Pro Football Focus released their individual running back rankings at the end of last month, and Raiders running back Zamir White ranked 32nd among his peers. On Wednesday, PFF released their ranking of running back rooms in the NFL, and once again, the Raiders did not fare well.
The Raiders ranked 31st in these rankings, ahead of only the Dallas Cowboys.
“It felt like the Raiders were left high and dry after watching Josh Jacobs sign elsewhere," Trevor Sikkema wrote. "Their backfield state is now some combination of Zamir White, Alexander Mattison and rookie Dylan Laube. White earned a 70.6 PFF rushing grade last season, while Mattison recorded a 68.4 figure.”
Obviously, this is not an elite room in the NFL, but it is far from the bottom of the barrel. As I continue to point out, Zamir White in his four starts last season averaged 99.3 yards per game on 4.7 yards per carry. He also added nine receptions for 60 yards. Sure, none of those defenses ranked in the top half of the league in rushing yards allowed per game, but White was able to achieve these numbers with Kolton Miller only playing one complete game during that stretch.
Alexander Mattison also recorded nearly 900 all-purpose yards last season, with 700 coming on the ground and 192 through the air. Though he only had three touchdowns in 2023 (all receiving), his best asset is being a complementary back. This is not to say that Zamir White will be Dalvin Cook, but the combination of these two players should easily make an impact that far outweighs their 31st ranking.
It's difficult to see how the Cincinnati Bengals and Denver Broncos are ranked ahead of the Raiders. Jaleel McLaughlin and Javonte Williams didn't do much for Denver last season while the Bengals moved on from Joel Mixon.
Dylan Laube and Ameer Abdullah project to make a large impact on special teams, which I do not believe was accounted for by PFF. However, I think that Laube could turn some heads in the receiving game. The New Hampshire product caught 171 balls for 1791 yards and 14 touchdowns in his college career, and while UNH does not play in a high-level league, it stands to reason that this production could translate to the NFL.
There are a multitude of teams ranked ahead of us that should not be, and I cannot wait for this running back room to prove all the doubters wrong.