Zamir White Can Be a League-Winning Workhorse Running Back

When a true, no-doubt-about-it workhorse running back like Josh Jacobs leaves an NFL team, the obvious question becomes, “Who will step in and fill that role?” The Las Vegas Raiders lost Josh Jacobs to the Green Bay Packers this offseason. Still, they chose only to address the running back position in the sixth round with the 208^th pick in the draft and signed a 26-year-old backup to a $1.1 million deal. With just one low draft pick and minimal free agent signings, why would the Raiders not choose to stockpile more rushing options? Because they still have Zamir White, and he is about to take over the NFL.

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With Josh Jacobs’ departure, the Raiders are looking at his production of 233 vacated carries and 54 vacated targets that need to be filled from the current roster of candidates. Among all players who left Las Vegas this offseason, there are more than 230 carries and almost 60 targets that are up for grabs in 2024. Considering how he performed in interim head coach Antonio Pierce’s smashmouth style at the end of last season, Zamir White left no room for doubt that he could be the new workhorse to carry the freight in Las Vegas.

Zamir White Dominated When Given a Full-Time Role in 2023

Josh Jacobs missed the last four games of the 2023 season with a quad strain suffered in Week 13 that sidelined him until the end of the season. Still fighting for a playoff spot at that point, the new interim head coach decided to ride his backup running back to tremendous success in the last four games of the season. In Weeks 15-18, with the Raiders clinging to a slim playoff hope, Zamir White went nuclear on the league, assuring his place atop the 2024 depth chart.

In those last four weeks – that encompassed the fantasy playoffs, of course – Zamir White was the RB8 in total fantasy points in half-PPR formats. He combined for 85, 145, 106, and 121 yards, and was only held back by the fact that he scored just one rushing touchdown in that span. In those four games (when the Raiders went 3-1, by the way), they averaged 123.5 rushing yards and 4.5 yards per attempt, almost pulling out a playoff berth in the last two weeks of the season.

In that full-time role over four weeks, White was first in the NFL in rush attempts (84), third in yards (397), sixth in rushing yards before contact (175), and fifth in broken tackles (8). It was the perfectly timed audition for what was soon to become Antonio Pierce’s team to run, and if his past comments are any indication of what’s to come, he is going to give new meaning to the term “establish the run.”

Antonio Pierce’s Offensive Philosophy Suits Zamir White

When Antonio Pierce took over the Raiders from ousted coach Josh McDaniels on November 1, he completely changed the offensive philosophy of the floundering team (3-5 record when he was promoted). In Weeks 1-8, the Raiders rushed the ball 22.5 times per game for an average of 70 yards and half a rushing touchdown per contest. The passing game wasn’t any better, but McDaniels was still throwing 10 times more per game than he called for a rushing play.

From November through January, the offensive transformed. In Weeks 9-18, the Raiders rushed 26 times per game, averaging 109.1 yards and just under one rushing touchdown per game. The efficiency also improved as the running game bounced back from just 3.1 yards per carry to more than 4.2 per tote in the second half of the season. As a result, the Raiders went 5-4 under Pierce and were in the playoff hunt until the end of Week 17.

With 84 total carries plus 13 targets in those last four weeks, Zamir White proved to Antonio Pierce he can handle the true workhorse role. He proved it to fantasy managers as well, finishing as a top-20 running back in each of those games.

New Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy is a perfect philosophical match to Antonio Pierce with their run-first game plans (Chicago, Getsy’s old team, was second in the NFL in rush attempts per game last season), and Zamir White looks to be the biggest beneficiary of this pairing.

Despite a Crowded Running Back Room, Zamir White is the Clear Number One Option

The Las Vegas Raiders had an entire offseason to address the running back room if they chose to do so. Even with Josh Jacobs leaving, running backs like Joe Mixon, Devin Singletary, Aaron Jones, Saquon Barkley, and Derrick Henry were all available. The Raiders chose to pursue none of them. They signaled early and often that they wanted Zamir White to be the man for them, and nothing from the draft to OTAs to training camp has changed that.

Dylan Laube, the Raiders' sixth-round draft pick, is a nice player out of New Hampshire who has admitted he will be at his best as a pass-catching back. That should signal more trouble for Ameer Abdullah than for Zamir White. Abdullah may be on the roster bubble if Laube keeps impressing coaches in camps because the clear backup role is also already spoken for.

Alexander Mattison and his 4.2 yards per touch from 2023 are now here to spell Zamir White on occasion, but Mattison only had one game over 100 total yards last year despite five games with more than 16 touches. As a 26-year-old career backup, he is two years older than Zamir White and figures to just come in on a few drives per game. Beyond these names, only Sincere McCormick and Brittain Brown are around, and they will both “sincerely” be placed on the practice squad or cut before the season opens.

The signals couldn’t be clearer. Zamir White (currently at an ADP of 69 as August gets underway) got a full audition as the understudy last season and Head Coach Antonio Pierce was impressed. Now White is ready for a full-time Las Vegas residency and the rest of the league better get ready for the show to come.

The Bottom Line

• Zamir White excelled at the end of 2023 after a Josh Jacobs injury gave him a full-time role for four games. He was the RB8 during those weeks and averaged well over 100 rushing yards per game.
• Now the full-time head coach, Antonio Pierce made clear last year he wants the Raiders to run the ball even more, and now he has a full season to adopt his run-first philosophy. New OC Luke Getsy should ensure a heavy run game from the beginning.
• Even with new running backs like Alexander Mattison and rookie Dylan Laube around, the Raiders making neither a major financial investment nor using high draft capital to select a running back ensures the full-time job belongs to Zamir White.
• At an ADP of 69 heading into draft season, Zamir White has the opportunity to be a league-winning back just as he was in the 2023 fantasy playoffs.