NFL Draft season is quickly gaining steam, with the Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium now just 10 days away.
Coming off a 4-13 campaign, the Las Vegas Raiders currently hold the draft’s #6 and #37 overall picks. Their first-rounder isn’t the top-three selection that seemed a certainty for much of the regular season. However, combined with #37 overall, it should be enough to upgrade a roster short on top-end talent. The Silver and Black enter draft eason with holes just about everywhere — quarterback, cornerback, in the trenches, and, with one notable exception, across the skill positions.
This week, we’re examining the possibilities for the Raiders’ first two picks, based on returning production and the outlooks presented by mock drafts at ESPN, PFF, The Athletic, and The Ringer. After highlighting the draft’s top quarterback prospects yesterday, we are considering running backs who could help make life easier for Raiders 2025 quarterbacks — whomever they may be.
Help Wanted: The 2024 Raiders Running Game
There’s no two ways about it — the Raiders offense in 2024 was awful. Their 5,275 yards of total offense ranked 27th in the NFL. Their 4.8 yards per play ranked 28th. Only the Browns and the Titans committed more turnovers, and the Raiders’ 13 lost fumbles tied with the Bengals and Titans for second-most in the NFL, one behind the Cowboys. Only the Browns and Bears were worse on third down. Only five teams converted red zone trips into touchdowns at a lower rate. Only the Patriots, Giants, and Browns scored fewer points per game than the Raiders’ 18.2.
The rushing attack was particularly brutal, finishing last in the NFL in yards, yards per attempt, first downs, and “expected points added.” Their 1,357 rushing yards were 204 fewer than any other team, and only the Dolphins were remotely within shouting distance of the Silver and Black’s league-worst running game EPA. Per NFL.com, the Raiders were one of just five teams with fewer than 40 runs of 10+ yards in 2024, and only the Cowboys and Rams (3) had fewer runs of at least 20 yards.
Given all of that, it’s little wonder that experts, from NFL.com’s Chad Reuter to Gordon McGuiness of Pro Football Focus, highlighted running back among the Raiders’ main areas of need.
2025 NFL Draft Running Backs: Head of the Class
On the surface, the 2025 running back class is similar to others in recent years. At the top is an exceptional talent in a tier of his own with a half-dozen or more potential difference-makers likely to come off the board on Day 2 (rounds 2 and 3).
However, the depth, talent, and diversity of skill sets available has this pegged as a banner year for the position. And, of course, the guy atop the pecking order isn’t just “generational” in name. He came within about 80 feet of Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record — that’s as good as college football’s ever seen!
Ashton Jeanty, Boise State (Junior)
Jeanty’s raw numbers alone are astonishing. 2,600 rushing yards, 7 yards per attempt, 29 touchdowns, in just 14 games. Nearly five 10-yards runs per game, and an FBS-high 12 of 50-plus. And then you watch him play:
The Heisman finalist checks every single box. He’s fast, explosive, exceptional at maintaining balance through contact, yet nearly untouchable in space, with uncanny vision. The Ringer’s Danny Kelly notes that Jeanty’s FBS-high 151 forced missed tackles in 2024 were 49 more than any other player. In mocking him to the Bears at #10, he highlights his potential to help “ take a little bit of pressure off of Caleb Williams.” The Raiders’ next QB, whoever he is, would surely also enjoy this.
In many ways, it’s a natural fit. The Raiders need singular talents. Jeanty is that and, in a Chip Kelly offense, behind a reasonable offensive line, he would thrive. Yet, for as undeniably awesome as he is, this team needs premium talent and too many premium positions to bet this big on a running back.
However, if the Raiders can trade down into the middle of the round and, as ESPN’s Field Yates predicts in his latest mock draft week, Jeanty slips a bit, the value proposition is much more clear.
Day 2 Running Backs: Diverse Depth & Quality
Whether the Raiders address another need at #6, package that pick in a deal for a quarterback, or simply stand pat and nab a playmaker, there’s another wave of potential impact skill players — especially running backs — to be had at #37:
GettyRunning Back Omarion Hampton, #28 of the North Carolina Tar Heels
Omarion Hampton, North Carolina (Junior)
Hampton was awesome as a sophomore, averaging 5.9 yards per carry, scoring 15 touchdowns, and leading the ACC in rushing with 1,504 yards. Amid questions about how he’d fare with quarterback Drake Maye off to the NFL he answered emphatically, again averaging 5.9 yards per carry, again scoring 15 TDs, and again leading the ACC in rushing — this time with 1,660 yards. For good measure, over the last two seasons, he also caught 67 passes for 595 yards.
Mocked to the Raiders at #37 by Baumgardner, Hampton is, per Dane Brugler, also of The Athletic, who has him #36 on his top-100 big board, “a bruiser with an effective blend of patience, power and speed.”
Kaleb Johnson, Iowa (Junior)
Despite Iowa’s bottom-five passing game doing little to ease his burden, Johnson ran for more more than 1,500 yards and 21 TDs, at a clip of 6.4 yards per carry.
There is agreement on the scheme in which Johnson will thrive. The Ringer’s Kelly calls him “a big-play runner with excellent size, vision, and acceleration; he should be a day one contributor in a zone-heavy scheme.” Brugler, meanwhile, has Johnson #35 on his big board, noting he “shined on outside-zone runs. He is at his best when he can quickly read and set up his blocks and anticipate backside/frontside lanes to find yardage that isn’t there.”
This all suggests an excellent fit in new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly’s system, though Danny Kelly’s assessment that Johnson “struggles to create when contacted behind the line; [is] a question mark in the passing game, and may be considered only an early-down back” warrants consideration.
TreVeyon Henderson (Sr.) and Quinshon Judkins (Jr.), Ohio State
Johnson seems an excellent fit in Chip Kelly’s offense. These two talented backs just powered the Ohio State Buckeyes to a national title in that very system.
Henderson (#49 on Brugler’s big board) projects as a high-end Swiss Army knife who “can bounce laterally and smash the accelerator to sprint through voids,” “delivers thunderbolts” as a pass-blocker, and is a capable receiver on option routes. That “his inside vision can get a little messy” is potentially a question but, with the right scheme and personnel, Henderson could shine.
GettyQuinshon Judkins of the Ohio State Buckeyes
Judkins (#70), meanwhile, fresh off a 3-TD championship game showing against Notre Dame, profiles more straightforwardly. At 6-foot and 219 pounds, he is a clear powerhouse with “play strength” and “run toughness he shows to drop his pads, barrel through heavy contact and come out the other side.”
Jordan James, Oregon (Junior)
With a frame (5’10”-210) vaguely reminiscent of Emmitt Smith’s, it’s fitting that Brlugler describes James as “quick to scan, drop his pads and slam the gas through cracks at the line of scrimmage. Though “he’s not much of a home run threat, he rips off a ton of doubles,” as evidenced by the fact that more than a third of his carries in 2024 resulted in a first down or touchdown.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Raiders Eyeing Generational Running Back with 2025 First-Round Pick appeared first on Heavy Sports.