Is Rachaad White The Starting Running Back For the Buccaneers When He Returns?

Will Rachaad White start for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when he returns? John Johnson breaks down the Rachaad White return timeline and fantasy football outlook.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Rachaad White has been disappointing so far in 2024, ranking as just the RB36 and presenting almost none of the huge upside that made him the RB4 in full-PPR scoring in 2023. He's kept his poor efficiency, though.

He's averaging 3.7 yards per carry this year, just a hair above the 3.6 he logged in 2023. The reduction in volume should generally lead to a bump in efficiency, but it hasn't, and the third-year-pro is averaging fewer touches than this time last year.

So will Rachaad White remain the starting running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when he comes back?

Will Rachaad White Start For The Buccaneers When He Returns?

He will probably remain the starter, but that doesn't tell the whole story. It's often easy to get caught up in fantasy point totals, but the game of football involves more than racking up yards and scores, especially for running backs. A huge part of the former Sun Devil's game is his pass protection.

Just Rachaad White standing up a looping DL in pass protection pic.twitter.com/rqtvhEahY7

— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) October 4, 2024

You have to keep the quarterback clean in the NFL. There isn't any other option. As long as White can do this better than both of his backups, Bucky Irving and Sean Tucker, he will have a role this season.

#Bucs HC Todd Bowles on why Rachaad White out-snapped Bucky Irving 42-18:

“We were behind. We threw it a little bit more, Rachaad’s probably a better pass protector at this point, but Bucky has definitely earned more reps.”

Bowles has an 80% reliability rating on usage/workload… pic.twitter.com/VmhGOs7aUE

— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) September 23, 2024

Head coach Todd Bowles made this clear in a press conference earlier this season.

Rachaad White Fantasy Football Outlook

It's easy to think that third-stringer Tucker's performance all but slams the door shut on White's hold on the starting job, but he got just one carry in the first half and racked up a ton of points in garbage time. The Saints' defense essentially gave up toward the end of the game, which is something you see sometimes in huge blowouts.

Excellent tackling by the Saints on Chris Godwin

pic.twitter.com/otMQuDVlfJ

— the Sports ON Tap (@thesportsontap) October 13, 2024

New Orleans defenders showed essentially no effort once the game was out of reach. Had White had a chance to play in this game, it's entirely possible he could've broken off big runs, or perhaps Tampa Bay would've utilized Irving more in these situations and he would've had a massive point total.

White doesn't have the upside he had last season, and it's likely that Irving continues to eat into his workload, considering the efficient outing he had on Sunday. He averaged 5.8 yards per carry and 12 yards per catch. That's how you earn more work as a runner.

A 50/50 split of backfield work is fast approaching, and that makes White borderline unstartable in fantasy leagues. He's a low-end RB3/FLEX with downside for less.

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