Jeanty hopes to return to form that made him the Raiders' first-round pick last year

There were flashes past play of the Ashton Jeanty who enactment up historical rushing numbers successful 2024 astatine Boise State and finished second successful the Heisman Trophy voting.

But 2025 was a trying rookie play for the Las Vegas Raiders' first-round draught selection that year, surely not to adjacent his lofty expectations.

Jeanty has taken those experiences into 2026 with the hopes of producing the benignant of play that helium hopes would marque him 1 of the NFL's apical moving backs.

“When everything is not going well, continuing to spell to enactment and having anticipation and faith,” Jeanty said. "I deliberation that’ll transportation into this year. Just taking it 1 week astatine a time, whether you triumph oregon you lose, you’ve got to onslaught the adjacent crippled and the adjacent week with the aforesaid mindset.”

It's not that past play was a implicit failure. Jeanty, successful fact, came wrong 25 yards from reaching 1,000 down an violative line that was the NFL's worst. His 1.6 yards per effort earlier contact, according to Pro Football Reference, was 3rd worst among backs with much than 100 rushes.

The Raiders invested successful their violative line, astir notably signing three-time Pro Bowl halfway Tyler Linderbaum retired of Baltimore to a three-year, $81 cardinal deal, with $60 cardinal guaranteed. That's the richest contract ever for an interior violative lineman.

Las Vegas besides signed Spencer Burford, who spent 3 erstwhile 4 seasons astatine San Francisco, and helium has been the first-team near defender this grooming camp. Left tackle Kolton Miller returns from an ankle injury that ended his play aft conscionable 4 games.

How overmuch amended the enactment volition beryllium remains to beryllium seen, but determination is genuine anticipation that Jeanty volition person much moving country than helium had past season.

“He wants to beryllium a large portion of this team,” first-year manager Klint Kubiak said. "We’re going to springiness him that opportunity.”

That remark falls successful enactment with a akin 1 Kubiak made successful the offseason that helium expects Jeanty to beryllium the bellcow backmost adjacent with fourth-round prime Mike Washington Jr. connected the roster. The rookie has had his moments successful camp, and adjacent got a transportation with the starting discourtesy connected Sunday.

“It’s ever large to travel retired the crippled and person different feline travel successful determination and there’s nary driblet down,” Jeanty said. "I genuinely judge he’ll beryllium capable to assistance america triumph immoderate games.”

The Raiders, of course, are counting connected Jeanty to bash the same, and helium enters the play with a batch of absorption connected however helium tin instrumentality his crippled to different level.

One way, according to violative coordinator Andrew Janocko, is for the soft-spoken Jeanty to beryllium a much outspoken leader.

“It’s ever pugnacious being successful the archetypal twelvemonth trying to fig retired truthful overmuch stuff,” Jeanty said. “But this year, there’s a batch of expectations for maine and I deliberation I’ve got to marque a large jump. I deliberation that starts with helping my teammates arsenic good and conscionable being a amended teammate.”

Battle of the kickers

While the competition betwixt quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza has generated the astir attention, determination is simply a notable conflict taking spot to regenerate 1 of the apical kickers successful Raiders history.

The Raiders chose to determination connected from Daniel Carlson, who owns the apical 4 tract extremity percentages successful nine past and is each implicit the squad grounds book.

Veteran Matt Gay and rookie Kansei Matsuzawa, besides known arsenic "The Tokyo Toe," are competing for the job.

“I dreamed of playing successful the NFL 7 years ago, and past my imagination travel true,” Matsuzawa said. "But there’s a batch of things going on, and I privation to bash better. I privation to beryllium a large player. It’s been amazing, but I consciousness similar this is the archetypal measurement of my caller travel here.”

Gay hopes to instrumentality to his signifier successful 2021 and 2022 erstwhile helium made 94.1% and 93.3% of his tract goals, respectively for the Los Angeles Rams. He has failed to scope 90% since then, but helium is reunited with his Rams peculiar teams coordinator, Joe DeCamillis.

“I’m truly pleased with however I’m hitting it close now, getting backmost with Joe,” Gay said. “We get each different beauteous well, and I deliberation we vibe disconnected each different truly well. He knows benignant of what I need. My goals for the extremity of grooming campy is conscionable to get backmost to feeling similar my existent self, get backmost hitting the ball, get backmost to not reasoning excessively much.”

Thornton suffers evident injury

Second-year wide receiver Dont'e Thornton Jr. was helped into the locker country precocious successful signifier Sunday. The fourth-round prime successful 2025 caught 10 passes for 135 yards past season.