Ashton Jeanty is already earning some lofty praise already from some of the greatest players in Las Vegas Raiders history.
Tim Brown, a Hall of Fame wide receiver who spent 16 of his 17 NFL seasons with the Raiders, recently stated Jeanty reminds him of his former teammate and former bruising Raiders running back Napoleon Kaufman.
Kaufman, like Jeanty, was a first-round selection of the Raiders when the then-Oakland Raiders chose him 18th overall in the 1995 NFL Draft from the University of Washington. He rushed for 4,792 yards and 12 touchdowns and posted 1,107 receiving yards and five touchdown catches in his 91-game career spent entirely with Oakland.
Raiders Nation surely wants Jeanty to have more of an impact, but those of a certain age undoubtedly remember Kaufman’s impact, especially during his 1,697-all-purpose-yard campaign in 1997.
Why Is Ashton Jeanty Like Napoleon Kaufman?
Brown was asked by Kay Adams on the “Up and Adams” show whether Jeanty reminds him of Bo Jackson or Marcus Allen, each of whom played with Brown when the Raiders were in Los Angeles.
Yet, Brown pivoted and said neither, comparing Jeanty to the 5-9, 185-pound Kaufman.
“Napoleon came into the league with a very undersized body,” Brown told Adams. “But his ability to hit a hole and explode was really, really amazing.”
Kaufman, like Jeanty, had a standout college career by posting 4,041 rushing yards and 33 touchdowns and leading the Pac-10 in rushing in both his junior and senior seasons. He also had a conference-leading 14 rushing TDs his junior year, 1993.
But the pressure will be on Jeanty, since he is coming off one of the most dominant seasons from a running back in college-football history at Boise State. Jeanty had an FBS-high 2,601 rushing yards for the Broncos last season and 26 rushing touchdowns, which helped him finish second in Heisman Trophy voting behind Travis Hunter of Colorado.
So even though Brown’s comparison to Kaufman is a compliment, he thinks Jeanty may be even more scrutinized than his ex-teammate was coming out of college.
“[Jeanty] may be asked to do even more, because [Kaufman] wasn’t asked to shoulder the load as much,” Brown said. “It’s going to be all on [Jeanty] to carry the load with the running game, and hopefully he can get that done.”
Brown is confident the sixth overall pick from this year’s draft will deliver.
“I think this guy is going to be great for the Raiders,” Brown said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing him play.”
How Does Tim Brown Feel About The Raiders?
Pundits do not have big expectations for the Raiders in 2025. They have the oldest coach in the history of the NFL, Pete Carroll, and a first-year quarterback in Geno Smith. They went 4-13, which led them to pick in the top-10, and have not won a playoff game since the 2002 season.
But Brown feels they could surprise some people.
“I really, really like what the Raiders have done this off-season,” Brown said. “I think it’s great for the Raiders bringing in [Carroll] and bringing in [Smith], and I just think they’ve done some really good things to make this team viable again.
“I think there’s a shot this year that you can compete.”
