Through the first two games of the 2025 NFL season, Las Vegas Raiders rookie running back Ashton Jeanty was averaging just 2.7 yards per rush on 30 carries. He also lacked involvement in the passing game, with just five catches for three yards.
On the heels of Jeanty averaging 17.5 touches per game over those first two games, former Raiders linebacker and current radio analyst Kirk Morrison outlined the workload he wanted to see.
"He’s a 20 and five guy. If people are going to ask me, that’s going to be my thing for Ashton Jeanty," Morrison said. "He’s 20 rushes and five receptions. That should be his ball game every single week.”
Jeanty had 17 carries for 63 yards against the Washington Commanders in Week 3, with no targets as a pass catcher. Week 4 against a soft Chicago Bears' run defense was the get-right game for Jeanty, with 21 carries for 138 yards and a touchdown, along with two touchdown receptions.
A blowout loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5 suppressed his carry total to 14, but he set season-highs with five catches, seven targets and 42 receiving yards, and he topped 100 yards from scrimmage for the second time.
In Week 6 against the Tennessee Titans, as a clear part of Chip Kelly's game plan to take the ball out of Geno Smith's hands, Jeanty set a new career-high with 23 carries, along with two catches on four targets.
Jeanty hasn't quite had a "20 and 5" game like Morrison wanted to see. But he has gotten to the "20" part in two of the last three games, and if you widen to opportunities to carries and targets, he has had 23, 21, and 27 in the last three games.
Pete Carroll offers expectation every Ashton Jeanty fantasy manager wants to hear
Kelly and Carroll have both been clear about the importance of managing Jeanty's workload, and that will not change. The game script will determine how many carries he gets, and that lined up nicely in two of the last three games.
On Wednesday, Carroll was asked if he feels Jeanty is equipped for a bigger workload now.
"I don't think there's any doubt. Yeah, he is," Carroll said. "We had to make sure we don't overdo it too early. ... It's a long haul, and we have to make sure we're managing him right. But I think that being kind of normal for him is what we should expect."
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What is "that," exactly? Carroll made it clear.
"Around 20 carries a game, somewhere around there, is what we would hope," Carroll said.
According to Pro Football Focus' Strength of Schedule calculation, which evolves each week based on new data, Jeanty still has one of the toughest remaining schedules for a running back. But volume is king in fantasy football, and no less an authority than the head coach to say Jeanty will continue to get plenty.
That is music to the ears of those who made a lofty draft investment in the Raiders' rookie running back this year, with the core expectation he would have a big workload on pretty much a weekly basis.