2025 Scouting Report: RB Ashton Jeanty, Boise St
Let’s take a look at the top RB in the 2025 class, Ashton Jeanty. Jeanty just came off one the greatest RB seasons in college football history, amassing 2601 yards, 29 TDs, on 374 attempts (7.0 ypc), and taking in 23 receptions for 138 yards and 1 TD. Jeanty’s 2,739 yards and 30 TDs are good for 3rd most scrimmage yards and 10th most TDs from scrimmage in a season. Needless to say, it was a dominant year for Ashton Jeanty.
As I tend to do, I came into this scouting journey very skeptical of Jeanty, because he’s the media’s “guy”, and they always seem to be wrong… but they got this one right, sort of.
Let me start this off by saying, Ashton Jeanty is very good. Do I think Jeanty is a generational back? Probably not. Jeanty is one of those running backs that “looks for contact” like a Marshawn Lynch/Derrick Henry type of back, guys who know if you don’t have help you won’t bring me down. Jeanty has some of the best balance I’ve seen from an RB in recent years, and Jeanty has an insanely high motor, he doesn’t go down, and even if he is getting tackled he always finds a way to fall forward. Jeanty is an offensive coach’s prototypical lead RB, and he will get that treatment wherever he goes. I have him mocked to the Raiders at the 6th overall pick right now, reuniting Pete Carroll with his second chance at Marshawn Lynch.
I don’t think I was able to find a ‘knock’ on Jeanty, he’s good at everything, even in the agility aspect of the game. Jeanty isn’t some big barreling 6’4 monster like Henry, he’s 5’11” and 215 pounds of leverage, and his build allows Jeanty to be shifty, almost Maurice Jones-Drew-like, run through the first tackler, bounce of the second one, jab step to the side so the third tackler can only trip you up by the legs, stumble through that attempt and get chased down after a 20-30 yard run.
Against the tougher opponents, Jeanty didn’t appear as shifty as he did against the weaker opponents, which is to be expected against two of the best teams in the NCAA (Oregon and Penn St.). What was on display, however, was Jeanty’s ability to break tackles, fall forward, and most importantly, limit TFL’s. The ability to avoid TFLs is something I have praised Saquon and Henry for years now, it might be the single best skill your running back can have. Jeanty was tackled for a loss 23 times in his 14 games, which is already a great stat behind a not-great offensive line, which gets even crazier when you find out Jeanty had 24 carries of 20+ yards. Jeanty wasn’t just breaking tackles to avoid getting behind the chains, but he has field-flipping capabilities.
The Data on Ashton Jeanty:
Ashton Jeanty didn’t pop in any aspect of the data, but I think it’s because Jeanty is ‘undersized’ for a power back. Jeanty is the average height/weight for an RB, but he runs like he’s 20+ pounds heavier… in a good way. I don’t believe he will participate in any combine drills and risk injury or hurting his draft stock. He’s locked in as a first rounder and he has no reason to put it at risk, a growing trend among prospects. Jeanty is better than what the data says, especially in in PowerRtg aspect.
In 4 games against top 30 defenses (Oregon, Penn St., UNLV 2x) this season, Jeanty averaged:
30.0 attempts, 158.25 rush yards, 1.25 rush TD, 2.5 receptions, 13.75 rec yards.
| PowerRtg | AgilityRtg | RecRtg | H | W | Player | Team | adjYds/Att | adjAtt/TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.741 | 6.271 | 4.856 | 69 | 215 | Ashton Jeanty | Boise State | 7.0 | 13.0 |
PowerRtg = Combination of rushing stats, adjusted stats, size, and strength of schedule.
AgilityRtg = Combination of rushing and receiving stats, adjusted stats, size, and strength of schedule.
RecRtg = Combination of receiving stats, adjusted stats, and strength of schedule.
adj. = stats weighted against strength of schedule.
Draft Outlook:
Jeanty will be drafted as a top 20 pick, how high he gets drafted depends solely on how much a coach/GM falls in love with him during interviews. I could see him going to LV at 6, but I don’t think he’ll fall past Denver at 20, ESPECIALLY if Taysom Hill 2.0 (Tyler Warren) is off the board. LV, Dallas, and Denver are in dire need of an RB and Jeanty will go to one of those teams.
Career Outlook:
Jeanty will be drafted to be a lead RB, one of the last true lead-backs we’ll see for a long time. RBBC just makes too much sense in today’s NFL. There’s such a massive influx of talent coming into the league where having one RB carry the load doesn’t make that much sense… and we’re starting to get to that point with the WR position as well. I think Jeanty will end his career in one of three places, in the Hall of HFme, in the Hall of Very-Good, or as a “what if he left x team”, based on how much support whoever drafts him gives him on the line/gameplan/coaching. Similar to how everyone felt about Saquon Barkley before this 2024 season, or how we feel about Jonathon Taylor/Joe Mixon now.
Image Source: (Loren Orr / Getty Images)
