New York Giants Draft Prospect: RB Ashton Jeanty, Boise State

Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty has been compared to a younger Josh Jacobs by Walter Football in terms of size, power, speed and running ability.

Ashton Jeanty

Height: 5-9
Weight: 215 lbs
Class: Junior
School: Boise State
STATS

A former four-star recruit out of Lone Star High School in Frisco, Texas, where he was the 45th-ranked player in his state and the 29th-graded running back during the 2022 recruiting cycle. Jeanty is one of the most dynamic running backs to play in college football.

Jeanty rushed for a mind-numbing 2,601 yards with an average of seven yards per carry and 29 touchdowns, which is HARD to fathom. His memorable season earned him the Maxwell and Doak Walker Awards and the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award.

He was a Unanimous All-American in 2024 and was First-Team All-American in 2023. He earned the All-Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year twice. There are few players as talented at their specific position as Ashton Jeanty.

Jeanty forced a missed tackle on 37.1% of his career rushes, 12 percentage points higher than elite college running backs like Saquon Barkley. In totality, only Bijan Robinson had a higher career missed tackles forced percentage.

Strengths

Great length and size with a thick midsection and long arms
Solid quickness off the snap with sufficient agility
Possesses good immediate burst/explosiveness + upper body strength to generate force
Operates well through trash/traffic
Very strong upper body – controls the POA well
Good run defender with excellent eyes
Anchors down/lags – leverages run responsibility well
Solid ability to take on double teams when he stays low
Stays low into contact solid hand usage to keep OL away from his chest
Smart backside defender – aware!
Good interior pass rusher with enough quickness to penetrate
Good movement with bull-rush, gets to half-man adequately
Hand usage as a pass rusher is an asset
Violent moves to separate at the POA – heavy hands
Good swim/arm and solid club
Earned pressure with finesse and power in 2024
Solid in twists/stunts – decleates unexpecting OL (better as hammer)
Smart, aware player
Good competitive toughness/hustle

Ashton Jeanty is that guy. One of the best running back seasons in college football history. pic.twitter.com/ez3rWOTgby
— Hyper Highlights (@HyperHighl14229) February 8, 2025

Weaknesses

Insane 2024 workload (374 carries)
Has fumbled 10 times in his career
Not the most natural receiver – had some drops through his career
Wasn’t used too extensively downfield in the passing game
Isn’t a bad pass protector but work is needed

Dec 31, 2024; Glendale, AZ, USA; Boise State Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty (2) reacts after the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Summary

Ashton Jeanty is the entire package for a running back; he combines elite elusiveness and suddenness with excellent athletic traits and the ability to run through a linebacker’s face.

His vision and feel for blocks and the defense were consistently leveraged to exploit over-pursuing defenders – Jeanty is a natural at finding the cutback lanes which will allow him to thrive as a zone runner. His burst through the hole and ability to tempo/time his rush are also excellent traits, and he had no issue following his blocks and adapting throughout a play.

Jeanty displayed an elite ability to angle his body advantageously when in the hole; this was coupled with unique quickness to force defenders to exercise sound tackling mechanics in a prompt manner, which was difficult for many college defenders and will translate successfully at the next level.

Jeanty does well between the tackles and showed enough acceleration and creativity to thrive out on the edge. Defenders MUST secure and wrap him up, for his contact balance and ability to break tackles is other-worldy.

His workload is high and he had some fumble issues in his past, but his natural rushing talent can’t be denied and he is among one of the best running backs seen in recent college football memory. Jeanty will quickly become a special player at the NFL level.

GRADE: 7.16

Nick Falato's Draft Grade Chart | Nick Falato

Ashton Jeanty

Strengths

Weaknesses

Summary

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