2025 NFL Draft: Ashton Jeanty scouting report

WCG’s lead draft analyst shares his scouting report of the consensus top running back in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Even if you’re a casual college football fan, you likely know about how well Ashton Jeanty played in 2024.

The Boise State running back was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, finishing just 27 rushing yards away from Barry Sanders’ record for the most rushing yards in a single season in college football history. With 2,601 yards and 29 rushing touchdowns averaging 7.0 yards per carry, nearly Jeanty’s entire season would be worthy of making it on his highlight reel.

In an age of the NFL where first-round running backs aren’t incredibly common, Jeanty seems to be well on his way to becoming an exception. The comparisons between him and other recent first-round backs like Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs will run wild these next few months, but wherever he ends up, there’s no denying how well he produced this season.

What exact does Jeanty do well, though? How high is too high to select a running back in the 2025 NFL Draft, even one with the numbers that he put up? Let’s take a look at the consensus top running back in the upcoming draft class.

Games watched: @ Memphis, 2023; @ Oregon, 2024; @ UNLV, 2024; vs. Oregon State, 2024

Strengths

• Elite collegiate production speaks for itself
• Graded above 94.0 in PFF grades each of the last two years with an 89.5 grade as a true freshman
• Shifty runner who runs low to the ground and carries significant spring in his step when he changes direction
• Effective one-cut runner due to his ball-carrier vision and short-area acceleration needed to cut upfield
• Sees the whole field well, which allows him to bounce outside of the tackles if the play is broken up the middle
• Tough runner with elite contact balance due to his sturdy frame and his low center of gravity
• Twitchy pass-catcher out of the backfield who offers plenty of YAC ability due to his vision in space and his lateral quickness
• Does a good job of varying his tempo out of the backfield to let the play develop and strike when a hole opens up

Weaknesses

• Productivity and consistency in the passing game took a step back in 2024
• Had a drop rate of 11.5% in 2024 after not dropping a single target in 2023
• Listed at 5-foot-9 and doesn’t seem to have tremendous length. This can hurt him sometimes in pass protection
• Doesn’t play at the Power 4 level, so he’s not as battle-tested against NFL-caliber defenders on a weekly basis like other top backs
• Breakaway speed isn’t bad but he won’t necessarily wow you as a track star on tape

Recap

Jeanty is a superstar; there’s no other way around it. The fact that he has as many big plays to his name while possessing “good, not great” speed speaks...