Buccaneers rookie in perfect position to break offensive curse
By Rob Leeds
The Buccaneers haven’t drafted a running back that found success in year one since Doug Martin. Can Rachaad White help end this curse?
The Buccaneers have been very bad at drafting running backs over the past decade. Doug Martin was obviously great, but the picks since him have left plenty to be desired, especially in their rookie seasons.
People rarely expect a rookie to come in and dominate in their first season, but the at least expect these guys to show a little bit of what made the Bucs draft them in the first place. That hasn’t been happening in Tampa.
Despite spending valuable picks on the likes of Ronald Jones, Ke’Shawn Vaughn, and Charles Sims, the Buccaneers have seen their running backs struggle with one part of their game or another for their entire time with the Bucs.
Some would argue that Jones eventually developed and the door is still open for Vaughn, but there is clearly a disconnect between this front office and determining who the best running backs to target are.
Maybe Rachaad White can help flip the script.
White is another Day Two picks by the Buccaneers that went earlier than most people expected. An athletic freak, White is in a position to compete for the second role during his rookie season behind Leonard Fournette.
Some people may think that a rookie should get more time and that White is stuck as the fourth guy on the depth chart, but trying to figure out why the Bucs would take a running back in the third to be their fourth guy starts to poke holes in this way of thinking.
White needs to play, and the Buccaneers need him to be better than most of their recent rookie running backs.
No one is expecting Doug Martin. But it would be more than fair to say that Rachaad White should be able to put up more than 130 total yards and a bunch of drops in his first year.
There isn’t an exact number that White needs to hit to be considered a hit for his draft position, but it is clear that the pressure is on for the extremely athletic back with an impressive college tape to change a negative narrative that is growing in Tampa.
We think he can do it.
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