The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and general manager Jason Licht added a huge piece of their re-tooled running game in 2024 in the fourth round of that year's draft.
Former Minnesota and Oregon running back Mar'Keise "Bucky" Irving was selected by Licht with the No. 125 overall pick and immediately made an impact on the Tampa Bay rushing attack.
The Bucs were coming off a league-worst 3.4 yards per carry in 2023, and the addition of then-new offensive coordinator Liam Coen and Irving, Tampa Bay flipped the script in 2024 with a yards-per-carry average of 5.3. The Buccaneers averaged 149.2 yards per game, good enough for fourth in the league.
What's more, Irving, who started his rookie season playing behind the veteran Rachaad White, took over the RB1 job about midway through the season, and totaled 1,122 yards on the season.
That means with a similar performance in 2025, Irving could become just the third Tampa Bay running back ever to post back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.
James Wilder posted 1,544 yards for the Bucs in 1984 while also leading the league with 407 rushing attempts and a Pro Bowl nod, then registered 1,300 the following season.
Rhett ran for 1,011 yards his rookie season of 1994 while finishing second in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting, then followed that up with 1,207 yards in 1995.
Irving became the first Tampa Bay ball carrier to run for 1,000 yards since Doug Martin posted 1,402 in 2015.
Now, with another stellar performance in 2025, he can make history.