The Raiders didn’t play all of their veterans in Thursday night’s Hall of Fame Game, but they did have running back Josh Jacobs and Kenyan Drake in uniform against the Jaguars.
It was another back who wound up generating the most action for the team, however. Fourth-round pick Zamir White ran 11 times for 52 yards and caught three passes for 23 yards in his first taste of NFL game action.
After it was over, Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels complimented the rookie and said that he showed the same kind of ability that drew the Raiders to him in the first place.
“He did that in Georgia. He ran hard with the ball in his hands and is tough to tackle,” McDaniels said, via the team’s website. “He finishes runs the right way, brings a physical element to the game and the team. It was a good opportunity for him to get in there and do that at our level and play in the kicking game some. Like I said, there’s going to be some things that we have to tweak and clean up, but I thought for him to get out there and establish – that’s the style of runner he was at Georgia, and then to see him do it here was good.”
The Raiders have plenty of time to make decisions about how their backfield will shake out this season, but neither Jacobs nor Drake are under contract beyond this season and continued good work for White would help his bid for a lasting role in the Vegas offense.