Every year, the Las Vegas Raiders seemingly turn a new leaf and become a team the LA Chargers have to worry about. And every year, these expectations fall by the wayside as the Raiders end up repeating the cycle of disappointment.
The noise surrounding the Raiders is very loud this summer with new head coach Peter Carroll and starting quarterback Geno Smith. As loud as the noise is, Chargers fans can't take the Raiders serious as a real threat until they see it with their own eyes during the 2025 season.
That being said, there is one particular storyline surrounding Raiders camp that Chargers fans should not only be following, but may need to be slightly worried about. To the surprise of very few, first-round pick Ashton Jeanty has reportedly been lighting it up at camp and is proving to be the real deal.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but I’ve consistently heard Ashton Jeanty has been turning heads in a major way since the moment he stepped on the field in Vegas. The pre-draft buzz around his elite contact balance, explosiveness and natural feel as a runner wasn’t just hype.… pic.twitter.com/Jz3H2bx3TY
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) August 6, 2025
Chargers should be paying close attention to how Ashton Jeanty looks during Raiders preseason
This is not a surprise to anyone who scouted players leading into the 2025 NFL Draft. Jeanty went into the draft as the best running back prospect since Saquon Barkley and was arguably the most talented player not named Travis Hunter. Because he's a running back, he fell to the Raiders at pick No. 6.
Just because the Raiders fail to live up to expectations doesn't mean they can't hit the lotto from time to time on first-round picks. Heck, the Raiders made an eerily similar selection in 2024 with Georgia tight end Brock Bowers.
Bowers was one of the most purely talented players in the 2024 draft class but he fell because of his position and because it was a loaded quarterback draft. And in his first season, he instantly cemented himself as the best pass-catching tight end in the NFL.
If Jeanty has the same kind of productive rookie season that Bowers had then even at their worst, the Raiders are going to be a hard team to beat. Having a top-tier running back that can control the tempo of the game can mask a lot of problems, and at the very least, keep the Raiders in every game.
Jeanty has been compared to Chargers' great LaDainian Tomlinson, which puts into perspective just how special of a player he is. If he is even 80% of what Tomlinson was for the Chargers, then it will be a real issue for the Bolts.
Whether the Chargers like it or not, Jeanty is coming and he will be a pest to stop in the running game. Fans should be paying close attention to just how good he looks in August before the Bolts face the Raiders in Week 2.