When Ashton Jeanty was drafted by the Raiders last April, it was hard to imagine that the first-round pick would ultimately lose two more games in his debut season with the Silver and Black than in all three seasons combined at Boise State.

The contrast between his college dominance and the realities of the NFL quickly became apparent once the season began, as the challenges around him made his adjustment even steeper.

Like any rookie, growing pains mounted as he adjusted to NFL speed and physicality of defenses. It didn't help that while acclimating to the game, the depth at offensive line became a concern. Starters Kolton Miller missed 13 games, Jackson Powers-Johnson missed nine and Jordan Meredith missed four. The Raiders had six different starting offensive linemen combinations throughout the season.

This played a factor in 57 percent of Jeanty's rushing yards being after contact along with him recording 24 broken tackles, third-most in the league. There were also games in which the Raiders offense abandoned the run in the second half as they trailed by multiple scores, including four games this season in which Jeanty had 10 rushing attempts or less.

And it can't go without mentioning the team moved on from offensive coordinator Chip Kelly midseason, with quarterbacks coach Greg Olson taking over as playcaller for the last six games of the season.

All things considered, Jeanty still met the lofty expectations set coming into his rookie season.

For starters, Jeanty led all rookies in rushing yards (975) and total scrimmage yards (1,321). He also tied for the second-most total touchdowns in the rookie class with 10 (five rushing, five receiving). With his 1,321 scrimmage yards, he'll etched his name in the franchise history books for the most scrimmage yards by a player in their rookie season.

"I'm proud of Ashton. It wasn't an easy season for him," General Manger John Spytek said Monday. "He showed up every day and worked. He showed up every game and competed. He was always available for his teammates. He was an exemplary worker, and we've got to do a better job surrounding him with a lot of players that can help him too.

"His success – I know there's been a lot of narratives out there that he didn't have the season that maybe he deserved or you would expect from the sixth overall pick," he added. "Well, that's fine, but it's not just Ashton. There's 10 other people that are out there with him, and it's our job to put a great group of guys around him to help him realize his potential."

While Jeanty's statistics are fine and dandy, the improvement in small details throughout the season was also noticeable.

His stellar contact balance and getaway speed were traits everyone marveled at in his collegiate years. However, his patience at the line of scrimmage became night and day throughout the year, resulting in longer gains. A prime example of this was Week 16, bouncing outside for a 51-yard touchdown run against the Houston Texans.

His pass catching and route running also made strides, as he averaged four catches a game with 6.6 yards per reception in the last eight games of the season. Two of his more impressive catches in that stretch were a stop and go route for a 60-yard touchdown against the Texans and a diving 11-yard catch on a wheel route the following week against the New York Giants.

"I think it was good," Jeanty said of his rookie campaign. "Obviously there's still a lot of room for growth, but I think I did pretty good for what I had. There's some plays I've run back and looked at, wished I could've capitalized more but that's just apart of the game. You're not going to make every single play out there.

"But I'm going to be working this offseason, building off what I've done this year and just trying to improve on the little things that I can."

As for what he's looking forward to the most in his second season, he gave a simple answer in his exit interview Monday morning.

"Winning more."