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Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty’s historic start this season has dramatically raised his stock for the 2025 NFL draft, so much that he could hear his name called by Commissioner Roger Goodell very early next April.
On the latest episode of First Draft (starts at 31:15 mark), ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. said he would give Jeanty a 65 percent chance to be a top-10 pick as things currently stand.
It did come with a caveat that we are still months away from knowing the actual draft order and team needs, so take the prediction with a grain of salt.
But the fact that Jeanty could even be in the discussion for a top-10 pick, though, speaks to how much scouts and talent evaluators think of his talent. The Broncos standout is averaging close to a first down every time he carries the ball (9.9 yards per attempt), in addition to leading FBS with 1,248 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns in just six games.
By comparison, Barry Sanders averaged 7.6 yards per attempt when he set the FBS record with 2,628 rushing yards and won the Heisman Trophy for Oklahoma State in 1988.
Beyond the counting stats, Jeanty’s profile compares favorably to other recent highly-drafted running backs when they were coming out of college.
Per CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso, Jeanty’s 5.01 yards after contact per rush in college are better than Bijan Robinson, Christian McCaffrey and Saquon Barkley. Robinson is the only one from the group with a higher missed tackles forced percentage.
Chris Trapasso 🏈 @ChrisTrapasso
Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty is ahead of Barry Sanders’ record-setting, single-season rushing-yard pace. But how does he stack up as an NFL draft prospect?
My @CBSSports latest compares him to other recent top RB prospects in three separate categories https://t.co/Lj5exdu6Mm pic.twitter.com/dqhWZP71aX
There have only been four running backs drafted in the top 10 since 2017. Two of them—McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette—came in the same year (2017), followed by Barkley in 2018 (No. 2 overall) and Robinson in 2023 (No. 8).
B/R’s NFL scouting department has Jeanty ranked as the eighth-best prospect in the 2025 class.
Based on the current draft order from Tankathon, the Cincinnati Bengals own the No. 8 pick. While it would be fun to see Jeanty in an offense with Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, they seem more likely to target a defensive player given their issues on that side of the ball.
But if Jeanty maintains his current level of performance and tests well during the pre-draft process, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a team bet on him early in the first round to become a focal point of their offense in 2025 and beyond.
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