Skip to main content
Join Now

2025 NFL Draft: Adam Schefter explains why Raiders won't select Ashton Jeanty

Brian Jones Profile Picby:Brian Jones•about 21 hours•

brianjones_93

penn-state-defense-locks-heisman-worthy-opponent
Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty (Marco Garcia-Imagn Images)

Adam Schefter doesn’t agree with Mel Kiper when it comes to the Las Vegas Raiders taking Ashton Jeanty in this year’s draft. On ESPN’s SportsCenter Special – Mel Kiper’s NFL Mock Draft 2.0, Schefter explained why the Raiders won’t draft Jeanty at No. 6 overall.

“I think the Raiders absolutely would like to add a running back, I don’t know if it will be in Round 1,” the NFL insider said. “We’ve already heard their general manager John Spytek talk about the fact that they are open to moving up in the first round, and they are not moving up to go draft a running back, that we know.

“Clearly, this is another team, along with the New York Giants, that is squarely in the quarterback market. There aren’t that many to go around. Where is Matthew Stafford going to be, where is Aaron Rodgers going to be, where is Russell Wilson going to be? These are the quarterbacks and the questions that have to be answered before we can figure out where these teams are going in the draft. But the Raiders themselves have said they are open to moving up, and they would be moving up for one position and one position only.”

Why Mel Kiper sees the Raiders selecting Ashton Jeanty

Schefter is right about the Raiders need a quarterback as Gardner Minshew, Aidan O’Connell and Desmond Ridder struggled last year. In Kiper’s mock draft, he had Ashton Jeanty going to the Raiders, but he said the team could go with Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

Kiper went with Jeanty because of new head coach Pete Carroll who had a strong run game when he was with the Seattle Seahawks. “He leaned on the run game in Seattle for years, and he even used a first-round pick on Rashaad Penny in 2018. Jeanty brings it all — speed, power, elusiveness, contact balance and vision,” Kiper wrote. “He ran for 2,601 yards this past season, and he can make a dent as a pass catcher on top of that.”

As Kiper mentioned, Ashton Jeanty had a historic 2024 season at Boise State. Along with his 2,601 rushing yards, the 21-year-old had 29 rushing touchdowns and helped the Broncos reach the College Football Playoff. Jeanty won the Maxwell and Doak Walker Awards and was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.