Drenched, tired, and all but frozen as he slugged through a bombardment of rain, Rachaad White found out what it meant to be a game-changer.

Arizona State clung to a 10-point deficit on the road against Washington and appeared to be in stagnation. The steady downpour bolted shut any schemes for offensive improvisation. The team’s identity as a run-first attack was no secret when the game started, but now its intentions were unmasked entirely.

Passing the football was out of the question as the game entered its final hour. The Sun Devils had to run the ball, and they needed to score. So they turned to their best playmaker and placed the game in his hands.

The grueling duel in the trenches sapped the strength of both sides. White looked into the facemasks of the fatiguing players sloshing for field position alongside him during the heart of a 20-play drive. Each one feigned more endurance than they actually had. White admitted later that he was also exhausted.

In that crossroads moment, he saw something that enabled him to push through.

“You could see it in my teammates’ eyes,” White said. “Guys that believe in me, and I believe in myself. You could see it in the opponent team’s eyes, too.”

Among the ASU players: hope, faith, and confidence his magic would carry them to the finish line.

Among the Washington players: an understanding of that confidence and, consequently, the dread of inevitability.

In the fourth quarter, White became unstoppable as ASU handed the ball off on all but two plays. He led the team in both rushing and receiving yards. ASU clawed back to convert on three red-zone trips, and White took the rock in himself for two touchdowns. In a pure workhorse role, White shouldered 32 carries for 184 rushing yards, adding five catches for 53 yards through the air. The individual performance accounted for 63% of the team’s offense.

White willed Arizona State to a comeback 35-30 win that night. After the game, he reckoned it was the best win of his entire life. For many, it was further evidence of White’s takeover potential and delivery in the clutch. When White is on a roll, there are few situations better for an offense to be in.

“Just knowing that you can run the ball every time and get the yards it’s an amazing feeling,” offensive lineman LaDarius Henderson said. “That’s what complete domination feels like.”

From the moment White joined the Sun Devils, it was abundantly clear that the best option in ASU’s playbook has been the call that puts the ball in his hands. Over the last two years, no running back in the 2022 NFL Draft was graded higher by Pro Football Focus than White, who was given a 92.4 score. Yet, with less than a month until the draft opens, White’s domination largely remains undetected outside of those in the West fortunate to have witnessed its devastation firsthand.

It is time to take White seriously as one of the best running backs in the upcoming class.

***

The COVID-19 pandemic kept White shrouded. With the college football world on lockdown in the interest of safety for its players, coaches, and staff, only tiny bits of information available to the public truly reflected the star power of the junior college transfer. A highlight tape from his days at Mt. San Antonio College showed promise. Wearing a different shade of maroon, the well-built slasher utilized his blocks intelligently, broke tackles in space, and indicated he would be a serviceable weapon in the receiving game out of the backfield.

Perhaps the fever over the 2020 ASU recruiting class had a hand in overshadowing White’s arrival to Tempe as well. DeaMonte Trayanum and Daniyel Ngata, both consensus four-star prospects and ranked in the top 20 nationally for their position, had enrolled that spring and made positive early impressions. Trayanum accumulated rave reviews as a power back who already possessed the necessary college-ready strength. Ngata’s hybrid skillset and compact frame compared to former ASU running back Eno Benjamin, who left the previous winter for the NFL Draft.

Benjamin’s departure played a significant role in bringing White to Tempe. The youth element in the room was both exciting and concerning for ASU running backs coach Shaun Aguano. He wanted a mature upperclassman who could lead by example and allow the newcomers to adjust to expectations at the desired intervals.

“Once I talked to Rachaad and understood him and his goals, the way he goes day-by-day from a professionalism standpoint, I told him I needed that leadership in the room,” Aguano said. “But he had to come and win the job, get to the playbook quicker and process that.”

White’s stand-up personality and work ethic stood out to Aguano. His playstyle drew parallels to D.J. Foster, another ASU alum, but with more size and longer strides. His versatility also caught the eye of then-defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce, coincidentally an alum of Mt. SAC. After White announced his decommitment from UCLA, a flurry of offers came in. Pierce mentioned White three times in meetings with ASU’s staff before the Sun Devils made their move in May.

Pierce’s unrelenting persistence paid off. White committed five days later, leaving behind the JUCO scene he had risen to the top of for an opportunity where he would have to prove himself once again.

“The staff and school I am committing to I feel will give me all the resources and knowledge I need to know and understand how to make it in life as a man, father, and husband when that time comes,” White wrote in a social media post declaring his pledge to the Sun Devils.

Practices in the fall foreshadowed what was to come. The fans may not have noticed yet, but the ASU players quickly realized White, even as a late addition to the roster, was different. White’s demonstrations of athleticism stick with them to this day.

