How Many Games Will Bucky Irving Start?
July 12th, 2025
Had Bucs fans smiling.
It doesn’t matter if you start. What matters is what you do when you get on the field.
That was a summary of what Bucs running backs coach Skip Peete said earlier this year when talking about Bucky Irving.
Bucky blasted onto the NFL scene in a major way last year. But as Peete did say, a start only means one play. There’s a helluva lot more offensive snaps in the game after the first snap.
And when Bucky did get in the game and did get his touches, he blew up. If someone had enough beers in them, Bucky sort of gave flashbacks a little to Barry Sanders.
The Bucs had a complete, dangerous offense last year and Bucky was a big reason why. As much as Baker Mayfield and the passing game succeeded last year, Joe has to wonder how much of that was due to defenses having to answer for Bucky and the Bucs on the ground.
(The answer more often than not was #Fail.)
.@buckyirving only started 3️⃣ games in 2024 😳
🏈 1122 rushing yards
🏈 392 receiving yards
🏈8 touchdowns pic.twitter.com/EeFjmvJPnD
— NFL (@NFL) June 8, 2025