After five years with Josh Jacobs as the workhorse back for the Raiders, there’s a new feature back in Las Vegas. The job has been passed to Zamir White and the former fourth round pick out of Georgia knows his mindset must change with his new responsibilities.
“Last year my role was more like a quiet guy who was there when they need me I’m here,” said White. “But now I got to grow back into that vocal leader and just show it on the field every single day.”
As new teammate Alexander Mattison put it, White has taken “ownership” of his new role and the different mindset.
The last time White had these kind of expectations was in his Georgia days when he carried the ball over 300 times between his junior and senior seasons. He has just 121 carries over his two seasons with the Raiders, 84 of those carries coming over the final four games of last season filling in for the injured Jacobs.
He averaged 4.7 yards per carry over those four games and twice went over 100 yards rushing. Even still, he’s not looking back.
“Last year was last year,” White said. “I gotta move on from that and build off what we got going on right now. That’s the past.”
With this new year ahead, White said he’s not setting any personal goals. That’s not something he ever does.
While he is expected to be the feature back, he isn’t expected to shoulder the kind of load Jacobs did in his time in Silver & Black. New GM Tom Telesco has said multiple times he envisions the Raiders backfield as utilizing several backs. But White will have the shot to lead the way among the group and carry the bulk of the load.