Raiders’ Ashton Jeanty gets bad news in new-look Vegas offense, but it doesn’t make much sense originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Ashton Jeanty was drafted in the top-10 in 2025 to be a star NFL running back.
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The Las Vegas Raiders have continued to add to their offense, though, and the focal point will soon be 2026 No. 1 overall pick and quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
That doesn’t mean Jeanty can’t be important, but he has a few more doubters than he did at this point in time a year ago.
Sports Illustrated national NFL writer Conor Orr appears to be one of them — he predicts that Jeanty won’t lead the Raiders in rushing touchdowns in the 2026 season.
“The Raiders’ 2025 first-round pick will not be phased out by new head coach Klint Kubiak, but he will find himself in the middle of a far more crowded field of playmakers who are getting time in the new coach’s system,” Orr writes.
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So if not Jeanty, then who?
The Raiders picked powerful RB Mike Washington Jr. in the fourth round this year. He could finish off some drives if given the chance.
The rest of the backfield is afterthoughts Dylan Laube, Chris Collier and Roman Hemby.
Mendoza is mobile enough, but he may not even start Week 1, and he probably isn’t going to convert a ton of rushing touchdowns.
Maybe the thought here from Orr is that Jeanty is at risk of not staying healthy.
It’s a bold call for sure, though, because it’s hard to paint a clear path toward someone else currently on the Raiders finishing the season with more rushing TDs than the young back out of Boise State.
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