The PFF Tribe Is Not Fond Of Bucky Irving
May 14th, 2026
Still ticking.
Time to have a little fun in the dark of the night!
And speaking of the dark, “IT’S ALIVE!”
Joe had given up the PFF tribe for dead. A stats company bought out Cris Collinsworth’s outfit this winter but told Collinsworth he could keep his dumbass grades and the website. As a result, Collinsworth had a bloodletting, laying out/off much of the Pro Football Focus staff.
For weeks after the sale, little to no copy was posted on the site. But in the wake of the draft, the PFF tribe has demonstrated it has a pulse.
The tribe posted its ratings on all Bucs players. And the tribe believes, as Joe believes, the Bucs signed Kenneth Greenwell for a reason. And it wasn’t just to play special teams.
The tribe believes Greenwell is a starting running back in the league. Bucky Irving? Not so much. He is the Tribe’s No. 44 running back in the league.
Look, Joe’s not going there, though Bucky’s numbers were really bad. He had one of the worst successful run rates in the league last year and his yards-per-carry were dreadful. But Joe is thinking three things boxed in Bucky.
First, former Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard didn’t know how to scheme up a good run game. The Bucs’ run game, beginning in the preseason and throughout the regular season, looked a whole lot like the slop Bryon Leftwich tried to throw onto the field after he lost his crutch, Bucco Bruce Arians, in 2022.
Then there was how the offensive line was ravaged by injuries. It would have made Jim Brown sweat to run behind the two guards the Bucs used late in the season,
And third, as Joe likes to say, other teams’ coaches get paid, too. After Bucky’s great rookie season, defensive coordinators were working all offseason a year ago to gameplan ways to stop him.
Add the three elements up, no wonder Bucky had a rotten year.
Joe’s bullish on Bucky this fall. The talent that made Bucky a star rookie didn’t vanish overnight.
May 14th, 2026 at 6:19 am
Chicken and the egg, did Coen make Bucky, did the 2024 OL make Bucky, we shall see
May 14th, 2026 at 6:21 am
Who the heck is Kenneth Greenwell?
Kenneth Gainwell, on the other hand, is a really good back and I said the second the Bucs signed him that he would be taking over as the #1 RB.
You don’t pay a backup RB $7 million a year. At least the Bucs don’t.
You can tell from Robinson’s comments that they worry about Buck’s durability and that he will not get as many carries as he was getting last year.
May 14th, 2026 at 7:34 am
Grizzard was trying to apply Bucky in his offense as if he were Gale Sayers and like we didn’t have two other RBs that could legitimately help prop our run game.
I’d add the injuries as 4th Joe, and I’d even point at Bucky returning from the injury to be overused some more showed just how green Grizzard was.
OL injuries in mind, Sean Tucker still found a way to have a day he’d otherwise wouldn’t have even with Coen, because even after the Saints game in ’24 he too shrugged his shoulders when asked how to get Tucker more touches.
Robinson has some history juggling the personnel in the backfield. We don’t have a Bijan Robinson, but that should make the juggling a little more important with what we do have in the RB room.
Joe, is there even a known timeline to expect Bucky back this offseason? I saw him in the short video the team put out welcoming Bain & Scott to the locker room a few days ago, didn’t see a sling.
May 14th, 2026 at 8:14 am
Bucky Irving plain sucked last season
And he should have been benched earlier in the season
Against Miami when he completely lost his mind
9 carries 19 yards
5 receptions 14 yards
This is PATHETIC
May 14th, 2026 at 8:18 am
The trenches are what make a great NFL team. The ‘Bucs had neither last season. Fix both lines and dominate the entire field! Everyone remembers the greatest show on turf, but no one remembers how great both the offensive and defensive lines were.