Washington RB Jonah Coleman can fly over defenders, too.

Joe knows a bunch of Bucs fans weren’t overjoyed when Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht got former Steelers running back Kenneth Gainwell.

Not that they didn’t like Gainwell. But the biggest reaction Joe heard from Bucs fans, understandably, was “What about Bucky Irving?”

It’s a fair question. But Joe believes if people think about it, there is some understandable reason. NFL general managers don’t go out and buy free agents on the first day of legal tampering if they think that position is already solidified.

Then, the Bucs re-signed Sean Tucker. So the Bucs made two moves at running back. Again, teams don’t do that just because someone woke up and had an urge to add running backs.

Now Joe is not lobbying for the Bucs to draft a running back. If they want to sign two or three undrafted free agents after the draft, fine. But given that Licht made the moves at running back for a reason, might the Bucs want to get a running back who doesn’t fit the same profile as Bucky, Gainwell and Tucker?

Look, Joe won’t lose a wink of sleep if the Bucs don’t draft a running back. That typed, it sure would be fun to see bruising Washington running back Jonah Coleman running behind the Bucs offensive line.

Joe is going to guess not many of his readers are football nuts like Joe, who weekly during the regular season loves watching #B1GAfterDark with those west coast games taking Joe into the wee hours of a Sunday morning, generally around 2 a.m. or later.

(Some 14 hours of college football on Saturdays in the fall is natural for Joe, and should be for all red-blooded Americans.)

Washington played in several of those games. Coleman is just an old school running back who not only absorbs punishment, but he dishes it out.

Check out Coleman’s stats dug up by handicapper turned stathead Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis on Coleman.

* 1st down or TD on 35% of runs, #1 in class.
* 71 percent of rushing yards came after contact, #1 in class.
* 12.4 yards after catch, #1 in class
* when hit at or behind the line of scrimmage, led his draft class in yards per carry and first down runs.
* Had 639 career touches with just one fumble.

Joe thought Coleman might go in the third round. If somehow he slipped to the fourth, Joe figures the Bucs would get excellent value.

However, that might be a pipe dream. When Joe spoke with Emory Hunt of CBS at the combine, Joe brought up Coleman to Hunt. He told Joe that he has Coleman rated better than Jadarian Price of Notre Dame, who most believe is either a late first- or early second-round pick.

“He’s my No. 2 running back in the class,” Hunt said. “So I like him. Because Coleman has that burst. He has that aggressiveness. He has that first-step quickness. And he attacks it like an old school guy used to attack a defense.”

And that is why Joe is intrigued by Coleman. He’s a change of pace from what the Bucs currently have. He’s a bruiser.

“When you have a guy like [Coleman] who runs angry like that … a stout back, [who] I think he has underrated explosiveness — that will give him those 20- to 40-yard bursts.

“He may not have the long speed, but if you are ripping 20- or 30-yard runs in a certain point of the game, you will win any week.”

No question about that. But you know, that’s what Bucky did as a rookie. He’d break off those 20+ yard runs and you look up and the zebras have their arms in the air.

Then again, there’s a reason Licht made two moves for running backs.

“I am a big fan of Jonah,” Hunt, who also publishes the Football GamePlan 2026 Draft Prospect Guide, said of Coleman. “I love his game.”

Watching Coleman, it’s hard not to be a fan.

RB Jonah Coleman

1st down or TD on 35% of runs

#1 in class

71% of rushing yards came AFTER contact

#1 in class

12.4 yards after catch

#1 in class

when hit at or behind the LOS:

#1 YPC in class
#1 first down rate in class

639 career touches -> just 1 fumble

123 career… pic.twitter.com/xThunZ3ajN

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) April 15, 2026