Rock Bottom For Bucky Irving
January 5th, 2026
The Bucs have serious evaluation to do.
Joe loves what Bucky Irving accomplished as a rookie shocking the NFL in 2024. Joe also loves a good buh-KEY!, buh-KEY! chant.
However, this season Irving was poor running the ball. That’s the reality. He averaged 3.4 yards per carry, which among all running backs that averaged 6.25 carries per games played ranked tied for 46th in the NFL out of 50 qualifying backs. Carve that up a little more, and in that group Irving ranked last among running backs with more than 85 carries. He finished with 173 carries for 588 yards.
Is it fair to blame offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard? Perhaps, but Joe will point out that the Bucs had a better yard-per-carry average this year than the Jaguars, whose offensive is run by 2024 Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen. And lots of Bucs fans yearn for the Coen running game to return.
Bucs No. 2 running back Rachaad White (132 carries) averaged 4.3 yards per carry, nearly a full yard more than Irving. Third-stringer Sean Tucker was at 3.7 yards per carry on 86 rushes.
Yes, the Bucs had plenty of offensive line issues and injuries. But so did other teams, including the Panthers. Their Rico Dowdle averaged 4.6 yards per carry en route to 1,076 yards rushing.
Joe hopes this was rock bottom for Irving, and that he’s not on the football path Doug Martin was on after his dynamic rookie year.
Regardless, Joe would like to see competition for Irving come 2026 training camp.
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