The Las Vegas Raiders had the worst rushing attack in the NFL during the 2024 NFL season. This prompted them to let Alexander Mattison walk in free agency and select Ashton Jeanty with the No. 6 overall pick in this year's draft.
Jeanty came into the league recognized as a generational talent, considering he ran for 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns in his final collegiate season at Boise State. After an up-and-down preseason, at least statistically, Jeanty did not impress a lot of folks in Week 1 against the New England Patriots
He did punch in a touchdown and did plenty of other things to help the team win, but he just didn't jump off the screen like many expected him to. With the Los Angeles Chargers on the horizon in Week 2, however, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly has an obvious way to get Jeanty going.
Raiders must unlock Ashton Jeanty as a pass-catcher in Week 2
Los Angeles' defensive coordinator, Jesse Minter, runs a lot of two-high shells and deep zone coverages, where he dares teams to run the ball and make plays underneath. He does a lot of this in nickel packages, with five defensive backs on the field, so this provides an advantage for the Raiders.
This will be an opportunity for Jeanty to find some lanes and get to the second level of the defense, but he can also finally be unleashed as a pass-catcher. Jeanty caught 43 passes for 569 yards and five touchdowns in his second season at Boise State, so this is an underrated aspect of his game.
With a player like Derwin James likely to move up in the slot to cover Brock Bowers, there is a solid chance that Jeanty would have a linebacker covering him out of the backfield. This is exactly the matchup the Raiders would want, and they need to exploit it on Monday.
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It is all about playing complementary football, so if the team can establish the run early and eat underneath with players like Bowers and Jakobi Meyers, then it will help Jeanty get loose in the passing game as well.
The final piece of this equation would be the safeties creeping up as Las Vegas continues to move the ball downfield in a more dink-and-dunk fashion. Then, Chip Kelly unleashes the speed of Tre Tucker and Dont'e Thornton Jr.
Jeanty needs the ball in his hands so he can make plays, plain and simple. If the run-blocking is poor once again, or if Minter's defense is conducive to Jeanty getting mismatches as a pass-catcher, then getting him involved in the passing game would be a prime way to get the young player feeling and looking like himself.