Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Rachaad White was injured against the Detroit Lions in Week 2 and was spotted working with trainers along the sidelines. While he eventually returned to action, White’s injury status is worth watching as we approach Week 3.
What is the latest update on White’s injury following the injury report from the team on Thursday, and could fantasy managers need a backup plan?
What Happened to Rachaad White?
White picked up a groin injury during the first quarter of the Bucs’ game against the Lions on Sunday. Tampa Bay listed him as questionable to return.
But White wasn’t sidelined for long. After stretching with the Buccaneers’ medical staff, White quickly returned, re-entering Week 2’s game for the final play of the club’s third offensive drive. He finished the day with 18 yards on 10 carries while adding 1 catch for 5 yards.
The first real update we got about White was on Wednesday when he was listed as limited at practice with the groin issue and that remained the case on Thursday.
The key now is that White does not get downgraded on Friday. Any downgrade at this point would likely mean he will be ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos.
Can Fantasy Managers Expect White to Play in Week 3?
At this stage, it feels like the answer will be yes. However, there is no harm in fantasy managers making a backup plan for a couple of reasons. Firstly, there is still a lot that can happen between now and Sunday in terms of aggravating injuries and getting downgraded. That can be hard to predict and is very player—and injury-dependent.
The second issue is that White is not playing very well in 2024. He is averaging less than two yards per carry across 25 attempts. White has rushed for just one first down and has a success rate of 32%. It is worth noting that he has caught all seven targets for 80 yards with a success rate of 57.1%.
I compiled every Rachaad White run from Sunday and the tape was a lot better than what I thought it was going to be. I saw a runner who was more decisive hitting holes. In fact, he created some plays out of nothing. I think the 2.1 YPC is a bit deceiving, IMO. pic.twitter.com/eoLpNOj6h6
— Evan Closky (@ECloskyWTSP) September 10, 2024
Some of it is clearly a problem with the offensive line, as White is averaging 0.0 yards per carry before contact and 2.0 yards per carry after contact. However, this is not a new problem for White.
In 2023, White took 272 carries for 990 yards and six touchdowns, but he wasn’t very efficient. He ranked sixth-worst in rushing yards over expectation per attempt last season. In other words, a league-average RB would have been expected to gain more yardage than White did in the same offensive situations.
Where White excelled last year was also in the passing game. He had a success rate above 50% in each of the last two years when catching the ball and has proven to be much more adept in the open field than in a conventional RB role.
Should Fantasy Managers Look to Bucky Irving?
What compounds the issue for White is that Bucky Irving is playing incredibly well through two weeks. He is averaging 5.3 yards per attempt on 16 carries, with a success rate of 43.8%. Intriguingly, he is not doing as well in the passing game but only has three targets, so his 33.3% success rate is based on a very small sample.
The interesting element is that Irving is averaging 3.8 yards per attempt before contact and 1.5 yards per attempt after contact. He is doing a better job of finding open holes and making plays, but is not as good once a defender gets to him. We should caveat it by saying that one long run can alter these figures drastically this early in the year, so it is not an indication Irving is playing considerably better.
However, if the rookie from Oregon State continues to make plays and White continues to struggle, this will only lean toward more of a timeshare. If you have White on your roster, it may be worth trying to acquire Irving as a handcuff or looking to the waiver wire to add another option on another team as an insurance policy.