Fantasy Football: 'Absolutely disgusting' — Could Ashton Jeanty end up as the next Trent Richardson?
The Las Vegas Raiders used the 6th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft to select Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty, who was by far the top back coming out of college. Jeanty, who stands 5-foot-8 and 211 pounds, is coming off one of the best seasons by a RB in college football history. He finished with 2,601 rushing yards, 27 shy of the record set by Barry Sanders back in 1988 at Oklahoma State.
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Jeanty also averaged 7.0 yards per carry and had 30 total TDs (29 rushing and one receiving) over 14 games. He rushed for 209 yards and a score in the Mountain West Championship to help the Broncos defeat UNLV and advance to the College Football Playoff. Jeanty would rush for 104 yards on 30 carries in a loss to Penn State in the CFP.
Now in the NFL, Jeanty lands in what appears to be a good situation for fantasy football in Las Vegas, where he'll be the lead back with little competition. But despite all that, Yahoo fantasy football analysts Matt Harmon and Justin Boone aren't convinced Jeanty will be a sure-thing. Boone points out it may take a bit for the Raiders to mesh as a team under new head coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, as well as new QB Geno Smith.
Harmon had to stop himself before making a "absolutely disgusting comparison" between Jeanty and former Cleveland Browns 3rd overall pick RB Trent Richardson back in 2012. Boone echoes that "volume is king" and he believes Jeanty will be OK at the end of the day. Even Richardson as a rookie finished as the RB8 that season after going for 1,317 yards from scrimmage with 51 catches and 12 total TDs.
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So as a first-round pick in 2025, Jeanty should be alright given the type of volume we can expect. But if you have Jeanty in dynasty or keeper formats, you may have to keep a close eye on him during the season and evaluate him for the future.
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The Mariners' offense has been a surprising strength, even outside of Cal Raleigh, but they weren't getting anything out of their corner infield spots. So they called up one of the best offensive teams in the league and traded for their pending free agents at both positions. Both players can thump. Seems like a good plan. The pitching will need to return to its preseason promise to be a juggernaut of a roster, but the elements are there. There's a reason why the Mariners have the fourth-best projected record in baseball for the rest of the season. — Brisbee Record: 59-55 Last Power Ranking: 13 Deadline in a word: Pitching? As in 'Pitching? Don't they already have enough of that?' The Rangers probably needed a right-handed bat. In theory, they'll get one when Jake Burger comes off the IL, but Burger is hitting .228 (.659 OPS) this year. It could have been any ol' right-handed bat, because their DH (Joc Pederson) was hitting .122 (.475 OPS) at the deadline, so he seems somewhat expendable right now. (Of course he hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning Monday after I wrote this.) Advertisement ANYWAY, with so few bats available, they deemed the prices to be too high, so they went and got two relievers (Danny Couloumbe and Phil Maton) and a starter (Merrill Kelly) to bolster their already-dominant pitching. If you're not going to add run production, it doesn't hurt to add run prevention. (But I still think a bat would have helped.) — Weaver Record: 59-54 Last Power Ranking: 14 Deadline in a word: Shrewd The Reds needed an outfielder and bullpen help, so they traded for a third baseman and a starting pitcher. So I'm grateful for C. 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Right?) — Brisbee Record: 47-64 Last Power Ranking: 24 Deadline in a word: Acceptance The Braves weren't good enough to be buyers, nor did they have especially attractive trade chips as sellers. So, rather than pick a side, president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos seemed to accept what the Braves have become. He didn't trade away Marcell Ozuna or Raisel Iglesias — and certainly not Ozzie Albies or Sean Murphy — and mostly added some fringe big league pitchers (Erick Fedde, Carlos Carrasco, Tyler Kinley) to help hobble through the rest of the year. When a fourth-place team's big move is trading away