Brett's Cowboys Corner

“An electric runner, there are no wasted movements, every cut and turn is meaningful to advancing the ball. Jeanty is not afraid of contact; he will lower his shoulder, but that is if you can even touch him.”

“A Superstar in the making.”

These were some of the quotes I published when I first covered Ashton Jeanty on this site back in early February in preparation for the 2025 NFL Draft. Jeanty was one of the first players I watched in the draft cycle. To say he wowed me would be an understatement.

During his final year at Boise State, it was rare that Jeanty would be held under 200 yards rushing, but now in his first year in the NFL he has had only one game with 100+ yards rushing.

Jeanty talked about the difficulty adjusting to the NFL game speed and getting use to the physical nature of the pros. Though it hurts his case even more that Chip Kelly’s Raider offense can’t really figure anything out. Poor offensive line play, poor quarterback play.

After a disappointing loss on Thursday night, where the Raiders only squeaked out 7 points, Vegas needs to get right and catch a rhythm. Luckily, the Cowboys are the leaders in allowing opposing offenses to figure themselves out.

What an amazing week and opportunity for Ashton Jeanty to make Dallas look like the Oklahoma State Cowboys, and rush for 200 yards and score a couple touchdowns.

Jeanty has struggled at breaking tackles and has been stuffed on 28.7% of his carries this year. He does poorly running inside the tackles and this week he would meet newest Dallas Cowboy, Quinnen Williams.

Jeanty is much better running outside, he has averaged 5.4 yards per carry on runs outside the tackles, 9th-most among running backs with at least 40 such carries. His 47.2% rushing success rate on those plays ranks 7th-highest in that same group. 

Meaning the Cowboys will rely on run support from their linebackers this week. Shemar James and returning DeMarvion Overshown are quick linebackers that can chase Jeanty down in the backfield.

This is the first game back since the Cowboys made some trades on the defensive side of the ball. Eberflus has had the bye week to rework a bottom of the league defense. I will be watching how they distribute the snaps of their three top paid defensive tackles, Clark, Odighizuwa, and Williams

Will this be the week the Cowboys stop players from having a career day against their defense?