With the NFL Draft behind us, it looks like Zamir White is set to be the Raiders RB1. How safe of a pick is he?
To be honest, I’d definitely tread carefully; these types of situations are breeding grounds for running backs being added late in the off-season. But White might be safe at this point. He closed out the season with four straight games as the Raiders’ workhorse running back, totaling 84 carries in that span as one of only two RBs to do so. During that span, there were 23 RBs who had 50+ carries. White’s 3.43 yards after contact/attempt was 5th among that group. Pretty impressive.
Unfortunately, not everything was coming up aces in Las Vegas. Don’t expect White to force too many missed tackles - he’s not an elusive back, but he matches head coach Antonio Pierce’s philosophy of a physical team. The good news is that Zamir White did provide some big plays with his late-season opportunity, he had five carries of 15+ yards during that span, 2nd among the 23 qualifying RBs.
The Raiders went out and added Alexander Mattison to the backfield as a way to address depth in the wake of Josh Jacobs’ departure. Sure, Mattison will slot in admirably as a solid depth piece, but he’s not going to be part of a legitimate rotation in the backfield. I do think this makes it less likely this backfield gets even more muddy. Newly drafted New Hampshire RB Dylan Laube, though, might be the best pass-catcher in this draft class. He’s got real chops in the receiving game, but he was extremely inefficient in the run game, and that was in the FCS. Because of that, there’s no reason to be worried about him on early downs.
Given the Raiders non-ideal QB situation, they’re likely going to rely on the ground game like they did at the end of last season. Zamir White averaged 21 carries a game in that offense down the stretch, which is more than enough for me to take a chance on him at a very affordable price right now in drafts.
Could they add another RB to this backfield before the season? It’s definitely a possibility, and that’s something we’ll want to keep in the back of our minds when we’re drafting. But if that doesn’t happen, his RB30 price on Underdog will likely be a steal.