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Last Sunday’s Bucs-Giants game featured the NFL’s top two rookie running backs in Tampa Bay’s Bucky Irving and New York’s Tyrone Tracy Jr., who entered Week 12 as the only rookies with 500 rushing yards on the season.
Much like the Bucs, Irving came away as the big winner, breaking loose for a 56-yard run on the way to 151 yards from scrimmage in Tampa Bay’s easy 30-7 win. Irving has split the workload with third-year back Rachaad White this season but still leads all rookies from any position with 831 yards from scrimmage.
Not bad for a fourth-round pick out of Oregon. If the Bucs are to make a charge into the playoffs with an easy schedule over the last six games, Irving will be a significant part of that. His 18 touches on Sunday were a career high, with six catches for 64 yards in addition to his game-high 87 yards rushing.
Irving has led a remarkable turnaround to the Bucs’ run game, which had ranked last in the NFL in yards per game and yards per carry in each of the past two seasons. The arrival of new offensive coordinator Liam Coen and offensive line coach Kevin Carberry, the addition of first-round pick Graham Barton at center and Irving have all combined for huge gains. The Bucs are now 10th in the league in rushing and fourth in yards per carry.
The team’s average of 4.94 yards per carry would be the best in franchise history, and Irving is easily having the best season the Bucs have ever seen on a per-carry basis. He’s at 5.36, and in Tampa’s 49 seasons, only twice has a back had 100-plus carries and averaged even 5.0 yards. Ronald Jones, helped by a 98-yard run, averaged 5.09 in 2020, and LeGarrette Blount averaged 5.01 in 2010.
Such consistent big-play production is rare in a rookie running back. If Irving can sustain his current average, he’d rank as the eighth-best rookie ever in a season with 150-plus carries, with names like Adrian Peterson, Franco Harris and Clinton Portis ahead of him.
Irving might even be able to improve on that average….
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/bears-qb-caleb-williams-bucs-rb-bucky-irving-setting-franchise-records
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Publish date : 2024-11-27 14:42:00
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