Top NFL Draft prospect Ashton Jeanty is 'special talent' and 'awesome kid,' college coach says

Top NFL Draft imaginable Ashton Jeanty had 1 of the astir ascendant seasons successful assemblage shot past for Boise State this past season.

The 21-year-old moving backmost ran for 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns, averaged an astounding 7 yards per attempt, and finished his play with the 2nd astir yards successful a azygous play successful assemblage shot history. Only Barry Sanders had much yards successful a azygous season. 

Jeanty’s moving backs coach, James Montgomery, spoke with Fox News Digital precocious to sermon the player's historical season. 

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Boise State Broncos moving backmost Ashton Jeanty smiles connected signifier during a property league earlier the Heisman Trophy presumption connected Dec. 14, 2024. (Lucas Boland-Imagn Images)

While helium burst onto the nationalist country and etched himself into the grounds books successful 2024 during his inferior season, Jeanty saw akin occurrence arsenic a sophomore. 

However, Montgomery said the program going into Jeanty’s sophomore play was that helium was going to beryllium a portion of a "two-headed monster."

"It was benignant of brainsick due to the fact that going into the ’23 play I thought it was going to beryllium a two-headed monster, but George (Holani) ended up getting wounded connected the 2nd play versus UW. I benignant of knew Ash was acceptable to instrumentality implicit that No.1, benignant of pb relation successful the backfield and, I mean, we truly didn’t person a choice," Montgomery said with a smile.

Jeanty ran for 1,347 yards with 14 rushing touchdowns portion helium averaged a sparkling 6.1 yards per effort portion catching 43 passes for 569 yards with 5 receiving touchdowns successful his sophomore season. 

Though Jeanty took implicit the pb role, Holani was productive arsenic well.  He ran for 748 yards and 7 touchdowns. Following that season, Holani signed with the Seattle Seahawks, and is presently connected their signifier squad.

With Holani successful the NFL, it was up to Jeanty to physique upon his beardown sophomore play and transportation the load. 

Montgomery saw the beginnings of a peculiar inferior twelvemonth percolate successful outpouring ball. 

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Boise State Broncos moving backmost Ashton Jeanty against the Penn State Nittany Lions during the Fiesta Bowl astatine State Farm Stadium connected Dec. 31, 2024. (Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images)

"The benignant of 'lightbulb moment' we were moving a duo play successful outpouring shot past twelvemonth and I saw the mode helium pressed the hole, and the movements that helium did. Cause I kinda say, erstwhile we’re moving duo, we don’t person immoderate jumpcuts," Montgomery said.

"And I ever accidental you autumn disconnected the table, and you find the chute due to the fact that you work the archetypal play broadside backer. And helium fell disconnected the table, recovered the chute, past got to the escaped hat, made him miss, and looked backmost astatine maine with a large grin and I knew exactly, yep, the airy bulb is truly on." Montgomery said with a smile. 

Montgomery said that during the outpouring helium and Jeanty peeled backmost the layers, and went from Football 101, 201 and 301, which allowed the 2 to speech astir the crippled astatine a higher level. 

Jeanty continued to bid arsenic hard arsenic ever and improved his intelligence knowing of the game. Montgomery said Jeanty called his offseason preparations "dark mode."

"He truly didn’t bash overmuch successful the outpouring and the summertime going into that season, but conscionable work. We person 1 of the hardest workouts successful the country. We tally precocious decks, and helium ran each platform of past summertime with a value vest on, truthful it was benignant of brainsick to spot him bash it, and helium ne'er mislaid a rep," Montgomery said. 

"If you conscionable watched him astatine practice, he’s archetypal successful enactment for each drill that we do, whether it’s discourtesy oregon peculiar teams, and past conscionable the magnitude of effort that helium brought each azygous day. It was benignant of brainsick due to the fact that helium didn’t instrumentality excessively overmuch unrecorded enactment successful outpouring ball, truthful we thought successful autumn campy we were going astir apt effort to get him a mates pops to tackle him, and helium came retired similar a huffy antheral successful autumn camp, and we were similar we don’t deliberation helium needs it."

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Boise State moving backmost Ashton Jeanty celebrates aft winning the violative subordinate of the crippled for the Mountain West Championship against UNLV, Dec. 6, 2024, successful Boise, Idaho.  (AP Photo/Steve Conner, File)

And Montgomery was right. Jeanty didn’t request it. 

In Boise State’s opening crippled past play against Georgia Southern, Jeanty had 20 carries for 267 yards and six touchdowns, putting up stats you mightiness find successful a video crippled successful their 56-45 win. 

Montgomery knew close aft that show that Jeanty had a accidental to bash thing special. 

"When you started Week 1 with the 267 (yards), I knew we had a accidental to bash thing truly special. And truthful adjacent for me, I had to artifact retired the extracurricular noise. I couldn’t beryllium connected Twitter, I couldn’t conscionable be, ‘Yeah, we’re truthful sweet’ due to the fact that I knew we conscionable wanted to support getting better," Montgomery said.

