Raiders rookies: It all starts with Ashton Jeanty

Las Vegas Raiders OTA Offseason Workout — Ashton Jeanty | Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Raiders fans are so fired up about 1st-round draft pick

For the Las Vegas Raiders’ fan base, the excitement about the 2025 draft class starts up top.

We recently asked our community members which Raiders’ draft choice was their favorite pick. We weren’t necessarily looking for who you thought was the best player, but what pick (for whatever reason) was your favorite?

The top pick ended up being the favorite pick. Yes, in a poll with more than 500 votes cast, first-round pick, running back Ashton Jeanty was the favorite of 44 percent of the voters. Fourth-round pick, wide receiver Dont’a Thornton received 15 percent of the vote, while third-round pick, cornerback Darien Porter received 14 percent and second-round pick, wide receiver Jack Bech received 13 percent of the votes.

We get the sentiment. Jeanty is the clearly the prize of this class and the excitement of what he can bring to this offense is bubbling over in the fan base.

Here are some of your responses. Sign up and go to the comments section.

Adds99

Porter – we need the CB he will become quickly.

Bloodylimey

One player I will be interested to see what he can do – Cam Miller

He’s a developmental prospect, but plays the game with ‘smarts’, which IMHO is the most valuable attribute in a QB….. plus, I always like to see a late-round project make it in the NFL.

Carryonraiders82

My favs are definitely Jeanty but that’s almost too easy so discount that one because I think a lot of us “know” or should I say strongly believe he will be a really good running back. I think his ceiling is best RB in the league and his floor is a Josh Jabobs type RB (not in style) but in terms of his production. Although, in Jacobs, he was a special RB given the traits he had… Literally the only thing he was missing was breakaway speed but his vision and ability to make defenders miss was some of the best I’ve seen on the Raiders. On top of that, he could punish guys too. If he had a good Oline he could have been special (and he already was special as he displayed winning the rushing title for us, and balling out in Green Bay a year after we made the mistake of letting him go… I never understand spending high $ on FA’s who are older and looking for a pay day with a team they have no affiliation with, but then failing to reward the player who balled out for you for 4 or 5 years, gave everything, loves the city, fans, etc… makes no sense and is a terrible business model imo). But anyway, I think Jeanty brings more to the table but I don’t think it’s levels above Jacobs. Jacobs always played the best of the best. Jeanty has not so he has something to prove. I don’t like that they changed his stance either. I think that shit is stupid. When a guy makes it to being possibly the best player in the entire draft, they obviously know what they are doing… I’m not saying they can’t be coached up obviously, but you don’t make wholesale changes to their game which got them to where they are. That’s why Chip failed in Philly. He has a history of this. Yes, I know, supposedly Chip didn’t recommend the change but I don’t buy that for a second…. There’s no way in hell the RB coach is going to change our #1 player’s stance without Chip’s blessing and encouragement. In fact, I bet Chip was saying before drafting him, “yeah I like him, but we have to alter his stance”. Purely speculation of course, but knowing how Chip operates from the past it isn’t far fetched. What is far fetched is the RB coach changing his stance without Chips blessing. If not, why would Chip have that stupid basketball example ready to show Jeanty right away which was weak anyway. I think part of what makes Jeanty explode is his stance. I hate when ego maniac coaches try and chance players cuz they think better or don’t like some little “tic” a player has… These coaches need to work with the players strengths… Gruden comes to mind, that shitbird McDs especially comes to mind, Chip absolutely comes to mind, and there’s many more.

Moving on, my pick aside from Jeanty is CB Porter. For his minimal time at CB and excelling at zone, he can possibly break out as a star, especially given Pete’s history with such CB’s. Not only does Porter have the build, but his athleticism is off the charts… He’s a speedster. While he has a lot to learn in man/press coverage but that’s to be expected. But if this kid develops, don’t be surprised if he’s not only a starting CB, but a #1 CB at some point. But of course he has to learn quite a bit and resume his development but he has all the possible potential required. So he’s my favorite pick aside from the obvious Jeanty. To me, this is a straight up Pete pick and he seems to know exactly what he wants in these types of CBs. Despite Porters limited CB play, if coached up and continues to work at it, he has all the potential…. I can’t wait to see what he does! It’s been forever since we’ve had a true #1 CB that put fear in QBs, WRs, and OCs.