![\"Ashton](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ashton-jeanty-las-vegas-raiders.jpg\")
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(Photo by Christian Petersen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Ashton Jeanty had a challenging rookie season for the Las Vegas Raiders<\/a>. However, it wasn\u2019t Jeanty\u2019s doing, since former offensive coordinator Chip Kelly changed his stance, and the team\u2019s offensive line wasn\u2019t any good. <\/p>\n Nonetheless, Jeanty did record 1,321 yards from scrimmage and 10 touchdowns during the 2025 NFL<\/a> season, per StatMuse<\/a>. With the offseason now underway for the Silver and Black, Jeanty had an opportunity to reflect on his rookie season. <\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say I exceeded my expectations,\u201c Jeanty said during a Feb. 5 appearance on \u201cUp & Adams.\u201d<\/a> \u201cMy expectations are very high, but I think for the cards I was dealt, I think I did very well with them, and I think I was able to have a successful rookie year.\u201c<\/p>\n Jeanty was an effective running back for Las Vegas despite what was stacked against him. However, if the Silver and Black can upgrade their offensive line, the team can see a completely different player. <\/p>\n Moreover, former\u00a0NFL\u00a0running back Maurice Jones-Drew recently shared how the Raiders should be using Jeanty next season. <\/p>\n \u201cYou have to find a way to find a coach that\u2019s creative enough to get him in space and to get him running like Christian McCaffrey does, like Kyle Shannon does with Christian McCaffrey,\u201c Jones-Drew said on\u00a0the Jan. 23 edition of \u201c89 with Steve Smith and James Palmer.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cSo to me, that type of offense with that type of usage where he\u2019s up at wide receiver, he\u2019s in the backfield, he\u2019s motioning, all this creativity stuff. Oh, he would excel in that.\u201d<\/p>\n Las Vegas Should Be Happy With Ashton Jeanty Selection<\/p>\n Furthermore, Jones-Drew defended the Raiders for selecting Jeanty where they did in the 2025 NFL Draft, considering that if he can produce like the\u00a0San Francisco 49ers\u2019<\/a> star, it will be well worth the selection.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he should have been a top five,\u201c Jones-Drew added. \u201cHe went\u00a0at\u00a0[No. 6]. So, I thought his talent was top five. But he\u2019s a different player than [Jahmyr] Gibbs and Bijan [Robinson] and Saquon [Barkley].<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not that type of guy, right? You have to understand his superpower is that he\u2019s compact, right? He\u2019s what, 5\u20198 [and] 215 [pounds], that\u2019s imagine trying to get your arms around a guy like that whose legs are huge.\u201d<\/p>\n Raiders Urged to Sign Marquee O-Lineman in Free Agency<\/p>\n Free agency will be key for the Silver and Black, who will have the second-most cap space in the NFL this offseason,\u00a0per Over the Cap<\/a>. One of the marquee offensive linemen set to hit the open market is the\u00a0Baltimore Ravens\u2019<\/a> Tyler Linderbaum.<\/p>\n As a result, former Raiders offensive lineman Lincoln Kennedy believes that Las Vegas need to do whatever it takes to land Linderbaum in free agency.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m throwing a bag of money at Tyler Linderbaum,\u201c\u00a0Kennedy said on the Feb. 3 edition of \u201cRaiders Squad Show.\u201c<\/a>\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m throwing a ton of money. What do you need? Tell me a check that will make you happy to come over for Raiders. That\u2019s just a start, right? But there are plenty of guys out there that I would definitely look at, and I have no problem with accepting and throwing a ton of money out there.\u201d<\/p>\n PFF gave Linderbaum an 80.2 overall grade<\/a> for the 2025 season. He recorded a 63.4 pass-blocking grade, good for 22nd among the 40 eligible centers, and an 83.7 run-blocking grade, which puts him fourth among the 40 eligible centers.<\/p>\n If the Raiders can somehow convince Linderbaum to sign with them in free agency, it will be a major step in Las Vegas, ensuring that the run game will look vastly different for Jeanty next season. <\/p>\n \n\t\t\tEduardo Razo<\/a> Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Raiders\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty (Photo by Christian Petersen\/Getty Images) Ashton Jeanty had a challenging rookie season for the Las Vegas Raiders.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":733156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2065],"tags":[7,1744,393,2455,2454,6,525],"class_list":{"0":"post-733155","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-las-vegas-raiders","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-las-vegas","10":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","11":"tag-lasvegas","12":"tag-lasvegasraiders","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-raiders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116023112491852573","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=733155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/733156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=733155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=733155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=733155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}