The resurgence of the NFL operating again in 2024 has helped the place reemerge as an important piece within the team-building puzzle. With workhorse runners like Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry and Josh Jacobs main the playoff contenders, the league has quietly returned to its ground-and-pound roots with operating backs put in because the centerpiece of the offensive puzzle.
As groups in a copycat league plot their plans for 2025 with a playoff run in thoughts, all eyes are on Ashton Jeanty as the highest operating again prospect in school soccer. The Heisman Trophy runner-up put collectively a formidable three-year run at Boise State that had scouts drooling over his prototypical measurement (5-foot-9, 215 kilos), ability and manufacturing as a runner in a system in skilled fashion.
With a resume that features greater than 4,600 dashing yards and 50 dashing touchdowns, Jeanty is essentially the most bold offensive coordinator the NFL craves in an RB1. But he additionally reveals the pass-catching and manufacturing abilities (77 receptions, 840 yards and 6 scores) to thrive in a hybrid runner-receiver position off the sector. As groups search for do-it-all playmakers with big-play potential, Jeanty has generated loads of curiosity inside the scouting group.
(Related: 2025 NFL Mock Draft: Ashton Jeanty enters high 10)
“Tough man with nice abilities,” an NFC govt stated. “He performs with nice steadiness and physique management, and he can get the space at any time… He can catch from the backfield and make performs in house. That’s precisely what you need up entrance in at this time’s sport.”
Reviewing the match tape of Jeanty’s sensational junior marketing campaign, I see there’s a lot to love concerning the dashing runner. From his measurement, physicality and energy, to his pace, quickness and cat-like agility, the Broncos standout possesses the DNA of an elite runner. Jeanty performs at a unique pace than his opponents, however by no means appears uncontrolled or frantic. He slides out and in of holes with endurance and precision, displaying distinctive imaginative and prescient, steadiness and physique management, making spectacular leaps to flee out the again door.
In Boise State’s hole scheme that includes a number of guard tackles and tight finish tackles, Jeanty’s slow-flow fashion permits him to cover behind stripers earlier than breaking by linebackers and safeties on the second degree. The mixture of endurance, consciousness and explosiveness creates nightmares for defensive coordinators when devising plans to neutralize the junior operating again.
Highlights from all the Ashton Jeanty 2024 season
Jeanty’s imaginative and prescient, consciousness and motion make him harmful even within the open area. Whether it is hitting the nook on exterior runs or catching the ball in house on a display, the rugged jitterbug is aware of tips on how to place himself and run behind his blockers in house. Given the emphasis on perimeter runs and display play in some offenses, Jeanty’s distinctive abilities and operating fashion permit him to suit into any scheme.
From a group perspective, Jeanty’s toughness and relentlessness make him a gorgeous choice as an RB1. He recorded 20-plus carries 17 instances in three seasons, together with eight video games with at the least 30 dashing makes an attempt (seven in 2024). Considering how “old style” runners had been anticipated to hold the ball 20-plus instances in a run-centric NFL, Jeanty’s workmanlike strategy will endear him to offensive coordinators in search of a franchise to construct.
If the Boise State standout enters the draft as anticipated, he’s a first-round prospect with the expertise and potential to return off the board as a top-20 choose. He jogs my memory of Josh Jacobs when he got here out of Alabama, with the mix of energy, motion and explosiveness. Given Jacobs’ success as an NFL dashing champion (in 2022 with 1,653 yards) and a two-time Pro Bowler, Jeanty may rapidly elevate a franchise together with his expertise.
With one other probability to impress evaluators within the College Football Playoff, Jeanty may solidify his standing as one of many potential franchise gamers obtainable within the 2025 NFL Draft.
Bucky Brooks is an NFL analyst for FOX Sports. He additionally analyzes the sport for NFL Network and as co-host of the “Moving the Sticks” podcast. Follow him on Twitter @BuckyBrooks.
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