Raiders see Ashton Jeanty as a "perfect player" for their offense

The first draft pick of a new regime is often seen as a declaration of what kind of team you want to build and the Raiders leaned into that after selecting running back Ashton Jeanty with the sixth overall pick on Thursday night.

Jeanty ran for 2,601 yards in his final season at Boise State and General Manager John Spytek called him a "foundational piece" at a position that they "really value" in the offensive system that head coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly are installing. He went on to call Jeanty "the perfect player" for the team and Carroll expanded on what Jeanty can do in Vegas.

"There's a lot of things to talk about, but one of the things is he was hard to tackle," Carroll said, via the team's website. "I mean, guys couldn't get him on the ground. . . . That skill to make people miss and to bounce off tackles and to use the force of the tacklers, he had marvelous talent in that regard. I think the word is dynamic for us. He has the ability to do all of it. He can run with power. He can run in short yardage areas and find the spacing that he needs to make the plays, and he's got that marvelous ability, just on any play, he can score, and that's just such an exciting aspect to add to our football team. We just feel very fortunate."

In the weeks leading up to the draft, Jeanty talked a lot about wanting to be part of the so-called running back revival sparked by the likes of Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry in 2024. He should get every chance to do that with the Raiders.