Why fantasy managers should be ‘back in’ on Bucky Irving
Yahoo Fantasy's Matt Harmon and Josh Norris explain why the Tampa Bay running back has a solid fantasy floor entering his third NFL season. Check out the full conversation on the "Yahoo Fantasy Forecast" podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
At this point.
I think that a lot of the news that we're getting out of Bucs training camp is that, yes, Kenny Gainwell is going to be the passing down, like back.
He'll be the preferred pass catcher.
But they haven't really started to mix him in much as a rusher.
I think Sean Tucker is a little bit more of, like, a fantasy Twitter obsession than a real threat- Yeah in, in, in the rushing department.
And I just look at this right now where Bucky, and this is why I had to bump him up a tier in my rankings.
W- where I look at Bucky right now is just, okay, we know there's a good player in there somewhere.
We saw it.
Not even just a good player, a great player in his rookie season.
Yeah.
And this is an offense, Josh, that I want to be in on this year.
This offensive line is probably a top five unit in the NFL.
It's healthier this year going, than going than it was going into last year.
Bucky's healthier than he was last season.
Again, I realize that Kenny Gainwell's a threat to the passing game work, but I can also tell myself a story that Kenny Gainwell is a little overrated right now as a pass catcher 'cause he's coming off the Aaron Rodgers checkdown, bonanza.
So I don't know.
Mm-hmm.
I, Bucky is a fifth round pick.
I've actually kind of really warmed up to him as that running back two when I don't get running back two early, which is what I'd prefer to do.
He's one of these that I, I get hot and cold on every single rankings update.
Like, I look at it and I think back to that rookie season where he is so good at breaking tackles.
I mean, despite his size, he really is, like, a between-the-tackles runner that if you give him the second level, then he forces, you know, defenders in the opposite direction for a step, then cuts off of him, and then, hey, if, if you're reaching for a tackle, he's just breaking it, and then he gets to the second and third level.
At the same time, that was a Liam Cohen rushing game versus now a Zach Robinson one.
Mm-hmm.
And we have seen that Liam Cohen rushing attacks are fantasy darlings and- Yep with Zach Robinson, he had Bijan Robinson, and even some of that was hit-or-miss some weeks, right?
Yeah.
Because of, like, the, the tight end to tight end blocking.
So yeah, I really like Bucky, and I am totally with you that this Bucs offensive line has a chance of being a top five unit.
It's just this high variance-ness I get with the Bucs right now, where it's like a hot and cold, and we're gonna go on these streaks where, you know, Baker and company plays, like, a maybe a top five unit, and then when it's bad, it's, like, real rough.
But at the same time, we're not talking about your running back one.
We're talking about your running back two, and, this is a whole round of running back twos.
