Chip Kelly defends decision to change Ashton Jeanty's stance at Raiders camp

Las Vegas Raiders OC Chip Kelly defended changing and adjusting Ashton Jeanty’s stance during the early goings of camp. Last year’s college football rushing leader, and one of its most electric players, is a hyped rookie running back.

Jeanty notably stood very vertically in a stance while at Boise State. Kelly and others addressed it with Jeanty and had him squatting down just a bit more now that he’s in an NFL offense.

It was criticized initially because of Jeanty’s success in college and most just chalked it up to “why mess with a good thing?” Kelly offered a lengthy explanation regarding Jeanty.

“Let’s get that clarified,” Kelly said, via Ryan McFadden. “Deland McCullough, our running back coach, is in charge of stances, steps, alignments, assignments, and techniques. So he talked to him about that. I gave him an analogy of an athlete being in a bent knee position to make a play, and that kind of got blown into. I haven’t told anybody on this team to be in any stances because I don’t coach a position. “But it’s a bent knee game. Baseball is, if you look at the before the ball snapped in baseball, or the pitcher throwing the baseball, everybody’s got their knees bent. In any athletic sport you’re playing, you’ve got to bend your knees. And if you’ve got to run a flat route on Fred Warner, you’d better be in a position to run, because that dude can fly.

“So, all we’re trying to do is put guys in positions to make plays. And he’s adapted really well from going from here to here, so it literally is about three inches. So, I really don’t think it’s that big a deal. But he’s awesome, and he’s such a coachable guy that you can do a lot of things with him. I think he can play in the slot, he can play in the backfield, he can do a lot of different things. So, he’s special.”

Jeanty ran for 4,769 yards and 50 touchdowns in three years at Boise State. Last season was historic as he ran for 2,601 yards, 29 touchdowns and averaged seven yards per carry. Heck, Jeanty even told Kay Adams about his stance change, something he’s willing to work with of course.

“What’s crazy, man, Chip Kelly, he comes to me on the first day of rookie mini camp,” Jeanty said. “He’s like, you play basketball, like you ever played basketball? I’m like, Yeah, I played basketball … He was like, show me how you would guard me … And he was like, that’s exactly why you gotta be down in your running back stance. 

“He won for now, I’m gonna try to persuade him one day. I gotta earn my stripes, make some plays first, but I don’t think it’s gonna be the end.”