Rookie Playmakers Can Have Multi-Faceted Value To 2024 Bucs

As for Irving, he gives the Bucs’ struggling ground game another element. He was a back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher at Oregon in 2022 and 2023, totaling 2,256 rushing yards on 343 carries (6.6 avg.) while finding the end zone 16 times on the ground. He also caught 85 passes over the last two years for 692 yards (8.1 avg.) and five more touchdowns.

As Pewter Report’s Josh Queipo outlined here and here, Irving was a bit of a machine in college when it came to forcing missed tackles, totaling 69 in 2023 (per PFF). The rookie fourth-round pick looks to pair well with third-year back Rachaad White, who surpassed 1,500 total yards a season ago and finished just 10 yards shy of his first career 1,000-yard season.

So at a very basic level, McMillan and Irving are two more playmakers who the Bucs can work into the mix on offense. The core of Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan, Trey Palmer, Cade Otton, Rachaad White and Bucky Irving should give offensive coordinator Liam Coen plenty to work with in 2024. But the two new rookie playmakers can bring more value than just their surface-level production.

Bucs’ Rookies Can Provide The Offense With Some Much-Needed Cover

The Bucs were extremely fortunate in 2023 considering Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Rachaad White managed to play 19 out of the team’s 19 games. There were certainly moments when each player was banged up, but out of the 1,236 offensive snaps last season, Evans played 973 snaps, Godwin totaled 1,000 and White played 959.

That’s a high percentage of snaps and for each guy to make it through the season without missing a game is a rare feat that borders on miraculous — and it’s not something the Bucs can necessarily count on year in and year out.

When it came down to it, though, the depth behind Evans, Godwin and White wasn’t quite reliable enough to lean on whenever anyone in that trio was dealing with the little injuries and wear and tear that comes from playing in the NFL.

At receiver, Tampa Bay had a sixth-round pick in Trey Palmer behind Evans and Godwin and, truthfully, not much else. In the backfield, the Bucs had Chase Edmonds behind White, though Edmonds had his own injury issues — including a trip to the injured reserve list early in the season. Outside of Edmonds, there was Ke’Shawn Vaughn — who got cut during the season — and undrafted free agent Sean Tucker, who didn’t have the trust of the coaching staff.

Enter Jalen McMillan and Bucky Irving. Not only can these two rookies add depth and fill in when injuries arise at wide receiver and running back, respectively, but they can also lighten the workload of the Bucs’ top playmakers.

If McMillan and Irving can cut into some of those significant snap share numbers, it can help keep Evans, Godwin and White fresher. And in doing so, the chances of each player making it through the entire season without missing a game becomes more likely.

A fresher Evans, Godwin and White being available week in and week out? The Bucs would sign up for that in a heartbeat, and it’s what they hope to have set themselves up for by adding these two play-making rookies.

The trio of Evans, Godwin and White playing the percentage of snaps that they played and still making it through all 19 games was truly remarkable. But the Bucs can’t operate under the expectation of that happening again in 2023. That’s the key — the Bucs shouldn’t have to count on that again, and that’s the second prong of the two-fold value that these two promising rookies bring to the table in 2024.