Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty rushed for just 38 yards on 19 carries in his NFL debut (2.0 per rush), adding 2 receptions for 2 yards on two targets in a victory at New England. Jeanty saved his fantasy line with a 3-yard TD run in the third quarter that found him powering through contact.
2025 Fantasy Football Impact
Rushing lines like that will happen, and we'll see how good the Patriots defense winds up being. The most surprising aspect of Jeanty's debut might have been how long it took him to get the ball.
Jeanty carried just six times in the first half, while Geno Smith dropped back 23 times. Jeanty managed a solid 24 yards on those rushes (4.0 per carry), while ceding only one handoff to Zamir White.
The Raiders spent nearly all of the first half either leading or tied, so the run-pass split appeared to be more play-caller choice than necessity.
Jeanty carried four more times in the third quarter, including one play negated by a holding penalty. That means 10 of his 19 official carries came in the fourth quarter, a segment the Raiders started with a 17-10 lead and in which they lost Brock Bowers just 3 minutes in. (Sounds like he's OK.)
It's one game, but we'll certainly be watching this pass-run split and Jeanty's receiving usage going forward.
Fortunately, the schedule doesn't present any rushing matchups that look scary over the next five weeks (based on what we know so far):
- vs. Chargers
- at Commanders
- vs. Bears
- at Colts
- vs. Titans