Steelers Super Bowl champ stunned by Ashton Jeanty's ceiling and floor range ahead of draft - "This is crazy"

Ashton Jeanty is arguably the best running back prospect to enter the NFL draft. His junior-season dominance at Boise State cannot be understated: 374 carries for 2,701 yards (both FBS highs) and 29 touchdowns. But the praise doesn’t stop there.

Responding to a fan who claimed that the Heisman runner-up had the floor of LaDainian Tomlinson and the ceiling of Walter Payton, former Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl-winning safety and current ESPN analyst Ryan Clark reacted on X:

"This is crazy!!... 1st ballot Gold Jacket either way huh? Ok."

Earlier in the week, Jeanty visited the Las Vegas Raiders, who are currently the heavy favorite to land him in the draft. Before the visit, he praised the team as a “great organization” that “could use” someone like him. He spoke to Jay Tust, sports reporter for NBC’s Boise-area affiliate KTVB, during Boise State’s pro day:

“It’s been great meeting with them, meeting with their running backs coach (Deland McCullough). So it’s cool that he came out all this way to meet with me.”

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New mock draft has Ashton Jeanty going to Patriots fourth overall

Last month, Deuce McAllister predicted that Ashton Jeanty would go to the New England Patriots with the No. 4 pick, citing Mike Vrabel’s fondness for “bell cow” running backs dating back to his time coaching Derrick Henry in Tennessee:

"In this scenario, the Patriots take the best player on the board and meet their need at offensive tackle with picks in the second and fourth rounds... While Jeanty's not as big as Henry, he has considerable power through contact and the burst to create explosive plays in the run game."

As for the Raiders, Reuter projects them to land their franchise quarterback in Shedeur Sanders. This comes amid a recent report by The Athletic’s Vic Tafur, who claimed the new regime of Pete Carroll and general manager John Spytek “doesn’t seem that high” on 2023 fourth-round pick Aidan O’Connell and may be looking to trade him soon.

Additionally, Geno Smith’s recently signed contract contains no guaranteed money after the first year, giving the team an out should they decide to move on.