Part 6, RB: 'Rare human being and a rare player,' but when to draft Ashton Jeanty?
Scouts compare him to Bijan Robinson, Emmitt Smith & LaDainian Tomlinson. They say he was robbed of the Heisman, too. Now, teams must figure out when to draft the Boise State star back (and all RBs).
This is the 41st year, and the fourth at Go Long, that Bob McGinn has written a position-by-position series previewing the NFL draft. Previously, it appeared in the Green Bay Press-Gazette (1985-’91), the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1992-‘2017), BobMcGinnFootball.com (2018-’19) and The Athletic (2020-’21). Until 2014, many personnel people were quoted by name. Reluctantly, the series adopted an all-anonymous format in 2015 at the request of most scouts.
Sixth of 12 parts: Running backs.
Go Long is your forever home for unvarnished NFL coverage.
By Bob McGinn
Running back Ashton Jeanty of Boise State will be drafted in the first round, right? Right?
“Everybody’s just assuming that,” an executive in personnel for an AFC team said. “I guess he will, but I wouldn’t be shocked if he didn’t. There’s so many running backs now that you should get one in any round. People value other positions more than running backs. You look at all these guys, you can get them all in the fourth, fifth round if you need one.”
The glut of desirable running backs and their corresponding devaluation is a relatively new phenomenon.
It wasn’t that long ago when many teams had a minimum height requirement for the position. Whereas once the sub 6-foot back was stigmatized, today that isn’t a factor at all. Some teams had love for big backs. Now? Not so much.
Of the top 25 running backs, just six stand 6-0 or taller. Just five scaled 220 pounds.
Speed has forever been coveted. In the throwing game of today, receiving skills and pass blocking are essential.
“Jeanty is the best,” said another executive. “The rest of these guys, just throw ‘em in a bag and mix ‘em up and take them all. They’re good. Second-round picks, third-round picks. The order is they’re pretty much all the same.”
In my mind, there isn’t much separation between the No. 6 back, Georgia’s Trevor Etienne, and the backs residing at Nos. 19-20-21: Donovan Edwards of Michigan, Rocket Sanders of South Carolina and Devin Neal of Kansas.
“Running back values are all over the place,” another scout said. “Some guys could be a third-rounder, some guys could be a seventh-rounder. You never really know.”
One team categorized 11 running backs as NFL starters. With the group so tightly bunched, there’s little urgency to draft early.
“With it being so deep in the third to 11 range, you’re not going to take the third guy if you value the 11th guy in that same threshold,” an AFC evaluator said. “You can get a guy later.”
Twenty-one running backs rushed for more than 900 yards last season. The top six all were selected no later than third among running backs in their draft class.
“In the league, you’ve got three or four special guys,” said one executive. “(Derrick) Henry and Saquon (Barkley) and Josh (Jacobs) and (Jahmyr) Gibbs. After that, everybody’s got a running back. Not changing the game in any way, but playing their role.”
Five of last season’s leading leading rushers at the position were drafted 10th or lower in their draft class. The group includes Chase Brown, the 10th back taken in 2023; Tony Pollard, 11th in 2019; Kyren Williams, 15th in 2022; Aaron Jones, 19th in 2017, and Rico Dowdle, a free agent after 19 went off the board in 2020.
“You’re going to get a really good player maybe even Day 3 because there’s so many good ones this year,” said one NFC personnel man. “This is a really, really good group.”
Read how the scouts view all of the top running backs in Part 6 of Bob McGinn’s draft series below. (The Cam Skattebo breakdown doesn’t disappoint.)
Links to date:
Part 2, TE: Is Tyler Warren the next Great American NFL Tight End?
Part 5, QB: Do NFL scouts view Cam Ward & Shedeur Sanders as franchise quarterbacks?
RUNNING BACKS
1. ASHTON JEANTY, Boise State (5-8 ½, 213. No 40, 1): In the closest race for the Heisman Trophy since 2009, Travis Hunter won with 2,231 points and Jeanty was second with 2,017. “Draft him first overall and you’re not wrong,” one scout said.