Zamir 

White

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It’s evident the team has no intentions of using him on third downs. Last season, White became the primary running back for the Raiders during the final four weeks after playing six snaps a game at most as a rookie in 2022 and 14 snaps a game at most over the first three quarters of 2023. During those five games last season, he played one of a possible 34 snaps on third-and-5-plus, with Ameer Abdullah taking those reps.

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White started the third quarter of the secondpreseason game after playing on and off throughout the first half, which is highly unusual for a presumed starting running back. At that point, the Raiders had their backup quarterback in, along with their fourth- to sixth-string wide receivers, their third-string tight end, and only one offensive lineman projected to start at the beginning of training camp. Notably, two typical starting offensive linemen didn’t play at all, and three veteran linemen had already been taken out of the game.

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It’s almost unheard of for a starting running back to play in the second half of any preseason game, except for rookies working their way up the depth chart. In the past three seasons, the only running back to play in the second half of the second preseason game and finish as a top-50 fantasy running back was Devonta Freeman in 2021. That was during a preseason game with the New Orleans Saints, and he only later signed with the Baltimore Ravens after their running backs suffered injuries.