There’s a drawback to asking Ashton Jeanty’s former Boise State teammates and coaches whether he’s the best running back prospect in this year’s NFL draft.
Obviously, they backed their guy, but as Boise State running backs coach James Montgomery said, putting biases aside, there are many guy, guys among a deep crop of prospects at the position.
By closely watching the nation’s best running backs, Montgomery pushed Jeanty to be the guy, rushing for an astounding 2,601 yards en route to becoming a Heisman Trophy finalist. Everyone at Boise State knew immediately that Jeanty was more than just a guy. It just took the outsiders a few years to realize it, with Jeanty expected to be the first running back off the draft board when the first round opens April 24 in Green Bay.
“I could tell from the minute he stepped on campus that kid was going to be something different,” Boise State center Mason Randolph says of his former teammate.
Biases aside, Jeanty’s that dude, the man the draft experts are enamored with and the one making NFL decision makers seriously consider the possibility of taking a running back inside the top 10, perhaps as high as No. 6 to the Las Vegas Raiders. Saquon Barkley, who went No. 2 to the New York Giants in 2018, was the last running back to be selected within the first six picks. The league might be ready to draft running backs often and early again after the sensational seasons from Barkley and Derrick Henry, and the success of 2023 first-round picks Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs.
“He’s the total package,” an NFC coach told Sports Illustrated about Jeanty.
As for positives that come with talking to those who watched Jeanty closely the past few years, Montgomery and Randolph can attest to his vast skill set, including a special blend of power, balance and explosion. They also raved about Jeanty as a blocker, but that one didn’t come as naturally, a trait that vastly improved after Montgomery challenged the workhorse back to prioritize pass protections before his memorable junior season. And the NFC coach who called him the “total package” wasn’t worried about Jeanty’s minimal usage in the passing game last season because he showed enough in that area as a sophomore, when he recorded 43 catches for 569 yards and five touchdowns.
Montgomery knew what he had in Jeanty and spent the past two years making sure all the boxes could be checked before he entered the NFL draft. As for the lack of competition playing in the Mountain West, Montgomery attacked that by having Jeanty study the best backs around the country. That meant watching Ohio State running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. They studied North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton, Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo, Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson, Kansas State’s DJ Giddens, Rutgers’s Kyle Monangai and many others.
Jeanty might be one of one in this draft, but he did it by learning from his peers, the ideal class to emulate.
“We watched all these guys over and over,” Montgomery says. “This is a deep, deep class.
“That’s the main push that I wanted for Ashton and everybody in my room. We’re not just trying to be the best in the Mountain West. We’re trying to be the best in the country. So we watched those guys, we break them down, see how they run the schemes that we run and we take things from them. Some dudes are smooth, some dudes do this and that, but our guys seeing that there are bigger fish in the pond, it just fuels them.”
Jeanty was also partly fueled by a friendly wager with Randolph. If Jeanty cracked 2,000 rushing yards, Randolph agreed to getting a tattoo of his final rushing total for the season. If he didn’t, Jeanty was required to cut his dreads, but he never made it to the barber’s chair, which Randolph knew would be the case when Jeanty galloped for 260 yards and six touchdowns during the season opener against Georgia Southern.
“He can do it all,” says Randolph, who got his new tattoo when Jeanty returned to town for Boise State’s pro day. “He can see someone standing straight up and still jump over him, it’s insane.”
The 5'9", 215-pound Jeanty made the social media rounds after some compared his upright stance in the backfield to Michael Myers slowly walking toward his next victim. Montgomery was O.K. with Jeanty’s unique stance as long as his footwork was on point and there weren’t any false steps coming out of the stance. That rarely occurred, leading to what Jeanty did best: making defenders miss.
“The thing that jumps out as his x-factor is his ability to make people miss, his contact balance,” Montgomery says. “The O-line is not perfect every time, but if you have the ability to make people miss, you can keep the plays efficient and you can keep your offense on track, and I think he just does that really, really well.”
To no surprise, Jeanty is No. 1 on the MMQB’s running back rankings for the upcoming draft. Here are brief assessments for the rest of the group.
2. Omarion Hampton, North Carolina
Most draft experts are in agreement that this is a loaded draft for running backs. But there seems to be a disagreement on who’s the second-best prospect behind Jeanty. The 6'0", 220-pound Hampton gets the No. 2 spot for his blend of size, athleticism and reliable hands, traits that will be attractive to teams that lean on run-pass options.
“Hampton is a volume runner with a physical play style,” our NFC coach says. “He’s built more for ball control, run action teams.”
3. TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State
The 5'10", 208-pound Henderson might be the most explosive running back in the draft. He’s a versatile big-play threat, including in the passing game. Any offensive coordinator would love to create a package of plays for Henderson.
4. Cam Skattebo, Arizona State
The NFC coach we spoke to for this story, who knows plenty about running backs, raved about Skattebo’s physicality and pass catching. That was enough to convince us he belongs in the top four of these rankings. The 5'11", 215-pound Skattebo had an epic 242-yard performance, including 99 receiving yards, in a playoff loss against Texas.
“Cam plays with an edge that I like,” the NFC coach says. “Best hands out of all the power runners. Physicality still wins in a league that loves speed.”
5. Quinshon Judkins, Ohio State
Judkins and Henderson complemented each other well because the former provided the power while the latter added speed. The 6'0", 219-pound Judkins could be closing many games in the fourth quarter.
6. DJ Giddens, Kansas State
Montgomery spoke highly of Giddens, referring to him as one of the top guys he and Jeanty studied during the season. NFL scouts might be fond of the 6'1", 212-pound Giddens because of his knack for making defenders miss.
7. Kaleb Johnson, Iowa
Expect the 6'0", 225-pound Johnson to stiff arm a lot of defenders at the next level. He has superior strength and excels at creating room with his cuts.
8. RJ Harvey, UCF
Harvey knows how to extend yards as a running back and pass catcher due to his impressive contact balance. The 5'9", 208-pound Harvey could be the sleeper prospect at running back.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Draft RB Rankings: Ashton Jeanty Headlines Deep Pool of Prospects.
