You’ve probably seen the box scores by now. If you're a Las Vegas Raiders fan, looking at the rushing totals for the 2025 season might feel a bit like stubbing your toe on a piece of furniture—it’s annoying, it hurts, and you just want to know who put it there. Ashton Jeanty, the man who was supposed to be the savior of the Raiders' ground game, finished his rookie campaign with 975 rushing yards.
Wait. Only 975?
Coming off a historic 2,601-yard season at Boise State, people expected Jeanty to walk into Allegiant Stadium and start putting up Barry Sanders numbers immediately. Instead, he averaged 3.6 yards per carry. On paper, that looks average. In reality, it was a Herculean effort. Honestly, looking at the ashton jeanty stats raiders fans are dissecting right now, you have to realize that 88.5% of those yards came after contact.
Think about that for a second. Nearly 900 of his yards were earned while a 300-pound defensive tackle was already trying to pull him to the turf.
The Brutal Reality of the 2025 Raiders Ground Game
The Raiders finished 3-14. It was a mess. General Manager John Spytek, in his first big swing at the podium, took Jeanty at No. 6 overall. He wanted to fix a rushing unit that was basically non-existent in 2024. But you can’t build a house on a swamp. The Raiders' offensive line was statistically the worst in the NFL this past year.
👉 See also: Was Bill Belichick Ever Married? What Most People Get Wrong
Jeanty was being hit at or behind the line of scrimmage on over 52% of his touches. That is a terrifying stat. It’s essentially a coin flip whether he even gets to the line of scrimmage before someone is draped over him. Despite that, he still managed to break or miss tackles at a 24% rate, which ranked 3rd in the entire league.
He didn't "bust." He survived.
A Breakdown of the Numbers
If you want to understand the true impact of Jeanty's first year in Vegas, you have to look past the rushing total.
- Rushing Yards: 975
- Rushing Touchdowns: 5
- Receptions: 55
- Receiving Yards: 346
- Receiving Touchdowns: 5
- Total Scrimmage Yards: 1,321
He was actually more of a dual-threat weapon than most people predicted. His 55 catches were top-10 among all running backs. In a season where the Raiders' offense struggled to move the chains, Jeanty became the ultimate safety valve for Geno Smith and later Cam Mendoza.
✨ Don't miss: Vertical Leap: What Most People Get Wrong About Jumping Higher
From Boise State Legend to NFL Grinder
It’s hard to reconcile these NFL stats with what Jeanty did in 2024 at Boise State. That year was literal insanity. He swept the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year and Championship MVP honors. He won the Maxwell Award and the Doak Walker. He was the Heisman runner-up.
At Boise, he averaged 7.0 yards per carry. He had six games with over 200 rushing yards. In the season opener against Georgia Southern, he dropped 267 yards and six touchdowns. He looked like a video game character.
But the NFL is a different beast, especially when your offensive line features more holes than a block of Swiss cheese. The transition from the Mountain West to the AFC West is a steep climb. At Boise State, he accounted for 77% of the team's rushing yards. In Las Vegas, he was asked to do the same thing, but against the likes of Chris Jones and the Kansas City Chiefs defense twice a year.
The Offensive Line Problem
The Raiders’ front office knows they failed their rookie star. John Spytek admitted as much recently, saying they have to do a better job surrounding Jeanty with players who can actually block. They’ve got Kolton Miller and Jackson Powers-Johnson, but the rest of the unit was a revolving door of "who's that?"
🔗 Read more: U of Washington Football News: Why Jedd Fisch’s Roster Overhaul Is Working
Drafting Caleb Rogers and Charles Grant in the later rounds was a start, but it wasn't enough to save the 2025 season. Geno Smith was sacked 55 times. When your quarterback is getting buried that often, the running game never stands a chance.
Why Jeanty Is Still the Future
There is a silver lining here. Despite the 3-14 record, the Raiders have a core. They have Brock Bowers, who is arguably the best young tight end in the game. They have Jeanty, who proved he can handle a heavy workload (266 carries) without breaking down.
If the Raiders can use their projected massive cap space in 2026 to buy some real protection, Jeanty’s stats are going to explode. You don't lose the kind of vision and balance he showed at Boise State overnight. He still has that 64-yard breakaway speed—he showed it in flashes this year—but he needs a lane that stays open for more than half a second.
Actionable Insights for the Offseason
If you’re tracking the ashton jeanty stats raiders trends for your fantasy keeper league or just because you’re a die-hard fan, keep an eye on these three things:
- Free Agency Targets: The Raiders need to be aggressive with veteran guards and tackles. If they don't sign at least two proven starters, Jeanty will be running into brick walls again in 2026.
- The Mendoza Factor: If rookie QB Cam Mendoza can develop a vertical threat, it will stop defenses from stacking eight men in the box. Jeanty saw "heavy boxes" on nearly 40% of his snaps this year.
- Passing Game Involvement: Jeanty’s receiving stats were the most encouraging part of his rookie year. Look for the next offensive coordinator to use him even more in the screen game to negate the pass rush.
The raw numbers might look like a step back from his collegiate "God-mode" season, but the tape shows a back who is doing more with less than almost anyone in the league. Ashton Jeanty didn't lose his talent; he just lost his blockers. Fix the line, and those 200-yard games will start showing up in the win column.
The next step is monitoring the Raiders' moves during the March free agency window to see if they prioritize the trenches.