The Raiders revamped their entire offense this season, taking two new tackles, the best offensive player in the draft, and a new WR1 after trading for Geno Smith. They’re suddenly a buzzy name for fantasy football value, after being one of the most destitute rosters last season (Tre Tucker and Ameer Abdullah had way too much run last season). Let’s take a look at Pete Carroll’s new toys in Vegas!
| Rd | Pick | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 6 | Ashton Jeanty | RB | Boise State |
| 2 | 58 | Jack Bech | WR | TCU |
| 3 | 68 | Darien Porter | CB | Iowa State |
| 3 | 98 | Caleb Rogers | OT | Texas Tech |
| 3 | 99 | Charles Grant | OT | William & Mary |
| 4 | 108 | Dont’e Thornton | WR | Tennessee |
| 4 | 135 | Tonka Hemingway | DT | South Carolina |
| 6 | 180 | JJ Pegues | DT | Ole Miss |
| 6 | 213 | Tommy Mellott | WR | Montana State |
| 6 | 215 | Cam Miller | QB | North Dakota State |
| 7 | 222 | Cody Lindenberg | LB | Minnesota |
Round 1, Pick 6: Ashton Jeanty, Running Back, Boise State (5’8″, 211 lbs)
The following is an excerpt from the Round One Fantasy Football Rookie Round Up
TALENT
Vision. Patience. Contact balance. Speed. Elusivity. A natural desire to fight for extra yards. A brutal stiff arm. Which trait do you look for in a running back? Because Jeanty has them all. Every Jeanty play is a religious experience, even the ones that die when he touches the ball. He regularly turns tackles for loss into gains because he can see the future and positions himself to take hits so that he can fall forward, rather than get blown up. When the line gives him the tiniest sliver of a hole, he’s gone. The literal first play I watched of Jeanty was a 60+ yard touchdown run against Utah State that saw three players have Jeanty dead to rights, only to get thrown to the ground to get a great view of him celebrating his score.
There isn’t much to say about Jeanty because everything he does is impeccable. He has vision and a start-stop ability that we haven’t seen since Le’Veon Bell, but he has contact balance that turns into long speed, which we haven’t seen since Todd Gurley. Against Utah State, he ran in three scores and was responsible for a fourth with a strong and clean blitz pick-up.
All of that ignores his hands. Jeanty is a great pass catcher out of the backfield and out of the slot. Opposing linebackers could only watch and flail as he put them on the ground or out of their shoes, easily catching difficult balls and turning them into touchdowns.
He’s the entire package. Some harp on his pass protection, but I didn’t see it.
NFL Comparison: Le’Veon Bell x Todd Gurley x Saquon Barkley x Alvin Kamara x Aaron Jones AKA… LaDainian Tomlinson
Pre-Draft Grade: Top-10
2025 OPPORTUNITY
Depth Chart:
RB1 Ashton Jeanty
RB2 Raheem Mostert
RB3 Zamir White
RB4 Sincere McCormick
If you take a running back in the first quarter of the NFL draft, you plan on using that guy until he throws up. Jeanty will immediately be one of the more heftily used running backs in the league, and his talent should allow him to take advantage of that. The only thing keeping him back is the bottom-ten offensive line run blocking for him. That will be mostly academic, as the Raiders are all-in on improving and likely to take more offensive linemen in this draft, to bolster that position. Nobody is standing in his way, and he should be among the Christian McCaffreys and Saquon Barkleys concerning opportunity share.
2025 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Ashton Jeanty is a first-round pick. That’s the long and the short of it. In a world where people draft De’Vonn Achane as a top-five running back, there’s no reason to pass on Jeanty in the first round. I would take Jahmyr Gibbs, Saquon Barkley, and Bijan Robinson ahead of him, and arguably Christian McCaffrey or Derrick Henry. I would invariably take him over Achane, Jonathan Taylor, and Josh Jacobs. But, he’s immediately a top-six running back, and is an ideal end-of-the-first pick in twelve-team leagues.
Round 2, Pick 58: Jack Bech, Wide Receiver, TCU (6’1″, 214 lbs)
TALENT
Bech is slippery in every sense of the word. He finds the hole against the zone incredibly easily when running his routes. Against man coverage, he doesn’t always find an opening (his lack of top speed betrays him), but his strong and late hands make him a great 50/50 ball receiver. That talent also shines through when adjusting to bad throws, regularly hauling in less-than-perfect passes to bail out his quarterback. But that’s only half the intrigue for Bech.
His slipperiness really comes into play with the ball in his hands, as he seemingly slips out of multiple tackles per reception to maximize the play, even if his quarterback couldn’t. Bech is an intriguing fantasy option because he can win against Man and Zone at all levels. He reminds me a ton of Rick Pearsall, and he could just be better than Pearsall when all is said and done.
