Raiders Plan Heavy Workload for Running Back Ashton Jeanty

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak said the team intends to give running back Ashton Jeanty a large share of offensive snaps in the upcoming season. Kubiak told reporters the goal is to keep the best player on the field as much as possible. He referenced McCaffrey’s high snap counts as a model for Jeanty’s role.

Last season, running backs for the Raiders carried the ball 307 times. Jeanty accounted for 266 of those carries, or 86.6 percent. He also played 770 of the team’s 994 offensive snaps. For comparison, McCaffrey’s 311 carries represented 77.2 percent of his team’s running-back carries, and he appeared on 1,014 of 1,241 offensive snaps.

Kubiak added that great running backs do not want to leave the field. Jeanty told reporters he prefers to stay on the field whenever possible. Kubiak also said it remains important to have a quality second back available.

Jeanty averaged 3.7 yards per carry as a rookie.

He recorded 639 yards after contact, the highest total in the past 20 seasons for any rusher who finished below 1,000 yards. The team has added boxing to Jeanty’s conditioning program and has him studying film of McCaffrey and Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III.