Best in class.
This is for the Jason Licht haters.
Joe sees all sorts of comments on this here corner of the interwebs where some people are so mental about the Bucs’ AC/DC-loving general manager it appears they’d like to drag him behind a pickup down Dale Mabry Highway.
Why?
Joe will play along. Let’s say Team Glazer runs off Licht, for whatever reason. What would they then do? They’d likely look for a guy who has built a Super Bowl winner, right?
Well, they already have one in the building! So why on earth would you want to run the guy off? LOL
Licht’s drafts the past three years, with the mid-round picks, have been excellent. Let’s look back.
2024
Tykee Smith
Jalen McMillan
Bucky Irving
2025
Jacob Parrish
David Walker
Elijah Roberts
2026
Ted Hurst
Keionte Scott
DeMonte Capehart
That’s five starters, maybe seven (Hurst and Walker?) in nine selections — with the middle picks. That’s an incredible batting average.
Anyway, earlier this week Bucs radio play-by-play man Tony Castricone twittered out some interesting intel. It seems Bucky Irving has turned out to be the best running back selected in the 2024 draft class.
Why that no good @#$%^&* Jason Licht!
But this post is to celebrate Bucky. That’s awesome that a dude his size turns out to be the best running back selected in 2024. And wearing pewter and red!
And Bucky is a huge reason why the Bucs are very much in the hunt for an NFC South landfill title and a home playoff game.
The five guys taken ahead of Bucky Irving have combined for:
611 rushes
2,587 rushing yards
4.23 yards per carry
14 rushing TDs
Incredible work by Bucky, incredible pick by GM Jason Licht and incredible development by the coaches. https://t.co/IbHcIAg3VL pic.twitter.com/Qhyq4sxYpV
— Tony Castricone (@Castricone) November 6, 2026
This is always a safe space for Bucky Irving propaganda @BenjaminSolak pic.twitter.com/5Giyip6WKD