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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made Rachaad White the 91st prospect off the board in this year's NFL Draft. After letting Ronald Jones II walk in free agency and with Ke'Shawn Vaughn struggling to make much of an impact in two seasons, Tampa needed to reinforce their depth at running back behind starter Leonard Fournette.
Fournette didn't play much during his first season in Tampa but become the workhorse last season. He had 180 carries and ran for 812 yards and eight touchdowns. The second-leading rusher was RoJo, who had 101 carries for 428 yards and four touchdowns. Fournette was heavily targeted in the passing and finished with 84 targets, 69 receptions, 454 receiving yards, and two touchdowns.
With the new contract Fournette signed in the offseason, it looks as if fantasy managers should look forward to him being a Buccaneer for the next two seasons. It seems likely that White will be the primary backup to Fournette though. At this stage of his career, Giovani Bernard is nothing more than a depth piece and even in that role, he's only a real contributor in the passing game. Vaughn has disappointed through two seasons, which gives White a good bit of opportunity on a great offense behind a really solid offensive line. So how should fantasy be valuing White this season and what to expect from his 2022 campaign?
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Rachaad White – The Prospect
Rachaad White spent his first two years at Mt. San Antonio Junior College for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. During his sophomore season, White racked up over 1,400 scrimmage yards and scored 10 touchdowns. After the 2019 season, White was widely viewed as the third-best JUCO running back. He committed to Arizona State and enrolled for the 2020 season.
He only received 42 carries during his first season as a Sun Devil, but he did not disappoint. He racked up 420 rushing yards, good for a 10-yard per carry average. He averaged a very impressive 4.17 yards after contact per attempt. He also displayed elite efficiency in the passing game. He caught all eight of his targets for 151 yards and averaged a whopping 5.03 yards per route run, according to PFF. He averaged 18.9 yards per reception, which is absolutely ridiculous, although you need to remember it's quite a small sample size, so crazy efficiency numbers can pop up when working with such small samples. Still, he proved himself incredibly efficient and earned a bigger workload for the 2021 season.
White put on a show during his final season at Arizona State. He received 183 yards and finished with exactly 1,000 yards. His 5.5-yard per carry average was 29th out of 82 qualifying running backs who had at least 150 carries. According to PFF, he averaged 3.38 yards after contact per attempt, which ranked 36th. He showed to be a quality runner and while he may not be on Breece Hall's level in this regard, he displayed elite talent catching the ball.
Out of 45 running backs with at least 30 targets, White was seventh with an 89.6% catch percentage. His 10.6 yards per reception was also seventh in the country. He averaged a very healthy 10.5 yards after the catch average, which ranked ninth. His 2.25-yard-per-route run average was third-best. He's an extremely exciting back in terms of his receiving talents. That's not the only thing that should excite fantasy managers – he's an elite athlete.
#2 #RAS RB 2022
Rachaad White is a RB prospect in the 2022 draft class. He scored a 9.88 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 21 out of 1624 RB from 1987 to 2022. https://t.co/Aw5RgO9PfK #RAS pic.twitter.com/JryPxXb3fJ
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 13, 2022
White has excellent size at 214 pounds and still blazed a 4.48 forty time. He put up elite times in almost all of his athletic scores and displays the kind of home run speed that will allow him to score from anywhere. While the numbers and stats look excellent and very appealing to fantasy managers, those who analyzed the film have something a little different to say about White. Lance Zierlein, NFL.com's Lead Draft Analyst, had this to say about the former Arizona State standout:
"Running back with size and senior year production, but the tape is more average than exciting. White is a tight-hipped runner lacking desired lateral agility and burst after changing direction. He has a tendency to be slowed or stopped by first-level tacklers but is a more natural runner once he gets up to the second level. He fails to show enough creativity to escape the "gets what is blocked" tag, but he does run with adequate vision."
There appears to be some opportunity in Tampa Bay behind Fournette in 2022 with Jones' absence and it doesn't seem likely that Vaughn or Bernard will handle the carries he left behind. There's also the major question of who is the biggest beneficiary in the event of a possible Fournette injury. Will it be White? How should fantasy managers be valuing White this year as a rookie?
Rachaad White's Fantasy Value
Based on his draft capital, his size, the dual-threat ability he displayed in college, and the other running backs on the depth chart, fantasy managers should be treating White as the preferred Fournette handcuff. Bernard just isn't it anymore and while he would likely be used on third-downs and in the hurry-up offense, he's highly unlikely to be the biggest beneficiary if Fournette misses time. As for Vaughn, if he was someone upper management liked for that role, they wouldn't have taken White.
The handcuff status for White behind Fournette is very valuable and one fantasy managers shouldn't sleep on. If he has a good training camp and is able to even further distance himself from Bernard and Vaughn – especially Bernard in passing situations – White could find himself as one of the better handcuffs in fantasy football. The Buccaneers are an explosive offense and if Fournette misses time, White would likely be the primary ball carrier, and goal-line back, and would see his fair share of targets. In the event that Fournette misses any length of time, he's got league-winning upside, but does he have any stand-alone value?
Last season, all non-Leonard Fournette running backs received 157 carries and saw 54 targets. Tom Brady targeted his running backs 138 times last season, which was the fourth-most running back targets in the NFL. It's hard to imagine White unseating Bernard as Fournette's primary backup in passing situations because he's an experienced pass-catcher who has shown the ability to be a solid pass-blocker. That's incredibly important with Tom Brady throwing the football. If White can't pick up blocks, he's not going to play – it's as simple as that. That's a giant question mark at this time.
The most likely scenario is White will handle Ronald Jones' carries from last season and Bernard will continue to operate as the primary backup running back in passing situations. Essentially, White and Bernard will work in a timeshare for backup duties behind Fournette. White could earn more work, but a lot will depend on how fast he acclimates himself to pass protection because the Buccaneers will not risk it with Brady at quarterback.
White will most likely see 6–8 carries per game and 1–2 targets as he works in a timeshare with Bernard behind Fournette. That kind of volume and expected volume wouldn't leave him with any standalone value. It's possible that role could grow over the summer if his pass protection is up to the task, but that's a big ask for a rookie running back. It's something all rookie running backs struggle with.
The biggest part of his fantasy value comes down to his handcuff status behind Fournette. Fantasy managers will need to pay attention to training camp reports to see how White's development is coming along. Fantasy managers should temper expectations in Year One – this is still Fournette's backfield and it'll take an injury to him for White to see meaningful and fantasy-relevant touches. While his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield is an exciting one, with Bernard and Fournette on the depth chart, he might struggle to get snaps in those situations. Fantasy managers should value White in that RB45–55 range.
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