Focus, who did a complete list of breakout candidates for every team in the league, he’s now a breakout candidate for 2026.
This actually makes a lot of sense. Jeanty will be playing for yet another new coach, Klint Kubiak, but Kubiak is a young coach who’s considered an offensive innovator. Given what Jeanty showed catching passes out of the backfield, he’s going to want to use the running back in that role more frequently, which will give Jeanty an opportunity to operate more in space.
Add in the fact that the Raiders are undoubtedly going to devote more resources to the offensive line, and there’s an opportunity here. Jeanty did do well when he was given holes and running lanes, although it’s impossible to predict how much better he’ll do behind a better line simply because the Raiders were so bad last year.
One comp for Jeanty to look for here is Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker. Walker was considered a between-the-tackles runner who couldn't do much more than move the chains before Kubiak started to work with him, but that changed almost immediately when Kubiak became offensive coordinator. Walker started breaking off plays chunk plays and showing more explosiveness, and he’s going to get paid when he becomes a free agent as a result.
The one thing working against Jeanty will be his quarterback to at least some extent. If the Raiders do draft Fernando Mendoza with the top overall pick, Mendoza will experience more than his share of growing pains, and that could affect Jeanty’s output. Other than that, he truly does look like a breakout candidate, assuming most of this goes according to plan for the Raiders once Kubiak takes over.