We got our first look at Las Vegas Raiders rookie running back Ashton Jeanty in the team's preseason debut on Thursday night and things did not go well.
Jeanty toted the rock three times but finished with -1 yards, with his longest gain going for three yards and his worst carry losing four yards.
While it's nothing short of ridiculous, some people are already down on Jeanty after the disappointing performance in preseason Week 1, but those people are missing one very key point (or maybe just purposely ignoring it).
In order to effectively run the football, the offensive line has to do its job. Not even the best running backs can overcome terrible blocking upfront, which is what the Raiders saw against the Seattle Seahawks.
Look at Jeanty's carry that led to a four-yard loss. The Boise State product was met in the backfield immediately and had no chance to even get back to the line of scrimmage after he managed to shake the first tackler.
Ashton Jeanty swallowed in the backfield
— Football Fanatics (@FFB_Fanatics) August 8, 2025
Hopefully the raiders offensive line can figure it out and give him a chance this year pic.twitter.com/sHdClAx86r
Jeanty also had one series with the full starting offense, which is when he had his long rush of three yards.
On the second and final series of Jeanty's debut, the Raiders replaced two-fifths of their offensive line and quarterback Geno Smith with backups, and one of the reserve offensive linemen missed their block badly on the four-yard loss.
Now, we get it, the Seahawks had their backups in, but that doesn't erase the overall point that Las Vegas' offensive line simply failed Jeanty on Thursday night. As a result, the concern should be over the offensive line, not Jeanty.
Jeanty and the Raiders' first-team offense will look to bounce back next Saturday, when the team takes on the San Francisco 49ers.
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