On Tuesday, the Las Vegas Raiders made multiple minor moves to patch up their wide receiver corps. Most notably, they placed Jack Bech on injured reserve and signed Cody White to the active roster, which everyone saw coming from a mile away.
Bech will miss at least four games while he recovers from a broken forearm. Coincidentally, Las Vegas maxed out its three practice squad call-ups for White. If the Raiders wanted him on the game-day roster for Week 4, they would have needed to sign him to the active roster. Now, he's a fill-in for Bech.
The Raiders also waived Justin Shorter and signed Phillip Dorsett II to their practice squad. Dorsett will essentially fill White's spot. There's been a lot of movement in the wide receiver room, to say the least, but let's talk about something important: what White's role could be with Bech out.
Cody White has established a red-zone presence in the Raiders' offense
White's scoring efficiency is off the charts. He's hauled in all three of his passes for touchdowns. Each time, Kirk Cousins has targeted him inside the 14-yard line.
He has emerged as a red-zone target, catching two touchdown passes in the second half of the Raiders' Week 2 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. White followed that up with another score to give the team a 28-27 lead in the fourth quarter of last Sunday's game.
While White isn't a high-volume pass-catcher, he shows up in crunch time. One X user (Baseballer9511) sees shades of Seth Roberts in White, which is a fair comparison and one that Raider Nation is quite familiar with.
Fans who remember Roberts' tenure can recall his timely trips to the end zone. He scored five of his 15 touchdowns in the fourth quarter or overtime—nine in the second half of games. Yet the seven-year pro never recorded more than 45 catches or logged more than 494 receiving yards in a season.
Former Raiders quarterback Derek Carr trusted Roberts in critical situations. We're seeing early signs of the same between Cousins and White, who leads the team in touchdown receptions.
White has ties to head coach Klint Kubiak through their time together with the Seattle Seahawks last year. He mostly played on special teams (45% of the snaps) and only caught three passes for 90 yards and a touchdown.
In Las Vegas, White could play a much bigger role on offense, especially with Bech on injured reserve.
According to Pro Football Focus, Kubiak featured Bowers out wide and in the slot for 44 combined snaps in his season debut. Opposing teams must identify him as a wide receiver rather than an inline tight end. Tre Tucker is a consistent starter, but Nailor has played 59% of the offensive snaps.
If Kubiak dials back on Nailor's snap count because of his catch inefficiencies, White could see more time out wide opposite Tucker when Bowers is in the slot.
Like Roberts between 2015 and 2018 in Oakland, White may not have a consistent down-to-down presence, but when the Raiders get into opponent territory, the 6-foot-3, 227-pound receiver can be a playmaker.
Moe Moton writes about the Raiders for Just Blog Baby. You can follow him on Twitter at @MoeMoton.
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