Entering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Week 7 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens, there’s a lot of uncertainty about who will lead the Bucs’ rushing attack.
During last week’s blowout win over the New Orleans Saints, Bucky Irving and Sean Tucker combined for 277 yards (the third-most in franchise history) and averaged 7.9 yards per carry while filling in for an injured Rachaad White. Now, White is returning from his foot injury, so how will the Bucss divvy up the touches? Will this be a three-man committee? Let’s examine what the coaches are saying and break down each running back.
Who Will Lead the Buccaneers’ Backfield?
Is it a coincidence that the Buccaneers’ rushing attack exploded the moment that White was sidelined? Unlikely. White has been extremely inefficient for the last two years, while Irving and Tucker are significantly more explosive and make the most of every touch.
Among running backs with a minimum of 15 attempts, Tucker leads the NFL in yards per attempt (8.9), and Irving ranks 10th (5.7). Meanwhile, White ranks 54th (3.7). According to NFL Pro, Tucker had 47 yards over expected against New Orleans last week. On the season, Irving has 34 rush yards over expected, while White has zero.
In the 51-27 win over the Saints, Tucker rushed 14 times for 136 yards and a touchdown (while adding 56 receiving yards and a touchdown through the air), while Irving turned 14 carries into 81 yards and a touchdown.
The first TD for @seantucker2020 🙌
📺: #TBvsNO on FOX pic.twitter.com/yK7Dl8ADPI
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) October 13, 2024
While White missed Week 6, it’s worth noting that he is coming off his best game of the season as well: a 10-carry, 72-yard performance against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 5.
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles raved about Tucker’s recent play, saying that he’s shown enough to make this “a three-headed monster” going forward. Earlier in the season, Bowles also praised Irving and said he’s earned more touches. Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen stressed that all three backs will play and they’ll ride the hot hand.
That sound you hear is fantasy managers groaning, as this committee approach hurts the fantasy value of all three RBs and makes the backfield very unpredictable week-to-week.
In Week 7, the Bucs have a tough matchup against the Ravens, who are allowing by far the fewest rushing yards per game (59) this season. It will be interesting to see which back is able to separate from the pack and earn the most carries as the team’s RB1 going forward.
Rachaad White
This is White’s third season with the Buccaneers, as he joined the team in 2022 as a third-round pick (No. 91 overall) out of Arizona State, where he played with Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels and San Francisco 49ers WR Ricky Pearsall.
While White is the veteran trying to hold off the two young backs behind him on the depth chart, it wasn’t long ago that he was the young guy who was shining behind Leonard Fournette and carving out a bigger role for himself.
White has never rushed for 1,000 yards in a season, but he totaled 990 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns last year (on just 3.6 yards per carry). He also caught 64 passes for 549 yards and three touchdowns last season.
White’s biggest strengths are his pass-catching and pass-blocking abilities, which is why many Bucs fans have called for him to be used as the third-down back going forward. White is the tallest (6’0″) and heaviest (214 pounds) of the three backs in Tampa Bay.
This season, the 25-year-old has 51 carries for 187 yards and zero touchdowns while adding 17 receptions for 127 yards and zero scores. It’s telling that White has yet to score this season, while Irving and Tucker each have a pair of touchdowns despite significantly fewer snaps and touches.
Bucky Irving
Irving has been one of the pleasant surprises of this year’s rookie class. The former Oregon Duck was drafted with the No. 125 pick in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, and he’s looking like a potential steal for the Buccaneers.
Irving’s height (5’9”), weight (192 pounds), arm length (29 1/2”), vertical jump (29.5”), and broad jump (9’7”) are all below the 20th percentile among NFL running backs. Also, the 22-year-old Irving didn’t test well at the NFL Combine, running the 40-yard dash in just 4.55 seconds. The concerns about his lack of size and athleticism significantly hurt his draft stock, but the Buccaneers weren’t scared off by these numbers.
Bucs general manager Jason Licht has pointed out that Irving’s game speed is much faster than his testing speed. This has been on display early in Irving’s rookie campaign with the Bucs, as he has looked incredibly explosive when the ball has been in his hands.
Bucky Irving pic.twitter.com/Jdx4dAOHch
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) October 16, 2024
This season, Irving has 58 carries for 328 yards and two touchdowns while adding 10 receptions for 70 yards. He’s had several highlight-reel plays where he’s embarrassed defenders, as seen above.
Across his three-year collegiate career, Irving rushed 475 times for 2,937 yards (6.2 yards per attempt) and 20 touchdowns while adding 95 receptions for 785 yards and five scores.
During his final season at Oregon, Irving totaled 1,593 yards and 13 touchdowns while leading all running backs across the nation in receptions (56).
Sean Tucker
Tucker is in his second season with the Buccaneers. He went undrafted in the 2023 NFL Draft due to a rare congenital heart defect that scared teams off.
Tucker signed with the Bucs as an undrafted free agent, but he likely would’ve been a mid-round selection if he hadn’t been flagged with the heart issue at the NFL Combine.
After all, Tucker was extremely productive throughout his three collegiate seasons at Syracuse, rushing 589 times for 3,182 yards (5.4 yards per attempt) and 27 touchdowns while adding 64 receptions for 616 yards and four touchdowns.
All-22 on Sean Tucker's 6 carries that went for 10+ Yards and this 3 catches against the New Orleans Saints In Week 6.
Tucker hit 15+ MPH six times in this game. He had 45 yards after contact while averaging 3.2 yards after contact per attempt on Sunday.
He saw a 45.9%… pic.twitter.com/NCkS8PNDu3
— Bruce Matson (@MetricScout) October 14, 2024
Tucker’s 1,496 yards in 2021 shattered Syracuse’s single-season rushing record, which is impressive considering the running backs who came through the school (including Jim Brown, Larry Csonka, Floyd Little, and Ernie Davis).
Like Irving, Tucker is just 22 years old.
Entering last week’s game against the Saints, Tucker had recorded 30 rushing yards and 23 receiving yards in his NFL career, so his 192-yard, two-touchdown performance in Week 6 came out of nowhere.
Now, all eyes will be on Tucker to see how he follows up that outing.