Buccaneers’ $5 Million RB Predicted to ‘Shock’ With Postseason Honor

We are living in the time of the running back.

Three of the last 5 seasons, the NFL Offensive Player of the Year has gone to a running back, including each of the last 2 seasons with San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey in 2023 and Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley in 2024.

Each of the last 2 years, the winner’s team has found itself in the Super Bowl, with Barkley’s Eagles winning it all after he became just the ninth player in NFL history to rush for over 2,000 yards in the regular season.

If we’re speculating and projecting — and what else is there to do right now — we can rightfully look around the NFL and try to target the running backs capable of having that kind of year in 2025.

Leading the way is a dark horse candidate who could shock the entire NFL by winning the award in second year Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving, a 2024 fourth round pick who is already one of the NFL’s best deals on a 4-year, $4.75 million rookie contract.

Irving has +5000 odds from ESPN Bet to win NFL Offensive Player of the Year and +5500 odds on BetMGM. Barkley is the favorite to repeat as the winner with at +500 on Bet MGM and +650 on ESPN Bet.

No one has been named NFL Offensive Player of the Year in consecutive seasons since St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk won the award 3 consecutive years from 1999 to 2001.

Rookie Performance Surprised Buccaneers

The casual NFL fan doesn’t know who Irving is yet in all likelihood — that’s understandable considering it wasn’t clear if Tampa Bay’s coaching staff even realized how good Irving was until late in the season.

How much did the Buccaneers overlook Irving? To the point he got injured returning kicks late in the season despite leading the team in rushing.

That won’t happen again in 2025 after Irving took over as the starter for Rachaad White for the final stretch of the regular season and the postseason. Irving finished 10th in the NFL with 1,122 rushing yards at 5.4 yards per carry and was second in the NFL in 2.7 yards after contact per rushing attempt. He also had 47 receptions for 392 yards on just 52 targets.

Tagged as NFL’s ‘Most Underrated’ Running Back

Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport called Irving the NFL’s “Most Underrated Player” at his position headed into 2025.

“Irving didn’t enter the NFL with a ton of fanfare,” Davenport wrote on May 20. “The 5’10”, 195-pounder was the 125th overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft. But by the end of the season, he had established himself as one of the more promising young runners in the league.”

Irving actually finished with 1,690 all-purpose yards because he was returning kickoffs until he was injured on a kickoff return late in the season and the offense seemed to grind to a halt without him.

That’s when — and not before then — Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles decided it probably wasn’t a good idea to have their top rushing threat on special teams.