Believe it or not, your fantasy football draft is just around the corner. Most drafts occur sometime in August and we are just two weeks away from the first preseason game of the year.
That means it’s time to start discussing potential sleepers going into the 2024 season and of course, that means that Zamir White needs to be mentioned. He is expected to be the starting running back for Las Vegas and that means he should see a ton of action.
In a recent article by The Athletic, they named one fantasy breakout player for all 32 teams. For the Raiders, that player was, of course, Zamir White. Here is what Vic Tafur had to say about the third-year running back from Georgia going into the season:
If Jerome Bettis was “The Bus,” then White is “The Tank” after this offseason’s workout regimen. There is no guarantee White will be the Raiders’ bell cow after Josh Jacobs left for Green Bay but he has four things going for him:
1) He did well in his four-start audition at the end of last season, running for 397 yards on 84 carries;
2) Coach Antonio Pierce wants to run the ball, never mind all the cool gadgets in Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers;
3) new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy has spoken very highly of White, even praising his receiving skills (he only had nine catches for 60 yards in those last four games);
4) the Raiders haven’t signed another RB yet, so White’s competition is Alexander Mattison, Ameer Abdullah and rookie Dylan Laube. He could probably bench press all three at the same time.
The starting running back for the Raiders during the nine games Antonio Pierce coached in 2023 recorded 189 carries. It’s clear that Pierce wants to lean on the rushing attack and White is expected to see a majority of that work.
White is currently being drafted around pick No. 90 in most fantasy leagues, making him a massive value. Take him a few rounds earlier than that as you are going to want to make sure that he is on your team in 2024.