Third Ball-Security Strike For Rachaad White

October 3rd, 2022

Rookie running back/returner Rachaad White.

Rookies must earn the trust of coaches in a hurry. That’s the just the NFL. And if you’re a rookie playing offense with Tom Brady, you best earn The Goat’s trust or you’ll be off the field.

Rachaad White is in that boat. The Bucs’ third-round draft pick didn’t squeeze a short throw from Kyle Trask in his preseason debut and the end result was an interception.

A week later in preseason, White took a short pass on 2nd-and-20 and rumbled for a 16-yard gain before he got stripped by Titans cornerback Lonnie Johnson.

And then came last night. White senselessly took the opening kickoff out of the end zone and fumbled it away 24 yards later. First down Chiefs!

White’s ugly ball-security pattern is officially a problem in Joe’s mind. He’s talented and he had a strong training camp, but when the lights came on White took a step backwards.

He had 3 carries for 6 yards and his first career touchdown last night against the Chiefs. And White’s hands were perfect in the passing game (5 catches), but confidence damage may have been done. Hopefully not.

Regardless, Joe finds it hard to believe the Bucs don’t have a better option at returner after White’s fumble last night, and him catching a kickoff against the Packers that was sailing out of bounds.

30 Responses to “Third Ball-Security Strike For Rachaad White”

  1. J Dubb Says:

    Can Scotty Miller not return kicks. He seems like an ideal candidate. Give him a seam and he has the speed to house it.

  2. Kody Says:

    Yeah, that White fumble was gut-wrenching. A tone-setter for the game. And then it was followed up with the sack-fumble on Brady. We never bounced back from those two immensely costly fumbles which gave KC 14 easy points.

  3. Goatfarmer Says:

    Rachel White would look better in a CFL uniform. There is no game breaker inside of that player. Overhyped bust.

  4. CleanHouse Says:

    White had an excellent publicity tour, gotta give him that

  5. ClwJB Says:

    Where is Vaughn? He seems much faster than White

  6. Rod Munch Says:

    Mike Alstott fumbles lost…

    1996 – 4
    1997 – 5
    1998 – 5
    1999 – 6

    If these sites existed back then, they’d have been calling for Alstott to be cut.

    As for White, I completely agree, he’s got to do better. But you don’t remove him from the game, yet, over this. Tonight’s game was not lost because of his fumble. It was lost by Bowles being a coward and repeatedly taking the ball out of Brady’s hands when he knew his offense couldn’t stop a dog turd.

  7. Longtime Brady Fan Says:

    The way he carries the ball is high risk. Tiki Barber had the same problem until the coaches taught him a more secure way to carry the ball (high and tight). Ronde can confirm it. If you look at the replay there is way too much space to easily dislodge the ball.

  8. My Momma Says:

    Do you think Bill Parcells would put up with this? My Momma thinks not.

  9. My Momma Says:

    My Momma say’s, “Bench him till he learns the meaning of Not For Long….”

  10. Nick Says:

    FYI Joe, nobody counts the preseason after preseason, stop.

    He did crap the bed tonight, however, the coaches never took him out of the game.

    BA beached Jones for games after just one fumble. Bowles sent the wrong message tonight letting him remain in the game.

  11. 1sparkybuc Says:

    Horsefeathers. White was dependable as a receiver. That was a tough defense. We lost the game in the trenches.

  12. JeffreyLane77 Says:

    White should have been benched for the rest of the game.

  13. Defense Rules Says:

    Rod …’Tonight’s game was not lost because of his fumble. It was lost by Bowles being a coward and repeatedly taking the ball out of Brady’s hands when he knew his offense couldn’t stop a dog turd’.

    Kinda strong words calling anyone a COWARD. And as far as Bowles ‘REPEATEDLY taking the ball out of Brady’s hands’ goes, the Bucs passed 52 times against SIX runs. That’s not one of your more factual statements.

  14. Bucsfanman Says:

    I found that statement a little “off” myself Rod. In the end, we lost by 10 points in a game that KC thoroughly dominated on offense.

    The kid looks light-years better than Rojo in his 1st year and doesn’t shy from contact. I think they need to keep feeding him the ball. Hopefully he learns his lesson.
    They do need to address the return game though. And Scotty Miller? He would’ve been back there a long time ago if they thought he was an option.

  15. teacherman777 Says:

    Pacheco ran a 4.38.

    White ran a 4.5.

    We took White in the 3rd round.

    The Chiefs took Pacheco in the 7th round.

    My rule for RB’s is the same for CB’s.

    I want guys that run a 4.4 or faster.

