How White and Mattison were used differently in Week 1

Diving into both running backs’ performances to see how the committee will operate moving forward

With the Las Vegas Raiders shifting to a running back by committee approach this season, it wasn’t surprising to see both Zamir White and Alexander Mattison get a significant amount of playing time in Week 1 against the Los Angeles Chargers. However, it was unexpected that Mattison received 13 more snaps than White despite the latter being the starter, according to Pro Football Focus.

White’s fumble played a part in that, but the two backs were also used in slightly different ways during the season opener that could serve as an indicator of how they’ll split time throughout the rest of the campaign.

Running Game

Despite getting more playing time, Mattison had significantly fewer carries with five rushing attempts to White’s 13. Neither back had much success on the ground with the offensive line’s struggles as Mattison totaled 19 yards and averaged 3.8 ypa while White logged 46 yards and 3.5 ypa. Also, on the surface level, they had similar ratios of zone-to-gap runs; three-to-two and eight-to-five, per PFF.

However, a deeper dive shows that the free-agent addition was exclusively running north and south while the 2022 fourth-round pick was working the perimeter more often.

According to PFF’s data, all five of Mattison’s carries were between the left and right B-gaps. Coincidentally, he had about the same amount of success running into the four gaps, averaging four yards to the left and right B-gaps and right A-gap and three yards on his one rush up the middle to the left.

Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

Meanwhile, White had three rushes to the left C-gap or wider and had good production on those carries with three attempts for 17 yards, about 5.7 ypa. Similar to his counterpart, he also had success running to the left B-gap with two carries for 12 yards or six ypc. But White had a tougher time up the middle with eight rushes for 17 yards combined (about 2.1 ypr) between the left A-gap and right B-gap.

It’s a small sample size but if these trends continue, expect to see Mattison used as more of the downhill back moving forward while White’s touches are more diverse.

Passing Game

The passing attack is where the two backs significantly differentiated themselves on Sunday.

Mattison was on the field for 30 pass snaps, 24 as a receiver. He ended up catching four passes for 43 yards on six targets, the most notable being the 31-yard touchdown grab off a swing pass.

Four of the five other passes thrown his way were also behind the line of scrimmage as he racked up 49 yards after the catch on such targets, via PFF. For clarity, the difference between the YAC and yardage total comes from him getting back to the line of scrimmage after catching the ball. He also had one catch for three yards on a target past the line.

Meanwhile, White only logged 10 snaps on pass plays and had two catches for two yards. One grab was right at the line of scrimmage where he tacked on a yard after the catch while the other came three yards deep in the backfield and he added four yards after the catch. Granted, this isn’t a surprise as the third-year pro has never been much of a factor in the passing attack.

The Raiders never kept White in pass protection against the Chargers, which also shouldn’t be much of a shocker as he’s only registered 21 snaps in pass pro during his career, per PFF. But Mattison was tasked with six snaps as a pass blocker and surrendered one pressure, a quarterback hurry.

So, it’s pretty clear the coaching staff views Mattison as the third down back and that will be a big part of his role moving forward. While the expectation heading into the season might have been that would be Ameer Abdullah’s role, it’s worth noting that Abdullah didn’t receive a single offensive snap on Sunday and was only used on special teams.