2025 Dynasty Rookie Early Look: Ashton Jeanty, RB Boise State

Justin Taylor

Coming into the 2024 season, Ashton Jeanty was on NFL radars, but it didn’t take long for him to shoot to the top-rated running back in the 2025 NFL Draft class. The more I watch Jeanty’s tape from this past season, the more I get LaDainian Tomlinson vibes from him. Yes, that LT. I went back and watched some of Tomlinson’s film from his days at TCU, and I was blown away with the similarities.

Both running backs played in smaller conferences against competition that knew they were getting the ball on almost every play. Despite being the focal point of the defense every week and with crazy high expectations, both players were able to exceed 2,000 yards rushing and 20 touchdowns in their final collegiate seasons.

Recruitment

word image 1504212 1

Courtesy of 247Sports.

Jeanty was born in Jacksonville, Florida, but played his high school football at Lone Star High School in Frisco, Texas. He was rated as a two-star recruit by rivals.com, a three-star recruit by ESPN.com and a four-star recruit by 247sports.com. Jeanty chose Boise State over Cal and Tulane.

Jeanty was a three-sport standout in high school, where his senior year he had 1,843 rushing yards, 810 receiving yards, and 41 total touchdowns. He would use that versatility to have an all-time great collegiate career.

Collegiate Career

word image 1504212 2

Courtesy of Sports Reference.

Jeanty came in and produced right away for the Broncos. He was an All-Mountain West Honorable Mention with 821 yards rushing and seven touchdowns. He then won All-Mountain West Play of the Year as a sophomore, showcasing his overall ability. He had 1,347 yards rushing with 14 touchdowns and added 43 receptions for 569 yards and five touchdowns.

Jeanty immediately put himself on the map for the Heisman Trophy Award in week one against Georgia Southern, where he shattered a 46-year-old school record with 267 yards rushing and six touchdowns, setting the tone for what would be a historic season.

Jeanty ended up chasing Barry Sanders’ all-time rushing yards and touchdown records at Oklahoma State throughout the season. Jeanty eventually fell short of Sanders, but had a stellar junior campaign nonetheless. He led the nation in yards from scrimmage with 2,739 and rushing yards with 2,601, while also adding 29 touchdowns on the ground and 30 total touchdowns.

Jeanty finished second in the Heisman voting to Colorado’s dual-threat WR/CB Travis Hunter, But that’s about the only award he didn’t win. Jeanty was an Unanimous All-American, Maxwell Award winner, and Doak Walker Award recipient as well as the conference player of the year in back-to-back seasons.

Jeanty’s career numbers show just how dominant he was at Boise State. He finished his career with 4,769 rushing yards at 6.4 yards per carry, 50 rushing touchdowns, and 80 receptions for 862 receiving yards.

Strengths

  • Elite contact balance to help shed tackles with a low center of gravity at 5’9, 215 pounds
  • Extremely hard to tackle one-on-one and runs through arm tackles
  • Good jump step in the hole with the ability to immediately get up to top-end speed
  • Elite vision and anticipation, waits for the hole to open and is great in the open field
  • Soft hands – catches the ball well out of the backfield

Weaknesses

  • Slightly undersized for a prototypical feature back, but runs bigger than his physical size
  • Extremely heavy usage in college, could lead to injuries in the pros
  • Always fights for extra yardage, so ball security could be a concern
  • Can his elite broken-tackle ability translate against better competition in the NFL

Draft Value

word image 1504212 3

Courtesy of NFL Mock Draft Database.

Jeanty has been ranked as a top-ten player in the upcoming draft since the beginning of December according to NFL Mock Draft Database. The team he has been mocked to most consistently is the Dallas Cowboys at pick 12. This would be an ideal landing spot for him and fantasy managers.

Just because it is the most logical landing spot doesn’t mean that’s where he will end up. There are quite a few teams who will be looking to draft a running back or two in what is widely considered one of the deeper RB classes in recent memory.

Jeanty seems to have the talent to deserve being selected in the top-ten picks like Bijan Robinson in 2023 or in the top 15 like Jahmyr Gibbs, who was also selected in 2023. Because of the depth of this running back class it will be interesting to see if an NFL general manager feels like it is worth the risk of spending a high draft pick on an RB or if most NFL personnel will hold tight and just select an RB later in the draft.

Jeanty was mocked as high as sixth overall to the Las Vegas Raiders and as low as the mid-20s to the Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, and Minnesota Vikings.

Dynasty Outlook

Unless something crazy happens between now and the draft, it seems difficult to see a situation where Jeanty isn’t the 1.01 in almost any fantasy football format. Even a less-than-ideal landing spot, or even him falling out of the first round of the NFL Draft, doesn’t seem like it will affect how fantasy managers feel about him.

The only players who should be challenging Jeanty for the top spot are Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan or one of the top two quarterbacks, Shedeur Sanders of Colorado or Cam Ward of Miami.

In 1QB dynasty fantasy leagues, Jeanty and McMillan are likely to be the 1.01 and 1.02 in rookie drafts. In superflex or 2QB leagues, Sanders and Ward could sneak into the top two depending on landing spot, but it seems hard to believe Jeanty would fall farther than pick 1.04 for any reason.

Justin Taylor