The Raiders have spent much of the conversation around their offense chasing a true No. 1 wideout, the kind of target who can line up opposite Brock Bowers and stretch what this group can do. For now, that search has a different name attached to it: Cody White.
White entered Las Vegas as a late pickup after cutdown day, then went from practice squad piece to actual contributor when Dont'e Thornton Jr. was injured. He was elevated for the first three games, earned the game ball in Week 1, and then found the end zone three times over the next two weeks.
That production has already made him the team’s touchdown leader, even though Tre Tucker leads the receivers in yardage with 233 yards and one touchdown in 2026. Most of Tucker’s output came in one game, which makes White’s rise stand out even more.
When Jalen Nailor exited Sunday’s game with a concussion, White moved up the depth chart again and logged his most snaps of the season. That’s where the story gets more interesting: he didn’t just look like a red zone body. He looked like a receiver who can stay on the field.
At 6-foot-4 and 227 pounds, White has the build people still want in an outside “X” receiver, even in an era when the position is more fluid than ever. He’s already shown he can win contested catches, too.
Against the Chargers, he hauled in a jump ball from Kirk Cousins for a touchdown that put the Raiders ahead. He flashed that same trait against the Chiefs, battling for the ball in the air before working back inside on a go route to make an off-balance catch.
The more snaps he’s gotten, the more his route-running has come into focus. Against Chiefs defender Mansoor Delane, White stemmed inside after the snap and sold the go route hard enough to get Delane leaning. Then he snapped back outside, changed direction cleanly, and turned it into a nine-yard catch and a first down.
White also showed he can threaten vertically against press coverage, even if the play didn’t end with a target. On the final drive, lined up to Cousins’ right, he ran a post, got off the line, and separated downfield. Cousins never looked his way, but the opening was there.
That’s the part that could matter most for the Raiders going forward. White has already proven he can finish plays near the goal line.
Now he’s showing he can do more than that, and he should have a bigger chance to prove it this week. The question is whether he keeps building on it or fades back into the background.
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