  16. Oneilbuc Says:

    White played good last night man some of yall don’t give no body a chance. One mistake and to some of yall that means he suck .

  17. Bojim Says:

    Don’t bench White.

  18. Jack Sparrow Says:

    Pacheco compared to White, both are rookies, you can see from Pacheco that he has fire in his eyes and really aggresive on the other hand, white is like running scared of being yelled at or making a mistake…

  19. Ed Says:

    A couple of opinions on White:

    He isn’t a kick returner. Put someone else out there. KR’s have to have more acceleration than he does and have to be able to squirt through holes, he’s too big for the position.

    He is a natural pass catcher. I believe he was a wide receiver at one time and you can tell that he runs nice routes and has good hands. Keep using him the way Brady did last night. He is the perfect third down back for Brady.

    Also Cade Otton and Ko Kleft need to be #1 and #2 tight ends. Brate is too slow and can’t get open quick enough. Kleft’s catch on the sidelines proved he should be targeted in the passing game. Time for the rookies to learn to play with Brady. Rudolf and Brate are too old and beat up to play anymore.

  20. Canabuc Says:

    Outside of that fumble I thought White looked very good.
    Very smooth runner natural pass catcher and definitely more speed than Lenny.

    He is a rookie and will make rookie mistakes. Fumble was bad but he was good after that. Don’t think his confidence was shaken and he was left in for the goal line carry and converted.

    He will correct ball security in the NFL and will maybe become a bigger James White for Brady as season goes on who can also run between the tackles.

  21. Rod Munch Says:

    Defense Rules – Bowles punted when he KNEW the defense wasn’t going to stop anything. He did it because he doesn’t want to be criticized for doing anything nutty, like giving Brady the ball and telling him to get a 1st down. He didn’t even attempt to onside kick late in the game because he was good losing by just 10.

    That’s the definition of a cowardly coach. Someone who is afraid to do anything that might bring criticism from these idiots in the press. Did you hear Bowles getting questioned about why, with 3 mins left and a defense who hasn’t done anything all night, why he’s kicking off and not going for an onside kick?

  22. Bucs96NYC Says:

    White played really well last nite. Yes he definitely should’ve not fumbled that kickoff, but the next one he took I liked the return. Then on offense, he played the whole drive that he ended up scoring. I like the way he runs, not wasting time getting to the open hole & he catches VERY well, almost w/ ease. He’ll be a player going forward.

  23. Buccaneer Bonzai Says:

    I’m 100% for putting Miller returning kicks.

    That said, White did get the next return…and it turned out fine. His catches showed he’s not a total waste.

    I’m not ready to give up on White quite yet…not on pass catching.

  24. Buccaneer Bonzai Says:

    Rod Munch, I don’t know if I would call him cowardly…not because of last night anyway.

    Nothing was going right last night, and quite frankly, the team did not deserve a win. Many players played hard…but…well…others did not. I actually saw a player casually walking toward a play, letting others do the tackling.

  25. Buccaneer Bonzai Says:

    And really, there was no way to win that game. Best we could hope for was overtime at the end, and even that was a big IF.

  26. John F Ensch Says:

    White is a bust all ready we need to be playing the experienced Vaughn and let it rip. Sit White down and tell him to go find his abilities if he ever had any.

  27. Melvin Junior Says:

    YES. Unless, there are some other intangibles (&/or) something “Special” about the ‘slower’ guy involved, & that is just NOT the case with White, obviously… We need(ed) SPEED/shiftiness (young) ‘jitterbug’ back there!!!!

    teacherman777 Says:
    October 3rd, 2022 at 7:13 am
    Pacheco ran a 4.38.

    “White ran a 4.5.

    We took White in the 3rd round.

    The Chiefs took Pacheco in the 7th round.

    My rule for RB’s is the same for CB’s.

    I want guys that run a 4.4 or faster.”

  28. garro Says:

    Totally Agree Joe…Its a problem.
    We used to have guys carry a football arround all day to help with fumblitis.
    do they still do this kind of thing these days. I have also seen drills where a coach tries to knock the ball lose. Do we have these drills?

  29. ron lilek Says:

    Rachaad White was a great runner, a great receiver, seldom fumbled, and survived a very mediocre offensive line in college. If the Bucs stay with him, TB will have one of the best and most exciting backs in the NFL. Otherwise, some other team will pick him up and the football world will be asking “What were the Buccaneers thinking when they gave this guy up?”

  30. Faspro Says:

    Eh, we lost the game because the Chiefs were the better team. Mike Evans had a few games where he kept dropping the ball; that was long ago. He adjusted, and hardly drops it anymore. White will be fine.