Sean Tucker And The Hot Hand
November 18th, 2025
Running back Sean Tucker on his 43-yard touchdown run.
So in the last two weeks, Bucs running back Sean Tucker, who began the season as the team’s RB3, established himself as the Bucs’ best available back.
A week ago, Tucker became the first running back this season to run for over 50 yards on the Patriots. On Sunday, Tucker broke 100 yards rushing and scored three touchdowns, two on the ground and one in the air.
Pretty good stuff, right? So if Bucky Irving doesn’t return, it’s a no-brainer that Tucker starts Sunday night against the Rams, right?
Well, Bucs coach Todd Bowles wouldn’t go there yesterday in his day-after presser. Bowles suggested that against the Rams, the Bucs will determine who is running hot. And whomever demonstrates his worth, whether it is Rachaad White, Bucky or Tucker, then that guy will get the rock.
“That’s hard to say,” Bowles said, as to who will be the Bucs’ RB 1 Sunday night in the City of Angels. “We go with the hot hand.
“We’ve got three good backs – we play them all, rotate them all, and whichever one gets hot usually gets the most touches.”
Joe sort of understands what Bowles is saying. The NFL is a week-to-week league. Pretty fair chance the Rams will be waiting for Tucker. If he struggles and Bucky shows he’s getting production, then Bucky will carry the mail.
There clearly is no more “hot” running back for the Bucs. Tucker has demonstrated that. He should be on the field on run plays on the Bucs’ first drive Sunday night.
Give Tucker the rock! He’s earned it.
November 18th, 2025 at 4:37 am
tucker on sweeps to the outside and turning the corner…
when he starts feeling it, that’s his money move…
and he hits another gear on it, when he’s feeling it out there and getting the touches
November 18th, 2025 at 5:41 am
Remember last year? Tuck & Buck? Against the slimy saints. I do. That was his breakout. He was sorely underutilized. It appears that Mr. White, God bless him, just isn’t being used by Grizzard properly, as in passes as well as runs. Barring any cuts, trades (lol), or re-signing, we’ll be seeing Tuck & Buck, and then Williams as rb3. Those guys are more natural runners, where as several of us have said that White is an out of position slot receiver.
November 18th, 2025 at 7:20 am
Tucker should start. Give him more chances so he can get into rhythm early. Put White in the slot and leave Shep on the bench.
November 18th, 2025 at 7:56 am
He wears #44 and is from Syracuse. What other criteria does he need? One problem is like Jim Brown he doesn’t block much.
November 18th, 2025 at 8:06 am
Be you tired of shep too thought it was just me lol
November 18th, 2025 at 8:14 am
Shep has made some big catches for us and is still productive. Tucker has good hands catching the ball and Baker put it where Tucker caught it in stride.
November 18th, 2025 at 8:16 am
You’re absolutely right Joe. Tucker has already demonstrated that he’s the hot hand. No need to do a lot of rotating. However, Bucky is a different type of runner. If he’s healthy, why not put in dual threats and let the Rams guess who’s getting the ball.
November 18th, 2025 at 8:19 am
The stubbornness of this coaching staff is infuriating.
November 18th, 2025 at 8:34 am
Loving Tucker. About time he has his glory, well deserved. Can’t forget about White either. He is doing well. Both of them. When Bucky comes back, we have a trifecta and they all need to be used. Shake it up!
November 18th, 2025 at 8:41 am
“We’ve got three good backs – we play them all, rotate them all, and whichever one gets hot usually gets the most touches.”
This sounds good in a presser, but isn’t reflected by the actual usage of our RBs since the start of the season. It’s just flat coach-speak, and you have to actually use all your RBs to find out whom has the hot-hand.
Our first 4 games, Bucky played 70% of the snaps, no scores, a game high of 71 yards, and a single longest run of 16 yards on 71 attempts.
We were going with 1 back, until he got hurt and it forced our hand.
In our first 7 games Tucker had 11 carries, and had more rushes in the Nola game than he had in the first 7 games with 12 carries. That doesn’t sound like we’re trying to find the “hot hand” we’re going with what we wanted to.
In our last 2 games, Tucker has run the ball 28 times for 159 yards and 2 rush TDs.
Again just having played 16% of the offensive reps on the season Tucker has run 51 times, for 235 runs and 4 rush TDs. It took Bucky 20 more rushes to gain 237 yards rushing in the 4 games we had him.
It’s not a comparison of the players as far as capability(fans have favorites, including me), but production wise there’s a case to made for Tucker being the more efficient option in the RB room when it comes to moving the ball on the ground.
Small sample-size, but you all have eyes and don’t need me to sell you on the value Tucker provides as a runner. Best part is that he’s an RFA, so we should be able to get him back w/o worrying about him being poached.
November 18th, 2025 at 8:42 am
Once he gets moving he seems to glide.
November 18th, 2025 at 8:45 am
Bowles will stick with White because White is going to be an FA and up for a new contract. That’s the thinking of a former player/now HC…..he looks out for the players and why the players like him but the objective is to win games not be friends. This is another reason I believe we’ll never be a contender under Bowles, he’s loyal to his people vs the fans. He lacks a killer instinct in a game that requires a business mindset. Anyone watching for the past 3 yrs can see Tucker is a more dynamic rusher than White. Same with his staff, he won’t fire anyone…he’ll reassign them to a different unit or role but he won’t get rid of obvious underperformance. Our special teams has been a rolling series of failures all yr. Nobody has lost their job. This league is about results and that’s not the ultimate priority for Bowles.