The Las Vegas Raiders have not been a playoff team since the 2021 season. They have had three consecutive losing seasons and they have turned their leadership over to head coach Pete Carroll. The old-school coach is not going to depend on trick plays to turn the Raiders around. He wants to establish a tough defense and a dependable ground game. He may have an emerging weapon for the latter part of that formula in rookie running back Ashton Jeanty.

The Raiders had a huge need at the running back position in last spring's draft and they selected Jeanty with the No. 6 overall pick. He was the best running back in the nation last year at Boise State, and the Raiders knew they were getting an explosive and rock-solid back in the 5-9, 215-pound Jeanty. His lack of height may make him appear undersized, but he packs a powerful punch when he makes contact with defenders.

He displayed his power in the second quarter of the Raiders' home game with the San Francisco 49ers. He scored the first touchdown of his career on a 1-yard run over right guard. Jeanty did not have  a hole as he attempted to cross the goal line and he ran into the 49ers defense. However, instead of going down, he spun out of a potential tackle and got into the end zone due to his second effort.

Raiders counting on Jeanty to upgrade the running game

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Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll during training camp at the Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center.
Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Raiders struggled badly on offense last year, and that's one of the reasons they decided to bring in Carroll to right the ship. They ranked 27th in total offense last year and the running game was invisible. Las Vegas ranked 32nd in the league in yards gained on the ground. While none of the Raiders running backs even gained 500 rushing yards last season, it may not have been their fault.

Quarterback Gardner Minshew was not a major threat as he threw for 2,013 yards with a 9-10 touchdown to interception ratio. As a result, Carroll brought in Geno Smith to serve as the team's QB1. Smith had been Carroll's signal caller in his final year as the Seahawks head coach, and the two clearly have a good working relationship.

If the Raiders get decent production from the quarterback position, it will give Jeanty a much better chance of establishing a solid ground attack for Las Vegas. Jeanty has more than adequate speed, moves to make tacklers miss and shocking power when he hits a defender at full speed.

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