Buccaneers Rookie Running Back Poised to Make Impact in 2024

Drafted in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, Bucky Irving is quickly making his mark with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving (7) celebrates a touchdown carry in the first quarter of the NFL Preseason Week 1 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Drafted in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, there was little doubt running back Bucky Irving would make the active roster in his rookie season.

The bigger question wasn’t about if he’d be around, but rather how impactful he could be joining forces with Rachaad White and the other members of the Buccaneers backfield.

After rushing for 80 yards on 18 carries and scoring against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1 of the preseason, the Tampa Bay rookie says he feels his game has grown in his short time in the NFL.

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“I’d probably say the details, and mastering my playbook so that the game can slow down for me,” Irving said when asked where his game has grown the most since April. “The game moved pretty fast when I first got here. My mind was spinning everywhere, but for me, I’m just locking in my playbook and understanding why [we’re] calling things, and things like that. Overall, just letting the game slow down for me.”

Relying on the coaches and the playbook and then just doing your job seem to be pretty solid methods for any rookie trying to get comfortable at the top level of football.

Fortunately for Irving, he’s got an offensive coordinator and playbook to follow that has done a pretty solid job of highlighting running back abilities in the past. That fact makes it a bit easier for him to focus on simply executing his assignment every rep.

And that helps him become part of a unit expected to expand on their surprising 2023 success in year two with quarterback Baker Mayfield despite being in year one under offensive coordinator Liam Coen.

“I feel like this offense is explosive. We [have] a lot of guys that can make plays in a variety of different ways,” Irving said. “From the wide receivers, from the running back room, quarterback, the guys out front blocking, protecting…I mean, we’re going to be a very explosive offense.”

Irving has good speed on the field and has proven to be a relatively quick study thus far, and he acknowledges the speed of the NFL games is the biggest difference from college to the pro level. That, and that defenders in this league are where they’re supposed to be much more often than while he was gashing defenses at Oregon this time last year, when he was putting 119 yards rushing and two touchdowns with just four attempts against Portland State.

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