“It was either a one-on-one rep or during seven-on-seven where he hit me with an angle route,” linebacker Kyle Soelle said. “I was like, ‘that’s quick twitch, for real.’”

“I saw him hit a hole on an inside zone going like 20 miles an hour,” said defensive end, Michael Matus. “This kid was freaking ridiculous. But he wasn’t afraid to hit the holes, and that’s what really shocked me. As a defensive lineman, you want to try to get a running back to make cuts in the backfield. He’s one cut and go.”

One full year before he would block for White in the torrid conditions against Washington, a specific run in practice sold Henderson on the running back’s astonishing abilities. Since then, Henderson knew White was a special player.

“Rachaad made a jump cut right, left, and back to the right three times in three perfect, spacious jumps,” Henderson. “I remember me and (linebacker) Darien Butler were like ‘bro, that’s crazy.’ We had never seen anything like it. He just hit the hole, did that in traffic, and set it up so he would be untouched.”

It didn’t take long for White to introduce himself to the Pac-12.

Playing in an empty Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to kick off what would ultimately be a four-game 2020 COVID season, White motioned out of the split-back formation into the flat to receive the swing pass from quarterback Jayden Daniels. White read his initial block, dropped his hips, and took the outside lane along the sideline. He jettisoned ahead of the safety, slanting to knock him out of bounds, maintained his balance, and sprung back toward the middle off one more block by a downfield receiver.

Then he was gone.

“I didn’t know he had that kind of long speed,” Aguano said. “Once I saw that, I said, ‘Okay, now we got something here.’”

It looked too easy for White in his first appearance playing Power Five football.

The instant poise to be a playmaker immediately after the catch. The explosion ahead of downhill pursuit. The trust in his vision to navigate a crowded mash of USC defenders. The unwavering calmness.

Before he was a full-time running back, White loved basketball. The triple-threat stance he exercised upon receiving the catch was a form he repeatedly practiced in the gym. However, despite that background, getting defenders off their mark was something he needed to work on.

“I have a movement trainer, and he always teaches me things like that,” White said while discussing the play in an interview with Devils Digest. “If I was talking to him right now, he would call this a rocker step. I jab with my right and my left, but I’m still gaining ground. He was out of position after that, and then you just gotta explode.”

ASU lost 28-27 to USC in dramatic comeback fashion, allowing two touchdowns in the game’s closing minutes. White finished with 146 total yards and the score, a silver lining to soften the sting. A COVID-19 breakout in ASU’s program would cut its season to four games, but White’s performance over that stretch was magnificent. He produced at an outrageous clip, averaging 10.0 yards per attempt. He finished with 420 rushing yards, 151 receiving yards and found the end zone six times.

The 2021 season saw White flourish as the unquestioned starter and multifaceted tailback. White took 182 attempts for 1,006 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns, the latter of which ranked third in the Pac-12. His near 41.5 receiving yards per game led all FBS running backs. He maintained an efficient 7.4 yards per carry while creating 56% of his yards from scrimmage after contact. In eight of his eleven games, White racked up over 100 all-purpose yards.

If weather analysts predicted football games, they would forecast a probable chance for dynamite every time White is on the field. Former offensive coordinator Zak Hill used to get a call over the headset from Aguano multiple times per game. The message?

“C’mon, Zak. Run the ball.”

***

During warmups ahead of the kickoff of ASU’s season opener against Southern Utah, White beamed into the camera lens of a team videographer.

“Yeahhh, don’t worry about it,” White said, drawing out the end of the first word.

The saying has propelled him through tough times. It reminds him to keep his head up and focus on what he can control. He gets it from a viral video published in 2019. The footage is of a confident young boy named Brandon, who is filmed walking down the sidewalk bullishly, describing how people always ask him about his scent. White carries the same self-assurance with him around the clock.

It hasn’t been easy. The journey to reach the point where White could chase his dream of playing in the NFL has been a long one.

A talented running back for Center High School in Kansas City, Missouri, White received zero Division I offers out of high school despite racking up over 2,000 all-purpose yards as a senior. He was looked at but never ranked. White settled for Nebraska-Kearney, a Division II school, but realized it was a poor fit for him and redshirted. Big schools, including ASU, only started to take notice after his transfer to Mt. SAC, and he subsequently filled the stat sheet.

The period of perseverance was a valuable lesson for White. It taught him to avoid dwelling on factors outside of his influence. It molded his work ethic. He uses his experience as added motivation to compete.

Most of all, it taught White patience, which has oozed into his craft.

Rather than attack the fray head-on, White allows his blocks to develop and takes full advantage of the offensive line’s efforts. His vision is excellent, promptly identifying running lanes and cutbacks rapidly before shooting through gaps with urgent burst. White’s efficient procedure often needs just a single cut to surge forward past congestion.

