This is not how Ashton Jeanty was supposed to develop when the Las Vegas Raiders made him the No. 6 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The former Heisman Trophy finalist projected as an eventual superstar, but to reach that heralded potential, he needs to improve upon his play in 2026. Not only is Jeanty on pace to regress statistically from his promising rookie year, but he is also experiencing a role decrease.

The Raiders got into a shootout with the New York Jets in Week 8, yet Jeanty carried the ball just twice in the 38-33 win. He saw a greater workload as a receiver with three catches on four targets than he did as a rusher. The five total touches were the fewest of his young career.

Jeanty's downturn in opportunities is a trend. He opened the season with a fantastic effort against the Miami Dolphins and amassed 102 rushing yards, 45 receiving yards and two touchdowns across 29 touches. Since then, his carry total has diminished on a weekly basis. It reached a new low on Sunday when Mike Washington Jr., conversely, set a career high with 38 snaps.

The road game at MetLife Stadium also marked the first time this season that Washington started over Jeanty.

"That's my call," Raiders coach Klint Kubiak said postgame of the snap distribution at running back. "Ashton's still going to be a big part of our team. He had a huge catch. He's going to be a huge part of our run game going forward. We just wanted to give Mike a few more opportunities today. I think both of those guys are going to be a huge part of our rushing and passing success moving forward."

Why is Jeanty seeing the ball less?

It is more than just the reduction in opportunities that contributes to Jeanty's underwhelming sophomore NFL campaign. He is not nearly as efficient of a runner as he was last year, either. Jeanty averages 0.6 fewer yards per carry in 2026 than in 2025. His success rate is nearly identical to a year ago, but the overall yardage simply is not there. And he is on pace to come up shy of last season's five rushing touchdowns despite playing on a much higher-scoring offense.

It's possible the offensive revitalization (and the coaching behind it) is the crux of this downturn. Jeanty remains the same highly skilled ball carrier who was nearly untackleable at Boise State, but this is now his fifth consecutive year with a new play caller dating back to his freshman year with the Broncos. 

His running style seems to clash with Kubiak's system, and he now plays for a coach who has a history of splitting carries rather than utilizing a bellcow back.

"We won," Jeanty said to ESPN. "It doesn't matter how I feel about how [many] times I get the ball. Whatever it takes for the team to win, I just want to win. That's all."

Jeanty's usage decrease not disciplinary

This week's dramatic reduction in carries did not have anything to do with the comments Jeanty made ahead of the game about the Jets' defense, Kubiak said. During a locker room media availability at the Raiders' facility, Jeanty took a dig at individual players on the opposing team.

"I think we can definitely get the run game going, get back on track and just really get after these guys," Jeanty said. "Couple guys out that don't really want to tackle, but I'm not going to say names."

That remark was widely received as being in poor taste. Former Jets coach Rex Ryan was among those who called Jeanty out for taking a dig at the New York defense.

Jeanty said after the game that the coaching staff gave him advance notice that he would receive fewer touches in Week 8 than in previous games, but he said he did not know whether the comments were the reason behind that decision.

What will Jeanty's role be moving forward?

While Kubiak said Jeanty's two carries were not the result of discipline, the timing of that role reduction and his comments about the Jets' defense do indicate that they could be related. It is also entirely possible that the coaching staff simply felt Washington gave them a better chance to beat New York as a ball carrier. Even if it was a one-game situation, a rebound in opportunities next week may not take Jeanty all the way back to his Week 1 workload or that of his rookie season. There is enough of a sample size beyond this one game to suggest the Raiders would prefer to use him more sparingly.

Kubiak did not say whether Sunday's roles — with Washington as the early-down back and Jeanty entering on third downs and passing situations ‚ would continue. Instead, he said that the staff would review the film and that it has "two runners that we believe in."

Barring any changes, Jeanty will be more of a receiving threat than a rushing threat. That is a job he can specialize in, as he proved in Week 1 when he scored two receiving touchdowns and in the seven following games when he crossed the 50-yard mark four times. But it is not remotely what he was drafted to be. As one of the top running back prospects of the decade, if not the absolute best, Jeanty figured to become an every-down featured back.

As Washington continues to carve out a job of his own, this could also trend more toward how Kubiak deployed Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet during his tenure as the Seattle Seahawks' offensive coordinator. He essentially used them as co-starters and schemed up opportunities for Walker to thrive in space while using Charbonnet on inside runs, in pass protection and as a red-zone weapon. Jeanty would fit the Walker mold with Washington playing more a la Charbonnet.

The best-case outcome is that Jeanty improves his per-snap efficiency, makes the most of a smaller workload and flirts with the same rushing numbers that made his 2026 season a promising one. Paired with the clear year-over-year uptick in production as a receiver, that would make him a well-rounded and highly impactful running back.

But if Jeanty keeps picking up only 3.1 yards per carry, he may cede further touches to Washington and settle in as a passing-game specialist. That would be a monumental disappointment given the investment the Raiders made in him at the draft.