Chase Edmonds Enjoys Being A 'Big Bro' To Rachaad White

That someone is Rachaad White.

“Rachaad is probably the teammate that I have grown the fastest relationship with in my entire career,” Edmonds said.” I think part of it is obviously because we are in the same room together, but this was the first year of my career that I was the ‘OG’ in the room and trying to be such a small part of his journey [by helping] him see what I see on the field in terms of the development of the game – I pride myself on my intelligence and IQ.

“But what I did was I took pride in being there for him off the field, man. I was so fortunate and blessed early on in my career to have Larry Fitzgerald take me under his wing and to just teach me what it meant to be a pro, how you deal with success, how to deal with failures, how you go about your business the right way. You always send the elevator back down to the guys younger than you.”

White himself spoke last season on how Edmonds understands everything from football to life and business.

After finishing just 10 yards short of 1,000 rushing yards last season, White was upset that he did not achieve that milestone. Despite not reaching that important mark, he was one of the best in the NFL at picking up scrimmage yards and will look to be even better overall next season.

Even when things were not going his way on the ground, Edmonds saw the young running back’s drive and work ethic to be great.

“Rachaad’s attitude is second to none,” Edmonds added. “He prides himself on being the best person on the field, he prides himself on being the hardest worker, and he’s full of always wanting to learn or wanting to gain knowledge. Anytime you have that talent with that hunger on trying to just become a better player, you’re going to have a great player, man. So, I take pride in that and it’s been awesome to watch him grow. We talked about his production, and kind of how, again, I was in the room with him and he told me the goals that he wanted to attain at the beginning of the season.

“I remember in Week 5, Week 6, he was coming up and like, ‘Big bro, man, these numbers [are not] happening.’ You can see he cares, he really cares, and you could see it was getting to him. Just to be able to be there, and continue to tell him, ‘Hey man, one game at a time, one week at a time,’ and to see his game continually progress, I mean Week 9 through Week 17, arguably, Rachaad was the best back in the NFC outside of [Christian] McCaffery number-wise.”

That nine-game stretch of games Edmonds is referring to saw White rush for 612 yards and add 270 more receiving. Over a whole 17-game season, that would be 1,156 rushing yards and 510 receiving yards. A big season many running backs would gladly take, but White has his sights set on reaching a bigger benchmark.

“To see where his production can go next year, you know, the sky is the limit for him. I know he’s probably going to say he wants that ‘2K,’ I already know him, so just being able to be a part of that, to be a part of his growth and journey, while also trying to get my spark going [has] been a blessing.”

Pairing Up With Rachaad White Factored Into Chase Edmonds’ Return

The Bucs took a chance on veteran running back Chase Edmonds last year in free agency after he failed to stick with the Dolphins or Broncos. There was a lot to like about his game as a change-of-pace running back who could spell Rachaad White and still offer a lot of the same traits as a shifty runner and elusive receiver out of the backfield.

When asked after the season about returning to Tampa Bay, one of the first things Edmonds discussed was how much fun it was to be in the room with White. Continuing to play alongside him was part of the draw of coming back.

“Yeah man, if it worked out that way I would love to be back in Tampa,” Edmonds said then. “It was a lot of fun this year working with the guys and a lot of fun sharing the backfield with Chaad and just playing a big bro role to him. Just being able to grow and be such a small part of his journey and watch him grow as a player bro. That was really cool.”

It also kept him on his toes and spry.

“[Rachaad] kept me energetic, and young, and s–t.”