Las Vegas Raiders select Ashton Jeanty in first round of 2025 NFL Draft

The Las Vegas Raiders selected Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Jeanty spent the last three seasons as the Broncos’ starting running back and has emerged as one of the best players in college football.

The 2024 season was a historic run for Ashton Jeanty, rushing for 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns on 374 carries. He was named a unanimous All-American, won the Maxwell Award and finished second in Heisman voting behind Colorado‘s Travis Hunter.

Jeanty helped Boise State clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff this past season. In the quarterfinal game against Penn State, Jeanty rushed for 104 yards on 30 carries in Boise State’s 30-14 loss. In his three years with the Broncos, Ashton Jeanty rushed for 4,769 yards and 50 touchdowns. He also had 80 receptions for 862 yards and six scores as a receiver.

Jeanty played high school football for Lone Star in Frisco, Texas, where he was a three-star prospect. He ranked as the No. 876 prospect and the No. 63 running back in the 2022 class, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

What NFL Draft analysts are saying about Ashton Jeanty

Lance Zierlein of NFL.com provided some analysis on Jeanty’s game in the running back’s draft profile. He compared Jeanty to LaDainian Tomlinson, a Hall of Fame running back who rushed for over 13,600 yards in his career.

“Jeanty plays a position that has become devalued on draft day, but his unique talent and the resurgence of the run game in the NFL should force teams to reconsider that factor when weighing his value,” Zierlein wrote. “He’s the ultimate yardage creator, with the talent and skill set to succeed independent of the quality of his blocking.

“Jeanty’s speed forces linebackers to flow hard outside, creating cutback lanes and chunk runs, while his vision, balance and elusiveness get it done along the interior. The threat of what he can do on the ground should create ideal play-action opportunities for his team, allowing his next play-caller to, say, unburden a young quarterback or any other passer being asked to shoulder too much of the offense. He’s compact and muscular, but there could be some minor concern surrounding his massive workload in 2024. This top-flight running back is capable of becoming the face of an offense in a league where the pendulum might be swinging back to the running game. Jeanty has future All-Pro talent.