Bucs Welcome The Next Devin Singletary
April 29th, 2024
Fans may remember Joe openly pining for the Bucs to sign running back Devin Singletary in free agency in March of 2023.
It didn’t happen.
Singletary, one of Joe’s favorite NFL running backs, went to Houston and had a good year on a one-year deal for about $3 million. Instead, the Bucs signed Chase Edmonds, who battled injuries in Tampa and didn’t accomplish much. Singletary played well enough for the Texans to earn $5 million-plus per year from the Giants in free agency on a multi-year contract.
So Singletary eluded the Bucs, but it seems they just drafted his clone in Round 4 on Saturday, University of Oregon RB Bucky Irving.
“I feel like I know exactly who Bucky Irving is when you watch him,” said NFL Network draft guru and former scout Daniel Jeremiah. “This was clear as day to me. He reminds me so much of Devin Singletary when he was coming out of college. He’s quicker than fast, not going to wow you with the 40 time in the mid-4.5s, but I thought the vision and instincts [are there].
Jeremiah went on to rave about Irving’s stop-start quickness and how he’s super instinctive.
“Very slippery, very elusive. Guys just don’t get direct shots on him,” Jeremiah said. “He can make you miss in the hole and in very tight quarters, people don’t even have a chance to get him on the ground.”
If Jeremiah is correct, the Bucs nailed this draft pick and Irving would be exactly what the Bucs need to raise their woeful yards-per-carry average. Hey, if you’re going to run the ball 439 times like the Bucs attempted last year, then being more efficient is critical.
Singletary has been a model of consistency since being drafted by Buffalo in 2019, averaging 4.6 yards per carry on 888 rushes with 175 receptions.
If Irving can approach that kind of production, the Bucs will have a running game that legitimately will keep defenders guessing.
April 29th, 2024 at 9:34 am
If he hits the hole with authority then he’s already light-years ahead of White. We’ll see
April 29th, 2024 at 9:36 am
Bucs have been trying to find this type of RB since Warrick Dunn
Charles Simms, Jaquez Rogers and a slew of others long since forgotten.
Bucky does have excellent balance, vision and moves , my kind of RB !
April 29th, 2024 at 9:41 am
I cannot predict how Bucky will do long term in the NFL. However, I do know that he will NOT go down when he is first hit (hello, most BUC RBs for the last few years).
April 29th, 2024 at 9:43 am
His play style is reminiscent of Rams running back Kyren Williams the Rams Rb.
April 29th, 2024 at 9:43 am
I don’t know. Bucky is 3” taller, faster, and weighs less than Devin. I think he profiles more like Warrick Dunn. He is just not as fast.
April 29th, 2024 at 9:51 am
Liam Cohen could have chosen his RB from KY, Ray Davis.
That tells me a lot about Bucky Irving…..but it tells me even more about Liam Cohen.
April 29th, 2024 at 9:57 am
A great pick. He’s a great fit, much better than White, for Coen’s mid-wide zone scheme. I want him on the field from day 1, but like most rookies, to get on the field he needs to vastly improve his pass pro. Skip Peete, our RB coach, needs to work with BI everyday on his pass pro.
April 29th, 2024 at 9:59 am
Irving had 50 more catches his final year. Singletary has not really been a factor in the passing game. Similar as runners.
April 29th, 2024 at 10:00 am
Don’t know much about this guy. Can’t wait to see what he can do in preseason. How he picks up the offense and adjusts to life in the nfl. I really white and what he brings as a receiving back dude is electric but he needs help and doesn’t have great vision.
April 29th, 2024 at 10:03 am
Running behind Barton defenders won’t see him until it’s to late. Fans here have been screaming for a big back, I think this kid will complement White much better. He also will be a real threat catching passes out of the back field. White, at 6′ 1″ 220 is our big back. Thunder, and lightening are back!
April 29th, 2024 at 10:03 am
Also hopefully our retooled O-line and do some road grading. White deserved partial Blake for our horrid rushing attack but so too does our O-line and play caller. Can’t wait to see what the offense can do this year baker has another year with his star guys and hopefully better O-line even tho they did good at pass blocking but give him a actual running game and boys we might just have a championship team.
April 29th, 2024 at 10:03 am
I prefer a RB to be quicker than fast. If he can hit the hole fast and consistency gains over 4-5 Yards Per Rush Attempt, it doesn’t matter what his top end speed is.
Just reading from Bucky’s college days, I’m guessing his receiving skill may be more refined than Devin Singletary.
April 29th, 2024 at 10:09 am
With Irving subbing for white, the offense basically stays the same. This does not signal to the defense any kind of tendency for the offense after switching backs as it would have if we got big plodding short yardage guy in there. I think this was just as much a part of the plan as anything else. Not giving the defense an early clue as to what we might do on third down since we changed personnel.
April 29th, 2024 at 10:14 am
Tampabaybucfan Says:
April 29th, 2024 at 9:51 am
Liam Cohen could have chosen his RB from KY, Ray Davis.
That tells me a lot about Bucky Irving…..but it tells me even more about Liam Cohen.
Excellent point.
April 29th, 2024 at 10:20 am
If Devin Singletary was that good, why is he bouncing around the league? Just curious. I wanted a bigger back, but like Bucky a lot for his vision, balance, tackle breaking ability, and his slipperyness in tight quarters. Could be a great pick.
Overall – very happy with this draft class!
April 29th, 2024 at 10:28 am
Being compared to a Back that averages 4.6 yards per carry is pretty nice. Although 1 TD every 4 games tells me there better be another back with some beef to get that 1-2 yards into the End Zone.
