Las Vegas Raiders RB Zamir White got a chance to prove himself down the stretch last season and ran with it … literally. Now currently atop the team’s depth chart, does White have enough upside to pique fantasy football managers’ interest in Best Ball drafts?
Zamir White’s 2024 Fantasy Outlook
If you look at White’s production over his first two seasons and nothing else, you’ll probably be left wondering why anyone should care. He managed to earn himself a whopping 17 carries as a rookie in 2022.
Zamir White breaks free for 43 yards!
📺: #LVvsKC on CBS/NICK
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/2Mgsj0ajbL pic.twitter.com/oKfu0kNCrG— NFL (@NFL) December 25, 2023
Last year, he turned 119 touches into 549 total yards, averaging 4.4 fantasy points per game. Why should fantasy managers care about that? It’s all about context.
Last season, White was the primary handcuff to Josh Jacobs. For the first 14 weeks of the season, Jacobs was healthy and on the field. As a result, White carried the ball a total of 20 times.
Once the Raiders were pretty much out of playoff contention, Jacobs was some combination of hurt/held out. As a result, he didn’t play the final four games of the season. During that span, White emerged.
From Weeks 15-18, White posted yardage totals of 85, 145, 106, and 121. He scored 17.5, 14.5, 15.6, and 13.1 fantasy points. By no means should we assume the same pace over a full season, but White averaged 15.1 fantasy points per game over that span. At the very least, we have a rough idea of what he’s capable of.
A key factor in evaluating White for the 2024 season is figuring out what his role will be. This is not a player with any semblance of a pass-catching profile. That will inherently limit his upside, especially on what projects to be a poor offense.
There are a couple of reasons to be optimistic, though. For starters, the Raiders signed Gardner Minshew II. While Minshew certainly isn’t this franchise quarterback, he’s a sizable upgrade on Aidan O’Connell and capable of keeping an offense afloat. Most important, however, might actually be the relationship between White and new head coach Antonio Pierce.
After Josh McDaniels was fired, Pierce took over as interim head coach. It was Pierce who decided to elevate White to lead back after Jacobs went down. The players, including White, all loved Pierce and lobbied for him to have the interim tag removed.
Now, Pierce is the full-time head coach, and Jacobs is gone. The only signings the Raiders made at running back were to bring back Ameer Abdullah, who will operate as the passing-down back once again, and sign Alexander Mattison.
Mattison is the one who would could potentially threaten White. But after what we saw from Mattison last season (8.3 fantasy points per game, losing his job to Ty Chandler), I believe he is there for roster depth. Mattison is the White handcuff. I do not expect him to handle more than a couple of touches each week. That puts White in the same role we saw him excel in over the final month of the 2023 season.
Should You Draft White in 2024 Best Ball Leagues?
White is currently a starting running back in the NFL. Technically, the NFL Draft could change that, but this rookie class isn’t really good enough to concern me unless the Raiders take a back in the second round. That’s not something I envision them doing. If they do draft someone, I expect it to be on Day 3. As a result, I am very interested in White at his RB32 ADP.
White certainly lacks any sort of significant upside. Unless the Raiders are a far better offense than expected and White experiences some good touchdown variance, he’s unlikely to even be as good as he was last year. But can he be around 13-14 points per game? I certainly think so.
White will be your classic two-down grinder who gets goal-line carries. That’s not someone you necessarily want to take early in fantasy drafts. But outside the top 30? Sign me up.
KEEP READING: Best Ball Fantasy RB Rankings 2024