Las Vegas Raiders Player Rankings: Ashton Jeanty Breakout Season Plus Much More

The Las Vegas Raiders enter the 2025 NFL season with a new-look squad after hiring Pete Carroll, signing signal-caller Geno Smith, and drafting Ashton Jeanty in the first round of the NFL Draft. With Brock Bowers erupting his rookie season, how will the new-look Raiders perform in the upcoming fantasy football campaign?

Kick the NFL Door Down: Breakout Player of the Year

Ashton Jeanty, Running Back

With a late first-round ADP in most fantasy formats and stellar final years at Boise State, Jeanty isn’t a secret to the football market. I’ve heard the talk of him playing behind a poor offensive line, and his success could be limited by the questionable quarterback play in Las Vegas. His ace in the hole is head coach Pete Carroll, who expects his rookie running back to be a high-volume, touch player.

In Seattle, Carroll gave Marshawn Lynch impact chances from 2011 to 2014 (313, 338, 337, and 317) over 60 games, which should outline the opportunity for the Raiders in his rookie season. Las Vegas wants to control the clock to keep its defense off the field and finish drives in the red zone with rushing touchdowns.

The skillset and opportunity is there for Ashton Jeanty.

The question: how high are you taking him in fantasy drafts? pic.twitter.com/D82zGAGN9Q
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 12, 2025

Last year, the Raiders’ running backs gained only 3.7 yards per rush over 331 carries, leading to a league low in RB rushing yards (1,233) and eight touchdowns. They did catch 89 passes for 614 yards and four scores on 112 targets, helping their fantasy value. Here’s a look at their top running back stats from 2024:

Alexander Mattison (132/420/4 with 36 catches for 294 yards and one touchdown). He’s gained under 4.0 yards per carry for four consecutive seasons (3.7, 3.8, 3.9, and 3.2), so his lack of explosiveness (gained 20 yards or more only four times over his last 520 rushing attempts) didn’t help the Raiders’ offensive line stats.
Ameer Abdullah (66/311/2 with 40 catches for 261 yards and three touchdowns) gained an impressive 4.7 yards per carry over his limited opportunity.
Zamir White (65/183/1 with six catches for 30 yards) battled injuries last year while never giving Las Vegas a winning day carrying the ball. He’s gained 20 yards on only three of his 186 carries since entering the NFL in 2022.
Sincere McCormick (39/183 with six catches for 29 yards) was a fourth-string running back getting snaps last year. He gained 4.7 yards per rush while gaining touch momentum in Week 13 (12/64 with two catches for one yard) and Week 14 (15/78 and two catches for 11 yards). Unfortunately, an injury the following weekend ended his season.

To add more misery to the Raiders’ running game, their quarterbacks ran the ball 49 times for 124 yards (2.5 yards per carry) with one touchdown.

For comparison, in 2023, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive line drew the losing blocking card after their backs gained only 3.6 yards per carry (369/1,326/8). Their running backs had more success catching the ball (82/641/3 on 94 targets).

The addition of one Bucky Irving helped Tampa become a much more dynamic run team (418/2,161/13), which breaks down to 5.2 yards per carry, 1.58 yards per play more than the previous season. The Bucs’ running back also had a significant jump in production catching the ball (108/894/7 on 121 targets).

So, in essence, does Jeanty make the Raiders’ offensive line better? I’ve mentioned this a couple of times this summer: which is better – a mediocre offensive line with an elite running back or a good offensive line with a mediocre running back? It also hinges on the quarterback play.

In the end, Las Vegas will be a much better team running the ball this year. They have a winning NFL head coach who has led teams to the Super Bowl. Geno Smith doesn’t bring star power to the Raiders’ quarterback position, but he can challenge a defense with his legs to move the chains (instant upgrade from their 2024 quarterbacks), and his completion rate has been 68.5% over the past two seasons.

Jeanty will be a fun watch in his rookie season, potentially giving fantasy drafters buyer's remorse for bypassing him on draft day. He is, without a doubt, the breakout running back of the year based on his expected opportunity. His price point is high, but his ceiling should be spectacular.

Jeanty is currently the RB6 according to our PPR Projections.

Foundation Stud

Brock Bowers, Tight End

After leading the NFL in rookie tight end fantasy scoring (263.10 – 112/1,194/5 with five runs for 13 yards) in PPR formats, Bowers looked poised to be a perennial impact player at his position for the next decade or so. He’s a consensus mid-second round player in the high-stakes market this summer, as many drafters debate whether they can buy a tight end as a second piece to their fantasy team.

Raiders star tight end Brock Bowers as a rookie:

• 112 receptions
• 1,194 yards
• 5 touchdowns

One of the best TE rookie seasons of All Time 📈 pic.twitter.com/qzZsxViacX
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) August 9, 2025

Geno Smith helped Jaxon Smith-Njigba reach an elite level (100/1,156/6), which almost matched the output of the Raiders’ starting tight end but at a different position.

Last year, Malik Nabers (274.20), Brian Thomas (284.00), and Drake London (281.10) outscored Bowers by about three touchdowns in fantasy points, but the fantasy market treats them as more of an edge than a tight end who will surely beat two-thirds of tight ends by 60.00 fantasy points or more.

In addition, Bowers would have ranked 10th at the running back position last year. Draft decisions come down to edges, and what are the drop-offs in value over the last couple of rounds at each position? At a minimum, his touchdowns should improve this year, and Bowers is the clear-cut top passing option for Las Vegas, a la Travis Kelce for his career with the Chiefs.

Bowers is currently the TE1 according to our PPR Projections.

Deep Sleeper

Michael Mayer, Tight End

Is it possible that Pete Carroll will try to steal a page out of the New England Patriots’ playbook this year? Mayer came to the NFL with pedigree and a winning resume at Notre Dame, but he failed to fire in his rookie season (27/304/2). The Raiders kicked him down the tight end depth chart by adding Brock Bowers last year.

His training reports have been positive this year, and two-tight end sets would add more blocking fire to the run game. Mayer has a high enough pass-catching ceiling to be the third option in the Raiders’ passing game, painting a Rob Gronkowski/Aaron Hernandez potential profile to this offense. Mayer will go undrafted in all formats, even the FFPC, which features 1.5 fantasy points per catch for tight ends.

Mayer is currently the TE36 according to our PPR Projections.