The Philadelphia Eagles just won the Super Bowl with arguably their best player being Saquon Barkley — a shifty but powerful running back who finished in the top five of the Heisman Trophy voting in his junior season. One of the top overall prospects in the upcoming NFL Draft is Ashton Jeanty — a shifty but powerful running back who finished in the top five of the Heisman Trophy voting in his junior season.
Does that mean Jeanty could become the highest-drafted running back since the New York Giants took Barkley with the second overall pick in 2018? Right now, that honor belongs to Atlanta Falcons back Bijan Robinson, who was taken eighth overall in 2023.
DraftKings Sportsbook is offering odds on who will take a chance on the former Boise State star. Right now, the betting favorite is the Las Vegas Raiders (-115), who are picking sixth overall. The only other team with better than +500 odds to take Jeanty is the Chicago Bears (+190), who select 10th.
Bet on 2025 NFL Draft prop bets at DraftKings Sportsbook, including Which Team will Ashton Jeanty be Drafted By?, here.
2025 NFL Draft Props: Which Team will Ashton Jeanty be Drafted By?
Las Vegas at sixth overall is probably the realistic ceiling for Jeanty. The Tennessee Titans appear virtually locked in on selecting former University of Miami quarterback Cam Ward with the first overall pick, while the Cleveland Browns are likely to take either Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter or Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders at No. 2. Carter and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter are simply too talented not to be selected within the top five picks, and the New England Patriots are in desperate need of offensive line help to protect 2024 third overall pick Drake Maye. Tennessee, Cleveland, the New York Giants, New England, and the Jacksonville Jaguars all could use a running back of Jeanty’s caliber, but they all have much more pressing holes to fill.
That’s not true of the Raiders, who operated a committee of Ameer Abdullah, Alexander Mattison, and Sincere McCormick at the position in 2024 and finished last in the league in rushing yards. New signing Raheem Mostert ranked 37th of 59 qualified running backs last season, per Pro Football Focus’ grades, and he was better than both Abdullah and Mattison, the latter of whom will replace Mostert on the Miami Dolphins. McCormick was far more effective, but with just 45 career touches to his name, he’s a relative unknown. Jeanty would be an immediate upgrade over any of the backs currently on the roster, and while Las Vegas also needs wide receiver and secondary talent, Jeanty is a far safer pick than Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan or Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron.
The most likely scenario in which the Raiders don’t take Jeanty is if LSU offensive lineman Will Campbell falls to them, given that they had a below-average run-blocking unit in 2024, but Campbell has been widely projected to ultimately don a New England jersey. If Jeanty slips past Las Vegas, he’s not going to go to the New York Jets at No. 7, given that they have Breece Hall, and both the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints, with Chuba Hubbard and Alvin Kamara, respectively, are sorted at the position too. Chicago, picking 10th, could pair Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze with Jeanty to complete a devastating young QB-RB-WR trio.
If Jeanty is still on the board, I can’t see the Dallas Cowboys bypassing him with the 12th overall pick. The San Francisco 49ers have the fourth-shortest odds to take him with the 11th overall pick, but San Francisco has arguably the league’s best back when healthy in Christian McCaffrey and has other holes to fill. Dallas had the league’s sixth-worst rushing attack in 2024 and offseason signings Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders won’t do anything to change that. Plus, the Cowboys would love nothing more than to counter Barkley in the NFC East with a player who has shades of Barkley, even if he’s three and a half inches shorter.
