Raiders' RB Ashton Jeanty has Michael Myers to thank for major breakthrough

Billy Heyen

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Raiders' RB Ashton Jeanty has Michael Myers to thank for major breakthrough image

Ashton Jeanty is standing like Michael Myers.

And some are crediting that with the quick turnaround for the Las Vegas Raiders' rookie running back.

Confused? We'll get you up to speed.

In college at Boise State, where he was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, Jeanty aligned himself in the backfield in a remarkably upright stance, unlike almost any other RB. It earned comparison to the horror movie character Michael Myers due to the posture.

The Raiders picked Jeanty at No. 6 overall, and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly pushed Jeanty toward taking a more traditional backfield stance, with knees bent and lower to the ground.

Jeanty did that for the first couple games, but he has since reverted to his upright arrangement.

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Underdog Fantasy shared Jeanty's stats in the crouch and then in his return to the upright stance: He averaged 49 yards per game before going back to his Myers-esque setup, in which he put up 155 total yards against the Chicago Bears.

This is an easy narrative to take, for sure. And there may be some real truth to it.

It's almost certainly not the full story, though.

Before Week 4, Jeanty had rushed for 101% of his yards after contact. He was almost never getting back to the line of scrimmage before meeting a defender. The Raiders' line was letting him down.

It almost had to get better just based on the law of averages. And when you couple that positive regression with the return to a comfortable stance, things are all of a sudden looking very good for the Raiders rookie.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle