In one season as offensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks, Klint Kubiak reshaped the narrative around the run game, and more importantly, he helped elevate Kenneth Walker III, who had entered the offseason with questions about his long-term future. Now, as Kubiak takes over the Las Vegas Raiders, there’s a belief that the same blueprint could apply to rookie running back Ashton Jeanty.

“The success of the Seahawks should excite Raiders Nation,” former Raiders star and broadcaster Kirk Morrison is certainly backing the idea. “It wasn’t like this was a 2,3,4 year process. Klint Kubiak came in as a first-year OC and has immediate success. When it comes to Ashton Jeanty, let’s go back and watch every single Kenneth Walker run, but envision a guy in a black jersey with a silver number 2 on his back.”

“We’re all alluded to, we think that Ashton Jeanty has more ability than the Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker, so you can only imagine and hope that he has similar production that we saw Walker have in this offense.”

Under former offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, the Raiders leaned into a two-back system, but it clearly didn’t work, as they averaged just 77.5 rushing yards per game, the lowest mark in the league. Jeanty carried the ball 266 times for 975 yards and five touchdowns, while the second-most carries on the team went to quarterback Geno Smith with 41.

Jeanty averaged 3.7 yards per carry, and the Raiders fans believe there’s more production in him. Looking back at what Kubiak accomplished in Seattle fuels that optimism.

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Kenneth Walker III is a Super Bowl MVP this year, becoming the first RB to achieve that feat since Terrell Davis in 1997, ending the year with an 88.4 overall grade, including a 90.2 mark as a runner, according to PFF. That turnaround followed an offseason when Walker’s role appeared uncertain, especially as Zach Charbonnet began taking on more work.

Walker’s 1,027-yard season completely changed his trajectory, a script Raiders fans are now hoping Jeanty can follow under the same offensive architect. With the way the new head coach talks about Jeanty, they should certainly be excited.

Klint Kubiak is convinced of Jeanty’s potential

Given the circumstances in Las Vegas this season, 1,321 total yards (from scrimmage) and 10 touchdowns is a respectable rookie campaign for Ashton Jeanty. The 3.7 yards per carry feels a little underwhelming, but head coach Klint Kubiak understands his potential pretty well. 

“I’ve got a lot of tape to catch up on, dude, but I saw you play a lot of snaps at Boise,” Kubiak said to Jeanty ahead of a presser. 

“Very excited about his talent. But the thing I would tell him and all his teammates is that it’s not just about one guy. We’ve got to get the line on the same page; we’ve got to get our quarterback to get the right run checks. We’ve got to get our receivers to go block for him so that we can get the play action going.”

The Las Vegas Raiders were dysfunctional for much of the year, looking complacent for long stretches, and the kind of ability the players possessed didn’t end up mattering. It won’t be Kubiak’s first time walking into a situation like this, because the Seahawks, and their run game in particular, were not much different in 2024 than Las Vegas’ performance was this year.

In the 2024 season, the Seattle Seahawks were averaging just 95.7 rushing yards per game, ranking 28th in the league, and after Kubiak’s arrival, that number climbed to 123.3, good for 10th. It wasn’t just Kenneth Walker carrying the workload all by himself, either, as RB Zach Charbonnet also scored 12 rushing touchdowns and had career highs in carries and yards.

That collective push is exactly what Kubiak is looking to build.

“But as soon as our players can realize that it’s a team thing, it’s not an individual thing, we’re going to be successful. I know we have those type of guys in our building right now.”

This offseason is surely going to be interesting for the Raiders.