In a new summer series, I’ll take a look at some Bucs topics for the upcoming season – and explore them with a twist.
Our next topic is – what if Bucky Irving is better than Rachaad White?
Inspired by Marvel’s “What If…?” comic books and the Marvel animated series, let’s take a look at some potentially different outcomes to some of the more intriguing storylines in Tampa Bay that nobody sees coming. To be clear, this is not a series of topics that Pewter Report believes will happen or necessarily hopes will happen. Just use your imagination and get ready for some surprises, Tampa Bay fans.
The Background
Needing another weapon to complement Errict Rhett in the backfield in 1996, the Bucs spent their second-round pick that year on Purdue fullback Mike Alstott. Yet the 6-foot-1, 240-pound Alstott was far from being a traditional fullback. He was an absolute weapon who could run, catch and block.
As a rookie, Alstott totaled 934 yards (377 yards rushing, 557 yards receiving) and scored six total touchdowns and quickly became a fan favorite due to his extra effort and his physical, hard-charging running style. His 65 catches in 1996 was a Tampa Bay rookie receiving record until Mike Evans broke it with 68 receptions in 2014.
Yet despite having an emerging star in Alstott poised to take a larger role on offense the following year, the Bucs spent a first-round pick on running back Warrick Dunn in 1997. Dunn replaced Rhett as the starting halfback and went on to rush for 978 yards and score three touchdowns and catch 39 passes for 462 yards and three more TDs, making the Pro Bowl as a rookie.
Alstott still played a big role in the Bucs offense, nearly doubling his rushing yards to 665 yards with seven touchdowns in 1997 while hauling in 23 passes for 178 yards and three receiving TDs. But Dunn wound up being better in terms of yardage and averages. Dunn averaged 4.4 yards per carry and 11.8 yards per catch, while Alstott averaged 3.8 yards per carry and 7.7 yards per catch.
Rachaad White, a former third-round pick in 2022, had a breakout year in his first full season as a starter in Tampa Bay last year. As the primary workhorse back, White ran for 990 yards and scored six touchdowns while catching 64 passes for 549 yards and scoring three more TDs through the air.
Wanting to take some of the workload off of White’s shoulders – and provide some better insurance in case he gets injured – Tampa Bay spent its 2024 fourth-round draft pick on Oregon running back Bucky Irving, whose running style is reminiscent of Dunn’s. Both Dunn and Irving are 5-foot-9, but while Dunn weighed just 180 pounds, Irving is much bigger at 192 pounds.
What separated Dunn and Irving as draft picks was the fact that Dunn had elite 4.38 speed, while Irving slightly disappointed at the NFL Scouting Combine with a surprising 4.55 time. But both smallish backs possessed the toughness and elusiveness to run between the tackles and make would-be tacklers miss.
What If Bucky Irving Is Better Than Rachaad White?
Where the scenarios of Warrick Dunn and Mike Alstott and Rachaad White and Bucky Irving diverge is the fact that Dunn came to the Bucs with a first-round draft billing. And the fact that Alstott was part fullback and part halfback meant that both he and Dunn could be on the field at the same time, forming the now famous WD-40 backfield. White was a third-round pick and Irving was a fourth-round pick, and both are pure halfbacks who will split playing time – how much playing time will depend on how Irving fares in the preseason.
All expectations are that White continues his ascension as a runner and a weapon in Tampa Bay this season. He’s fully capable of reaching 1,000 yards this season with better blocking up front combined with the experience he gained a year ago as the full-time starter for all 19 games.
But Irving had back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons at Oregon, while averaging a healthy 6.5 yards per carry. Even more impressive is the fact that he led all FBS runners with 56 catches for 413 yards and two touchdowns, while scoring 11 TDs on the ground in 2023.
What Irving lacks in long speed he makes up for in instant acceleration. He hits the hole fast and hard every time. That could be an advantage he has over the slower and more deliberate running style of White, who actually has a faster 4.44 time in the 40-yard dash – and needs to play up to it.
“When he accepts the handoff he bursts and accelerates through the hole and can make people miss in space,” Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen said of Bucky Irving. “Rachaad, he has taken every detail that we’ve coached throughout this offseason and applied it. That is something that we’ve worked on and that we’ve been communicating to him, and really all the backs, is just that we are fast to and fast through [the hole].
“When we receive the handoff – we want to be shot out of a cannon – with obviously having visions and patience that goes along with it. That’s not something I really need to coach. He has been fantastic when it comes to the tracks, his responsibility, the landmark, being shot out of a cannon in some the run game that we have done so far in this phase.”
If White is slow to adjust to Coen’s new offense and that shows up again with the early-season hesitation that he had at the beginning of the 2023 campaign, Irving could take advantage of that and receive more snaps as a result. Because Irving is an accomplished pass catcher, he, like White, is truly a three-down back capable of playing on all three downs – not just a third-down back.
If Irving did supplant White as the starter at some point in 2024, it could put White’s future with the Bucs in jeopardy. White will be entering a contract year in 2025.
Yet given how well White played in 2023 it would be a surprise to see Irving immediately take over as the more productive back in 2024 during his rookie campaign. What the Bucs wouldn’t mind seeing at all is a situation where they have a two-headed monster develop in the backfield similar to Dunn and Alstott where both backs were big-time contributors in the late 1990s. That would take some of the pressure and workload off White in the coming season.
Baker Mayfield wouldn’t mind that, either. He led the Browns to the playoffs in 2020 and a postseason win over the Steelers thanks to the 1-2 punch of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt in Cleveland’s backfield. That was Mayfield’s best season in the NFL – 3,563 passing yards with 26 TDs and eight INTs – prior to last year with the Bucs.
Chubb made the Pro Bowl in 2020, rushing for 1,067 yards and scoring 12 touchdowns while hauling in 16 passes for 150 yards. Hunt had 841 yards rushing and six scores on the ground and caught 38 passes for 304 yards and five TDs.
We’ll see how the tandem of White and Irving fares in 2024, and how productive each back becomes.
