It's become less and less common for running backs to be drafted early in the first round, but every few years, there's a prospect too good for teams to ignore. After rushing for 2,601 yards at Boise State last year, Ashton Jeanty cemented himself as one of those prospects.
Despite the fact that Las Vegas Raiders general manager John Spytek comes from teams that didn't draft running backs highly, he knew that Jeanty was too good to pass up. There were last-minute rumors that the team would take an offensive lineman over Jeanty, but that didn't end up being the case.
Spytek had a chance to explain why he couldn't pass up on the running back.
Ashton Jeanty with John Spytek and Pete Carroll.
Candice Ward-Imagn Images
"It's about team building, and what's the right way to do it," Spytek said when asked why he drafted Jeanty on the "3 and Out John Middlekauff" podcast. "To me, it's the kind of person he is that elevated it. ... We can't turn down 28 yards short of Barry Sanders and a great, humble person at six. I'd go to bed every Sunday night wondering what Ashton Jeanty did somewhere else in the NFL, ultimately, if we didn't take him."
Jeanty has the chance to be an instant impact player. The Raiders had the worst rushing offense in the NFL last season, and the Jeanty addition should immediately make them better in that aspect of the game.
As Spytek noted, what may have put the running back over the top was his character. He doesn't have any red flags off the field, which is a great player to have when starting up with a new head coach and quarterback.
