Is Bucky Irving Making A Run For More Carries?

After Sunday’s 37-20 Bucs’ win over the Commanders, one of the biggest storylines to emerge is how well rookie running back Bucky Irving did in his first game. It was a quiet day on the ground for much of the afternoon, but Irving broke off a 31-yard run in the second half and had more success than Rachaad White, who needed 15 carries to get 31 rushing yards himself.

While some of the failures White had running the football can be credited to Washington’s defensive line getting the better of Tampa Bay’s offensive line, it also makes what Irving did even more impressive. This has only added fuel to the fire of what has grown into an early-season running back controversy as to which Bucs back should be RB1.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles Comments On If RB Bucky Irving Will Get More Carries

Speaking to the media a day after starting the season 1-0, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles addressed whether the eyeball test means that Bucky Irving will begin to get even more carries over Rachaad White.

“The eyeball test tells me that we’re going to need both of them this season,” Bowles said. “The holes have got to be there for Rachaad [White] at the same time. It opens up later in the game for Bucky, but that doesn’t mean Rachaad is playing bad. Rachaad had a lot of receptions and he had some yards, receiving-wise. It kind of worked out for us and [we] had a good one-two punch. We’ll need both of them the whole season.”

Bowles makes a great point, one further evidenced in this clip.

It is hard to hit the hole when it is closed right from the snap, as both running backs experienced. Still, both of them were productive in different ways, forming that one-two punch Bowles alluded to.

Where White wasn’t able to find yards on the ground on Sunday, he got them through the air, finishing second on the team with six receptions for 75 receiving yards. After a season last year where he amassed 1,539 scrimmage yards, don’t expect him to cede his touches over – just yet.

Offensive coordinator Liam Coen recently spoke about the plan to build a successful run game and one key element is how he forms a running back rotation.

It sounds like one that will not change any time soon.

“We want to obviously get guys involved, but Rachaad [White] is the guy – he’s going to start the game and he’s going to keep playing,” Coen said. “Bucky [Irving] will get his specific stuff and be able to play, and when Sean [Tucker] needs to go in there and give those guys a blow, he’ll do a great job, as well. We have full trust in all three of those guys. Ultimately, it’s a long season.

“I’ve done three-back rotations in the past and man, that gets exhausting – for a coach, for a play-caller, because now it’s like, ‘Okay, who’s in the game? What are they good at? What do we want to do with them?’ Ultimately, it’s Rachaad’s show and Bucky and Sean are going to get a lot of work and hopefully be efficient and do a great job when they’re in there.”

No matter when or how often his No. 7 is called, Bucky Irving will be ready.

“I go by whenever the coach tells me to go in,” Irving said. “I’m going to go out there and compete hard for the team. Whenever my number is called, I just go out there and do what I can.

“Buck’s A Ballplayer,” One That Could Become Bucs’ RB1 Over Time

Although Bucky Irving may not become the Bucs’ No. 1 running back yet, there is still a chance it can happen this season. Todd Bowles was bullish on the young back right after Irving’s first NFL game.

“Buck’s a ballplayer,” Bowles said. “His height and his size do not magnify how good he is as a running back. He can run up the middle, he can catch the ball, he’s tough, he finishes runs, he’s very good at making the first guy miss in the hole, and he had a heck of a ballgame.”

Irving’s contact balance and overall elusiveness are something that offensive coordinator Liam Coen is also a fan of and has drawn comparisons to Rams running back Kyren Williams. Williams was coached briefly by Coen in 2022 and both have similar athleticism. Despite not possessing top-tier straight-line speed, each possesses that “it” factor.

Back at the 2024 Pro Bowl Games, Williams discussed Coen’s “schematical” run concepts and how they make a defense think more.

Studying that film has already helped Irving be decisive.

“Film study, [and] I see, at this level – you have no time to pitter-pat your feet,” Irving said. “You have to hit it when you see it, so I pretty much go by that. You have to trust what you see. You can get different looks in practice and there’s also going to be different looks in games, but you have to see how the defense is playing you. I pretty much [think] when I get the ball, I trust what my eyes see and I hit the hole.”

The Bucs will surely take 112 rushing yards in Week 1, but there is plenty of room for improvement.

Two backs have co-existed in Tampa Bay before, such as the days of “WD-40” between Warrick Dunn and Mike Alstott and recently with Ronald Jones II and Leonard Fournette. There may be more of a battle for touches in the backfield this season, but it will only bring the best out of Rachaad White and Bucky Irving and it could be the best of both worlds for the run game.