Las Vegas Raiders No. 6 overall draft pick and running back Ashton Jeanty was fairly confident he would end up in Sin City during the pre-draft process, and he may have gotten some confirmation ahead of time that the Raiders were taking him.
That confirmation apparently came from Raiders superstar edge rusher Maxx Crosby, who texted Jeanty before the draft to tell him that he was looking forward to working with him. Jeanty said once Crosby sent him that, he basically knew he was going to Las Vegas.
"He did text me last night and, you know, he said, 'ready to go to war with you,' and I was like, 'shoot, I'm ready to go to war with you, too,'" he revealed. "But, you know, yeah, I mean once he texted me, I kind of was like, 'man, it's really feeling like I'm going to go to the Raiders and, you know, it happened."
Taking Jeanty at No. 6 always made sense for the Raiders, so it wasn't really much of a surprise. The Raiders had the worst rushing attack in the league last season and didn't have a sure starter at the position ahead of the 2025 campaign.
A debate will continue to be had about how smart it was to take a running back that early, given the devaluing of the position and how deep the class was. However, Jeanty is ready to prove that running backs are more valuable than some believe.
"I'm just thankful for this opportunity," Jeanty said. "I'm going to show everybody why the position is valuable and you know it is great to take a exceptional running back in the first round."
With Jeanty in tow, the Raiders now have a potential superstar at the running back position, and a much more impressive offense when you include Geno Smith, Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers.
Now, the Raiders need to complete their unit with a true No. 1 wide receiver, something they haven't had since Davante Adams was traded last year.
The Raiders will be back on the clock on Friday night, when Day 2 of the draft rolls around. Las Vegas has two picks on the second night, with one in the second round (No. 37) and another in the third (No. 68).
