No one knows who the Raiders are going to draft next week, for the sake of this blog, I'm going to confidently act like I know who the Raiders are going to draft next week.
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For the last four months, Ashton Jeanty's been a Raider. For any number of reasons, it makes a ton of sense: he's a generational running back talent, he fits everything Pete Carroll wants to do with his offense, and – most importantly – he'll (probably) still be available when the Raiders are picking at six.
So, if/definitely when that happens, what kind of player are the Raiders getting? According to ESPN's draft & prospect guru Matt Miller, they'd be getting a guy who's going to play for over a decade and make the Pro Bowl basically every other season. Over 10,000 all-purpose yards with 85 touchdowns through his first eight seasons with the Raiders would sound pretty good to me.
The Raiders have a chance to land their own version of Alvin Kamara
ESPN's comp: Alvin Kamara
"Jeanty was the nation's leader in rushing yards (2,601) and had 29 touchdowns on the ground. He doesn't have great size, but he's a forward-leaning runner with breakaway speed and great agility to make defenders miss. His contact balance, poise and how well he runs through contact are truly special traits. Jeanty is not as involved as you'd like him to be in the passing game (23 catches in 2024), but his role there could be expanded in the pros. For now, he looks like the rare Round 1 running back and a Day 1 starter."
No notes, no complaints. Player comps can be a tricky thing to talk about – mostly because, again, no one knows anything really – but when they work out, boy do they work out. Geno Smith, Brock Bowers, and a younger version of Alvin Kamara looks awfully interesting as far as offensive cores go. I know that I said earlier that no one knows anything, but I'm now convinced that Jeanty will absolutely have a Kamara-like career. We only have two more weeks to let our draft delusions of grandeur go unchecked, so might as well let it fly while we still can.