Tampa Bay running back Bucky Irving blasted off midway through his rookie season, gashing defenses, breaking tackles and becoming a focal point of the Buccaneers offense.
Irving didn't see 10 totes in a game until Week 4 of the 2024 season and didn't consistently generate double-digit carries until Week 10. But when he got opportunities, the rook zoomed through defenses to the tune of 1,122 yards and eight touchdowns on 207 carries. Irving was the only player above the 1,100-yard mark who didn't see at least 250 carries.
Irving's efficiency statistics put him among the best backs in the NFL. His 5.4 yards per carry average ranked fourth among RBs, behind just Derrick Henry (5.9), Saquon Barkley (5.8) and Jahmyr Gibbs (5.6). Per Next Gen Stats, Irving's 0.07 EPA per carry ranked tied with Barkley for fourth among all backs behind Gibbs (0.12) and Henry (0.11), with a minimum of 200 carries. The quartet was far above the rest of the pack, with Bijan Robinson the next closest at 0.02.
Despite the sensational rookie campaign, Irving isn't reading his headlines or resting on his laurels. The Bucs back aims even higher in Year 2.
"I feel like once you always start something new, it's going to have to slow down for you a little bit," Irving said last week. "When I first got thrown in, the game was moving pretty fast for me, but yeah, as I just settled down and let the game -- and just think about it like, 'it's just football.' And not think about too [many] other things that are going on out there. But yeah, just always going back and looking at the film and looking at things that you can get better at and improve in and also not getting satisfied and stuck in last year, because it's a new year. Nobody cares about what you did last year. It's, 'What can you do for me now?' But I've always been that guy that pretty much never gets stuck in the past and always [am] where my feet [are] and work hard every day."
Last season, Irving was a pinball, bouncing off would-be tacklers and gobbling up extra yards -- something that separates his game from that of backfield mate Rachaad White. Irving generated 76 missed tackles forced, per NGS, ranking tied for fourth with Barkley. However, all the backs above him took far more totes. Irving's 36.9 MTF% was tops among all backs (Robinson was No. 2 at 32%). His 514 yards after MTF ranked second behind only Henry (695).
Irving could be in for an even bigger second season if he isn't forced to break as many tackles at the line. Last season, Irving had 566 yards before contact, 12th among RBs (compare that to 1,328 for Barkley and 1,012 for Henry). The Bucs back could see a few more Saquon-type long runs with improved blocking from an offensive line unit that remains intact from last season.
"We have all [those] guys returning, but just being able to have trust in those guys," Irving said. "Like you always say, when I come up here, I don't talk about myself. I talk about the O-line because, without those guys, none of these things are possible, so just being able to give credit to those guys every chance that I get, I'm going to do that."
The Bucs won't completely wipe out White's involvement in the offense, and even Sean Tucker should see carries, but Irving proved he's the juice and should see his workload increase in Year 2.
