Ashton Jeanty just found bulletin board material to carry into rookie season

Going back to early in the pre-draft process, a marriage between the Las Vegas Raiders and Ashton Jeanty felt pre-ordained. The Raiders needed a running back desperately, and Jeanty was considered the best in a deep draft class at the position.

Indeed, with the sixth overall pick in April's draft, the Raiders took Jeanty. He is in line to be the bell cow in the run-oriented offense of Chip Kelly, with head coach Pete Carroll's history of overseeing run-heavy offenses in Seattle as fortification of massive expectations for Jeanty.

Any talk from Carroll suggesting Jeanty will not be the clear-cut lead back is the definition of coach-speak, even if it will make sense to be careful with the rookie's workload.

NFL.com analyst gives Ashton Jeanty a bit of inadvertent bulletin board material

As expected, via FanDuel Sportsbook, Jeanty is the favorite to win the 2025 Offensive Rookie of the Year award with odds set at +270 before training camp. A bet on him to win the honor is too easy, really.

Dan Parr of NFL.com has offered his top-10 Offensive Rookie of the Year candidates as training camps get rolling around the league. Jeanty came in at No. 2 on the list, behind Travis Hunter of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

"Jeanty is the OROY favorite of the oddsmakers heading into training camp. It makes plenty of sense," Parr wrote. "First off, the guy trucked defenses for 2,601 rushing yards in 2024, second-most in a single season all time. We know Pete Carroll is going to want to pound the rock, and Jeanty, who carried the ball a whopping 374 times in his final college season, is no stranger to a heavy workload."

While these all sound like reasons to get on board with Jeanty winning the coveted award, Parr went on the describe why the Raiders' prized rookie has an uphill battle ahead of him to do so.

"He was drafted to set the tone for the offense, and he figures to have an O-line that rates in the middle of the pack. Not great, but not a hindrance for a player as talented as Jeanty. Now, it’s become much harder for running backs to win OROY in the past decade," Parr wrote. "No running back has taken home the honor since Saquon Barkley in 2018. Also, for as great as Jeanty is, he’s still human. At what point do all the carries take their toll and catch up to him? Even with those concerns, it’s not hard to envision a scenario where he’s the clear leader from start to finish, but the preseason favorite doesn’t usually end up on top."

Jeanty certainly has recent history working against him, with Barkley being the last running back to win Offensive Rookie of the Year. But he is also arguably the best incoming rookie running back since Barkley in 2018, with a clear pathway to having a huge debut season. If Jeanty needs any extra motivation heading into his rookie season, then he has a little bit more fuel for his fire now.