Ashton Jeanty’s second NFL season is already shaping up to be the clearest test of Klint Kubiak’s offense in Las Vegas.
Jeanty managed to shine anyway in a Raiders attack that was among the league’s worst last season, piling up 1,321 scrimmage yards and 10 total touchdowns as a rookie. That kind of production in that environment turned heads on its own. Now the setup is changing, and the expectation is that a better-designed offense will put Jeanty in position to do even more.
Kubiak has been brought in to repair the Raiders’ offense, and Jeanty looks like the player most likely to feel the effects right away. The idea is simple enough: cleaner schematic structure, better placement for players, and a bigger role for a back who could be asked to carry the offense.
NFL Network analyst Bucky Brooks has already put Jeanty on his offensive “All-Breakout Team” ahead of the 2026 NFL season, and he pushed the projection into bold territory.
"Jeanty could make a serious run at the 2026 rushing title with new Raiders coach Klint Kubiak implementing a zone-based running game that will showcase the second-year pro's balance, body control and burst on the edges," Brooks asserted. "Additionally, Kubiak's experience incorporating running backs in the passing game will help Jeanty reprise the multi-faceted role that made him an unstoppable force at Boise State.
"Considering he amassed 1,321 scrimmage yards and 10 combined touchdowns as the focal point of an underachieving offense in 2025, Jeanty should flourish in the kind of scheme that has helped Christian McCaffrey terrorize the league as a versatile offensive weapon."
Kubiak has already referenced McCaffrey himself while discussing Jeanty earlier this offseason.
"We want to put a lot of pressure on Ashton," Kubiak said. "The next guy that steps up, whoever that may be.
That's going to be seen here in practice, OTAs, and training camp. But we think we should continue to challenge Ashton and get more out of him. ...
I said that before: I think it's important to have a quality second back. But the best players got to play, and we got to get them on the field as much as we can.
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."
Kubiak’s track record gives the comparison some weight. In 2023, when he was the San Francisco 49ers’ passing game coordinator, Christian McCaffrey finished with 67 catches for 564 yards in a fully healthy season, along with a tied-for-career-best seven receiving touchdowns. Then in 2024, as the New Orleans Saints’ offensive coordinator, Kubiak got 68 receptions and 8.0 yards per catch out of Alvin Kamara, who was already in decline.
That’s the blueprint now: a prime Jeanty, a heavier workload, and an offense built to feature him as a true focal point. If it all clicks, the Raiders could have a rushing title contender on their hands - and Kubiak could quickly look like the coach who made the whole thing work.
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