The Raiders, for the second straight year, bucked conventional wisdom in the first round of the NFL draft.

They can only hope they get the last laugh again.

The Raiders selected Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty with the sixth overall pick Thursday, a year after the team grabbed Georgia tight end Brock Bowers 13th overall.

Bowers went on to have a record-setting rookie season and earned first-team All-Pro honors.

Jeanty, 21, is talented enough to be another home-run selection. He was the Heisman Trophy runner-up last season after rushing for 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns on 374 carries. The only player to run for more yards in a single college campaign was Hall of Famer Barry Sanders.

Raiders general manager John Spytek and coach Pete Carroll, after doing extensive homework on Jeanty, didn’t hesitate to select him.

“His film stands for itself. The kind of person he is stands for itself,” Spytek said. “We just felt he was that good of a person and that good of a player that it warranted the pick.”

Jeanty, a native of Jacksonville, Florida, also had 23 catches for 138 yards and a touchdown last season. He was a key reason why Boise State made the College Football Playoff.

Jeanty, who is listed at 5-foot-9, 211 pounds, was considered one of the top players in this year’s draft and should be an immediate starter for a Raiders offense that needs difference makers.

The team has been linked to him for several weeks. The Raiders knew they needed to fix their feeble run game, which produced the fewest rushing yards in the NFL last season. It was a priority for Carroll to turn things around and give new quarterback Geno Smith more support.

Jeanty said he was “ecstatic” to be selected by the Raiders.

It’s worth noting modern football thinking frowns upon running backs being picked early in the draft. Other positions are considered more valuable. But there are similar concerns about taking tight ends high and Bowers blew all that talk up last year. No one was talking about the Raiders reaching for him by the end of his rookie season.

Jeanty himself is determined to show the discussion around running backs is misguided.

“I’m gonna show everybody the position is valuable, and it is great to take an exceptional running back in the first round,” Jeanty said.

Special talent

Carroll has been around some great running backs over the years. He and Marshawn Lynch won Super Bowl 48 together in Seattle.

Carroll sees in Jeanty an exceptional player that can break tackles, work in space and score from anywhere on the field. He loves Jeanty’s “ability to make plays when it doesn’t look like there’s anything there.”

“There’s a special makeup there,” Carroll said.

Spytek was excited because Jeanty was the best player on the Raiders’ board and fills an essential role on offense.

“It’s one of those deals where the need and the best player meet together,” Spytek said. “That’s a perfect storm. It’s just too much to ignore at that point. He’s the perfect player for us this year, and we were thrilled to make him a Raider.”

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at [email protected]. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.