PFF Tribe Not A Fan Of Rachaad White’s Running

June 3rd, 2024

Poor ranking.

Rachaad White may be the second-best running back to catch passes in the NFL behind Christian McCaffery.

As a running back, well, the PFF tribe doesn’t believe he is anywhere close to being that good.

In ranking the NFL’s top 32 running backs, Thomas Valentine of the PFF tribe believes White is much closer to the bottom than the top. Despite White being a clear weapon in the pass game, his lack of running really dragged White down.

How bad? Try No. 26.

26. RACHAAD WHITE, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
White doubled his total yards from scrimmage from 771 yards to 1,539 in 2023, but his efficiency on the ground dropped to 3.6 yards per attempt. Despite that, White was a big factor in the Buccaneers’ offense.

Like [James] Cook, the second-year pro made an impact in the passing game, catching 64 passes for 549 yards, and will continue to be a primary facet of the Buccaneers’ offense.

This is going to be an interesting season for White and the Bucs. Todd Bowles wants to run the ball. Yet the Bucs, with White often the No. 1 back, have been awful two years running.

Despite Joe believing White is as explosive as a live hand grenade in the passing game, if he cannot jump-start his running production, how long does Bowles and/or offensive coordinator Liam Coen continue to feed him the ball on the ground?

In the passing game, Joe wants White targeted a bunch. But if he cannot get his running game in gear for the third year in a row, it’s time to quit blaming everyone else the lack of production on the ground.

Former Bucs offensive coordinators Byron Leftwich and Dave Canales are gone. It appears the most popular scapegoat, Robert Hainsey, has been replaced.

The Bucs are running out of excuses.

9 Responses to “PFF Tribe Not A Fan Of Rachaad White’s Running”

  1. Travis Says:

    I think he’ll be much better with addition of Barton

  2. heyjude Says:

    PFF are on my naughty list at this point. Why didn’t they do their stats by years in the NFL and age too. Rachaad is only 25 years old. Yes, McCaffrey is number one and 27 years old. He has earned the title. Derrick Henry is 30. Jonathan Henry is the same age as White. Chubb is 28. Barkley 27. Aaron Jones 29. Give Rachaad a couple of more years to catch up to most of these guys. He is going to rock the house this season and his Nikes! Loved the Twitter video. Good guy.

  3. BillyBucco Says:

    3rd year breakout on the way. I have the utmost confidence in White. I think his style of running fits Coen’s scheme really well. One thing you are gonna see that will IMMEDIATELY help are more tosses to the RB. Watch the 49ers, Dolphins and Rams and how they pitch the ball on outside zones. You can even run a counter Tre off of it. Helping White outflank the LBs will be a thing of beauty. For Irving too. Quick flanking outs by the RB to spread the field will also be heavily used. If they don’t get outside in time White and Irving are gonna roast guys this year. If they do get outside quickly, Godwin and McMillan are gonna blow up inside. Culp too IMO. This offense is gonna be fun.

  4. Beejezus-belt Says:

    26th isn’t too far off for White, probably a little lower down the rung closer to 30. But, the one knee slapper here is Derrick Henry at 2. He had four 100 plus yard games all season. Other than that he was highly ineffective. He is good for getting 15 yard plus run per game after that he doesn’t have much left. This PFF guy should have stopped at 1, the article would be creditable.

  5. Allen Lofton Says:

    Bowles wants the Bucs to be able to run the ball effectively which I believe will happen this year.

  6. 74 Bucs Fan Says:

    The mighty Derrick Henry put up 33 yards on us.

  7. Proudbucsfan Says:

    How ridiculous is it to wear heavy pants a long sleeve hoodie and a skull cap in June in Tampa ?

  8. Joe Says:

    How ridiculous is it to wear heavy pants a long sleeve hoodie and a skull cap in June in Tampa ?

    Whenever Joe mentions how silly/insulting it is for players to wear ski masks even though it’s 60
    degrees and warmer/hotter, Joe gets major pushback telling him it’s fashion.

    Nothing like choking out yourself and maybe succumbing to the heat enough you have to hit the sidelines when otherwise one could be on the field, all in the name of “fashion.”

  9. Ed Says:

    White has a few flaws that slow him down:

    Hesitation move combined with a Bucs interior line that doesn’t get push allows
    defenders to get to him faster than if he started faster once he gets the hand off.

    Doesn’t get low enough and squeeze through whatever hole is there. Irving will be much better at running physically inside.

    White is one of the best receiving backs in the league. When on the perimeter his first “dig” into the turf freezes one on one tacklers and his ability to shift and break a one on one tackle is exceptional.

    A great third down back but very ineffective running into early down defenses due to his lack of vision and slow get off.