HENDERSON, Nev. -- If there's anything that Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty has learned about his new coach, Klint Kubiak, it's that he's pretty straightforward in his demands from his players.
Kubiak's expectation for Jeanty is lofty, but he knows last year's No. 6 overall pick can handle it. He wants Jeanty to be a player who rarely comes off the field, almost similar to San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, who played in 83% of his team's offensive snaps in 2025.
"We want to put a lot of pressure on Ashton," Kubiak said. "... I don't know the play snap percentage, but you look at Christian McCaffrey, his play snap percentage is high. So, those great backs, they don't want to come off the field."
From the moment Kubiak became the Raiders' coach in February, he knew Jeanty was going to play an integral part in the offense. Even after Las Vegas drafted former Arkansas running back Mike Washington Jr. in the fourth round, creating the assumption that Jeanty's workload would be split in half, Kubiak preached the opposite after the team's second OTA practice last Wednesday.
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He understands that if his offense is going to function properly, it will need more out of Jeanty after he led all rookies in rushing yards (975) and yards from scrimmage (1,321). With a better scheme in place, improvement on the offensive line and a year of experience under his belt, Jeanty is ready to handle the responsibility.
"I want to help the team win as much as I can, and if I don't have to, I don't want to come off the field," Jeanty said.
Jeanty's numbers from last year were modest. He joined former Raiders running back Josh Jacobs as the only two players in franchise history to 1,300-plus yards from scrimmage in their rookie seasons. Also, he was one of three rookie running backs with multiple games of 100-plus rushing yards.
Still, the Raiders ranked as the league's worst rushing attack, coming in last in rushing yards per game (77.5), rushing first downs (67) and rushing touchdowns (five) -- all from Jeanty. Since 2023, the Raiders are 32nd in yards per rush attempt (3.6).
It was even a grind for Jeanty to reach his regular-season totals. He averaged 3.7 yards per carry -- tied for 44th -- and 26.7% of his attempts resulted in zero or fewer yards. Jeanty's 639 yards after contact were the most by any NFL player in the past 20 seasons that didn't have 1,000 rushing yards.