The unspoken trust between White and his blockers allowed the team to average 193.4 rushing yards per game last season.

“If a guy is influencing one gap, I can just take him there and Rachaad will adjust off of me,” Henderson said. “He doesn’t blindly put his head down and run in there. He helps us out.”

White decimated USC again in 2021, turning 28 carries into 202 rushing yards and three touchdowns. His 50-yard score in the fourth quarter illustrated the qualities Henderson praised. As Daniels handed the ball off the White, Henderson pulled across the formation from the left guard spot and plunged into the B-gap.

White shot through the crater in the defense and was up on the toes of the USC safety in a blink. That was a second development for White since he joined the Sun Devils. White worked to put defenders in a bind with his speed and force them to make decisions before they were in position. Once he got past, the afterburners did the rest.

“I had to learn to attack guys to get them in that position,” White said. “If I can stop a guy’s feet, then he’s already beat, regardless. This guy (USC safety) doesn’t have any power; he can’t generate anything.

“If I wanted to run him over, I could run straight through him. If I wanted to juke him, I could do that too because he’s stuck, and I’m still moving. I knew I had him beat and hit him with a couple of cool quick stutters. My legs went one way, but my head snapped the other way because I knew where I wanted to go.”

Everything in White’s game is accomplished in a smooth nature. Wasted steps and errant movement are a rarity. When White cuts, it is a seamless transfer of his weight and directional speed with minimal loss of momentum. His lateral agility is bouncy and light, facilitating his evasion in open space. White’s elusiveness combined with his sturdy frame makes him a complicated task for defenders to bring down. His fearlessness to match in physicality parlays his contact balance into extra yards.

Furthermore, his bag is chock full of tricks to remain upright and romp down the field. Against UCLA on a 2nd-and-9 handoff, White’s eyes snapped to read the inside edge defender and determine his behavior. Seeing his man a half-pace behind the action, White got skinny as a crease formed back toward the middle of the field.

Loping through the contact in a staggered manner, White suddenly lowered his pads as if to absorb any future contact from that point on. In reality, he was baiting the incoming defensive back. Everything was calculated down to the last second.

“You have to know the players you’re facing,” White said. “That guy, he’s not the type of player to go for a breakdown tackle. He tries to run through the tackle and dive for the legs. I knew if I could just get him going the way he tackles, then I would have the opportunity to make him miss. The spin move just happened because I knew I had all the leverage.”

The ASU running backs pack into the film room on Mondays to analyze their opponents’ main base defense, zone tendencies, and red zone approach. White takes notes on how each player operates in the face of contact, a procedure he said didn’t surface until he came to ASU. Some of that process extends into live-action, with White testing the waters to see how players react to different fakes. It helps him play faster on the field and manipulate the defense for big plays. He is quick to pick up on their habits and even quicker to decide how to exploit them.

“He had a broad perspective of what he saw,” Aguano said. “And those conversations were very effective during games.”

For example, White’s jaw-dropping display of in-flow shiftiness against Utah two weeks later was another product of his alertness for the routines of players.

“Everybody on that team shoots for the legs,” White said. “They shoot full speed to stop your momentum and slow you down. They try to make you cut back, and everybody rallies to the ball.”

In the days leading up to the pivotal Pac-12 South title battle matchup, White converted his findings on tape into instinct. On a 1st-and-10 carry approaching the red zone before halftime, White sliced his way through five Utes, including a future first-round pick at linebacker in Devin Lloyd, while exhibiting his trademark patient running style. ASU scored on the following play.

Utah’s tackling methodology reflected an impulse shared by nearly every Pac-12 defender White faced. Defenders wilted at the idea of squaring up to hit the 6-foot, 214-pound White at center mass. As a result, they opted to go low and snatch his ankles. The awareness allowed White to slowly develop his signature move as he gained conviction in its effectiveness.

“I realized that out of the gate,” White said. “I never really tried to hurdle anybody until this year. When I did my first one against UNLV on the sideline, I wasn’t trying to take an unnecessary hit. After that, it was just kind of natural and off the races.”

“I think he’s living his track days again,” Aguano laughed. “Every time he does that, I hold my breath. But he gets away with it.”

“Obviously, he’s Jumpman,” Henderson said. “He and Brandon Aiyuk probably have the most balance I’ve seen since I’ve been here.”

When preparing to explode vertically, White keys in on the defender’s body language, trajectory of their pursuit, and behavior of their shoulders. All three cues signal when to change his gait and gear up for liftoff. White regularly cleared defenders with ease.

