The Las Vegas Raiders entered the 2025 season with high hopes, armed with a new quarterback in Geno Smith, a new head coach in Pete Carroll, a new offensive coordinator in Chip Kelly, and, most excitingly, a new top running back in sixth overall pick Ashton Jeanty, who fell just 28 yards shy of breaking Barry Sanders’ NCAA single-season rushing record in his senior year at Boise State.
The season hasn’t exactly turned out well, on or off the field. Kelly was fired earlier this week after his offense put up just 10 points against the Cleveland Browns and allowed Smith to be sacked 10 times, Smith leads the league in interceptions, and Jeanty has been one of the least efficient qualified running backs in football. To make matters worse, Jeanty was tackled awkwardly at the end of a 12-yard gain late in the fourth quarter and sustained an ankle injury, and though it’s not believed to be serious, it’s possible that the Raiders, who have been all but eliminated from playoff contention for several months, could choose to sit their star running back in Week 13 if his ankle isn’t 100%.
If Jeanty can’t go, no other Las Vegas back has much of a track record this season, given how heavily the team has leaned on the 21-year-old. He ranks 14th in attempts overall, second in red zone carry share, and first in carry share inside both the 10- and five-yard line. All in all, the Raiders have run the ball 247 times, and Jeanty has received 166 of them, with backup running back Raheem Mostert accounting for just 20. This season, Mostert has turned those 20 carries into 92 yards and caught an additional nine passes for 63 yards — better per-touch averages than Jeanty — but he commands less defensive attention than Jeanty, who ranks fourth in the league in attempts per broken tackle. Mostert did lead the league in total touchdowns in 2023 with the Miami Dolphins, but it was his lone elite season, and at the age of 33, he’s the oldest active running back in the NFL.
Jeanty is barely a reliable fantasy running back behind this horrific Las Vegas offensive line, so Mostert won’t be. This season, the Raiders rank eighth-to-last by Pro Football Focus’ run-blocking grades and sixth-to-last by its pass-blocking grades, and Jeanty ranks last in yards before contact per attempt. Las Vegas has unlocked Jeanty’s fantasy potential somewhat in recent weeks by getting him in open space as a receiver, but it can’t do that with Mostert, who’s never caught as many passes or accounted for as many receiving yards in a season as Jeanty has in his first 11 professional games.
That’s not to mention the Raiders’ opponent, the Los Angeles Chargers. Los Angeles has been above-average against opposing running backs, limiting them to the 14th-fewest fantasy points per game, and though it has conceded the fourth-most rushing touchdowns, that would require Las Vegas to put itself in position to score against a team that has allowed the seventh-fewest yards per drive and sixth-lowest third-down conversion percentage. The Chargers held Jeanty to just 44 yards on 14 touches in their 20-9 win in Week 2.
