With the NFL’s resurgence of running backs in 2024, the position has re-emerged as an essential piece of the team-building puzzle. With key runners like Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry and Josh Jacobs leading the way for playoff contenders, the league has quietly returned to its ground-and-pound roots, making running backs the center of the offensive puzzle. I installed it.
As teams in the Copycat League make plans for 2025 with a playoff berth in mind, Ashton Giunty is being looked at as the leading running back prospect in college football. The Heisman Trophy runner-up put together an impressive three-year run at Boise State, with scouts praising his typical size (5-foot-9, 215 pounds), skill and track record as a pro-style feature runner. I drooled. .
With over 4,600 rushing yards and 50 rushing touchdowns, Giunty is the type of overachiever NFL offensive coordinators want in their RB1. However, he has also shown pass-catching skills and track record (77 receptions, 840 yards, six scores) and will thrive in a hybrid runner/receiver role out of the backfield. Giunty has generated a lot of buzz within the scouting community as teams seek more do-it-all playmakers with big-play potential.
“He’s a tough kid with great skills,” an NFC executive said. “He plays with excellent balance and body control, and can always take distance…catch out of the backfield and play in space. He’s exactly what you want in a lead back in today’s game. .”
Reviewing the game tape from Giunty’s sensational junior campaign, you can see there’s a lot to like about this dazzling runner. From their size, physicality and power to their speed, quickness and cat-like agility, the Broncos standouts have the DNA of elite runners. Although Jeanty plays the game at a different speed than his opponents, he never seems out of control or frantic. He moves in and out of the hole with patience and precision, exhibiting excellent vision, balance and body control, and makes great jump cuts to get out the back door.
In Boise State’s gap scheme, which features a variety of guard tackles and guard-tight end counters, Giunty’s slow-flowing style allows him to hide behind pullers before breaking through linebackers and second-floor safeties . His combination of patience, awareness and explosiveness gives defensive coordinators nightmares when planning to neutralize the junior running back.
Ashton Gianti 2024 Full Season Highlights
The Janti’s vision, awareness, and wiggling make them dangerous in the open field. Whether he’s hitting the corner on an outside run or catching the ball in space on a screen, this huge jitterbug knows how to set up and run behind blockers in space. With some offenses focusing on perimeter runs and the screen game, Giunty’s unique skills and running style allow him to adapt to any scheme.
From a team perspective, Giunty’s stamina and tenacity make him an attractive option as an RB1. He has had 20 or more carries 17 times in three seasons and had at least 30 rushing attempts in eight of those games (seven in 2024). Given how “old-school” runners were expected to carry the ball 20 or more times in the run-heavy NFL, Giunty’s workmanlike approach could be a great addition to an offense trying to get the team back on its feet. Coordinators will love you.
If the Boise State standout enters the draft as expected, he will be a first-round prospect with talent and the potential to be a top-20 pick. He reminds me of Josh Jacobs when he came out of Alabama with his combination of power, wiggle, and explosiveness. Given Jacobs’ success as an NFL rushing champion (1,653 yards in 2022) and two-time Pro Bowler, Giunty could immediately elevate the franchise with his talent.
Given another chance to impress evaluators in the College Football Playoff, Giunty could solidify his status as one of the franchise players available in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Bucky Brooks is an NFL analyst for FOX Sports. He also provides commentary on the NFL Network and as a co-host on the podcast “Moving the Sticks.” Follow him on Twitter @BuckyBrooks.
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