It's no secret that the Las Vegas Raiders have to get their run game going in the 2025 NFL Season, as they used their first-round pick on a top RB. As the 2025 NFL Draft cycle was heating up, it became abundantly clear that Ashton Jeanty, the running back from Boise State, was going to be a top-10 pick at minimum.
If Denver wanted to draft Jeanty, they'd have surely been forced to trade up from their 20th selection, but many mock drafts did have the Broncos coming away with the running back. Well, he shockingly went sixth overall to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Despite how many roster holes the Raiders had and still have, they decided to use a top-10 pick on a running back, which almost never works out. Jeanty and the Raiders had a preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks, and things didn't really go too well.
Ashton Jeanty gained negative yardage in his NFL debut
On three carries, Ashton Jeanty gained negative yardage:
Ashton Jeanty went OFF 🔥 pic.twitter.com/geM8xW8Vch
— Underdog (@Underdog) August 8, 2025
Sure, this was his first-ever NFL game action, but you would think that someone as talented as Jeanty is could have gained positive yardage, right? The Raiders did sport the worst run game in the NFL in the 2024 NFL Season.
The Broncos also had an inefficient rushing attack, but they went about rebuilding their RB room in a different way, as they used a second-round pick on RJ Harvey and then dipped into the free agency market for JK Dobbins in June.
Denver's RB room feels a lot deeper and overall in a better spot than Vegas' room if we're being honest, but there is always a chance that Ashton Jeanty ends up being flat-out excellent for the franchise.
They also sport Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers on offense, so the Broncos may have their hands full when the two teams play each other in 2025.