Oakland Raiders: Big Bodies in the Backfield

LenDale White was recently released by the Seahawks who just acquired him in a draft day trade and now he's a free agent.

You may be thinking, "We have Michael Bush, why would we want another power back?"

My answer is simple, "Why not?"

Right now, our third and fourth running backs aren't looking too great. White would be an instant upgrade over Cartwright and Bennent. We then would have one more big pair of legs to wear down the defense. 

Also, Darren McFadden has missed seven games in the last two years due to injury. If he goes down again, White would be a great compliment to Bush.   

White will also make this rushing attack multi-dimensional. Like Raider Card Addict put it in a recent article:



"In more recent years, tandem play has had some nice effects, with the Raiders relying on three styles of backs. You have a punishing back, who slowly wears down the defensive line. You have a shifty, finesse back who specializes on manipulating the gaps in the line. Lastly, you have the goal line threat, who finds paydirt if all that is needed is three yards or less.

The most recent use of this as an effective tool was the triumvirate of Tyrone Wheatley, Charlie Garner, and Zack Crockett."

This would bring back that same tandem of running backs.

Bush—Wear down the defense.

McFadden—Manipulating gaps and making defenders chase him.

White—The short-yardage goal-line back.

Recent history shows this tandem can be effective, so lets get back to it. 

It would also vastly improve our defense. With three good RBs, we can run it more and more effectively and keep our defense on the sidelines.

Just like the Dolphins do.

It will be a low-risk possible high reward move that could all around help our team, I say we go for it.


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