Silver And Black Pride
Hall of Famer Tim Brown recently compared the two running backs
Recently, Hall of Fame wide receiver and franchise legend Tim Brown said that new Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty reminds him of former Raider Napoleon Kaufman.
“Napoleon came into the league very undersized, but had the ability to return punts and kicks and do a lot of great things, his ability to hit a hole and explode was really amazing,” Brown explained on the Up & Adams show with Kay Adams.
“So I just think if [Jeanty] can do some of the things that Napoleon was doing, [he can be special]. Now [Jeanty] may be asked to do even more because Nap didn’t have to carry the load as much...But I think [Jeanty] is going to be great for the Raiders and I’m looking forward to seeing him play.”
So, let’s dive into it and see how the two backs compare to each other.
Only Barry Sanders ran for more yards than Jeanty did this past season at Boise State, but college career for college career, the two Raider running backs have comparable production.
The 2024 Heisman Trophy runner-up left Boise State with 4,769 rushing yards, 6.4 yards per carry and 50 rushing touchdowns. Meanwhile, Kaufman finished his Washington career with 4,041 yards, 5.7 ypc and 33 touchdowns.
Granted, the former Bronco was in college for three years while Husky spent four years in school, but Kaufman only had 67 carries as a true freshman, and he only played in four more games than Jeanty, as college football didn’t include bowl game stats until 2002.
Also, Kaufman faced tougher competition every week by playing in the Pac-10 compared to the Mountain West, and it’s important to consider the different eras, as up-tempo offenses have become the norm in the college game.
Brown referenced this in his response above, Jeanty and Kaufman are very comparable size-wise. Both measured 5-foot-8.5 at the NFL Combine, and they have similar arm lengths, with Jeanty coming in at 29¼” and Kaufman 29½”. However, the former has a much thicker build, weighing almost 30 pounds more than the latter: 211 pounds to 182.
To be fair, that’s a consistent trend in the NFL as players as a whole are much bigger than they were 30 years ago when Kaufman was drafted.
Jeanty became known for his ability to make defenders miss this past season, racking up the most missed tackles forced (152) in the country, according to Pro Football Focus. Unfortunately, PFF wasn’t around from 1991 to 1994, when Kaufman was in school, so we don’t have a number from the older back for an easy comparison. But he was known as a shifty runner who could make defenders miss, creating another similarity between the two rushers.
Additionally, Kaufman was a home run hitter for the Silver and Black. From 1996 to 2000, his longest rushes were 77 yards, 83 yards, 80,...
