$32 million guaranteed for a running back? In 2025? That’s wild. Ashton Jeanty hasn’t played a single NFL down yet, but the Las Vegas Raiders just made him the second-highest paid RB in the league. And yeah, HC Pete Carroll and GM John Spytek took him at 6th overall. You have to go all the way back to Saquon Barkley (2nd overall to the New York Giants) in 2018 to find an RB picked that high. But here’s the thing. The former Boise State RB earned it.
Coach Urban Meyer, who’s seen and coached more elite talents than most of us have had hot meals, put it plainly. In an X post by FOX College Football on April 25, he revealed that the Oregon game was the difference-maker for Ashton Jeanty. “The reason he got drafted as high as he did is the Oregon game,” he said. “It was not that he ran for 200 against lesser competition because, like you said, those holes are gonna get clogged, there are gonna be missed tackles, you know you’re not going to see that same videotape that you’re seeing against lesser people because there are no lesser people.” It wasn’t Ashton Jeanty’s stat-padding against Mountain West’s opponents that made him a top-10 pick.
The Oregon game was the difference-maker for Ashton Jeanty, says @CoachUrbanMeyer pic.twitter.com/elYR2sbryr
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) April 26, 2025
“The Oregon game, when he dominated, he had so many post-contact yards made him that money, not the stats,” Meyer said and bluntly added, “The NFL guys don’t look at the stats. They wanna see him against NFL players. And he did that against Oregon.” Back in that September game against Dan Lanning’s Ducks, Boise State rushed for 221 yards in total in that 37-34 loss. And Ashton Jeanty’s production? We’re talking about the 192 yards and three TDs inside Autzen Stadium. That’s more than 86% of the groundwork, guys! And the awards followed.
Doak Walker Award. Check. Maxwell Award. Check. A Heisman finalist too. His numbers are impressive—2,601 yards and 29 TDs, averaging 7.3 yards per carry. And yeah, he also scored in every game but one. That kind of consistency is rare. And such explosiveness? Even rarer. Just ask former Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel, who was a fellow Heisman finalist.
Gabriel gave a shout-out to Ashton Jeanty, calling him a “talented individual” saying, “what he’s been able to do is pretty impressive.” Even Lanning acknowledged the kid’s explosiveness, saying, “One of the things that makes him so different, his ability to stiff arm, right? He does a really good job with that. Stiff arm. You see it on film consistently.” So for an HC who prefers a run-heavy offense, Ashton Jeanty is the real deal.
Why Las Vegas picked Ashton Jeanty
Always the biggest draft question—should we get the best player available or address the biggest need? For new Raiders GM John Spytek, Ashton Jeanty was both.
“It’s one of those deals where it meets the needs and the best player meet together,” he said of the decision. “You kind of feel like that’s a perfect storm at that point too, and it’s just too much to ignore at that point. He’s the perfect player for us this year, and we were thrilled to make him a Raider.” Well, they really needed to fix their rushing game.
The Raiders had a dismal rushing offense in the NFL last season. They averaged only 79.8 yards per game last season. Ashton Jeanty gives off the beast mode vibe that PFF backed up. He was the only player last season to rush for 1,000+ yards after a broken tackle. That’s not just good against bad teams kind of stuff. That’s real, gritty, violent football. The kind the NFL actively seeks. And Vegas is about to get hands-on experience with his unstoppable energy.
Is $32M a lot for a running back? Sure. But if Ashton Jeanty hits the way Urban Meyer and John Spytek think he will, it might be a bargain.
The post Urban Meyer’s Strong Verdict on Ashton Jeanty’s $32M NFL Fate as Raiders GM John Spytek Clarifies Draft Intentions appeared first on EssentiallySports.
