Tailback Rachaad White reveals the offensive woes for this season's Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a candid interview on 'Loose Cannons' podcast.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished the season 8-9 and missed the playoffs in part because the offense struggled after the team's Week 9 bye.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield played nowhere near the MVP level he was at during the first month of the season, and the Buccaneers lost seven of their last nine games after a 6-2 start.
Running back Rachaad White was part of that offense. While he had a fine season, particularly while Bucky Irving was out, White was understandably frustrated with the output of the offense under first-year offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard, who was let go after the season.
White appeared on Tuesday's the Loose Cannons podcast and talked about the Bucs' offense and what went wrong.
"When you look on paper, we were loaded," White said. "But I look at it like it's only one football.
"As an OC, you're trying to get everybody the ball in the right manner or the right way and do this or do that. I don't think it went as planned."
White, a four-year pro who's now a free agent, acknowledged the Buccaneers suffered through "some tough injuries" down the offensive line.
"I think guys that stepped in, they held their own a good amount of the time," White said. "We won some big games, especially without a lot of our main guys."
White also talked about how the offense may have been more complicated than it needed to be and how an offense sometimes just needs to get the ball to their playmakers.
He mentioned two seasons ago, when Dave Canales, now the head coach of the Carolina Panthers, was the Bucs' offensive coordinator and would call screens early just to get the ball in the hands of a player like White.
White finished this season with 572 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 132 carries, and he added 218 yards on 40 receptions.
White is set to enter free agency in March and has already been saying his good-byes to Buccaneers fans, a sign that he is unlikely to re-sign with the team. Irving has taken over as the lead back and Sean Tucker, who is a restricted free agent, played well in his limited opportunities.
White also sounded off on the podcast episode about coach Todd Bowles, saying the Bucs' head coach should find someone else to serve as defensive coordinator.
Between injuries and the passing-game struggles, no Buccaneers receiver reached 1,000 yards this season, including the franchise's receptions leader Mike Evans, who missed the mark for the first time in his 12-year career. Evans finished with 368 yards and three touchdowns on 30 catches. The two-time All Pro and future Hall-of-Famer was beset by injuries that limited his season to eight games.
Rookie Emeka Egbuka led the team in receiving with 938 yards and six touchdowns on 63 catches. He saw a team-high 127 targets. The next-highest was 81 targets for tight end Cade Otton.
Mayfield finished with 3,693 yards, 26 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. That was down from 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in 2024 under offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who in January 2025 moved on to coach the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Buccaneers are continuing their search for a new offensive coordinator; the expectation is that the new offensive play-caller will get Mayfield and the offense back on track and get the Buccaneers back in contention in the NFC in 2026.
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