NFC Notes: Rachaad White, Sean Tucker, Buccaneers, Falcons, Saints QB Competition

Buccaneers

Buccaneers RB Rachaad White is set to be Tampa Bay’s No. 2 running back behind Bucky Irving. Tampa Bay RBs coach Skip Peete praised White for his skill in the passing game and thinks they’ll be able to blend Irving and White next season. 

“I think he does an unbelievable job as a pass protector,” running backs coach Skip Peete said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “He plays with a little more patience, but he’s a very, very capable and good pass protector. Obviously, he’s very talented when he gets in a pace with the ball. Now, I think he’s a very good and disciplined route runner and those are areas that I think he really excels at. He’s a good, solid runner as well. But I think we have a guy (Irving) who is a little bit electric that carries the ball now. But I think they both blend together very well.”

As for third-year RB Sean Tucker, Peete said they are going to need him to contribute as well. 

“I haven’t even touched on Sean and he’s probably the guy you’d say gets the short end of the stick, but I think we need him as well,” Peete said. “There’s been games we’ve put him in and everybody has to have an opportunity to play. Sometimes your play count is higher than others, but I think you look at it and take advantage of your opportunity, I think it all kind of works out.”

Falcons

The Falcons used two draft picks on defensive backs, including third-round S Xavier Watts and fourth-round S Billy Bowman Jr., who are expected to vie for jobs immediately. Atlanta assistant HC Jerry Gray has already nicknamed the duo because of their passion and spoke on the heightened competition they bring. 

“I’m probably going to nickname them ‘Fire and Ice’ because they are the same,” Gray said, via Tori McElhaney of the team’s website. “When you talk to them you can see the same thing, too.”

“Those guys are going to be great for our room. We are basically trying to create more competition, get our current players playing better and at a higher level. And guess what? If that happens they are going to make us better.”

Atlanta secondary coach Justin Hood raved about their high football IQs combined with their nose for the football. 

“You talk to both these guys, you do their interviews, like I remember doing their interviews and writing down in my notes: These guys are high-level thinkers on the football field. Extremely high FBI,” Hood said. “So, when you talk about those things and their ability to go get the football, it’s not only the ability to catch it; it’s the ability to put themselves in position and understand how the offense is attacking them to go make those plays.”

Saints

Saints WR Brandin Cooks has a front-row seat to the quarterback competition between second-round rookie Tyler Shough and 2024 fifth-rounder Spencer Rattler. 

“I think it should bring the best out of you, and so it’s fun seeing those guys compete,” Cooks said, via Pro Football Talk. “They’re all three of them having a great spring. And so it’s going to be fun to watch that competition. They’re playing with a lot of confidence, both of those guys. And you can see the competition going on. They can definitely sling it. So I look forward to continuing to see that grow.”

“Be you, don’t try to do anything outside the box, be coachable, do what Kellen’s trying to get you to do, and lock in and let everything else take care,” Cooks told the young quarterbacks. “There’s a lot of speed, there’s a lot of space and those guys, those big boys up front, even though we ain’t got pads on, we definitely got a special unit up front to be able to protect the quarterback and to be able to do what we want to do outside at the perimeter. And at the end of the day, we’re going to do the best that we can and do our job to the best of our ability and let Coach kind of call the plays and let everything else take care of itself.”