As the Las Vegas Raiders began off-season training, without former bellcow RB Josh Jacobs for the first time in 5 years, it was assumed that Zamir White had “passed” his 2023 audition and would be the Raiders’ featured back. The addition of free agent Alexander Mattison, presence of Ameer Abdullah, and drafting of Dylan Laube provided a small modicum of uncertainty, which HC Antonio Pierce has put to rest.

“Early downs? A lot of them are [Zamir White]. That’s what I expect to see,” explained Pierce, in reference to the team’s gameplan for RB usage in 2024. Pierce also noted that White, “has his legs underneath him. Big, powerful man. Bigger than he was last year. More explosive. Faster, it looks like.” A bigger, faster, more explosive Zamir White could be a problem for opposing defenses.

In 2023 White averaged 4.67 yards per carry on an average of 21 carries over the last 4 games of the season after taking over the Raiders’ backfield for the injured Jacobs. Sustaining that production over the course of a 17 game season will be a task, for sure, but if he does so, White would put himself in the ranges of 350 carries and 1600 yards. White is currently ranked at Player Profiler at RB31 and carries an FFPC ADP of 150. No RB in the NFL had over 280 carries or 1459 rushing yards in 2023, but If White approaches the numbers he did in his small sample in 2023, he’ll be a smash in all formats.