Ashton Jeanty is coming off a historic season where he ran for nearly 2,600 yards and 29 touchdowns. He was hands down the most entertaining player in college football, breaking off countless long touchdowns, and putting up broken tackle numbers that have never been seen before. With Jeanty, the question isn’t if he’s the best running back in his class, but how he compares to some of the best prospects we’ve ever seen at the position.
Measurables
Height: 5’8.5’’, Weight: 211, Arm Length: 29.75’’, Hands: 9.25’’
Scouting Overview
There is so much to like in Jeanty’s game, but the one trait that stands out is his contact balance. Jeanty was credited with 152 missed tackles forced by PFF, which is the most anyone has ever recorded in a season. You would think that means he’s constantly running defenders over, but that’s not exactly how he plays. He’s a master at using small adjustments in his body position to mitigate contact, allowing him to bounce off defenders with ease. If defenders don’t use perfect form when tackling, they stand little chance of bringing him down. Even when their form is perfect, they’ll likely need reinforcements to finish the job. He also has an excellent stiff arm that he uses after bouncing runs to the outside. Just looking at Jeanty, you can tell he has incredibly strong legs, and he always keeps them moving to churn out extra yards
Jeanty isn’t just difficult to bring down – it’s also quite the task to get hands on him at all. He’s a dynamic mover with an explosive first step that allows him to burst through the hole as soon as it appears. He has incredibly quick feet to change direction in an instant, and can chain his moves together, helping him avoid multiple tacklers in quick succession. On wide runs, he transitions downhill with a single step, and builds up speed while he does it. He can even make this transition without an extra step. This makes him a dominant cutback runner on zone plays. He has a deadly spin move that he loves to use in the open field as well as.
Jeanty also has some of the best vision between the tackles that you’ll ever see. It’s so rare to see him make a mistake or miss the hole. He presses his blockers until the last possible moment, forcing defenders to make a decision on where to go, then slips to the other side and breaks into the secondary. He reads the leverage of his blockers very well, and shows no hesitation when attacking the hole. Jeanty also adjusts his speed and stride length while running between the tackles, which helps him set up the blocks in front of him. One minor area where he can improve is with his patience. Sometimes he’ll get ahead of his pulling blockers.
Once Jeanty breaks a run into the secondary, he almost always turns them into field flipping plays. Despite his short, stocky build, Jeanty has impressive long speed. This can partially be attributed to his unbelievable run stamina. It’s not a trait you hear discussed very often, but it’s what allowed a player like Marshawn Lynch to make plays like his famous “beastquake” run. Just like Lynch, no matter how many tackles Jeanty breaks early in a play, he never seems to run out of gas downfield.
As a receiver, Jeanty is somewhat difficult to figure out. He was on the most productive pass catching backs in the country as a sophomore, but was rarely used that way in 2024. He also had quite a few easy drops last season, and his routes didn’t look as crisp. Hopefully this is a result of his borderline inhumane rushing workload, but it’s something to monitor. Jeanty will also need to improve his pass blocking to be a true difference maker in the passing game. He wasn’t a massive liability in college, but he did miss some assignments, and it only becomes more difficult with the exotic pressure packages in the NFL.
Player Comparison
Jeanty has a lot of skill that will remind fans of Ladanian Tomlinson. Both backs break countless tackles without being overly powerful runners in the traditional sense. They use their balance and lower body strength to make defenders bounce off of them without really delivering a hit themselves. They also both have incredibly nimble feet, allowing them to execute any maneuver you could ever need as a runner.