Fantasy Football: 'Absolutely disgusting' — Could Ashton Jeanty end up as the next Trent Richardson?
The Las Vegas Raiders used the 6th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft to select Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty, who was by far the top back coming out of college. Jeanty, who stands 5-foot-8 and 211 pounds, is coming off one of the best seasons by a RB in college football history. He finished with 2,601 rushing yards, 27 shy of the record set by Barry Sanders back in 1988 at Oklahoma State.
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Jeanty also averaged 7.0 yards per carry and had 30 total TDs (29 rushing and one receiving) over 14 games. He rushed for 209 yards and a score in the Mountain West Championship to help the Broncos defeat UNLV and advance to the College Football Playoff. Jeanty would rush for 104 yards on 30 carries in a loss to Penn State in the CFP.
Now in the NFL, Jeanty lands in what appears to be a good situation for fantasy football in Las Vegas, where he'll be the lead back with little competition. But despite all that, Yahoo fantasy football analysts Matt Harmon and Justin Boone aren't convinced Jeanty will be a sure-thing. Boone points out it may take a bit for the Raiders to mesh as a team under new head coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, as well as new QB Geno Smith.
Harmon had to stop himself before making a "absolutely disgusting comparison" between Jeanty and former Cleveland Browns 3rd overall pick RB Trent Richardson back in 2012. Boone echoes that "volume is king" and he believes Jeanty will be OK at the end of the day. Even Richardson as a rookie finished as the RB8 that season after going for 1,317 yards from scrimmage with 51 catches and 12 total TDs.
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So as a first-round pick in 2025, Jeanty should be alright given the type of volume we can expect. But if you have Jeanty in dynasty or keeper formats, you may have to keep a close eye on him during the season and evaluate him for the future.
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