Bucky Irving burst onto the NFL scene last year in style. Starting the season as a backup, the rookie running back became a mainstay in the Bucs’ starting lineup by midseason. By season’s end, Irving ranked 10th among running backs in rushing yards, fourth among backs in yards per carry, and third in EPA/attempt. As such, Irving has quickly established himself as one of the best backs in the league.

That was recently reinforced with Pro Football Focus’ list of the top 32 running backs in the NFL.

PFF Ranks Bucky Irving As The Sixth-Best Back In NFL

PFF analyst, and former Pewter Reporter Trevor Sikkema ranks Bucky Irving sixth among all running backs heading into the 2025 season.

“Irving was sensational as a rookie. He didn’t quite have the volume stats of other running backs in this list’s range, but his efficiency scores were that of a top-10 back.

He earned a 90.0 PFF rushing grade with 62 forced missed tackles and led the NFL with 3.93 yards after contact per attempt (among running backs with at least 150 carries). He also posted a 90.2 PFF receiving grade, the second-highest mark at the position.”

Sikkema has Irving trailing the likes of Baltimore’s Derrick Henry, Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley, Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson, Detroit’s Jamhyr Gibbs and Green Bay’s Josh Jacobs on the PFF list. Irving finished his rookie season with 1,122 yards and eight touchdowns while averaging 5.4 yards per carry.

Bucky Irving’s Tackle-Breaking Ability

Bucky Irving doesn’t have the same size as the players ahead of him on that PFF list, but his missed tackle forced rate of 27.68% was third among qualifying backs, trailing only Seattle’s Kenneth Walker III and Arizona’s James Conner. This is a testament to Irving’s truly elite contact balance trait. He rarely goes down on first contact, which is one of the biggest reasons he led the league in yards after contact as Trevor Sikkema points out.

Unsurprisingly, high yards after contact rates leads to high yards-per-carry marks. The correlation between the two is .637 (the closer to 1.0 that number is the higher the correlation).

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – photo by: USA Today

Irving still has opportunities to improve parts of his game and there are other parts that will never be among the best in the league. His vision at the line of scrimmage is good, but there are still holes that he misses. But once Irving gets into space, his vision improves to truly incredible levels. And his short-area quickness and change of direction are among the best in the NFL, yet his top-end speed is average at best. That has led to him creating numerous explosive runs of 10+ yards, but finishing very few of them for touchdowns due to getting chased down from behind.

The upcoming 2025 season will be more challenging for Irving. He won’t sneak up on the league as he did last year as a fourth-round pick. Per Next Gen Stats, he faced a stacked box on just 14.5% of his runs. That was the sixth-lowest rate among qualified running backs according to Next Gen Stats.

No Rachaad White On PFF’s List

Tampa Bay’s backup running back, Rachaad White, did not crack Trevor Sikkema’s PFF list. This combined with him ranking Derrick Henry over Saquon Barkley and Jahmyr Gibbs seems to suggest that the rankings factor in purely the running aspect of the position. While White has a limited ceiling as a pure runner, his gifts as both a pass protector and as a receiving option should have him ranked higher on a more holistic list.

White ranked eighth among all running backs in receiving yards (393) and tied for first in receiving touchdowns with six. Since 2022 only three running backs have more receiving yards than White’s 1,232 yards.

Very few backs can match White as a pass protector. He has been one of the top-graded running backs in the NFL as a pass blocker by PFF over the past two seasons. Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard said as much during his recent media availability.

Josh Grizzard says RB Rachaad White is “just as good as anybody we have seen” in regards to pass protection and understanding blitz packages.

— Brianna Dix (@briannadixNFL) May 20, 2025

White improved as a runner in 2024, finally running behind a scheme that suited both his and the offensive line’s talents. He set career highs in yards per attempt (4.3), yards after contact per carry (3.13), explosive run rate (8.3%) and missed tackle forced rate (16.7%) while rushing for 613 yards and three touchdowns. As a compliment to Irving, the two are one of the more formidable running tandems in the NFL.