It’s a new-look backfield for Las Vegas
With former standout running back Josh Jacobs gone, the focal point of the Las Vegas Raiders’ running game will be third-year player Zamir White, who is entering his first season as the starter.
But White is not alone as the Raiders’ move away from Jacobs, who signed with the Green Bay Packers in free agency. The Raiders signed former Minnesota Vikings’ running back Alexander Mattison to help carry the load. Mattison, 26, is ready to get to work with White, who he is excited about working with as he was with former Minnesota start running back Dalvin Cook earlier in his career.
“(White) is the guy that has been in a position similar to where I was over in Minnesota with Dalvin [Cook], and for him to have to step up and be in a different type of mindset is something that I’ve seen from him,” Mattison said at a recent OTA session. “Even just as a group, were able to come together and have goals as a group and just love on one another, teach each other, lending a helping hand to one another. And I’m excited for this running back room.”
While White is expected to be the starter, Mattison knows it will be a group effort and he will have a key role.
“With the right guys, with the right group, with the right coach, it makes that process a lot easier,” So, for us to be able to have a good group of backs, there’s some young guys in the room but we’re all relative to one another in that sense, and we help one another. If I have a question, Ameer’s [Abdullah] there, Zamir’s [White] there. If he has a question, I’m here. It’s one of those things where we all help each other out in learning a new system and we’re all in this together. And yeah, so far it’s working out, and so far, we’re taking those right steps in the right direction.”
Mattison had a career-high 700 yards rushing in a season which he had a career-high 13 starts in 2023. He also had 30 catches for 192 yards last seoans and he has 100 receptions in his five-season NFL career. He’s excited about the opportunity to catch passes out of the backfield in Luke Getsy’s offense.
“I think it’s a big part of this offense. I mean, you see where coach Gesty’s been before, Aaron Jones and [David] Montgomery, those guys and the system that they were in when he was there,” Mattison said. “Catching out the backfield is a big part of this offense, so being able to do that. We’re all capable of doing in that in that room, so I just hope that I can be a part of that as well.”
Mattison loves everything about his Raider’s experience so far from the running back room to the coaching staff to his defensive teammates to even the weather.
“First thing that comes to mind, hot. I love it though, I’m from California, so it’s nice to be back on the West Coast, back in the heat,” Mattison said. “But definitely the energy, the energy is different here. Love being around guys like Maxx [Crosby], Christian [Wilkins], they bring a different type of mentality up front on that defensive side. We have a physical, young group of guys. The coaching staff, their energy is amazing, so I’m just extremely excited to be here.”