Bucky Irving - Buy or Fade?
Why you should be buying the Tampa Bay Star
LAB REPORTS
Why you should be buying the Tampa Bay Star
Bucky Irving – RB, Buccaneers
Before we begin, I want to remind people of Bucky Irving's Rookie season...
📊 Rookie Season (2024)
- 1,122 rushing yards
- 8 rushing touchdowns
- 5.4 yards per carry
- 47 receptions for 392 receiving yards
- Became Tampa Bay's first 1,000-yard rookie rusher in franchise history.
💥 Advanced Stats
- Led all NFL running backs in missed tackle rate (35.8%) among qualified rushers during his rookie season.
- Forced 609 rushing yards after making defenders miss, trailing only Derrick Henry that year.
- Ranked among the league leaders in explosive runs despite splitting carries early in the season.
Ok now fast forward to what happened last year. Nothing went right for the Bucs or Irving, which has caused him to fall down draft boards this year, but should he?
Irving's sophomore season looks worse on paper than it actually was. He battled shoulder and foot injuries for much of the year, missing significant time and playing through pain before eventually undergoing shoulder surgery in the offseason. Even when active, he rarely looked 100% healthy.
The environment around him didn't help. Tampa Bay's offensive line was decimated by injuries, with multiple projected starters missing extended time and the unit constantly shuffling personnel. In fact, it's worse than most people realize...
Total games missed by the intended starting five: 32 games
The instability hurt the run game and limited rushing lanes compared to his explosive rookie campaign. It also impacted play calling throughout the season.
Alongside the line woes, Tampa Bay also dealt with a rash of Wide Receiver injures, which allowed defenses to stay more flexible. There were 31 total games missed by Tampa Bay's top three returning receivers in 2025. For much of the first half of the season, Baker Mayfield was without at least one—and often two—of his top pass-catching options. Tampa didn't have Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka, and Jalen McMillan all active together until Week 15.
Despite all of that, Irving still flashed the traits that made him a breakout candidate. As shown at the beginning of the article, he posted 1,514 scrimmage yards, 5.4 yards per carry, 47 receptions, and 8 total touchdowns in 2024, while ranking among the league's most elusive runners. His ability to create missed tackles and generate explosive plays remains elite, making him an easy bounce-back candidate if the offensive line is healthier.
Fantasy managers should also factor in a slightly reduced ceiling. Kenneth Gainwell is expected to handle a meaningful share of the passing-down work, while Sean Tucker could siphon some short-yardage and goal-line opportunities. Even with those concerns, Irving projects as the clear lead runner and has the talent and efficiency profile to outperform his current draft cost if his health and blocking improve.
To those that are fading him because of the Gainwell addition. I say, why? What makes him so different than how we felt When white was there instead?
Here is a side by side of Kenneth Gainwell and Rachaad White's stats over the last three seasons.
| Stat (2023–2025) | Kenneth Gainwell | Rachaad White |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 50 | 50 |
| Rush Attempts | 273 | 548 |
| Rushing Yards | 1,191 | 2,175 |
| Yards per Carry | 4.4 | 4.0 |
| Rushing TDs | 8 | 13 |
| Receptions | 119 | 155 |
| Receiving Yards | 785 | 1,160 |
| Receiving TDs | 3 | 9 |
| Scrimmage Yards | 1,976 | 3,335 |
| Total TDs | 11 | 22 |
Rachaad White
- Proven workhorse with nearly 3,400 scrimmage yards over the last three seasons.
- Averaged 67 scrimmage yards per game.
- One of the NFL's better receiving backs with 155 catches and 9 receiving touchdowns.
Kenneth Gainwell
- Far more efficient runner on a per-carry basis (4.4 YPC vs. 4.0).
- Never handled more than 114 carries in a season, so his production came in a complementary role.
- Broke out as a receiver in 2025 with 73 catches for 486 yards, showing he can handle passing-down work.
To me, the role that White had will be very similar to what Gainwell steps into. Will he take some work and some fantasy points away? Sure. But that was already happening before when White was in town.
To wrap it up. I am buying Bucky Irving at his current ADP in both Redraft and Dynasty leagues. He should be ready to go at 100% by the time camp rolls around. Fully expect him to bounce back and be a meaningful contributor to your fantasy teams for years to come.
-The Cak
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