After boasting the worst rushing attack in the league in 2023, the 2024 Tampa Bay Buccaneers posted one of the best ground games.
That was partly due to the arrival of rookie Bucky Irving and also in part because of new offensive coordinator Liam Coen.
But even in 2023, there were flashes.
Rachaad White rushed for 990 yards, almost eclipsing that magical 1,000-yard mark in just his second season. But it took him 272 carries to get there for a paltry 3.6 yards per carry average.
White now enters the final season of his contract with the Buccaneers and lost the starting job to Irving mid-way through the season last year. But he's not worried about 2025.
"I'm ready to see what the year holds," White told RG.org’s DJ Siddiqi recently. "I'm coming into the last year of my deal, I'm ready to prove what I got and what I got going on."
Last season, White posted 613 yards with 4.3 yards per carry and caught 51 passes for 393 yards with nine total touchdowns. He knows what his game is.
"We know what we both bring to the table, but me and him, we're not one of them egos-and-pride backfields," said White, who led the Bucs with 990 rushing yards in 2023. "We like to give credit where credit is due. A lot of things have transpired with the rushing attack. It's a lot of things that go into it. Me and him, we like to give our whole line a lot of credit. We feel like we got a great O-line, and we all got better throughout the year together in unison."
Irving tallied 1,122 yards on the ground, posting the Bucs' first 1,000-yard season since Doug Marin in 2015, and he scored eight touchdowns while averaging 5.4 yards per carry and managing 47 catches for 392 yards. But neither is intimidated by the other.
"We got our Bad Boys handshake and things like that that we do," White said of his relationship with Irving. "That's our big name for ourselves. We call each other Bad Boys, for sure. It's been amazing, our relationship is great."
The upcoming season might be the final in Tampa Bay for White, but then again, general manager Jason Licht might recognize the two-headed monster he has at running back and attempt to keep the backfield together into the future.