"Two-thousand yards was our extremity initially, and erstwhile we started to surpass that and get adjacent to that, we conscionable wanted to support pushing. I’d retrieve there’d beryllium sometimes successful the game, ‘We’re not done, conscionable support going’ due to the fact that I had a manager backmost successful the time erstwhile I was coming up that ever said, 'You tin ever get a small spot more,' and I wanted to marque definite helium ne'er got satisfied connected the sideline, due to the fact that it’s a agelong crippled and we popped a batch of runs aboriginal successful games, ‘Hey, bro, we got to support going, it’s not over.’" 

That attack worked good for Jeanty and the Boise State Broncos. 

With Jeanty starring the mode offensively, the Broncos went 12-2 and won the Mountain West Conference. The Broncos were the No. 3 effect successful the College Football Playoff and made it to the Fiesta Bowl, wherever they were defeated by Penn State 31-14. 

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Boise State Broncos moving backmost Ashton Jeanty tries to interruption past Penn State Nittany Lions linebacker Dominic DeLuca during the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl astatine State Farm Stadium connected Dec. 31, 2024. (IMAGN)

Jeanty’s unthinkable play astir landed him the Heisman Trophy. Colorado's Travis Hunter had 552 first-place votes, beating retired Jeanty's 309, making it the closest ballot since 2009. 

Montgomery won't accidental if Jeanty should person won the Heisman. 

"I mean I truly don’t remark connected it excessively much, due to the fact that I person a beardown bias erstwhile it comes to that," Montgomery said with a grin. 

"I got to enactment with him each day, and I cognize however bully of a idiosyncratic helium is, and I cognize what helium was capable to bash for our programme and however helium elevated america to beryllium capable to adjacent get to wherever we were astatine the extremity of this twelvemonth and I cognize however hard helium worked and however helium battled done injuries and however helium took attraction of his assemblage day-in, day-out, however helium was a 3.0 pupil his clip here. So I had a existent bias, but you can’t instrumentality distant from thing that Travis Hunter was capable to do. The snaps helium played and to play astatine specified a precocious level connected discourtesy and defense, it's precise uncommon."

The Heisman speech betwixt Jeanty and Hunter raged connected passim the season, and was hotly debated until the infinitesimal it was announced. 

Montgomery said the moving backmost benignant that Jeanty runs with, and made him truthful successful, reminds him of a Philadelphia Eagles legend. 

"I think, Brian Westbrook from backmost successful the day," Montgomery said. "But I deliberation he’s a blend of a batch of guys. If helium was 5’10 215 (pounds) you would accidental helium astir apt a batch (of LaDainian Tomlinson) successful determination too, you cognize what I mean, truthful I deliberation helium is simply a blend of a batch of guys. The uncanny happening is the mode helium tin marque guys miss, and his interaction equilibrium is special."

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Boise State Broncos moving backmost Ashton Jeanty runs past Penn State Nittany Lions linebacker Kobe King during the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl connected Dec. 31, 2024. (IMAGN)

As for if helium wants Jeanty to onshore with a definite squad oregon play-style successful the NFL Draft, Montgomery is assured that helium volition thrive which immoderate squad selects him. 

"As a manager and arsenic his coach, you evidently privation him to get picked high, but the different portion of it is you privation him to spell to a concern that has a truly bully (offensive line). So there’s that you privation him to spell apical 10, but possibly if helium went 18 helium mightiness get to a amended O-line, determination is that good balance," Montgomery said. 

"I mean immoderate scheme, we tally a beauteous pro-style discourtesy here, and we ran each strategy you tin run: wrong zone, extracurricular zone, duo, power, counter, flip crack, similar we ran each scheme. He understands however to acceptable each of those up, and helium knows each the blocking schemes erstwhile it comes to each that stuff. I don’t cognize if determination is simply a circumstantial situation, selfishly I anticipation helium goes to a truly bully O-line."

With Jeanty moving connected to to the NFL, helium leaves down a immense spread successful the Boise State discourtesy and team. Montgomery knows determination is nary replacing him.

"He was the person of my country and was the skipper of my squad and helium is going to spell down arsenic 1 of the all-time greats here. It’s not trying to regenerate him, it’s trying to marque definite I physique the champion country I tin arsenic possible. One of the champion things I had is him astir my young guys, and they saw however hard helium worked. One of the things we ever accidental is permission it amended than you recovered it, and having his beingness successful our room, they each recognize the shoes," Montgomery said.

"It’s not truly unit for them origin that’s their large bro, they privation to beryllium similar him, and they privation to each get their shots and get retired determination and support the contented alive. Definitely, we person immoderate large shoes to capable but I don’t deliberation we’re going to replicate thing due to the fact that everybody’s different, and he’s evidently a peculiar talent."

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Boise State Broncos moving backmost Ashton Jeanty aft the Fiesta Bowl against the Penn State Nittany Lions connected Dec. 31 2024. (Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images)

Not lone volition Montgomery miss the player, but the idiosyncratic Jeanty is too. 

"He’s specified a fun-loving benignant of awesome kid, but the things I’m going to miss is his quality to person fun. Like he’ll beryllium dancing earlier a drawback successful signifier origin you got the euphony playing and each of that, and past conscionable to spot 2 seconds earlier the drawback fastener backmost successful and conscionable go," Montgomery said. 

Montgomery and the remainder of shot volition find retired which squad selects the "special talent" that is Jeanty connected Thursday, April 24, erstwhile the archetypal circular of the NFL Draft volition instrumentality spot successful Green Bay, Wisconsin. 

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