Chip Kelly pushed Ashton Jeanty to make significant change ahead of Raiders rookie season

At Boise State, running back Ashton Jeanty proved to be the best player at his position in college football, earning Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, First-team All-Mountain West honors and All-American honors twice in his three seasons with the Broncos.

Jeanty had a remarkable junior season in 2024, rushing for an eye-popping and FBS-leading 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns on 7.0 yards per attempt while hauling in 23 passes for another 138 yards and a score.

The Las Vegas Raiders took Jeanty with their first-round pick (No. 6 overall) in the 2025 NFL with the hopes that he'll make their rushing attack, which was the worst in the league in 2024, much more potent in his rookie season.

While Jeanty had all of that success with an unconventional, straight-up pre-snap stance in the backfield, new Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly is looking to change that in the running back's first year in Las Vegas.

"Man, Chip Kelly, he comes up to me first day of rookie minicamp," Jeanty told Kay Adams during his recent appearance on the "Up & Adams" show. "You gotta be down in your running back stance... He won for now, Imma try to persuade him one day. I gotta earn my stripes and make some plays first, but I don't think it's gonna be the end (of the stance)."

Obviously, the bent running back stance has been used by nearly every single player at the position, so Jeanty will take the advice that his coach is giving him, but if isn't running the way he once was, he may be tempted to switch back, and if it helps, he should.

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Kelly is known for his explosive offenses, and the last time he controlled an NFL offense (with the San Francisco 49ers in 2016), his team averaged the fourth-most yards on the ground per game (126.2). He may know a thing or two about how to put together a successful rushing attack, and he and Jeanty should be the perfect duo to turn around that aspect of Las Vegas' offense.

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