Why FOX Sports’ Mark Schlereth Is NOT Worried about Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty | The Rich Eisen Show

Why FOX Sports’ Mark Schlereth Is NOT Worried about Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty | The Rich Eisen Show

your level of concern for Ashton Genty, having seen what you saw, uh, having talked to the staff, as I’m sure you did leading up to the broadcast of Raiders and Commanders, what what is your concern level for Ashton Genty, even though it’s just three games for him? My concern level for him as a player, you know, when I hear people say, “Oh, he doesn’t have it or he’s not the guy.” That that’s foolishness. Okay. Um, that kid is that kid is I think I’ve heard you say it before in regards to Mo Jones drew a uh bowling ball of butcher knives. Like he is gonna be a really good player. I think one of the things you have to understand is for running backs and and I watched in my career, you know, playing with Terrell Davis as a rookie go for,00 and then as a secondyear player go for 1,400 and then as a third year player goes for 1,700 and then as a fourth year player go for 2,000. And part of that understanding is it’s more than just knowing what you’re supposed to do. It’s knowing what the defense is doing. What is the strength of the defense? what is the weakness of the defense and how do I adjust based on those things pre- snap. So let me give you for instance all of a sudden you’re playing what we call a 25 front meaning the will backers off the ball the mic is off the ball but the Sam is lined up on the edge outside eye of the tight end. Well when you get that if you’re calling that let’s call it strong right and that Sam linebacker is lined up on the line of scrimmage outside eye of the tight end that guy’s job is to set the edge. So, as you press that, you want to get the backers running, but at the same time, you know, hey man, there’s probably almost 100% certainty I’m going to cut back on this. And so, you have to understand kind of based on that defensive front, what my responsibility is and what the likelihood of me being able to take that ball outside or having to cut back. And you’ve got to learn those things. Part of it’s trial and error. Part of it’s just having a better understanding, a better feel for what’s going on. Now, the concern is the Raiders couldn’t block their way out of a wet pepper sack and like like I’ve got a couple of guys on there. Don Payne for Washington’s a really good player and I think they’ve got a bunch of really good players, but they don’t have anybody other than Don Payne who’s a absolute war daddy on that line of scrimmage and um like their offensive line was was awful. It was it was purely awful in this. So, the combination of not being able to block anybody and then Ashton learning exactly what he is supposed to do. Um, that’s a bad combination right off the start. And I thought the right side of their offensive line with uh uh with the their right tackle and their right guard was just subpar at at best. I mean, that’s probably an insult to subpar things, but they were they were subpar at best. Wow. That’s saying a lot. So, it’s like you’re not concerned about the kid’s ability. He’s just got some stuff to learn about playing running back in this league. And you know that kind of tracks with him coming off the field on third down and not being part of two miniatures as well, Mark. Or or when talking to when talking to the coaches, did you pick up on that? Yeah, I think you know talking to to both coaches with young running backs. Um it’s not so much when they have the ball in their hands, they’ll they’ll figure out what to do with the ball in their hands. It’s how do you affect the game when the ball is not in your hands? How are you in blitz pickup? How are you with spatial awareness when you’re running routes? Do you set guys up when you find man versus zone? Can you find a soft spot in a zone? Can you, you know, run away from guys that are playing you in man? It’s learning how to play the game without the ball in your hands. And you think about it, as a college player, when you’re that gifted as a running back, you you don’t ever have to worry about not having the ball in your hands. You’re always the primary. They’re always involved. In the pro game, it’s a little bit different. You know, it’s like that third receiver that you ask to run, you know, routes that we call them for the love of the game routes. You’re you’re job is to run that route at full speed, even though you’re number three or four in the progression. You’re probably not touching the ball, but you’re running that full route speed or that that route at full speed. And you drawing coverage and you holding coverage so we can get something behind you. Those things are dramat they’re dramatic and they’re so important. And I think the the average fan just doesn’t understand the value you have in doing the dirty work so other people can succeed. It’s one of the things I love about football, Rich, is that it is the ultimate team game. And if you’ve got selfish guys who are running half-ass routes because, oh, I’m not getting the ball and I’m going to pout. Well, then everybody fails on the offensive side of the ball. Hey, you made it all the way to the end. Thanks for that. Check us out every single day streaming live on Disney Plus and the ESPN app 12 to 3 Eastern.

FOX Sports NFL Analyst/Stinkin Truth Podcast host Mark Schlereth and Rich Eisen discuss the unimpressive start to the season for highly-touted Raiders rookie RB Ashton Jeanty.

Tune in to the Emmy-nominated Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from Noon to 3PM ET on Disney+, ESPN+, ESPN Radio, and streaming on SiriusXM channel 80.

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