Silver And Black Pride
Las Vegas’ depth, pecking order in backfield shakes up, and will shape up this offseason
By taking electrifying Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty sixth overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, there’s no question who the lead of the pack is in the Las Vegas Raiders running back room.
An attitude adjustment-type runner, the Silver & Black have shaken up what was a questionable collection of tailbacks by adding Jeanty to to the mix. Las Vegas’ depth and pecking order received an emphatic boost with one move. Sure, there are detractors who point to the devalued running back position yelling to high heavens taking a tailback No. 6 in the draft lunacy.
Yet, to exercise the demons of absurdity which was the Raiders run game in 2024, general manager John Spytek and head coach Pete Carroll made the call to snag a hard-to-tackle running back.
“Well, there’s a lot of things to talk about, but one of the things, he was hard to tackle. I mean, guys couldn’t get him on the ground,” Carroll answered when asked what really stood out about Jeanty. “And I compared him with a lot of players in the past, that skill to make people miss and to bounce off tackles and to use the force of the tacklers. And he had marvelous talent in that regard, and that he reminded me — and I’m not going to share them with you, because I don’t want to compare — but with a number of players that we’ve watched over the years, and going back quite a ways. I thought he was that unique.”
Our Matt Holder did an outstanding job breaking down what Jeanty brings to the Raiders’ offense. And I wrote about how the tenacious tailback was a perfect storm of best player available (BPA) while also filling a need.
So we’ve written plenty about Jeanty.
How’s the rest of the running back room going to shape up?
Las Vegas Raiders Running Backs
The group above doesn’t include any undrafted free agents or rookie minicamp invites — as their additions haven’t been made official by the Raiders, yet. That bunch has a super veteran and young players and the rookie.
Jeanty coming in like gangbusters and being the workhorse he was in college gives Las Vegas offensive coordinator Chip Kelly the opportunity to get creative with not only his scheme, but how he deploys running backs this season.
With a blend of power, speed, and vision, Jeanty can give Kelly the all-around back. While Mostert brings scintillating speed to the table even at the ripe age of 33. White and McCormick...
