Gutierrez: Ashton Jeanty's confidence has been challenged in rookie season, yet hasn't wavered

Dec 19, 2025 at 10:02 AM

Paul Gutierrez

Raiders Columnist

Yes, Ashton Jeanty has been frustrated at times this season. Could you blame him, given the Raiders riding an eight-game losing streak in which he's rushed for a combined 276 yards and averaged just 2.9 yards per carry?

But no, the Raiders' first-round draft pick's confidence is not wavering for a team that is 2-12 and in the running for the No. 1 overall draft pick.

Not with three games to go in a star-crossed rookie season. And not with a potential get-going game up next in Houston against a Texans defense that, while ferocious in the pass rush, sometimes has issues with missed tackles (more on that later).

"I'm never going to lose confidence," Jeanty insisted this week, "whether I played the way I did, I wanted to, or … I didn't want to. Confidence is the only way you can be able to go out there and put up your best performance."

There have been flashes this season for the former Heisman Trophy runner-up, who has already lost as many games for the Raiders this season as he did in three years combined at Boise State - 12.

Remember his breakout game against the Bears, a 21-carry, 138-yard rushing Tour de Force with a touchdown and two catches for 17 yards and two more scores?

Yeah, that seems like eons ago.

It was in Week 4 and there was a different offensive playcaller at the helm for the Raiders, too.

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What has remained consistent for Jeanty, though, has been his ability to force defenders to miss. His 54 forced missed tackles rank ninth in the NFL.

The Texans, meanwhile, are missing tackles in the run game at a 23.4% clip, the 10th-highest such rate in the NFL.

The message, then? Put Jeanty in space, let him create and hope for the best.

"Yeah, we have not controlled the line of scrimmage like we need to," said Raiders coach Pete Carroll. "And the big part of it, numbers-wise, because the games have gone out of whack score-wise, we don't see the numbers in the tries that we like to get. But basically, we've got to get better movement, we've got to get better spacing, we've got to make sure that we're giving him a chance and get him going.

"We're just waiting for him to bust [out], like you all are too, because we know he can. But it's been hard sledding."

An example: Jeanty, known for his breathtaking, ankle-breaking long runs in college, has just one run of at least 20 yards this season, the 64-yard burst against the Bears.

And on the season, he has rushed for 700 yards and four TDs, on 200 carries, averaging 3.5 yards. No mere one-dimensional running back, Jeanty also has 49 receptions for 266 yards and four more TDs.

So with 42 scrimmage yards at Houston, Jeanty joins tight end Brock Bowers (2024), running back Josh Jacobs (2024), receiver Amari Cooper (2015) and running back Marcus Allen (1982) as the only Raiders in franchise history with at least 1,000 scrimmage yards as a rookie.

See, a silver lining in a black cloud of a season.

So how does Jeanty gauge success for himself?

"I measure it by how I come to work, how I practice," Jeanty said. "I work hard every week. Maybe I don't get the results that I want, from a stat standpoint, but I think it's all about how I continue to get better, and what I do next."

Remember, this was a draft pick who seemed the epitome of best-player-available meets need when the Raiders' turn came at No. 6 overall in April.

Because, while adding to the offensive line seemed a more, shall we say, pressing need, Jeanty provided something else.

It was a Hall of Fame running back who told me Jeanty possessed "the power of Emmitt, the balance of Barry" the day after the Raiders selected him. And that was Marcus Allen, MVP of Super Bowl XVIII, referring to Emmitt Smith, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, and Barry Sanders, who ranks fourth on the all-time rushing list.

In an oft-rocky rookie season, Jeanty has an understanding ear in Bowers.

"Just keep doing his thing," Bowers told me this week. "He's been doing a great job with what he's been given, and it's definitely a tough scenario for him, but he's got to keep his head on straight, keep working hard and stay true to himself."

I asked Bowers, who was named first-team All-Pro last season despite the Raiders going just 4-13, if he's had any This Too Shall Pass-type skull sessions with Jeanty.

Bowers smiled and shook his head.

"He kind of has it all figured out, I feel like," Bowers said, "I don't really feel the need to do that, or anything. He just needs to keep doing his thing."

Fair enough.

It's just hard to do it when you're getting pummeled so often behind the line of scrimmage and frustration creeps in.

"Yeah, I mean, it happens to the best of us," Jeanty said. "Everybody gets frustrated at some point, but you've just got to control your emotions."

And then channel them into big plays.

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Las Vegas Raiders tackle Dalton Wagner (78) walks out to the field for practice at Intermountain Health Performance Center.