Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty was regarded as the top running back in the 2025 NFL Draft class. The junior, considered to be the best running back in the country, was coming off an outstanding 2024 season.
As a result, Jeanty was one of the most coveted players in the draft: Yahoo Sports’ mock draft had him going at No. 6 to the Las Vegas Raiders, which happened on Thursday night.
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Jeanty led the nation in rushing yards … by a lot
Jeanty was dominant this season, putting up monster stats on the ground. He led the nation with 2,601 yards throughout the year — lightyears ahead of the competition. (The next closest running back, Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo, finished at 1,711.)
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Jeanty averaged a Division I-leading 185.8 yards per game, and finished with 29 rushing touchdowns, second only to Army’s Bryson Daily. Jeanty opened the season on a wild run, posting nine touchdowns in two games and averaging more than 10 yards per carry.
Jeanty was a Heisman finalist
Jeanty was one of four finalists for the Heisman trophy this season, and finished second behind Travis Hunter. But even without taking home the Heisman, Jeanty was well-decorated after his dynamic junior season. In addition to being the Mountain West’s Offensive Player of the Year and a unanimous All-American, the 21-year-old earned the Doak Walker Award for the best running back in the country.
Jeanty spent his entire college career at Boise State
With the rise of NIL and the transfer portal, it’s increasingly uncommon for players to spend their entire college career in one place. But Jeanty stayed at Boise State, playing with the team for three years and leading them to success before declaring for the draft.
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Jeanty was relatively undervalued heading into college: Rivals had him rated as a two-star prospect. But he stuck with Boise State, working hard to make a name for himself without chasing glory elsewhere. That determination paid off. Not only did he get nominated for the Heisman and finish second, he led the Broncos to the quarterfinals of the expanded College Football Playoff.
Jeanty fell just shy of the single-season rushing record
In addition to leading the country in rushing yards, Jeanty nearly ran his way into the history books. The running back’s 2,601 yards this season were just 27 yards short of the NCAA’s Division I single-season record. The record, 2,628 yards, was set by Barry Sanders in 1988, when he was at Oklahoma State.
Jeanty is the top running back in the draft — and teams will want him
After years of falling out of favor, the running back is starting to come back into style with players like the Philadelphia Eagles’ Saquon Barkley (who got paid big this offseason) and the Baltimore Ravens’ Derrick Henry making it a coveted position again.
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That bode well for Jeanty, who was the first running back first-rounder in two years. In last year’s draft, the first running back (Texas’ Jonathon Brooks) was taken halfway through the second round; the year before, Texas’ Bijan Robinson (No. 8 overall) and Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs (No. 12) were the only two first-round running backs. In the past five drafts, only five running backs have been taken in the first round.
Jeanty was the first top-10 running back selected since Barkley in 2018.
