New ESPN mock draft has Ashton Jeanty among top 10 NFL picks. Here’s where, and why
With the NFL Scouting Combine in the back mirror and the NFL Draft about six weeks away, draft predictions are starting to take a more solid shape as front offices zone in on what they need.
College football fans here and around the country will be eager to see where Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty will end up. Jeanty finished runner-up in the Heisman Trophy voting in the closest race since 2009 and is expected to be the first running back off the board.
ESPN’s Jordan Reid has Jeanty being drafted as high as sixth overall by the Las Vegas Raiders in his latest mock draft. Reid wrote that he expects the Raiders to pick up a veteran quarterback in free agency, allowing them to focus on picking up the best player available at a position of need.
“The Raiders are at a point now where I don’t think they need to rush getting the quarterback in there,” Reid told the Idaho Statesman in a call on Wednesday morning. “And just like what they did last year with (Brock) Bowers, just let the board fall to them and just take the best player available. So that’s why I had Jeanty going there.”
The Raiders picked Bowers, a tight end out of Georgia, with the 13th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Bowers was named a first-team All-Pro in his first season, breaking NFL records for the most receptions in a season by a rookie (112) and the most receiving yards in a season by a rookie tight end (1,194).
A Bowers-Jeanty one-two punch alongside a veteran quarterback could give the Raiders a foothold in a very competitive AFC West.
But there’s also a chance that Jeanty might not even be the first running back off the board. Reid confirmed that multiple NFL teams have North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton as their top back in the class.
Reid said that’s not because teams think Hampton is a better running back overall, but because the pair have slightly different profiles that suit different offenses.
“They’re very similar stylistically, as far as how they win, the contact balance that they play with, Jeanty is a much better receiver,” Reid said. “But Jeanty is a little bit more of a loose mover than Hampton, but Hampton, he’s just that battering ram that can really break tackles at any opportunity. Jeanty is able to do that as well.”
Jeanty measured 5 feet, 8 ½ inches and 211 pounds at the combine, while Hampton measured 6 feet and 221 pounds.
Reid has Hampton being selected 22nd overall by the Los Angeles Chargers, reasoning that Hampton’s style perfectly matches the Chargers’ offense under Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman.
The Raiders this year hired veteran coach Pete Carroll, who left the Seattle Seahawks after the 2023 season, to reshape the team. Carroll brought on former Oregon and Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, fresh off a national championship season as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator, to run the offense.
Las Vegas lost running back Josh Jacobs to the Green Bay Packers before the 2024 season, and their committee approach then produced terrible results last year — they were dead last in the NFL in rushing offense. The team was led by former Boise State RB Alexander Mattison, who had 420 yards on 132 carries, averaging just 3.2 yards per carry.
Other mock drafts aren’t as bullish on Jeanty’s spot in the draft, but they peg him as a first-rounder.
CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso has Jeanty as the only running back selected in the first round, going 12th overall to the Dallas Cowboys, a spot Jeanty has said he’d love to play. Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice and Charles McDonald have Jeanty going 20th overall to the Denver Broncos and Hampton 29th to the Washington Commanders.