whatever's left of Rafael Montero, it's not trying to do much. — Jennings Record: 51-62 Last Power Ranking: 25 Deadline in a word: Obligation We considered the word 'inevitable,' but no, the Orioles selling like they did was not inevitable. It was a reaction to an overwhelmingly disappointing season, to the point that selling off a bunch of rentals (mostly) had become the least they could do. Thanks for everything, Cedric Mullins, Ryan O'Hearn, Ramón Laureano, Ramón Urías, Charlie Morton, Seranthony Domínguez, Gregory Soto and Andrew Kittredge, but the team just wasn't good enough this year, and you weren't part of the future plans. The front office was basically obligated to turn the page and begin the process of — again — trying to build around Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman and the rest. From that perspective, it's a shame Zach Eflin didn't give them a season worth trading. — Jennings Advertisement Record: 49-64 Last Power Ranking: 27 Deadline in a word: Perplexing Maybe if the Pirates keep Andrew Heaney around, they can make the playoffs this year. Maybe if the Pirates keep Isiah Kiner-Falefa around, they can make the playoffs this year. 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The bad news is that it's in Mexico City, where his 41-year-old teammate, Robinson Canó, has a 1.114 OPS. There's a long way between now and Leo De Vries, superstar. Still, what a score for an A's team very specifically looking for a superstar that will be ready in a few years. — Brisbee Record: 52-60 Last Power Ranking: 20 Deadline in a word: Desolation When there's nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire. — 'Your Ex-Lover is Dead' by Stars That was originally my entire entry for the Twins, but my editor insisted I had to write more. But look — if you're a Twins fan reading this, you just came to see how far they sank (a lot), and if I'm going to make any jokes at your team's expense (I'm not). Advertisement I'd like to give the Twins some credit for not leaving a job half-done when it comes to selling, but a year and 10 months ago, the Twins were celebrating their first win in a playoff game since 2004. Ownership could have dug in and said, 'Boy, that felt great. Wonder what it would feel like to win a playoff series?' Instead, the Pohlads decided 'good enough,' cut payroll, misfired on selling the team, and now, well … here we are. They left the job half-done. A couple of them, actually. — Weaver Record: 44-67 Last Power Ranking: 28 Deadline in a word: Limited Honestly, what else were they going to do? Sure, they could have ripped the team apart at the seams, but what is the proper return for MacKenzie Gore or James Wood? No, the best thing the Nationals could do was trade their pieces that had value with no long-term place in the organization. And they did that. Starter Michael Soroka, outfielder Alex Call, infielder Amed Rosario, closer Kyle Finnegan, and — somehow — both Andrew Chafin and Luis Garcia to the Angels. That's basically what they had to work with. — Jennings Record: 42-70 Last Power Ranking: 29 Deadline in a word: OK I originally had the word 'Sure.' up there, but Grant beat me to it with the Cardinals. So … OK. Luis Robert's hot streak wasn't enough to get those prices up, so they kept him. Adrian Houser's hot season was enough to get those prices up, so they traded him. Austin Slater to the Yankees for a 22-year-old pitcher, Tristan Gray to the Rays for cash. Sure. OK. The thing is, any exciting trade chips the White Sox had are gone now. Garrett Crochet was fun, right? Robert was the only one left who had some intrigue. He'll still have it this winter. — Weaver Record: 30-82 Last Power Ranking: 30 Deadline in a word: Finally Advertisement Take the relievers with any value at all and trade them. It's not a hard concept for a team that doesn't have any momentum or direction or 'good baseball players,' but it was really hard for the Rockies over the last few years. They finally did it, so everyone can applaud them. It gets even easier the next time, folks. They went one step further, though, and traded away Ryan McMahon, the closest thing they have to a face of the franchise. It wouldn't surprise me to see him break out on a team that believes in analytics, scouting, data or any pertinent information about baseball at all in the year 2025, but at least they got something back for him. Run free and don't look back, Ryan McMahon. And good job being normal, Rockies — Brisbee
