Ashton Jeanty has done a lot of running this season. He just hasn’t crossed the finish line.
Through 88 carries, Jeanty still hasn’t found the end zone on the ground, and the real headache has been what’s happening when the Raiders get him right where every offense wants to be: inside the 5-yard line. He has seven carries from that range, and two of them went backward for a combined 2 yards.
That’s the ugly part of it. Jeanty is the lone player among 12 with seven or more carries from inside the 5 through Week 5 who has not scored.
Josh Allen is the obvious contrast sitting on the other side of the ledger with the exact same number of chances - seven - and touchdowns on all seven of them. Allen and the Bills come to Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, which only sharpens the pressure on a Raiders offense that has been stuck in place too often in the tightest part of the field.
The clearest snapshot of the problem came in Week 2 at SoFi against the Chargers. Las Vegas had 1st-and-goal at the 3 and handed the ball to Jeanty four straight times. The sequence went nowhere in the end:
1st down: lost 2
2nd down: gained 3
3rd down: gained 1
4th-and-goal from the 1: no gain, turnover on downs
The Raiders tried to keep it simple and physical. The first three snaps in that sequence came with Kirk Cousins under center.
On the final play, they removed Cousins and went to a direct snap to Jeanty, and he was stopped cold. Six of his seven carries inside the 5 have come from under center, and the downhill approach has been jammed up repeatedly.
Still, this can’t be pinned on Jeanty alone.
The Raiders’ blocking has been a problem too. Three of his seven carries inside the 5 have been stopped at or behind the line, and across the season Las Vegas has been stuffed at or behind the line on 32 of 125 designed runs.
That’s a 25.6% rate, one of the worst marks in the league. Only the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers have been stopped more often.
There is at least one small bright spot for the Raiders: on 3rd or 4th down with 1-2 yards to go, they’ve converted 7 of 12, which is tied for 23rd in the league.
The run game has had a clearer pattern when it does find daylight. Runs between the guards are producing 4.0-4.4 yards per carry.
When the Raiders try to get to the edges, the numbers drop to 2.2-2.9 yards per carry. The mystery is why that success hasn’t carried over when the field tightens near the goal line.
Health may be part of it, too. Jeanty has been working through an ankle injury that has lingered since preseason.
It has been serious enough to show up on the report each week, and Klint Kubiak addressed it after the Patriots loss on 10/11, saying, “Yes. Ashton is beat up.
And it’s a testament to how tough he is that he’s out there playing today for his teammates.”
Jeanty echoed that afterward, saying, “Football is a tough game. You’re never going to play feeling 100 percent.” Kubiak then said Wednesday that Jeanty is “starting to feel a lot better physically,” and that he’s expected to play through the ankle and foot issues.
Buffalo’s defense does not exactly make this a cleaner test. Opponents have run 21 plays from inside the Bills’ 5 and scored 11 touchdowns, including four on the ground.
The Raiders’ defense has also had its own issues at that spot, giving up eight touchdowns on 15 plays from inside its own 5. That 53.3% rate is just above Buffalo’s 52.4%, and it puts the spotlight right back on the side where Allen does his damage.
At some point, one of these goal-line runs has to break. Jeanty isn’t going to stay touchdown-less forever. But with the Bills and Allen heading in, Las Vegas needs the answer now, not later.
In Other News...
Raiders Face A Big Fernando Mendoza Question At Wide Receiver
The Raiders have a quarterback picture that already invites questions, with Kirk Cousins in the starting role and rookie Fernando Mendoza viewed as the long-term answer. Even with that transition in mind, the bigger issue around the offense may be the lack of proven wide receiver help, a problem that has left the front office and observers looking for ways to add a legitimate target to the passing game.
One name that has surfaced in the conversation is a receiver who appears to have slipped in Jacksonville, which is exactly the kind of situation that can spark trade speculation this time of year. For Las Vegas, the appeal is obvious: if the Raiders want to make life easier for Cousins now and for Mendoza down the road, they may need to keep pushing on the market for a receiver who can change the shape of the room, even if the cost and fit remain unsettled. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Offensive Struggles Are Fueling A Quarterback Debate
The Raiders offensive problems have started to reach beyond the usual blame game, with the passing attack and ground game both undercutting any sense of rhythm. Kirk Cousins has had a hard time settling in when defenses turn up the pressure, and the recent stretch has only sharpened the conversation around how the team should handle the quarterback position as it moves forward.
Against that backdrop, Brock Purdy has begun to emerge as a name worth watching for a bigger role if the Raiders decide to change course in the weeks ahead. No official decision has been made, and the team still has time to sort through its options, but the broader issue is clear: the offense has not given the staff much reason to stand pat. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Could Catch Buffalo At The Perfect Time In Week 6
The Bills entered Week 6 with a long injury report, and the Raiders are looking at a matchup that could hinge on who is actually able to suit up. Buffalo listed 15 players, while Las Vegas had 12 of its own, setting up a meeting where health may matter almost as much as form. For a Raiders team trying to find an edge on the road, that is the kind of week that can quietly reshape the game plan before the teams ever kick off.
Wednesday practice only sharpened the uncertainty in Buffalo. DJ Moore and Ed Oliver were the only Bills players who did not participate, and both were already unavailable in the previous game, leaving their status something to monitor closely as the week unfolds. Las Vegas has its own questions, with Tonka Hemingway and Jalen Nailor in concussion protocol and their availability still up in the air, so this one may end up being decided as much by the injury report as by anything that happens on the field. [Read more 🡒]