Blocking For Bucky
October 18th, 2026
Blocking for Bucky.
The Sage of Tampa Bay sports, Ira Kaufman, always likes to say the Bucs offense is driven by Bucky Irving.
When Bucky is on his game, the offense hums. Well, as Bucky always likes to point out, he cannot do much without blocking.
Like that 72-yard run that Bucky had after he zigged and zagged behind the line of scrimmage before he noticed a crease created by Ben Bredeson, who stayed with his block of Quinnen Williams long enough for Bucky to use Bredeson as a shield twice on the play.
Joe spoke with Bredeson about how staying with blocks buys time for Bucky to dodge would-be tacklers.
“Especially with a guy that’s dynamic as Bucky, you never know when [he will break one],” Bredeson said. “You never know when. Obviously, that play is set up for us to run the ball over to the left side there.
“But with Bucky, he has such a great instinct and great eye for hitting a hole any which way. It’s really trained all of us to stick on our guys as long as possible.
“Bucky can make some magic happen. And I mean, you saw how he cuts it back, cuts it way back outside. Then he cuts it back up. He makes three different cuts before the line of scrimmage, and then ran it for I don’t know, like 72 yards.
“So you know, he’s just such a dynamic guy back there. He can help make you look good.”
Bucs left tackle Tristan Wirfs used to joke that blocking for Tom Brady meant he didn’t need eyes in the back of his head. He always knew where Brady would be. But with Baker Mayfield, that sixth sense went out the window.
Wirfs was asked about blocking for Bucky and how he knows when he will break one. Wirfs chuckled and said that question has been asked ever since football was invented. And no one has an exact answer.
Joe asked Bredeson if Wirfs’ experience with Brady and Mayfield also applied to Bucky. Bredeson said, yes, and the way Bucky runs (and Mayfield too), forces linemen to be disciplined and play to the whistle.
“It’s our job to stay on our guys,” Bredeson said. “You know Bucky has an innate ability to make make some crazy cuts, so he’ll make you look good.”
Bucs offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said last week he thinks the offensive line was beginning to turn the corner against Dallas. He added how well the Bucs ran the ball in Dallas was an example.
Now the question is, was the run game a byproduct of playing against a trash defense or is that a sign of things to come? Today against the mighty Steelers will be a good test.
October 18th, 2026 at 4:18 am
I’m not buying it. Dallas has one of the worst defenses in the league.
Steelers defense isn’t great but they’ve got a great edge rusher. I don’t think the Bucs can beat an average steelers team.
October 18th, 2026 at 6:04 am
No reason we can’t beat a washed up QB and one edge rusher.
We need to run more screen plays with Gainwell and Bucky, eat up the TOP, put Rodgers in a catch up role, that’s where he makes most of his mistakes.
Bucs win today by double digits.
October 18th, 2026 at 6:45 am
Let’s see the first four games the Bucs O-line showed no signs of life, then they play one of the worst D’s in the league. It’s not hard to connect the dots.
October 18th, 2026 at 7:12 am
“Now the question is, was the run game a byproduct of playing against a trash defense or is that a sign of things to come? Today against the mighty Steelers will be a good test.”
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Also factoring in to the Bucs win over Dallas was 0-4, and a clear understanding that everyone’s job was on the line.
Very hard to sustain that level of effort…
Look at 2025. Where was the effort during the 2-7 swoon?
They lost to the currently winless Dolphins 17-20.
Yes, the Steelers will be a good test. The Bucs will show us who they are today.
October 18th, 2026 at 7:52 am
Itzok … ‘Dallas has one of the worst defenses in the league. Steelers defense isn’t great but they’ve got a great edge rusher.’
This particular article is about Bucs’ rushing. Last week against Dallas we had 39 rushes for a whopping 241 yds … 6.2 YPC average. NICE! But even if you take away Bucky’s 72-yd scamper, and take away the 2 kneeldowns at end-of-game, we end up with 36 rushes for 171 yds … 4.8 YPC average. That’s still mighty good.
But that’s not what won the game, although those 39 rushes contributed heavily to us keeping the ball for over 39 minutes of TOP. We won IMO because (1) we played excellent COMPLEMENTARY FOOTBALL (scoring 10 pts off of the THREE Cowboys’ turnovers), and (2) we didn’t go out of our way to continually shoot ourselves in the foot (our 14 penalties in the Dallas game being the exception).
Yes we can beat the Steelers, but not unless we adhere to those 2 fundamentals above … minimize your own mistakes, but capitalize on your adversary’s mistakes.
October 18th, 2026 at 11:58 am
Heard some of the fake fans saying Bredeson is not playing well. He held that block for ever! You just do not see that too often. Those folks are mostly silent but a few are still trying. LOL
BTW the WRs are blocking their tails off as well. Good Job dudes!
Go Bucs!