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(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
In Week 4 against the Chicago Bears, Las Vegas Raiders‘ Ashton Jeanty returned to his signature Michael Myers stance and turned in his best performance of the season. He totaled 155 yards—138 on the ground—and scored three touchdowns, including two receiving and one rushing.
While the Silver and Black didn’t come away with the win and are now at 1-3 with a three-game losing streak, the positive was that Jeanty will be heading into Week 5 against the Indianapolis Colts with confidence after his performance.
Ahead of the Week 5 game, Colts star Jonathan Taylor shared his thoughts on what he’s seen from Jeanty through the rookie’s first four games of his NFL career.
“I thought he had a heck of a career in college. That was pretty cool to see,” Taylor said (h/t Raiders.com). “… I saw that he kind of got going a little more last week, which is awesome. It’s going to take time. He’s going to continue to get better.”
Raiders Need to Let Ashton Jeanty Play Comfortably
As soon as Jeanty went back to what has worked for him and probably makes him feel comfortable, the Boise State product exploded. As a result, former NFL tight end Shannon Sharpe is calling out offensive coordinator Chip Kelly for altering the 21-year-old’s stance in the first place.
“I’m trying to figure out what does that stance have to do with [Kelly’s] coaching style?” Sharpe said on a recent episode of “Nightcap.” “It’s all about control with him.
“It’s kind of like a quarterback, and Johnny [Manziel] talked about it, saying he only took about six snaps his whole career prior to getting into the NFL under center. This man has been playing like this. You took him as a top 10 pick in the draft, and now you get him, and now you want to change everything about him. Why? (…) I think Chip Kelly was trying to do too much for that. That was totally unnecessary.”
Raiders Need to Be Worried About Jonathan Taylor
While the Colts will have all eyes on Jeanty to ensure that he doesn’t have another game similar to the one he had against the Bears, Las Vegas also needs to be worried about Taylor in this game. Former Raiders wide receiver James Jones stressed how important it is for the defense to put all its efforts into stopping Taylor.
“First and foremost, if you’re going to win this game, you got to get off the bus and you got to stop [No.] 28 and that’s Jonathan Taylor,“ Jones said on the October 2 edition of “Upon Further Review. “ “(…) This is another kid that has a whole lot of speed, and he has the ability to break tackles and make the home run play every single time.
“So, getting off the bus, Daniel Jones is not the worry. The worry is stopping Jonathan Taylor behind this offensive line. And if we can’t do that, we’re not going to have a chance to win this ball game.”
Taylor leads the NFL in rushing with 414 yards through four weeks, per ESPN. Furthermore, Taylor is averaging 5.4 yards per carry, so if the Raiders cannot stop the run, the Colts‘ star will have a field day against them.
Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports journalist covering the NFL for Heavy.com. He previously covered the league for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has contributed as a freelance writer for The Sporting News. He also served as an editor for Athlon Sports and Heavy Sports focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo
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