I think it’s a little too early to make that comparison though. Being 6’5″, 245#, able to knock people down, swat down a pass, and never played a down in the NFL, Hell I’m a Jack Campbell Clone.
April 29th, 2024 at 10:28 am
They’re all great picks until the pads come on. Unfortunately RB has not been a draft strength for Licht. Jones was probably our best pure RB but he couldn’t pick up blitzes and was terrible in the receiving game. White is a better all around back but he’s mediocre in rushing…..very poor vision for finding holes. At 195 lbs and doesn’t have elite speed, breaking tackles in the NFL is going to be 10x more challenging. Maybe Tucker will make the leap this year or the o-line will be a bit more dominant so White can get a little more space to burst.
April 29th, 2024 at 10:45 am
Did anybody get the skinny as to why the Bucs went Irving instead Davis?
April 29th, 2024 at 10:46 am
Elusive in the Pac-12 and elusive in the NFL are two different things.
April 29th, 2024 at 10:58 am
It will be great to see a back that has vision and can make people miss. As a runner, I though Edmunds was better than White last year. Also, since Tucker missed most of the off-season last year, I will be watching to see if he can step up and adjust to the speed of the NFL (and improve his pass pro).
April 29th, 2024 at 10:58 am
too small to be an NFL every down back. Might be good, but if he comes in on certain downs the play is telegraphed already.
By too small, I mean he needs more lower body and strength. We have 3-4 so called shifty backs that just shift back to the bench.
We did not need another tweener.
April 29th, 2024 at 11:06 am
Didn’t know much about him before the draft. Watched a lot of tape. The guy has great vision gets through small creases. Very shifty making guys miss. Breaks a surprising amount of travellers for his size. Has great hands.
I really like the pick as he can be a weapon all over the field.
April 29th, 2024 at 11:23 am
It’s weird but RB is the main position I really don’t care as much about the height weight speed crap.. mainly because of so many guys doing well who don’t have elite metrics or aren’t that big or ran 4.6 or slower 40s.
If anyone played fantasy football last year then you know who Kyren Williams is.
That guy was 5’9 194 lbs and ran a 4.65 40 coming out. Was a workhorse beast of a RB last year.
228 carries for 1144 yards (5.0 YPC) and 12 TD’s
32 receptions for 206 yards and another 3 TD’s
So 1350 yards and 15 TD’s. Guy is basically exact same size as Bucky and a little slower in the 40.
All that matters is how you produce when given the touches. Short area burst and vision are way more important for RB than 40 times or carrying a ton of weight.
April 29th, 2024 at 11:25 am
Agreed Cornelius. Speed means nothing if the guy always misses the hole or can’t see daylight.
April 29th, 2024 at 12:23 pm
Gives me Greg Pruitt vibes….not quite as fast but elusive nonetheless
April 29th, 2024 at 1:08 pm
I wasn’t impressed by his measurable, but everybody seems to love this kid. I’m intrigued.
April 29th, 2024 at 1:15 pm
I’m with Cornelius and Voyager: a RB needs the quickness to get past defenders more than top-end speed to run away from them.
April 29th, 2024 at 1:47 pm
Have to admit I was pretty pissed we didn’t pull the trigger on the big boy from FSU but once I calmed down and started looking at it the more I like it….I think smaller rbs are coming back into favor in today’s quick nfl…he’s a slightly faster clone of Kyen Williams and with our new offensive line I think he goes off this season
April 29th, 2024 at 2:23 pm
If the Bucs signed Singletary last year, as a part time player he’d have averaged 2.8 ypc, and no one would even remember he existed.
April 29th, 2024 at 2:32 pm
Gotta actually have holes before you can “hit them hard.” Fingers crossed!
April 29th, 2024 at 3:03 pm
Regarding drafting Irving vs Davis…… Irving is three years younger than Davis (21 vs 24), Irving has much more tread left on the tires (570 vs 840 college touches), although limited Irving has some kickoff return experience vs none for Davis. Irving will very likely be used along side Thompkins as our new dual kickoff return men. Irving is getting negative analysis due to being only 5′-9″ but Davis is listed as only 5′-8″. Davis is however 20 lbs heavier which is preferable. Remember, Liam Coen was Davis’s coach at Kentucky. If he had a preference for Davis I’m sure that would have been the pick.
April 29th, 2024 at 3:08 pm
@ BUCman – I appreciate the info. Thanks. Evidently I was drinking…no swilling the Davis Kool-aid predraft.
April 29th, 2024 at 3:46 pm
Guys who “get caught from behind” are usually 20 yards downfield. Can’t wait to see Bucky get some touches!
April 29th, 2024 at 4:11 pm
The thing that Irvin does better than Ray Davis is catch the ball. He even rivals White in that skill. He also has some kick return experience, which could be important with the new rules.
April 29th, 2024 at 4:54 pm
Would have preferred a power RB like Estime.
April 29th, 2024 at 6:20 pm
Davis would’ve taken the job from White making Blowles looking like a fool for making him the #1 back when everybody knows he’s not. Irving won’t take anyone’s job just earn a backup role.
April 29th, 2024 at 9:25 pm
To many know it all on this site
April 29th, 2024 at 10:15 pm
Ray Davis top 30 interview didn’t go well and he wouldn’t be drafted by the Bucs. I guess lots of Bucs fans didn’t hear or believe it. I keep seeing fans still expected Ray Davis to be drafted by TB.