San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) warms up before a game against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
And you took a Raiders' running back? The same Raiders who were nearly universally viewed as having a less-than-mediocre offensive line and finished last in rushing yards last season (91.8 yards per game), averaging more than 10 yards less than the next-best team? Good NFL teams don't draft a running back before they fix their offensive line.
Look, I have eyeballs. I like Jeanty. We all like Jeanty. But do I like him more than McCaffrey or Henry? No! You may have even drafted him ahead of guys like CeeDee Lamb, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Malik Nabers, Nico Collins and who knows who else. I have the 21-year-old back outside of my personal top 10 rankings. Not by a lot, but he's closer to the mid-teens on my list.
Ashton Jeanty averaged 3.1 YPC on 12 preseason carries...
Cause for concern? pic.twitter.com/MW9a9TLogL
- SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) August 24, 2025
Can he be the next Eric Dickerson? Who famously ran for a league record 1,808 yards and 18 touchdowns as a rookie? Perhaps not. But could he be the next Edgerrin James, who burst onto the scene in 1999 with 1,553 yards and 13 scores? Maybe.
Trading Ashton Jeanty In Fantasy Football Isn't An Easy Proposition
Look, should you trade Jeanty? Probably not. Ultimately, your running back strategy should be viewed like a shotgun, where you're hoping to spray many pellets to hit your target. The more backs you have, the more coverage your roster will provide to hit on a good player, as there's just no telling who will pop from year to year like Tampa Bay's Bucky Irving, Cincinnati's Chase Brown or Carolina's Chuba Hubbard did last year.
The chase for the unestablished player's upside has its risks, and Jeanty, as a prospect, is one of the safest rookies fantasy managers could land this season. So you could do a lot worse... But what happens if he tanks the first month of the season? I'm usually of the opinion that you can't afford to trade a high-upside, first-round level player if they start slow because you simply can't recoup their value once the ball drops.
Ultimately, a first-round pick or early second-rounder should be about minimizing value, and ultimately, you have to select the player that you have the most trust in, and if you trust Jeanty more than McCaffrey or Henry or Brown or Lamb or Collins or Nabers or whichever talented players you skipped over to take the rookie, more power to you. Just know you only have yourself to blame (or congratulate) if it does or does not pan out. That's the joy of fantasy football! Good luck to you this season.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/fantasy as Why Fantasy Football Managers Should Trade Ashton Jeanty Before His Value Drops.
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