{"id":843283,"date":"2026-03-30T17:32:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T17:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/843283\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T17:32:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T17:32:17","slug":"bucs-coach-declares-bucky-irving-as-rb1-over-gainwell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/843283\/","title":{"rendered":"Bucs Coach Declares Bucky Irving as RB1 Over Gainwell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

At the NFL’s annual meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles firmly stated that running back Bucky Irving will be the team’s RB1 this season, despite the offseason acquisition of big-money free agent Kenneth Gainwell. Bowles made it clear that Gainwell will be used in a complementary 1b role, likely seeing significant snaps on special teams as well.<\/p>\n

Why it matters<\/p>\n

The Buccaneers’ backfield was a question mark heading into the offseason, with Bucky Irving coming off an injury-plagued 2025 campaign. Bowles’ strong endorsement of Irving as the lead back signals the team’s confidence in him, even with the addition of the talented Gainwell, and could impact fantasy football draft strategies for Tampa Bay’s offense.<\/p>\n

The details<\/p>\n

Bowles left no ambiguity when asked if there would be an open competition between Irving and Gainwell for the starting running back job. He firmly stated that Irving will be the RB1, with Gainwell serving in more of a 1b complementary role. The Bucs plan to utilize both backs, but Bowles made it clear that Irving is the clear lead dog in the backfield pecking order.<\/p>\n

The comments from Bowles came during the NFL’s annual meeting in Phoenix, Arizona on March 30, 2026.<\/p>\n

The players<\/p>\n

Todd Bowles<\/p>\n

The head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.<\/p>\n

Bucky Irving<\/p>\n

The Buccaneers’ starting running back, coming off an injury-plagued 2025 season.<\/p>\n

Kenneth Gainwell<\/p>\n

A big-money free agent running back signed by the Buccaneers this offseason.<\/p>\n

Got photos? Submit your photos here. \u203a<\/a>
\n What they\u2019re saying<\/p>\n

\u201cBucky is the No. 1 running back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Todd Bowles, Head Coach<\/p>\n

The takeaway<\/p>\n

Bowles’ firm declaration that Bucky Irving will be the Buccaneers’ lead back in 2026 provides clarity on the team’s backfield plans and could impact fantasy football draft strategies, as Irving looks to bounce back from an injury-plagued 2025 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a At the NFL’s annual meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, Tampa Bay…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":758988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2077],"tags":[211,7,6,704,250,2597,2596],"class_list":{"0":"post-843283","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","8":"tag-buccaneers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-tampa-bay","12":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","13":"tag-tampabay","14":"tag-tampabaybuccaneers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116319324999432803","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/758988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}