Bucky Irving has been a revelation in his rookie season after his poor testing at the combine damaged his draft stock.

After appearing to glide through Pac-12 defenses at Oregon, Irving’s athletic testing numbers did not align with what he put on tape in college. While his athleticism looked far from ideal on paper, he was still able to pull in athletic comps like Kyren Williams, James White, and Dion Lewis in the Prospect Workout Explorer.

Irving never earned less than 25% of his offenses’ touches during his three college seasons, while never having less than 20% of his teams’ total yards. Irving was finally able to eclipse a 50% backfield dominator rating in his final college season, but never fell below a 37% dominator rating in any of his three seasons.

Williams was Irving’s top comp in the Prospect Box Score Scout’s sims, with White also making an appearance.

After falling to the fourth round (125th overall) of the 2024 draft, Irving almost immediately started receiving positive buzz as soon as he hit the Buccaneers’ practice field. Rachaad White had earned his spot as the team’s RB1 after a breakout 2024 season, but his lack of efficiency as a runner while in his workhorse role had been well chronicled.

Where White had flourished was in the passing game, with his ability as a receiver being the primary catalyst to his PPR RB4 finish in 2023.

When Week 1 came around, White assumed his previous role by claiming 21 touches. Irving also found himself involved, and looked like the clearly superior runner of the two RBs, averaging 6.9 yards on his nine carries to White’s 2.1 yard average on 15 carries. As the weeks went on, Irving continued to wrest away more carries from White, to the point that he now finds himself consistently getting the most carries in the Tampa Bay backfield.

So far this season, White has been able to maintain his stranglehold on the majority of the passing game work, despite Irving coming into the league as a plus-receiver.

White started off the 2024 season continuing to perpetuate the theory that he was an inefficient, volume play. Things got even worse when a foot injury forced White to miss the first game of his career in Week 6.

Following the announcement that White would miss the game, it provided Irving with his time to shine.

While Irving’s 16 opportunities against the Saints were the most he had received in any game to that point, it was Sean Tucker that exploded in White’s absence, finishing as Week 6’s overall PPR RB1.

Sean Tucker Leading Week 6 In Rushing Yards

Also contributing 1 TD in a dominate win over the Saints#nflxespn #football #runningback #FantasyFootball #TampaBayStrong

📸 @Buccaneers / @NFL pic.twitter.com/zTgTfsO7Is

— Jelly Filled Media (@JellyFilldMedia) October 15, 2024

Like Irving, Tucker was a college prospect who lost a ton of value at the combine. During his medical checks, it was discovered that Tucker had a congenital heart defect that held him out of all athletic testing prior to the 2023 draft. He ultimately went undrafted, despite being a premier prospect during his career at Syracuse.

Tucker and Irving definitively looking like the two best RBs on Tampa Bay’s roster following Week 6 seemed to have caught White’s attention, as the veteran has not had a single game with negative FPOE since returning from his injury. During that stretch, White has still been a better receiver than runner, as he has seen negative rushing FPOE in three of the four games. The team has also taken note, as White has fallen to the clear second option on the ground, with Irving holding a 38-t0-29 advantage in carries over the past four weeks.

The re-emergence of White has led to a decrease in opportunities for Tucker. But after showing the team what he was capable of in Week 6, Tucker has been able to earn more touches than he was seeing earlier in the year.

While Irving’s truthers had a valid case as to why he should be the Buccaneers’ lead back at the start of the season, White’s recent increase in efficiency has made them a formidable duo. White and Irving currently rank as the PPR RB22 and RB23, respectively, and are joined by Cade Otton as the offense’s primary drivers until Mike Evans is able to return from his hamstring injury.

With the Buccaneers looking to divide up the team’s RB touches in every game so far this season, we should not expect that trend to change regardless of the personnel they have available to them. With that being said, what should we expect from this Tampa Bay RB room through the end of the 2024 season?

After the Buccaneers ranked dead last in rushing yards last season under Dave Canales, new offensive coordinator Liam Coen currently has Tampa Bay ranked 11th in rushing yards in 2024. While not on the Rams’ staff last season for Kyren Williams’ breakout, Coen was the team’s offensive coordinator when they drafted Williams in 2022. This makes the statistical and athletic comps between Williams and Irving even more intriguing, as it looks like Coen had a good idea of what he was getting in the rookie RB.

After coaching under a running-game savant in Sean McVay, then going on to coach Ray Davis at Kentucky last season, we should not be shocked that Coen has been able to develop such a successful run game in Tampa Bay. What may come as a shock is the decision to employ a backfield committee after displaying a general preference to lean into a featured back during his time in Los Angeles and Kentucky.

Once we factor in that White’s involvement in the passing game hinges not only on catching the ball, but blocking as well, the splitting of duties does start to make more sense. White outweighs Irving by nearly 25 pounds and has been lauded for his abilities in pass protection throughout his career. While Irving has been able to show his chops as a receiver, he may never offer the Buccaneers the versatility of White in the passing game.

Once the Buccaneers return from their Week 11 bye, they face the fourth-best schedule for RBs through Week 17. For fantasy managers looking to make a final playoff push, trading for White or Irving could help get them over the top. Tucker is also readily available on waivers, and we have already seen the potential he brings if he is given more opportunities. For those fortunate enough to reach their league championship, Week 17 offers a juicy matchup against a reeling Panthers defense.

As long as two of White, Irving, and Tucker are healthy, we are bound to see a committee employed by the Buccaneers. This may come as a disappointment, as fantasy managers would obviously prefer to roster a workhorse RB in a McVay-style offense. But having two Tampa Bay RBs who can be relied on every week as starters in fantasy lineups is not a bad consolation, and a trend we should see continue for the rest of the season.