Rookie running back Bucky Irving has served as the spark plug in the Buccaneers' rushing attack in 2024. He leads the Bucs in rushing through three games with 154 yards on the ground and became an enforcer against the Broncos in Week Three.
Down 17-0 in the second quarter, Irving provided a surge. From first-and-10, Irving went in motion and flowed towards the right, taking the handoff from Baker Mayfield on a gap run. Tristan Wirfs paved the way on a pull and Irving cut inside the crease and bounced to the outside. He quickly hit top gear and accelerated for a 32-yard run, sending Bucs' fans to their feet inside Raymond James Stadium.
Gap blocking is geared towards generating a numbers advantage at the point of attack. In a gap scheme, the goal is for linemen to block down, using their leverage on a defender. On the majority of gap concepts, there is a puller that creates a numbers advantage. The play-side offensive linemen block down the line of scrimmage, making it look as though they are blocking away from the gap where the rusher is going. This will leave a defender unaccounted for, who is then blocked by a puller from the backside to create a crease. In this case for Irving, Bucs' left tackle Tristan Wirfs served as the puller, moving laterally down the line and kicking out to seal off the edge by blocking linebacker Dondrea Tillman, creating a lane for Irving to hit.
Irving led the Bucs on the ground in Week Three, finishing the day with 70 yards on nine carries, averaging 7.8 yards per tote. He is familiar with gap concepts from his collegiate tenure at Oregon and against Denver, Irving's open-field prowess took over. Irving was patient and maximized Wirfs' block in front of him.
"It was a gap scheme play," said Irving. "That is something that I ran pretty well in college. We ran that a tremendous amount of times at Oregon, so that is a play that I am familiar with and used to. When they call those type of runs, I get excited for them…My coach always would teach us where the ball should hit and once we got past the line of scrimmage, that is when your instincts and your ability as a football player [take over]. That is something I have always gone by because being so small, people always doubted me that I could play at this level and that I could not play at the college level. But I have always been doubted my whole life, so I just figured I needed to bring an edge to my game to make a spark. So, I always try to not let the first guy bring me down. That is the model that I go by."
At five-foot-nine, 195 pounds, Irving is not the biggest running back, but he runs with a powerful base and outstanding contact balance. With stellar change-of-direction skills and acceleration once he touches the ball, Irving has elevated the Bucs' run game.
"We tried to get him the ball and tried to get him the ball in space and dial some things up for him that not a lot of other guys are doing," noted Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen. "We gave him a little bit of an end-around type deal, a couple end-arounds. He's just continuing to get better and better, and his role will continue to go as he goes. If he keeps producing and he keeps doing all the right things like he has been, the more and more he'll get it."
