The Las Vegas Raiders made an ill-advised gamble last offseason when they let Josh Jacobs walk in free agency. The idea was that Zamir White, who showed promise in a four-game stretch at the end of the 2023 season, would be more than capable of carrying the torch for the Raiders' offense.
That was far from the case, as he mustered just 183 rushing yards in eight games before being sidelined with a season-ending injury. After signing Raheem Mostert and drafting Ashton Jeanty, the writing was clearly on the wall for White this offseason.
Except White made a miraculous recovery, somehow leveraging a poor preseason into the No. 2 running back role over Mostert, who has been a healthy scratch. Raider Nation knew not to expect too much out of White, but things have been even worse than they imagined so far this season.
Raiders need to be honest with themselves about Zamir White
Through two games, White has played 30 offensive snaps for the Silver and Black. He has run the ball five times for six yards, which boils down to 1.2 yards per carry, and he has caught two passes for 15 yards. White is not exactly setting the world on fire.
But his poor box score stats are just the tip of the iceberg, as his advanced analytics and struggles on special teams are harming the Raiders. For instance, Smith has forced zero missed tackles this year, according to Pro Football Focus, and has an elusivity rating of 0.
Overall, White's 51.7 grade from PFF is ranked 17th on the Raiders' offense out of 19 players. His 59.9 grade in the passing game and 45.0 grade as a rusher are both well below average. His saving grace is an elite 84.5 pass-blocking grade, which is second on the team and far better than Jeanty's.
However, he has played just six snaps in pass protection this season, which is a small sample size. Over two years of data from PFF indicate that he is a below-average pass-blocker, as evidenced by his 47.8 and 46.4 marks over the last two seasons.
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Keeping White around would be justifiable if he were a major contributor on special teams, but he has been far from it. He ranks 30th out of 39 players on the Raiders with a special teams grade of 59.2, and he has the worst kick returner grade on the team with a 58.8.
Against the Chargers, in particular, he got picked on. Los Angeles kicked it to him every time in Week 2, and all four of his returns went for 25 yards or less. His longest return of the year was 31 yards, which came in the season opener, but Dylan Laube is averaging 32.5 yards per return.
White does not really have much trade value at this point, and Las Vegas would be much better off activating Mostert or letting Laube get more extended time on offense. While he was certainly a spark for the Raiders in 2023, those days are seemingly long gone.
Any compensation in a trade would be a win for the Silver and Black, but Raider Nation would not likely have any quarrels about simply parting ways with the young player. Sometimes, a change of scenery is best for both parties, even if Pete Carroll and John Spytek aren't ready to admit it yet.