Tampa Bay’s 2023 season made clear that the Buccaneers backfield belongs to Rachaad White. He was instrumental in each part of the offense, which is unlikely to alter. What stays unsure heading into coaching camp is the roles and influence of the remainder of the backfield, significantly rookie Bucky Irving.
There isn’t any cause to imagine that Rachaad White will not be primed for one more heavy workload this season. Final 12 months, he had the third-most rush makes an attempt within the NFL (272) and fourth-most yards from scrimmage (1539), thanks in no small half to his sturdiness. White performed in each sport of the 2023 season, which allowed him to guide all operating backs with 861 offensive snaps.
The teaching workers’s belief in White is clear. He can have no actual competitors in coaching camp. Nonetheless, the Bucs might take into account managing White’s workload from camp by the preseason. The bellcow operating again paradigm is all however lifeless, and operating White into the bottom would rob the Bucs of a potent playmaker before later.
The query is, how do the Bucs protect White? He’s simply essentially the most proficient operating again on the roster. The probably successor is fourth-round decide Bucky Irving. Although he’s undersized and a mean NFL athlete at finest, Irving was sparkplug for Oregon’s offense. His lack of dimension belies his potential to make tacklers miss and get yards after contact.
What is going to decide Irving’s utility in Tampa Bay this season would be the blocking system offensive coordinator Liam Coen opts to run. Final season, the Bucs switched from being a gap-heavy group to utilizing way more exterior zone, a operate of their undersized and fewer proficient offensive line.
Oregon principally used hole blocks on Irving’s runs the final two seasons, as did Coen as Kentucky’s offensive coordinator final 12 months. Coen might attempt to use Irving just like the Rams have used Kyren Williams, who has an analogous dimension and athletic profile and performed for Coen with Los Angeles in 2022.
Irving’s chief competitors for enjoying time will probably be veteran Chase Edmonds. Whereas he’s the incumbent change-of-pace again, he has by no means been a featured again for an prolonged time period. He’ll see loads of snaps within the preseason, however the Bucs will probably be searching for Irving to play his well beyond him on the depth chart.
Second-year participant Sean Tucker could possibly be getting into a make-or-break coaching camp. He started his NFL profession in restoration from a coronary heart situation and was an entire non-factor through the season. In faculty, Tucker was an explosive ball provider for Syracuse, however he has but to show that dynamic playmaking within the NFL. He’s very a lot competing for a spot on the ultimate roster, an analysis that may little doubt final till the tip of the preseason.
Tucker’s unsure place on the roster opens up a possibility for undrafted rookies Ramon Jefferson and D.J. Williams. Jefferson has a bonus over each different operating again on the roster: he performed underneath Coen final season, even when he solely performed 28 offensive snaps. He’s additionally two years faraway from an ACL tear, so he might have slightly extra juice in Bucs coaching camp than he did with Kentucky final season.
Williams is the least skilled operating again on the roster and arguably the least athletic. What he does have is mass, weighing 225 kilos at 5’9″. Nonetheless, Williams is a protracted shot to make the roster, save for an premature camp harm or two.
Story initially appeared on Buccaneers Wire
