The new 'Beast Mode'? Why Ashton Jeanty was destined to be with Raiders
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Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty excited to play for Pete Carroll
Ashton Jeanty is getting ready to start his NFL career with the Las Vegas Raiders. He hopes he can recreate the magic Pete Carroll had with Marshawn Lynch in Seattle.
Ashton Jeanty might have been destined to be coached by Pete Carroll.
The Boise State product and 2024 Heisman Trophy finalist grew up watching a former running back who starred under Carroll in the Pacific Northwest.
'I take a lot of different things from different guys. But one of the first guys I really watched, was Marshawn Lynch, crazy,' Jeanty told USA TODAY Sports, during a promotional appearance with Sharpie. 'Just loved his physical running style, and how he broke so many tackles.'
Carroll had Lynch in the backfield for seven total seasons when he was the Seattle Seahawks head coach. Lynch rushed for 6,381 yards, was the single season rushing touchdown leader in 2013-14, was named to four Pro Bowls and helped the team win Super Bowl 48.
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Lynch powered one of the most famous runs in NFL history during his Seattle days and was appropriately nicknamed 'Beast Mode' for his aggressive running style.
Under Carroll, Seattle had the NFL's best rushing offense in 2014 and a top-five rushing attack from 2012-15. Fixing Las Vegas' running game has headlined Carroll's responsibilities since being named the Raiders head coach in January. The Raiders averaged an NFL-worst 79.8 rushing yards a contest last season, the fewest single-season average of any club since 2022.
Carroll's reputation and the Raiders' inefficient ground attack is why Las Vegas was a popular speculated landing spot for Jeanty ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft. Jeanty compiled 2,601 rushing yards his final year at Boise State, the second-most ever in a single season in FBS history, and won the Doak Walker Award.
'He's doing great. He really is. He's right on point with everything that we're doing. He's studying really hard. He's been really diligent about all aspects. There's nothing that he doesn't find important,' Carroll said of Jeanty last week. 'We're not holding anything back on him. He's getting a lot of plays.'
Not only has he gotten plenty of plays, but the No. 6 overall pick believes he's ready for them as the Raiders' new workhorse running back.
'Already, I can see from the run schemes, and how we've started off getting with the guys and OTAs. We want to establish a run game. We want to be a very physical football team. We want to be able to make teams quit in the fourth quarter,' Jeanty explained. 'So just having that identity, coming from the head coach, and understanding that, right? He says it every day at practice, like, 'Hey, running backs, you guys set the tempo for everybody.'
"How the defenders can finish every play and chase after the ball, to making the right cuts, pressing the line of scrimmage, all those types of things. I'm super excited for it.'
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If Jeanty has it his way, maybe he'll create his own variation of 'Beast Mode' with the Silver and Black.
'It's amazing, especially with how he used (Lynch) so much in the rushing attack,' Jeanty said. 'It makes me even more excited. I can kind of be that next iconic running back to play for Pete Carroll.'
Follow USA TODAY Sports' Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.
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