Look, my honest-to-goodness intention isn’t to poke too many holes in Ashton Jeanty’s breakout NFL game against the Chicago Bears last Sunday. Any time you produce over 150 yards from scrimmage with three touchdowns on just 23 touches, it’s undoubtedly impressive. Full stop.
But I’m not sure of the implication that Jeanty’s reverting to his favorite college stance at Boise State — basically standing almost straight up while waiting in the backfield — was what fueled his first truly exceptional NFL performance.
I mean, are we forgetting the competition? At the moment, the Chicago Bears have the NFL’s worst run defense. During Sunday’s win over Jeanty’s Las Vegas Raiders, the Bears were also without key run-stopping defenders like T.J. Edwards and Grady Jarrett. Factor in a back-line that tackled extremely poorly once Jeanty reached the second level, I’m not sure I’m willing to ride with the idea that a simple stance change resulted in a young running back producing 6.7 yards per touch.
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Suffice it to say, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Jeanty couldn’t really get anything going against the New England Patriots’ currently No. 2-ranked rushing defense or against the Los Angeles Chargers (No. 16) and Washington Commanders (No. 14), respectively.
But hey, at least Raiders head coach Pete Carroll approves of Jeanty’s shift. I guess that’s all that matters:
coach is a fan of the stance 🙌@AshtonJeanty2 | @Raiderspic.twitter.com/QdLv8FGkoa
— NFL (@NFL) September 30, 2025
The Raiders play the Indianapolis Colts and their No. 8 rushing defense this Sunday. Call it a hunch, but I don’t expect Jeanty to be nearly as successful just because he’s using a different stance.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Pete Carroll loved Ashton Jeanty’s weird stance, forgot to note Bears’ run defense is bad
