Buccaneers' Irving Already Climbing Team's All-Time Rushing List

It’s probably too early to call Bucky Irving one of the best running backs in Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ history.

He’s only in is third season, and missed almost half of his second one due to injury.

But the numbers don't lie, and the numbers say that Irving is already in the top 10 among Buccaneers running backs in total offense. 

This comes after one of the best games any NFL back will have this season. Irving was a wrecking crew against the Atlanta Falcons, ending the afternoon with 170 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries in a 16-0 win.

The play of Irving and Kenny Gainwell (140 yards, 25 carries) made it possible for the Bucs to win the game 16-0 without Baker Mayfield completing a single pass.

Mayfield will start completing passess eventually, and there's no reason to think that Irving will stop running. Granted, it's fair to question whether he'll stay at this level.

In the last month, Irving's had games of 165, 106 and 170 yards.

That's a difficult level for even the league's best RBs to maintain, but if Irving isn't in that class yet, he's knocking at the door. 

He's currently fourth in the league in rushing with 728 yards and ninth in the league with a yards per carry average of five. 

Even with the emergence of Gainwell, Irving is still one of the league's most active backs, with 147 carries through eight games.

This is the type of back the Bucs were missing last season. Irving only played in 10 games, and when he did play, he wasn't too effective, due largley to an injured ankle and a shoulder that required offseason surgery. 

We're barely in November, and Irving has already eclipsed his rushing total from last season by 140 yards. He also has five times the touchdowns that he did last year (five) and is averaging 1.6 yards per carry.

Not only does Irving look more like the guy who burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2024 (1,122 yards, eight TDs, 5.4 YPC), he's on track to surpass all of those numbers. 

Right now, Tampa's all-time leading rusher is James Wilder (1981-1989), followed by Mike Alstott (1996-2006), Warrick Dunn (1991-2001), Doug Martin (2012-2017) and Cadillac Wiliams (2005-2010).

Who's to say where Martin ends up on that list, but the fact that he's already 11th in rushing and 10th in all-purpose yardage is quite impressive.