Taking a running back early in the first round is always something that is extremely risky, but the Las Vegas Raiders didn't care about risk -- they only saw what the potential reward could be. They drafted Ashton Jeanty No. 6 overall.
Of course, my final mock draft has Jeanty going to the Raiders, just like we all knew, despite the smokescreens thrown in the fire the last few days with names like Armand Membou and Kelvin Banks being linked to LV. The Raiders took the best player available strategy at No. 6, it just so happened that the best player available was a running back.
And, some that are casual fans may ask, why is it a risk to take a RB at No. 6 overall, or high in the first round in general? Well, the pay is immediately higher, and it's a position group that is historically underpaid compared to their counterparts. The RB position isn't as valuable because of the shelf life of RBs, because they take so much wear and tear every game, every week, and every year.
And, it's very easy, as we have seen so many times, to pick up an RB late in the draft and turn him into an elite-looking RB with a good offensive line. So, because of that, and maybe some other reasons, the position has been underpaid and undervalued, as unfortunate as it is.
Only until this last season, when you have guys like Josh Jacobs on the Green Bay Packers, Saquon Barkley on the Philadelphia Eagles, and Derrick Henry on the Baltimore Ravens, did people really start seeing that the RBs past their first contract could still play at the highest level. All of those guys have played at least six seasons in the league, too. They are proving everyone wrong that RBs are valuable.
And now, Jeanty wants to do that -- something that seems to be unthinkable, as the league seems stuck in its ways.
“I’m gonna show everybody that the position is valuable," Jeanty said after the Raiders selected him No. 6 overall.
The Raiders were the team to take place in the Josh Jacobs situation, where they didn't want to give him a long term contract. But, that was the former regime, and they are obviously no longer around, for good reasons.
So, who's to say that the Raiders won't do that for Jeanty, giving him a deal in four years that makes him the highest paid RB? Obviously a lot can happen between now and then, but Jeanty believes he can be a big deal in the NFL.
