NFL analyst rips Tampa Bay Buccaneers for mistake made last season

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a dynamic rushing attack in 2024, but one NFL analyst thinks it could have been even better.

The Buccaneers started the season last year rolling with running back Rachaad White, who had been in rotation since his rookie year in 2022 and then took the starting job over in 2023. It was the same case in 2024, but the Bucs had also drafted rookie running back Bucky Irving — and it wouldn't take long until Irving was undeniable. He would eventually run for over 1,000 yards, the first Bucs running back to do so since 2016, and he also netted eight touchdowns and averaged a ridiculous 5.4 yards per carry. Irving took over from White as the team's starting running back halfway through the year, but NFL analyst Warren Sharp believes that the Bucs' ground game could have been even more lethal if they had started Irving earlier.

Sharp wrote in his Sharp Football Analysis 2025 Preview that, while Tampa Bay's rushing attack was excellent in 2024, Irving should have been the team's starting ball carrier long before he ended up getting the job.

"A Bucs rushing attack that ranked #32 in success rate, #32 in yards per carry, #17 in expected points added, and #31 in explosive run rate improved in 2024 to #3 in success rate, #3 in YPC, #4 in EPA, and #3 in explosive run rate. And it would have been even higher if the Bucs gave 100% of their carries to Irving, because he lapped White in efficiency," Sharp wrote per JoeBucsFan.

This may indeed have been true. The Bucs adjusted from a zone to a gap scheme as the year progressed, and it really benefited Irving, who became one of the NFL's most efficient running backs. But there's a decent argument that the adjustment from zone to gap was a bigger factor than White's benching, because it helped White, too — per PewterReport's Joshua Queipo, White's production in gap scheme significantly outweighed his production in zone scheme, jumping from 2.9 yards per carry in gap to 6.5 yards per carry in zone.