Raiders RB recap: Zamir White thrived as Josh Jacobs battled an injury in 2023

The Las Vegas Raiders got great news at the end of August this past summer, as Josh Jacobs agreed on a one-year deal to remain with the team. Jacobs was coming off of an all-time season for the Silver and Black, running over and through NFL defenses en-route to a campaign that saw him rack up over 1,600 yards on the ground.

The season netted him All-Pro honors, and in the end, he finished the year as the NFL's leader in rushing yards. Jacobs found the end zone 12 times, and had nearly 100 yards per game, and incredible season by a player only in his age-25 season.

Unfortunately for Jacobs and the Raiders, he could not replicate that kind of success in 2023, as he finished the year with less than half of the rushing yards than he had the year before. Of course, a quad injury derailed his season late in the year, but even before that, he was struggling to play consistent football.

In his place over the last four games of the season, second-year running back Zamir White really turned heads.

Raiders got strong play from Zamir White down the stretch

White would get the starting nod in the final four games of the season, three of which came against AFC West opponents. He ran all over the Kansas City Chiefs, leading to his first 100-yard game of his career, rushing for 145 yards on 22 carries.

In the season finale against Denver, White ran wild again, rushing for over 100 yards and averaging 4.5 yards per carry. It was the kind of stretch that had fans wondering if he could shoulder the load in 2024 if the team cannot come to terms with Jacobs on a new deal, and once again puts a question mark at the position group going into this offseason.

Las Vegas got some help at running back from Brandon Bolden and Ameer Abdullah as well, but it was White and Jacobs who handled most of the carries this season. If the Raiders do make a change at running back in 2024, the hope is that White can be as productive as he was down the stretch, and come at a much cheaper salary cap number than Jacobs is likely to get.