If you were thinking NFL mock draft season was getting a bit too predictable, think again. NFL.com’s Lead Draft Writer Eric Edholm just turned the mock draft world upside down by slotting Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty to the Las Vegas Raiders at No. 6 overall.
But Edholm knows exactly what he’s doing, leaning all the way into the Pete Carroll effect.
“Pete Carroll blows up the draft! Why not?” Edholm wrote. “When everyone else is having trouble slotting Jeanty lower, I’ll give him to the coach he was meant to play for.”
Jeanty isn’t just any running back, though. The Florida native is an absolute machine. In 2024, he tore through defenses on his way to winning the Maxwell and Doak Walker Awards while finishing second in Heisman voting behind Travis Hunter. He was also just 28 yards shy of breaking Barry Sanders’ NCAA FBS single-season rushing record.
Ashton Jeanty makes compelling case for Raiders' pick
This past season alone, Jeanty put up video-game numbers: 2,288 rushing yards, 28 touchdowns, and a ridiculous 7.3 yards per carry. His career totals? A whopping 4,769 rushing yards and 50 touchdowns, plus another 862 yards and six scores through the air. If there’s a definition of a do-it-all back, Jeanty fits the bill.
But is a running back worth the No. 6 pick? That’s where the debate begins. Consider Alexander Mattison's paltry 420 yards leading the Raiders in rushing this season. Enter Jeanty — a dynamic playmaker with the ability to take over games. It’s clear he believes in himself, too.
“I think all the best running backs, they’re able to break tackles at a high level, whether it be d-linemen, linebackers, safeties, corners,” Jeanty told Brian Jones of On3. “They can break tackles from anybody anywhere on the field. I have that home run hidden ability. Take it 60, 70 (yards). So I think that’s what separates me from a lot of other running backs, but also catching the ball out the backfield. I didn’t do that as much this year because it was a different offense. But whoever picks me, they will have a guy who’s versatile and can do it all.”
If this Raiders' pick actually happens, it will be one of the biggest talking points of the draft. The last running back to go top-10 was Bijan Robinson at No. 8 in 2023, and even that felt like a stretch for some analysts. But hey, this is the draft, and stranger things have happened.
