Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said this week that he's comfortable with a rotation of Bucky Irving and Rachaad White. The latter showed exactly why his coach has that faith during the Bucs' 28-13 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.
White led the Bucs on the ground with 90 yards on 17 carries with a score and added 19 yards on two catches and another score through the air. The rushing and receiving score in the game marked the first time in White's career that he'd accomplished the feat, per the team.
I have to admit, that announcement surprised me when I saw it. White has been active both in the running game and in the passing game during his career, so I kind of thought he'd have tallied both in the same game before. He had 990 rushing yards with 6 touchdowns and 5429 receiving yards with 3 scores last year during the regular season in 2023.
But the Bucs needed him to be busy on Sunday against a Raiders defense that, after some early struggles, dug their heels in for the middle two quarters of the game. Baker Mayfield struggled substantially during that same stretch, throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble after a sack.
The Bucs also did not have Bucky Irving to lean on much, as he only tallied 4 carries for 3 yards before leaving the game with those hip/back injuries that limited him in practice during the week.
Instead, Liam Coen got White involved in the offense, and it paid off. White, after runs of 13 and 12 yards on back-to-back plays, slipped out and caught a dart from Mayfield to just cross the goal line for the second touchdown of the game. Then, in the fourth quarter, White fought his way through a crowd and reached the goal line to give Tampa Bay some breathing room at 21-10.
We'll see in the coming days if there were any setbacks during the game for Irving from where he was last week. There's little doubt that he's still the back with the highest ceiling on the roster.
However, White has shown that Coen won't have to change anything in the ground game or passing attack if the talented rookie misses any time. He's still the same versatile player he showed to be in 2023.
