Coming into this season, the Las Vegas Raiders had big plans to rely on the running game. New offensive coordinator Chip Kelly has a reputation for wide-open offensive football, but anyone who’s watched him closely knows that Kelly also loves to get talented running backs out into space.
So why hasn’t that approach worked with rookie running back Ashton Jeanty? Jeanty’s taking all kinds of early heat for being a bust, but it’s tough to blame him across the board for the Raiders being at the bottom of the league in attempts, yards per game and rushing first downs.
"[Offensive coordinator] Chip [Kelly] has always been a guy that's run the ball a lot, and me too, and so we see eye to eye on that," coach Pete Carroll told Ryan McFadden of ESPN this week. "The numbers haven't been as good as we want so far in the first two games. ... We want more of [Jeanty]. He ran very well when he had the ball, and so we just needed to get more snaps."
Jeanty has shown a few flashes, but his usage is part of the problem, too. The Raiders capitalized on a hot streak by quarterback Geno Smith during their opener against the New England Patriots, and falling behind against the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night led to an extended stretch where Jeanty didn’t touch the ball at all.
He does lead all rookie running backs in carries going into today’s game against the Washington Commanders, and he’s second in yards with a total of 81. What’s missing are the big plays, with Jeanty having just two rushes for more than ten yards.
None of this justifies Jeanty’s status as a top ten pick, and he seems to be at least slightly in denial about that.
"I think it's really rare that a guy comes in and is just flat out balling off the rip. So I'm not feeling any type of way towards it," Jeanty said. "I need to get better. And the big-time performances that everybody might be expecting, those will come."
Not if his snap count continues to drop, however. Jeanty played 54 snaps against the Patriots, but that number dropped to 39 against the Chargers. The Raiders don’t have a lot of time to fix this problem, especially since they have a big opportunity this week against Washington with quarterback Jayden Daniels sidelined with a knee sprain.