The backfield for the Bucs could look very different in 2022. With only Ke’Shawn Vaughn under contract, the Bucs have met with nearly every running back at the NFL Combine. By the end of day three, Tampa Bay had talked with about 10 running backs, either formally or informally.

The group of running backs that Pewter Report can confirm spoke with the Bucs are:

Isaiah Spiller – Texas A&M
Breece Hall – Iowa State
Dameon Pierce – Florida
James Cook – Georgia
Max Borghi – Washington State
Kyren Williams – Notre Dame
Brian Robinson – Alabama
Tyler Allgeier – BYU
Isaih Pacheco – Rutgers

And last but not least, Rachaad White from Arizona State. The former Sun Devil said that he had a formal and informal meeting with the Bucs. Is he at the top of their list?

Arizona State RB Rachaad White – Photo by: Pewter Report

“It went smooth,” White said about his conversation with Tampa Bay. “It was regular, just smooth conversation. You can be yourself, you get to be yourself. And you get to see who they really are, things like that. It went great.”

White has been on Pewter Report’s radar for awhile. He was in Scott Reynold’s first mock draft of the year, where he had Tampa Bay selecting White in the fifth round. Here’s what Reynolds had to say about the running back.

White has a similar running style to Leonard Fournette – although not as big – and Le’Veon Bell. He’s a patient runner with solid vision and good, but not great speed. Still, White is fast enough to accelerate through the holes and turn the corner at the next level when he hits the gas.

White showed promise in the four games he played in during his first season at Arizona State in a COVID-shortened 2020 campaign. He averaged 10 yards per carry before becoming the workhorse back for the Sun Devils as a senior. In 2021, White ran for 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns. Yet he was even more impressive as a receiver, catching 43 passes for 456 yards and a healthy 10.6 average.

That’s actually one of the first things White mentioned when speaking at the combine. He even mentioned that Bell is a player that he models his game after.

“Vision and patience are in my game,” White said. “I like to let the play develop, things set up how they’re supposed to set up. It’s like a gene sometimes. You either got it or you don’t get it.”

He also gave an honest criticism of his game when it comes to hunting for the huge play.

“I won’t lie, one thing I can say, sometimes it can be the worst of me,” White said. “Sometimes the play is good [how] it’s [developing], and I try to force a play and I’m missing something. You try to be a playmaker. And when you are a playmaker sometimes that happens, that’s a part of the game.”

We know the kind of running back that Bruce Arians loves: any back that can block.

“You can’t be a bell cow back if you can’t protect the quarterback,” Arians said on Tuesday. “Now we have to take you out of the game if you can’t get a blitz pickup. We can get by with a guy who is average catching the ball. But they have to be able to protect the quarterback.”

In that area of the game, White believes his biggest strength is the heart and the willingness to put his face in the fan. I’m sure Arians won’t mind hearing that.

“I’m very comfortable with it,” White said. “I feel like pass protection has a lot to do with technique, which I’ve talked to a lot of coaches about that I need to correct. But at the end of the day, pass protection for me is just all heart. It’s all being willing to do it. So coaches see that on my film. I get the job done, so that’s a big thing for me.”