A top NFL Draft target has a message for every GM … and has enjoyed a meeting with the most high-profile one.
Ashton Jeanty is talking about his meeting with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, according to a post on social media.
“I did meet Jerry Jones,” Jeanty said to Kay Adams. “It went well. We were just choppin’ it up, talking football, and talking about the Super Bowl. “I came into the room and he was holding this championship belt and just looking at it. And I was like, ‘Where’s this gonna go?’ It was from some boxing championship they had at the stadium some years ago.”
Jeanty, who comes from Frisco, Texas and attended Lone Star High School, wants to be a Cowboy. He thinks it would be great to be able to come home again.
“It would be great,” Jeanty said. “It would be a special opportunity. Really to play for any team in the NFL would be great. But just the fact I grew up here, it would be just a little different.”
Jeanty is the top running back in the draft. He is not projected to be on the board when the Cowboys pick at No. 12. Jeanty has been mocked by experts to be sixth pick to the Las Vegas Raiders.
And beyond the Dallas dream, what does Jeanty want? He wants to be seen as the guy who who turn around a franchise.
In his “Letter to NFL GM’s” he writes …
“If you pick me, it’s simple: I’m coming to do what Saquon and the Eagles just did. I’m coming to win, big, soon.”
Meanwhile …
Dane Brugler of The Athletic heaped praise on Jeanty and said he has a lot of good traits.
“With his low center of gravity and explosiveness, Jeanty has an uncanny ability to stay afloat through contact and be elusive in space,” Brugler wrote. “He trusts his vision when following his blocks. But instead of predetermining his path, he displays outstanding reactionary reads to sort, cut, and create. Overall, Jeanty displays exceptional contact balance, run instincts, and versatility in the passing game, reminiscent of LaDainian Tomlinson. He has the talent to emerge as a high-level running back early in his NFL career.”
If the Cowboys want Jeanty, they are going to have to trade up for him. He will not be on the board when Dallas picks. He also projects as a Pro Bowl talent, according to NFL.com.
“He’s the ultimate yardage creator,” Lance Zierlein wrote. “(He has) the talent and skill set to succeed independent of the quality of his blocking. Jeanty’s speed forces linebackers to flow hard outside, creating cutback lanes and chunk runs. His vision, balance and elusiveness get it done along the interior.”
Jerry and the Cowboys agree with all of this.
And apparently so does the very confident Ashton Jeanty.
