Boise State football phenom Ashton Jeanty sat down with former Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart to discuss his Broncos, their Group of Five schedule and Heisman odds while on FOX College Football's Power Player.
“I want to be remembered as a great football player, one of the best to ever come through Boise State” Jeanty said. “Beyond that, the person that I am, the person that made a change here, left it better than I found it.”
"My O-lineman said he's going to tattoo whatever amount rushing that I get at the end of the season on him." 🙌@MattLeinartQB talks with @BroncoSportsFB's @AshtonJeanty2 about his legacy, Heisman odds and the potential of Boise State making the CFP ⬇️🏆 pic.twitter.com/2yftcNiknr
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 11, 2024
Leinart pointed out the last player from a Group of Five school to win the Heisman was Navy's Roger Staubach in 1963. That's over 60 years ago. When mentioned, Jeanty talked about how his level of competition impacts Boise State football.
“Nowadays, with the transfer portal, the talent has been the most spread out that it's ever been. You got a lot of players that are coming from Power Four schools and Group of Five players going to the Power Four schools. I just feel the competition is very spread out. There's a lot of great players in every conference now.”
Through five games, Jeanty has 1,031 yards on 95 carries with 16 touchdowns. He's averaging 10.9 yards per carry. In a 37-34 loss to Oregon, he rushed 25 times for 192 yards and three touchdowns.
With seven games left on the regular season schedule, the sky's the limit—even Barry Sanders' unbelievable 1988 record season, in which he rushed for 2,628 yards for Oklahoma State. Add a Mountain West Conference championship game and a bowl game, Jeanty could have nine contests left on his schedule. At his current pace (206.2 ypg), Jeanty would finish with 2,887 yards. Sanders rushed for 238.9 yards per game, although he had 344 carries that season (31.2 cpg, 11 games). Jeanty is on pace for 266 if he plays 14 games (19 cpg).
Article Continues BelowBoise State football star Ashton Jeanty's rising draft stock
ESPN rates Jeanty as the No. 16 prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft class. PFF ranks the Boise State football star back at No. 9 and grades his 2024 season at 96.7 thus far, first among 416 running backs.
One running back has won the Heisman Trophy since 2010 (Alabama's Derrick Henry in 2015), and only one wide receiver has won the award since 1991 (Alabama's DeVonta Smith in 2020). The Heisman has been dominated by quarterbacks for years now, with 20 of the last 24 wins dating back to 2000.
Travis Hunter and Jeanty are leading candidates to win this year's Heisman.
Jeanty and Boise State football face the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors on the road in Week 7 on Saturday, October 12 at 11:00 p.m. EST.