Comparison: Ricky Pearsall
Pre-Draft Grade: 2nd Round
2025 OPPORTUNITY
Depth Chart:
WR1 Jakobi Meyers
WR2 Jack Bech
WR3 Tre Tucker
WR4 Dont’e Thornton Jr
WR5 Collin Johnson
WR6 Tommy Mellott
Jack Bech will likely flip-flop those first two positions on the depth chart before the season ends. He’s like Jakobi Meyers, with an ability to slip defenders after the catch on short passes or get up and get 50/50 balls downfield. While WR1 will be within his range of outcomes, he won’t be the team’s #1 target. That will go to Brock Bowers.
Still, if Bech does not get at least 100 targets this year, I will consider his rookie season a failure. Luckily for him, there isn’t much down-roster to garner targets; there are likely to be four guys (Bech, Meyers, Bowers, Jeanty) who combine for 475 or so targets, and everyone else will share the leftovers. A Ladd McConkey rookie season is in Bech’s cards.
2025 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
According to 4for4’s ADP, Bech is currently WR62, Pick 154 off the board. I am hammering that price point, especially since he’s going behind guys like Jalen McMillan, Rashod Bateman, Hollywood Brown, and Marvin Mims. Bech has top-24 upside for the Raiders as their primary wide receiver with Geno Smith and the revamped Raiders offense.
Round 4, Pick 108: Dont’e Thornton, Wide Receiver, Tennessee (6’5″, 205 lbs)
TALENT
Thorton is another deep-in-the-draft speed threat, except he has about 15 pounds on every other player down here with his profile. At 6’5″ and 205, with a frame to build on more, he has the potential to develop into something in the NFL. His best skill in college was taking the top off the defense, and his excellent ball-tracking skills made him a net positive when Nico Iamaleava uncorked it downfield. Unfortunately, that’s the only thing he can do on a football field. Landing on a practice squad to get his routes and weight up before hitting a football field would be the best path for his development.
NFL Comparison: Martavis Bryant (aspirational)
Pre-Draft Grade: UDFA
2025 OPPORTUNITY
Depth Chart:
WR1 Jakobi Meyers
WR2 Jack Bech
WR3 Tre Tucker
WR4 Dont’e Thornton Jr
WR5 Collin Johnson
WR6 Tommy Mellott
In the Jack Bech section, I mentioned that the 2025 Raiders will likely boast an extremely top-heavy target distribution, with Bowers, Meyers, Bech, and Jeanty getting the vast majority of targets. As such, I am not bullish about a fourth-round receiver in that setup.
2025 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Given that he is a big deep threat, Thornton could find a hot streak in him this season if injuries ahead of him on the depth chart clear space. That will only intrigue me as a DFS punt play unless he shows me something.
Round 6, Pick 213: Tommy Mellott, Wide Receiver, Montana State (6’0, 207 lbs)
TALENT
There’s almost nothing to say about Mellott. He’s the next in line of quarterbacks who are too small to make it in the NFL but too athletic not to get a shot at doing something in the league. “Touchdown,” Tommy doesn’t have much on tape as a wide receiver, but he is fluid and instinctual when he runs, with loose hips. He’s a developmental prospect with a long road to relevance, which he won’t reach in his rookie season.
NFL Comparison: Taysom Hill
Pre-Draft Grade: UDFA
2025 OPPORTUNITY
Depth Chart:
WR1 Jakobi Meyers
WR2 Jack Bech
WR3 Tre Tucker
WR4 Dont’e Thornton Jr
WR5 Collin Johnson
WR6 Tommy Mellott
Mellott is a project and will likely land on the practice squad this season.
2025 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
No, thank you, but I’ll keep him in mind in 2026 if the Raiders roll out some Taysom Hill B.S. with him.
Round 6, Pick 215: Cam Miller, Quarterback, North Dakota State (6’1″, 212 lbs)
TALENT
Miller is best suited for a grip & rip offense that maximizes his strengths (getting the ball out fast) and minimizes his weaknesses (struggles deep in the play, cannot throw guys open). Miller had a strong offensive line that maximized his abilities at North Dakota, and Miller is competent but unspectacular. His touch and zip are nice, and he has good pocket mobility & ability to throw on the run, but he always takes the layup throws. He knows exactly what he has: a pop gun arm that won’t scare anyone, and he doesn’t try to. That said, I’ve seen a lot worse quarterbacks out there. His floor is high, but his ceiling is low. A slow processor might be his downfall in the NFL.
NFL Comparison: Temu Tagovailoa
Pre-Draft Grade: 7th round
2025 OPPORTUNITY
Depth Chart:
QB1 Geno Smith
QB2 Aidan O’Connell
QB3 Cam Miller
The Raiders made Geno Smith their franchise quarterback this season, and a sixth-rounder that is a poor man’s Geno Smith is unlikely to leapfrog him on the depth chart.
2025 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
It’s unlikely that Miller leaps AOC on the depth chart, so even in the instance of a Geno Smith injury, he’s a November speculative add in the event of a Geno Smith injury. There are a lot of contingencies to value there; you’re safe ignoring him.