The ASU coaching staff would have preferred if White had deployed the hurdle less frequently. The seconds where White was suspended in the air with limited control over his landing seemed destined for catastrophe. They expressed similar concerns when Aiyuk and former quarterback Manny Wilkins would go airborne as well just a few seasons prior.

But White believes the hurdle is easier for him to execute than if he were to engage a defender primed to wrap him up.

“As a tall back, you have to get so low,” White said, stressing the difficulty. “To run people over requires so much forward lean. Even if I do get low, I’m still liable to go down because it requires so much from my center of gravity.”

Plus, it keeps the door open to extending the play.

“In my mind, I’m thinking if I clear this guy, I still got a chance to go score,” White said.

White can take the ball to the house in a variety of ways. His receiving prowess allows him to bolster an offense every time he’s on the field. ASU installed a number of five receiver sets to get him involved as much as possible. White would motion out wide to snag screen passes and gain chunk yardage. His Texas route is sudden and sharp.

Additionally, White can contribute from the slot and become an automatic mismatch for lethargic linebackers slow to mirror his attack. His route tree is extensive and polished. White showcased his proficiency by running stops, digs, posts, and fades at ASU’s pro day. Some have labeled him as the best receiving back in his class.

***

When asked why he thinks White will thrive in the NFL, Henderson was swift to correct.

“I know he will be a successful NFL player,” Henderson smiled. “The thing about Rachaad White is no matter how good he is – or how good people say he is – that does not change his grind at all. Once he steps in, he’s going to have the confidence that he’s the best back in the league, but he’s going to work like he’s not. That’s why he will have a long career.”

Henderson isn’t alone in his sentiment. White’s peers at ASU are confident his style will make him the next great #LeagueDevil.

Head coach Herm Edwards: “He is a dramatic back. He has his game-changing plays, obviously. He has very good vision and is explosive.”

Wide receiver Ricky Pearsall: “Rachaad is so fluent. It’s easy for him. He jumps to the other side of the field, and it’s a touchdown.”

Aguano: “He doesn’t take those big hits. He’s elusive enough and fast enough at the first and second levels. He’s a three-down back and can play in the slot.”

Matus: “He’s a really technical runner.”

Ngata: “He is like Le’Veon Bell, but I think he’s so much better.”

Henderson: “We all thought that. He has such a unique, modern running style. It fits him so well.”

Soelle: “He’s an all-around back. He can do it all. He can run between the tackles; he can break it outside; he can run any route. I don’t think there’s anything Rachaad can’t do.”

That statement by Soelle held up at the NFL Combine. White recorded a 4.48-second 40-yard dash, an impressive time for a player of his size. He separated himself from the pack with a 10-foot-5 broad jump and 38-inch vertical. White saved the bench press for the pro day and put up 20 reps.

There are a few areas White can tune up. His versatility as a receiver was so valuable to ASU that he was rarely tabbed for pass protection duties. Reliability as an extra blocker will be critical for White to transform into a true three-down back.

At the Senior Bowl, White received instruction from the New York Jets coaching staff and worked to improve his decisiveness as a runner. White's patience is his headlining trait, but it also can get him in situations he can’t recover from. There are benefits to finding a better balance to his pace of play.

White isn’t concerned about his ability to improve technique or fundamentals. He knows he has the “want-to” and necessary grit to turn whatever coaches perceive as weaknesses into strengths. White also doesn’t need to become a professional; he’s always been one.

A trait that can’t be taught is character. White is humble, well-spoken, and holds no selfish bones in his body. In 2020, White purposefully stepped out of bounds during ASU’s 70-7 torching of Arizona in the Territorial Cup to give teammate Jackson He a chance to score. He, who carpooled with White to every practice that season, became the first Chinese-born player to carry the ball and score a touchdown at the collegiate level.

A broadcast journalism major, White embraces the spotlight. Since declaring for the draft, he’s had media obligations nearly every week. Mentor John Waller, who met White 15 years ago through the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Kansas City program, calls him “the people’s champ.” At the Senior Bowl media breakfast, while most players lounged at the event tables on their phones when done with interviews, White stood ready at the entrance to answer questions to anybody who walked up.

Although White said he has interviewed with nearly every NFL team, the national recognition has been slow to catch on. The scouting landscape is widely divided. ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. has White as his No. 6 back in the 2022 class. Dane Brugler of The Athletic ranked White 19th on his list of the top 20 running backs.

People continue to sleep on White, but he refuses to be bothered. White wants to prove himself right. He will bet on himself, pay attention to the little details, and manifest the person he aspires to be. Meanwhile, the competitive fire of the JUCO back with no stars upon graduating high school still burns.

“I’m just trying to keep being who I am and be one of the best,” White said. “You got your expectations and goals for yourself. You try to achieve them and check off all the boxes on the list.”

As Rachaad White pragmatically stated, don’t worry about it.

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