This does not have to be this hard, but here we are... With Ashton Jeanty looking like he belongs in his Silver and Black uniform, I am not so sure new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly has the necessary staying power to lead the Las Vegas Raiders on that side of the ball. Again, I never played football, but I know that leaving well enough alone can do wonders for any organization or any operation abroad.
So when I hear that Kelly asked for Jeanty to change his stance at the running back position, I just rolled my eyes into the back of my head again. What are we even doing here? I understand that Kelly was adept at putting players in space to make plays at Oregon in the late 2000s, but that was well over a decade ago, and Oregon has never won anything?! Jeanty should be an unbreakable talent!
Kelly seems to be feeling himself after coaching up a loaded Ohio State Buckeyes roster to their most recent national championship last year. The Raiders have talent, but they finished in last place in the deep AFC West for a reason. Given how important running the football is on a Pete Carroll-led team, why would you actively try to mess with the face of the offense? Did he mess with Marshawn Lynch?
Here is Jeanty explaining to Kay Adams what Kelly is asking him to do exactly in the Raiders backfield.
Jeanty's game should help him overcome coming up from the Group of Five as a rookie, but come on!
Chip Kelly is already messing with what made Ashton Jeanty so special
What I liked the most about Jeanty's game coming out of Boise State is he had the unique combination of vision and breakaway speed. His vision drew lofty comparisons of that of Emmitt Smith. While his breakaway speed may be a tad overstated, since he was going up against most Group of Five competition, Jeanty certainly has more giddy-up than Smith ever had at any point.
As a third party in all this, I am flabbergasted to why Kelly feels it is his place to mess with what got Jeanty drafted ahead of his two running backs of note coming out of Ohio State in TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. All three can have tremendous success in the league, but only one brought home the Doak Walker last year. Jeanty finished as runner-up for the Heisman for a reason!
Again, Kelly's job is to use his 11 offensive players to move the sticks more often than not. Perhaps asking Jeanty to get lower with his running stance could help him in terms of ball security and picking up an extra yard or two. My concern is that it will limit his vision and will do a number on his explosiveness in the second level. The last thing the Raiders need is for him to become Las Vegas Rashaad Penny.
I would have built an offense around Jeanty's unique game first before deviating, but that is just me.