Ashton Jeanty went down at Las Vegas Raiders practice on Sunday and could not put any weight on his leg. What happened next told you more than any official statement was going to. Nobody has put a name to the injury yet, but we certainly fear the worst. The harder question is what fantasy football managers are supposed to do with a first-round pick in the meantime.
What We Know About Ashton Jeanty’s Injury
UPDATE:Â Adam Schefter reported that Jeanty sustained a sprained ankle. Given the reaction of the team, we justifiably feared the worst. This is a huge sigh of relief. Jeanty is obviously going to miss some time and almost certainly won’t be ready for Week 1. However, if this is accurate, at worst he should be back by early October. For now, let’s wait for a report on a timeline before deciphering where he should go in drafts.
Jeanty was diving for a catch during a team period when he apparently collided with a teammate. Trainers helped him off the field, and he could not put any pressure on his right leg.
#Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty left practice early after suffering an apparent knee injury.
During the team period, he was diving for a catch and landed awkwardly. He was helped off the field by trainers and couldn’t put any pressure on his right leg.
Entire team took a…
— Ryan McFadden (@ryanmcfadden_) August 23, 2026
There is no diagnosis yet. But we have all been around long enough to know that a knee injury is the last thing you ever want to hear about a player. Bracing for the worst is the correct posture here.
If I had to guess, I’d say this is most likely a torn ACL or something akin to that. Further, I’d say that the expectation should be that Jeanty is done for the season.
That would obviously be devastating if it turns out to be just that. Not only was I really excited about Jeanty this season, but you also have to feel for the human in these situations. That is the hardest part about this job. I have to explain what this means for fantasy football, but that is certainly not the most important thing right now.
Mike Washington Steps Into the Raiders’ Lead Role
Mike Washington is the clear backup, and he has shone in preseason action, rushing for over 100 yards across two games.
Washington comes to the NFL with a very limited production profile. He is a five-year college player who never had a single season with 200+ touches and did not produce anything remotely impressive until his fifth year.
The only true positive on the profile is speed. Washington ran a 4.33 40-time at the combine, good for a 100th percentile speed score, and at 223 pounds, that is simply ridiculous. He has a feature back size. He just does not have the production.
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We know low-volume college running backs historically do not succeed at the NFL level. None of that means Washington cannot have a moment in 2026, though. Everything out of training camp and the preseason had him as the clear RB2, which now puts him in the RB1 role. Given that he is not the Raiders’ long-term RB1 (it’s still Jeanty), they will have no reservations about feeding him whatever volume he can handle this season.
Washington remains very much a black box prospect. We do not know how talented he actually is, and his preseason work against mostly backups is not predictive of what happens in the regular season. All of that said, we can confidently project him as the Raiders’ lead back. Every reason we liked Jeanty, aside from Jeanty’s obvious talent, applies to Washington now.
He will not be as good as Jeanty would have been, which is why he will not go where Jeanty was going. But Washington likely moves into the RB20ish range, somewhere around where Travis Etienne and Cam Skattebo typically go. Think fourth round, or right at that 4/5 turn.
What To Do if You Are Drafting Tonight
If you are drafting tonight or in the immediate future, before there is any clarity on Jeanty, I really do not have a good answer for you. What round is worth gambling that this is not a season-ender? That is up to you.
I think we can confidently say Jeanty will not be playing in Week 1 and, at best, will miss a chunk of the season. Personally, I would let someone else take on that risk.
