Rachaad White And Time Behind The Line
November 29th, 2023
Advanced stat.
It was great Sunday to see Rachaad White against the Colts *finally* run for 100 yards, his first time in 28 games on American soil.
As recently as last week, Bucs assistants were griping how White is not violent enough and doesn’t attack the line. When he gets that down, he will be a stud, they said.
Many Bucs fans grumble that White tap dances too much waiting for a wide-open hole when one is just as likely opening up to his left or his right. NextGen Stats seem to bear these grievances out.
Per NextGen Stats, which is official NFL data, White stays behind the line of scrimmage an average of 2.74 seconds each run. That ranks 21st among running backs in the NFL.
So Bucs coaches kvetching about White not reacting violently when he touches the ball as a running back and some who believe he flaps his feet too much and hesitates, the NextGen Stats figure sort of backs them up.
Joe sure hopes Sunday’s game was the sign that White has turned the corner as a running back.
November 29th, 2023 at 6:42 am
I’ve read it takes a year to get zone blocking going effectively. Its hard to tell on TV but the OLine might be getting better looks for him
November 29th, 2023 at 7:35 am
He is not a power back, he is a slasher and needs to see a hole to be effective
Running up the gut in a 3 te set with no lead blocker is just assinine- but we do it 10 times a game
November 29th, 2023 at 7:41 am
I hate to be negative after a guy has 100 yards rushing but after watching highlights of the Ravens game from the other night why does a team like that have 2 or 3 backs hitting holes faster than White and speeding through when there is the smallest of openings.
White is too tall, has long strides and isn’t fast ehough to ever be a true starting running back. His pass catching ability is the best on the Bucs because he has great hands and doesn’t drop the ball. His running after the catch is because he has that shake and go move that makes people miss.
When he gets past the defender he gets first downs except he doesn’t have any breakaway speed. The big run and catch he made vs the Colts, for a moment there was space between him and the end zone but you could see that the defenders had good closing speed and caught him from behind.
Fine 3rd down back but Bucs need much more speed and shiftiness to have a decent running game. He is worthy of getting his share of targets but the 3.3 yard average and the Bucs having the worst rushing numbers in the league is partially due to his inability to make speedy cuts and lack of acceleration.
November 29th, 2023 at 7:55 am
The bucs need to give up on their running backs & look forward to the draft. White is a 3rd back. The Bucs need to fire the coaching staff & rebuild..
November 29th, 2023 at 8:15 am
I said before the season that the Bucs didn’t have that bruising short-yardage back. For some reason, fans thought Lenny fit that bill (LOL).
White is a fine RB1 in a system that doesn’t pretend to be a power running team. How about some misdirections, tosses, sweeps. You know, like MIA or SF. They run well because they’re not trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Use the tools you have.
It seems our entire OL had zero experience with zone blocking. They’ve all taken longer than expected to pick it up. The interior is too weak, and the playcalling is suspect.
November 29th, 2023 at 9:58 am
Seriously, White doesn’t have the speed or the vision to be be a very good back.
Very little lateral movement, slow to spot the holes, doesn’t get low enough to move the pile, creates an upright target for tacklers to have a good shot at him in the holes. Too tall, too much of a long strider.
He’s a wide receiver, can catch the ball, can get YAC after catch. As a regular full time running back he doesn’t possess the skill set to dash/dart and squeeze into tight spaces. No way should the Bucs be running plays for him in obvious running downs, he needs to be replaced with a regular high motor, quick moving back.
Mostly every team in the league has a quick fast back, a bruiser back and a pass catching back. The Bucs have their pass catching back in White. He is a keeper in that role, otherwise they are wasting their time running him in the first half when teams aren’t playing prevent.
November 29th, 2023 at 11:29 am
Rachaad has incredible speed and 0-60 acceleration: the screen player touchdown of two weeks ago demonstrates that without question; tapes talk and words walk.
Also, he’s a particularly intelligent player with veteran football-sense as became apparent in his rookie year: two come-from-behind, game-winning Red zone passes from the GOAT for the two Rachaad White game-winning touchdowns. The winning tapes talk, whining-words walks.
The announcers are commenting on how well Rachaad has the ability to “make something out of nothing,” and with this O-line and sad state of coaching decision making, he’s had to do plenty of that.
Rachaad also had yet another breakout run called-back on yet another O-line holding call “after the play.” that makes well over 100 yards, de facto.
100 yards rushing with the worst O-line in the NFL.
Another thing: if anyone happen to notice Derrick Henry the other game, and how he looked when trying to run up the middle with no holes? It’s not “a good look.” Every RB looks weak and indecisive when they’re stuck in that situation, it’s just the way it is. Basing an opinion on an RB from “how they look” when there is zero to work with is bogus and not too bright: they all will look as if they’re puppets on a strong being pulled-around. You can’t say Henry isn’t a big, strong type of RB, and he’s no exception. Rachaad has to deal with this behind a terrible 0-line, and ordered to go up the middle by horrible coaching/play calling.
Rachaad also had two targets, and caught two for ten yards. Best “catch percentage” in football.
With multiple combined 100 yards games, and now with the rushing 100 yards Sunday to prove another point.
Rachaad White is a rush-finesse, receiver RB like Kevin Faulk and then James White who were Brady’s “secret weapons” throughout his career: thank the GOAT who you can be sure lobbied to draft Rachaad to the Buccaneers in the first place. Tom Brady knows more about running an offense and player quality than any 32 head coaches in the NFL.
Oh, anyone mention yet that he had 100 yards playing-hurt?
November 29th, 2023 at 6:29 pm
I’m not sure that time behind line of scrimmage is a meaningful stat in terms of running back production.
In fact, I’d say this list of other running backs who have more time behind the LOS on average, yet also have better YPC pretty much confirms this:
Kenneth Walker
Jerome Ford
James Conner
Bijan Robinson
Devin Singletary
Raheem Mostert
Najee Harris
Jahmyr Gibbs
Breece Hall
Jonathan Taylor
Isiah Pacheco
Christian McCaffrey
Derrick Henry
Travis Etienne
Saquon Barkley
And I’m guessing that if given the opportunity, Joe would swap out White for any of those RBs in a heartbeat! Yet every single one of them spends more time behind the LOS than Rachaad White does…
November 29th, 2023 at 7:16 pm
Rachad needs to cut those gai looking braids just like Neal and every other player that had them. That’s why they suck at what they’re supposed to do
November 30th, 2023 at 12:40 am
To “Unbelievable:”
Yes, it’s “cherry picking” stats in an attempt to artificially assist in a pre-determined, biased conclusion.