Like every NFL fan did on Sunday, it looked as if Bucs running back Rachaad White was paying attention to the conference championship games. Whether he was impassioned over the games between the Chiefs and Ravens and Lions and 49ers or motivated by getting so close with the Bucs’ own playoff run, White took to X and made some future plans for himself.

Having the inspiration to reach the Super Bowl is sentiment that all NFL players have. But it’s the latter half of his post that shows how much he believes in himself. This is by no means on the same level of the famous Joe Namath way back when before Super Bowl III, however it’s evident that Rachaad White is confident enough that one day he’ll be participating in the big game soon enough.

Rachaad White Greatly Improved In His Second NFL Season

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The 2023 season was an important one for Rachaad White. It was his second year in the league, but his first as Tampa Bay’s full-time starting running back. White certainly took strides as a player, coming very close to 1,000 rushing yards at 990. He also was a huge factor in the passing game, racking up 549 receiving yards, putting his total yards from scrimmage at 1,539 on the year. That was the fourth-most amongst all running backs.

Where Rachaad White saw a big improvement was his ability to reach the end zone. After scoring just one rushing touchdown as a rookie, he jumped all the way up to six touchdowns in year two. He added three receiving scores as well, which was one more than the year prior. White added another receiving touchdown in the Bucs’ last playoff game against the Lions, which was the first touchdown of his playoff career in three games.

Some of this has to do with the fact that Rachaad White was given much more playing time as a starter and thus he’d have more opportunities, but you also have to go out and do it. And he certainly did, showing great improvement over the course of the season.

Can The Bucs Be Super Bowl Contenders?

Even though White has plans to play in the Super Bowl, he won’t be able to do it all on his own. Much of this relies on the success of the Bucs and the core of their group.

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: USA Today

Tampa Bay has an extremely tricky offseason coming up. They already had very important objectives to re-sign their top players, which include wide receiver Mike Evans, quarterback Baker Mayfield, free safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and inside linebacker Lavonte David.

Then, offensive coordinator Dave Canales took the head coaching job of the Carolina Panthers, so Todd Bowles and the Bucs now have to spend much of their time interviewing coaches to find their next offensive coordinator and play caller.

The bright side of the situation for the Bucs is that the NFC South is still very winnable and capturing the division title guarantees at least one home playoff game. It’ll likely be tougher this time around. The Falcons just hired Raheem Morris as their next head coach and Canales will try to get the best out of Bryce Young the same way he did with Geno Smith in Seattle and Mayfield in Tampa Bay. And like the Bucs, the Saints are looking for a new offensive coordinator.

With all of that said, there’s no guarantees that each of the NFC South foes of the Bucs will improve because of the new coaches who are in place. Looking around the league, one could make a strong argument that if you wanted to give a team the best chance to win a division, going through the NFC South would be the most probable.

Another positive the Bucs have going for them is the fact that they have a relatively young team, but with a good amount of playoff experience already. Rachaad White and his draft class have played in three playoff games over two seasons. The Bucs also got plenty of contributions from their rookies this year, which can only help moving forward.

A lot has to go right for the Bucs over the coming months for Rachaad White’s aspirations to come true over the next couple of seasons. At least he has the proper belief that he and the Bucs can accomplish this goal.