The Raiders Are Getting Better, So Why Is RB Ashton Jeanty Getting Worse?

Two yards behind the line of scrimmage and three yards from the end zone, Bills linebacker Terrell Bernard found Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty. You could argue that Jeanty found Bernard – running right into the linebacker. Regardless, at the point of contact, the 5-foot-8, 208-pound Jeanty used his considerable strength to twist and churn toward the goal line. Even with Bernard bear-hugging him, Jeanty made his way into the end zone for his first rushing touchdown of the season. It was Week 6. That's how long it took Jeanty to get into the end zone. And that play was a microcosm of the debate surrounding the sixth-overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft. He just barely eked out a one-yard gain, and that was because he saw contact in the backfield. The question is whether Jeanty could've done more to avoid that contact. Because on all six of his previous carries inside the 5-yard line (eighth-most in the NFL), he had not scored. It's one of the many points of inefficiency that have plagued him during his two NFL seasons. What's wrong with Jeanty? Why can't he find room to run? Why is he averaging 3.2 yards per carry – and why did he get just two carries (for minus-5 yards) in the second half of the team's loss to the Bills on Sunday? There's the ankle injury, which he suffered in training camp. It has popped up on the injury report this year, but the running back has said he's healthy. There's more going on here. Even Klint Kubiak, normally the NFL's most reserved coach, indicated that Jeanty might be headed for a reduced workload. "I think we're gonna have to get production from all three of our backs," Kubiak said on Monday. "Mike Washington did some good stuff yesterday. I thought overall our backs ran harder yesterday. I thought they broke tackles. I thought they moved the line of scrimmage once things weren't there. I thought [running backs coach Omar Young] did a really good job of challenging our guys. I thought they had one of their better games, and I expect that to continue." From my vantage point, Kubiak would be right to feature Jeanty less. Because in just about every way, the Raiders are a better team this season – except for in the run game, where Jeanty was supposed to lead the charge. When Jeanty entered the draft, the Boise State All-American looked like the second coming of Maurice Jones-Drew or Josh Jacobs. But nowadays? He's drawing different comparisons. Jeanty is starting to look like Trent Richardson, perhaps the biggest running back bust in NFL history. If you need a refresher on who Richardson was, then let's go back to the 2012 draft when the Alabama superstar went third overall. Upon arriving in Cleveland, it took the Browns roughly one season to sour on him. So two games into the 2013 season, the Browns traded him to the Colts, who thought they could resuscitate his career. They couldn't. Richardson never averaged more than 3.6 yards per carry in any one of his four NFL seasons. He was the caveat to avoid running backs in the top 10 of the draft. Which is why it's so troubling that there are several points of comparison between Jeanty and Richardson at the same point in their careers. It was ESPN's Bill Barnwell who first pointed out these comparisons after Jeanty's underwhelming rookie year. Around that time, NFL Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson made one more comparison. Tomlinson saw himself in Jeanty. "I am huge on Ashton Jeanty. I think he showed some qualities on a bad team that you see from top running backs," Tomlinson said on the "Fantasy Points" podcast. "I'm just going to tell you, his first year reminded me of mine. It was tough sledding. I think I averaged 3.7 or 3.8 yards per carry my rookie year. I'm absolutely targeting Ashton Jeanty [in fantasy football]. I'm planning on coming out of my draft with Ashton. Let me just say that." Maybe Tomlinson spent the 2001 season struggling, but he ascended quickly in his second year – with 1,683 rushing yards, 14 rushing touchdowns, 498 receiving yards and another receiving touchdown. And his yards per carry (4.5) went way up in 2002. We have yet to see that leap for Jeanty. In some ways, he is getting worse, including yards per carry, where he has fallen from 3.7 in 2025 to 3.2 in 2026. There were real reasons for optimism, namely that Kubiak was arriving with a scheme that seemed ideal to feature Jeanty. And Kubiak brought in one of the league's top free agents, center Tyler Linderbaum, to improve the offensive line. There were numbers to give Tomlinson hope for more from Jeanty. In his rookie season. Jeanty had 83% of his yards after contact, the highest in the NFL. And he had .4 yards before contact per carry. In other words, the blocking was poor – and he was still finding ways to get the most out of the bad situation. This season, Jeanty is actually generating more yards after contact: 90.3% (fifth in the NFL among RBs with 50-plus carries). And he's also seeing quicker contact, at .3 yards before contact per carry. So the question is whether Jeanty's blocking has gotten worse? Or whether he's getting worse at using his blocking? On film, I'm seeing a mix of both. There do seem to be opportunities for Jeanty to get upfield and work through the creases in the line. And that's why I'll get to our last comparison. It's to Jeanty's teammate: fourth-round rookie Mike Washington. He has, in bursts, looked better than Jeanty in the same offense. This year, Washington has 34 carries for 168 yards with one touchdown. And to be fair to Jeanty, that one touchdown is doing a lot of work for Washington. That 36-yard score helped his numbers. It's not like we can discount it. It happened to Washington (and not Jeanty). That big-play ability is exactly what the Raiders are seeking from Jeanty, but he has yet to deliver. Jeanty's success rate is higher, at 35.7%, than Washington's at 32.4%, per Next Gen Stats. (Successful carries gain 50-plus percent of the needed yards on first down, 60-plus percent on second down, and 100 percent on third or fourth down.) But other than that, Jeanty's rush yards over expected per carry is -0.3 compared to Washington's 0.7 – and Washington has five explosive runs (10-plus yards), the same number as Jeanty with roughly a third of the carries. At the end of Week 6 against the Bills, it felt like the Raiders were turning the ball over to Washington more than Jeanty. It wasn't an outright benching, but it did feel like a message. Jeanty wasn't doing enough. The Raiders have every reason to explore Washington in an increased role – except, perhaps, for Jeanty's salary and draft status. They want Jeanty to work out. Maybe he will, as the ankle improves and the offensive line continues to adapt to Kubiak's offensive scheme. Maybe, maybe, maybe. But right now, Washington seems to have concrete evidence on his side. Jeanty doesn't. Perhaps that's why we saw Jeanty's workload decrease on Sunday. Perhaps that's why we'll see more of Washington in the coming weeks. This was the year Jeanty was expected to take a leap forward. So far, he's done the opposite.