Raiders’ Ashton Jeanty takes shot at New York Jets’ defense

Count Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty among those are unimpressed by Aaron Glenn’s New York Jets defense.

Speaking to the media ahead of his team’s Week 8 trip to MetLife Stadium, Jeanty took a direct shot at New York’s defense.

“Yeah, I think we can definitely get the run game going [this week]. Get back on track. A couple guys out there [for the Jets] that don’t really want to tackle, but I’m not going to say names.”

Jeanty’s statement is somewhat accurate. Tackling has been a weakness for the Jets this season, although not a colossal one. According to Pro Football Focus, New York ranks 21st in the league with a 12.9% missed tackle rate. Eleven teams are missing a higher percentage of tackling opportunities.

The wording of Jeanty’s criticism is also out of line with what the film shows.

When the Jets have struggled with tackling this season, it has usually had more to do with overaggression than softness or a lack of willingness. The defense clearly plays hard; sometimes, they just play a little too hard, causing them to whiff on tackles. New York’s overall defensive issues have more to do with discipline and angles than passion.

Regardless of the explanation, the Jets’ defense has been struggling to get stops after a hot start to the season. Since Week 3, the Jets rank third-worst in the NFL in first downs allowed per game (23.4).

New York has been particularly vulnerable on the ground during this stretch, yielding a league-worst 9.2 rushing first downs per game.

In Week 8, the movable object will meet a stoppable force. Las Vegas’ running game has gone silent over the Raiders’ four-game losing streak; since Week 4, the team ranks 32nd in both rushing yards per game (55.8) and yards per rush attempt (2.8).

Jeanty, the sixth overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, is at the forefront of those struggles as Las Vegas’ starting running back. He has been the league’s least efficient high-volume runner this season; his 3.1 yards per attempt rank last among the 27 running backs with at least 70 attempts. He also has just one touchdown.

Criticism of the Jets’ tackling is rich coming from Jeanty, whose film displays the opposite weakness: struggling to make defenders miss. He has forced just 10 missed tackles on 106 carries, per PFF; his average of 0.094 missed tackles forced per carry ranks last among those same 27 running backs. He is also 22nd with 2.6 yards after contact per carry.

Run blocking remains an issue for the Raiders, who are currently 26th in PFF’s team run-blocking grade (54.5), but Jeanty has exacerbated the situation by failing to make anything happen on his own. His inefficiency on the ground is a continuation of his rookie year, when he averaged just 3.7 yards per attempt.

Perhaps Jeanty should break some tackles of his own before publicly criticizing another defense’s tackling.

Sunday’s matchup between a running back who can’t break tackles and a run defense that has been bleeding rushing first downs will be must-see television.