Currently slated to be the first running back off the board at the 2025 NFL Draft, Ashton Jeanty is anything but the average runner. His 2024 Heisman runner-up campaign saw him produce an FBS best 2,601 rushing yards, establishing the Boise State product as the premier bell cow back of the nation.
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For all of the success and attention that his seven-yard-per-carry average brought him, the 21-year-old credits something else entirely for his football success.
In a recently published open letter to NFL scouts, Jeanty noted his time spent in Italy as a major contributing factor to his career. Despite finding himself at a point in life where he had very little control, the young runner aimed to “…take what I can control, and make the absolute best out of it.”
“I learned a lot about myself in that year. I soaked up the culture as much as I could: the food, the clothes, the music, even stuff like the style of communication… You come to a new place, and it’s like you have a choice to make: either open yourself up, or close yourself off. And I realized I’m someone who wants to open himself up,” he wrote.
Considering that Jeanty would go on to open up plenty of defenses, perhaps it’s safe to say that the change in scenery was necessary for his development. However, his father is likely the one who instilled him with such a bruising mentality.
A Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, Harry Jeanty’s well-earned promotion proved to be the reason for the family’s relocation. Upon hearing the news of his dad’s newest station, the young running back admitted to having “mixed emotions.”
“Right when I felt like I was about to take over as a football player, my life completely shifted… I had these mixed emotions. I was proud of my dad because he’d basically gotten promoted, and I knew how hard he’d worked for it. But at the same time, moving to another country at that age was tough to even fathom.”
While the move did call for a temporary pause to Jeanty’s career, the future NFL star believes that it presented him with the perfect opportunity to develop his work ethic. For all of the cultural and real-world values that he had gained, the rushing phenom’s desire for gridiron greatness only seemed to strengthen.
“But I actually think the number one thing I learned while I was on pause with football — it’s how there’s nothing I want more than to be great at football. Eighth grade, no football season … I put in WORK. I trained harder than I ever had in my life.”
The training clearly paid off. The Jacksonville native now sees himself being heralded as the next great running back of his generation, and with the 2025 NFL Draft officially less than one week away, he needn’t wait much longer before putting that hype to the test.
Jeanty is currently favored to land with Las Vegas Raiders on night one of this year’s draft, but no matter who is lucky enough to draft him, he has already left a lasting impression as one of the best running backs in the history of college football.
