The Ashton Jeanty hype is so insane he can't possibly live up to it ... or can he?

USA Today

2 days ago

The Ashton Jeanty hype is so insane he can't possibly live up to it ... or can he?
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty excited to play for Pete Carroll
Ashton Jeanty is getting ready to start his NFL career with the Las Vegas Raiders. He hopes he can recreate the magic Pete Carroll had with Marshawn Lynch in Seattle.
Editor's note: This story is a part of a series by USA TODAY Sports called Project: June. We will publish at least one NFL-themed story every day throughout the month because fans know the league truly never sleeps.
If you want to understand just how insane some of the hype around Ashton Jeanty has gotten, go back just a little bit, to last month, and remember the noise around ... his stance. His stance.
Jeanty, while at Boise State, used a more upright, pre-snap stance. Most backs in the pros don't do that. They tend to crouch more. The theory of the case is that backs want to run as low to the ground as possible after getting the snap so they're more prepared to take on defenders who will also be low.
This is all deep inside football wonky stuff but, ahem, this is why you're here. You're an inside football wonky kinda person.
Jeanty told journalist Kay Adams that Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly stated that he'd like Jeanty to switch to a more traditional stance. This led to so much online arguing/chatter/incredulity that Kelly decided to address The Stance at a recent press conference.
'Let's get that clarified,' Kelly later said, via transcript from the Raiders. 'Deland McCullough, our running back coach, is in charge of stances, steps, alignments, assignments, and techniques. So he talked to him about that. I gave him an analogy of an athlete being in a bent-knee position to make a play, and that kind of got blown into. I haven't told anybody on this team to be in any stances because I don't coach a position. But it's a bent-knee game.
'If you look at the before the ball snapped in baseball, or the pitcher throwing the baseball, everybody's got their knees bent. In any athletic sport you're playing, you've got to bend your knees. And if you've got to run a flat route on Fred Warner, you'd better be in a position to run, because that dude can fly. So, all we're trying to do is put guys in positions to make plays.'
'I really like that stance he's in,' a smiling coach Pete Carroll said. 'He's doing great. He really is. He's right on point with everything that we're doing. He's studying really hard. He's been really diligent about all aspects. There's nothing that he doesn't find important. He's going to work hard on his pass protection and his third-down work and see if he can contribute in that kind of role, as well. We're not holding anything back on him.'
There are few rookies who will be more closely watched (cough Shedeur Sanders cough) than Jeanty.
I'm one of the few people in the known universe who believes that the Raiders actually aren't that far away from being in contention for a playoff spot. Yes, quarterback Geno Smith will throw a pick or two...or four...but he is still an overall good quarterback. There are some pieces in place there and one of those is Carroll, perhaps the most underrated head coach in the history of the league (you read that correctly).
Go look at his track record dating back to USC. If not for the worst play call in Super Bowl history (yeah it was pretty bad) we'd be thinking about Carroll in a totally different way. He's one of the better franchise builders we've ever seen.
It's true the AFC West is brutal, and this isn't to say they'll be in the Super Bowl tomorrow, but the Raiders could make a more significant leap sooner than expected.
That's in part because of what's expected from Jeanty and what's expected from him seems to be a lot. There hasn't been this much hype around a Raiders rookie in a long time and for good reason. Jeanty had 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns last season. But it's not just the numbers on why Jeanty could change the course of the Raiders. It's also Carroll. His emphasis on the running game in Seattle helped transform the career of Marshawn Lynch from good to stratospheric. Carroll might be able to do the same with Jeanty.
Lynch has said in the past that Carroll's emphasis on situational football proved almost magical.
"I used to be mad as (expletive) when we used to have to practice that," Lynch said. "Then that (expletive) happened in the very next game and I'd be like, 'Man, how'd you know that was gonna happen?'"
"His attention to detail is what I feel the Raiders have been missing," Lynch said.
Carroll will build his entire offense around Jeanty just as he (mostly) did with Lynch.
That's why there's so much hype around Jeanty. Is that hype warranted?
It just might be.
All the NFL news on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY's 4th and Monday newsletter. Check out the latest edition: Best fits for remaining free agents.