Boise State junior Ashton Jeanty runs with the ball during a Nov. 29, 2024, game against Oregon State at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho. Jeanty, who began his football career at Naples High School in Italy, was selected No. 6 by the Las Vegas Raiders in the 2026 NFL Draft on April 24, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. (Boise State University)

Ashton Jeanty continued his meteoric rise from the football fields of Europe to the sport’s highest level Thursday night.

The Las Vegas Raiders selected Jeanty, who played for the Naples Wildcats during his freshman season in 2018, with the sixth selection in the 2025 NFL Draft at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis.

With the pick, Jeanty became a rare DODEA athlete to be drafted into the National Football League. Kyle Hinton, who competed for Vilseck his freshman and sophomore seasons, was the last to do so as the 253rd pick in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings.

Jeanty joins Hinton (now with the Atlanta Falcons) and Vilseck alumnus Zavier Scott (Vikings) on NFL rosters.

The running back began his football career in Italy, where his father, Harry, then a chief petty officer in the Navy, was stationed. Jeanty powered the Wildcats to a Division II championship-game berth, where they lost to Aviano 42-19.

That was Jeanty’s lone year in high school in Naples before moving to Texas, where he eventually caught the eye of the Boise State coaching staff after putting up solid numbers during the rest of his high school stint.

In Idaho, the 5-foot-9, 211-pound runner turned heads, especially during the 2024 campaign. A junior, Jeanty amassed the second-most rushing yards in a single season with 2,601 – 28 short of Barry Sanders’ NCAA record – and eclipsed 200 yards in six games. He finished the season with 29 touchdowns on the ground.

That performance led to him placing second in the Heisman Trophy race. He was named first team All-American and earned the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back and the Maxwell Award, as college football’s player of the year.

Projected to be a first-round pick for several months, Jeanty became the highest running back taken since Saquon Barkley in 2018 and the highest-ever pick for a Boise State player.

Naples’ Ashton Jeanty scores during the DODEA-Europe Division II football championship game between the Aviano Saints and the Naples Wildcats, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018. (Stars and Stripes)