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Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving.

If you look at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers depth chart, you’ll still see that Rachaad White is the team’s starting running back.

By any other metric, White and rookie running back Bucky Irving have been interchangeable 1A and 1B options at the position all season — and it’s Irving who leads the Buccaneers with 580 rushing yards.

That’s why it came as a huge shock when Irving suffered a hip injury while inexplicably returning a kickoff in a Week 13 game against the Carolina Panthers.

While Irving had to leave the game but eventually returned, it once again called into question Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles’ decision-making process to move his star players to positions that put them at unnecessary risk.

In a loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 7, leading wide receiver Chris Godwin suffered a horrific season-ending injury when he sprained his ankle late in a blowout loss.

While Irving’s Week 13 injury wasn’t as serious as Godwin’s, football experts still wondered why such a valuable player on an NFL team would risk injury by returning kickoffs.

“Bucky Irving should have stopped returning kickoffs,” wrote Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times on his official X account. “He’s their top RB. He shouldn’t be around special teams. RB1 doesn’t play special teams.”

“Never change Todd Bowles”

Social media was quick to react to Bowles and his coaching staff’s decision to let Irving fire back. They ranged from sarcastic:

“Bucky Irving was injured returning a kickoff 5 yards deep in the end zone with 5 seconds left in the half,” Matt Smith of DraftKings wrote on X. “Never change Todd Bowles.”

To the borderline madman:

“I hate constantly talking about how (expletive) our coaching is,” “Fully Loaded” podcast host JC Cornell wrote on X. “But why the hell is your best RB still returning kicks?” Bucky Irving has nothing to do with getting injured on a kick return.”

To the downright hilarious:

“Because when Todd Bowles said that Bucky Irving deserved more touches, what he meant was that Irving’s contributions returned meaningless kicks,” Sam Wagman of Footballguys Fantasy Football wrote on X.

Irving called him one of the “biggest bargains” of the 1924 draft

Irving is having the type of season that should land him on the PFWAA All-Rookie Team when the season ends — and could lead to the Bucs trying to find a trade target for White in the offseason.

Jeff Diamond of the 33rd team called Irving, a fourth-round pick from Oregon, one of the “biggest steals” of the 2024 NFL Draft ahead of Week 13.

“Irving is definitely a steal as a fourth-round pick and sixth running back,” Diamond wrote. “He quickly took over the role of passing time, playing with Rachaad White in the Bucs backfield. Irving leads all rookie backs with 831 combined yards (579 rushing yards, second among rookies, and 252 yards on 32 catches). He scored five touchdowns to help the Bucs stay in contention for the NFC South title or a wild-card spot.”

Tony Adame covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders and Denver Broncos. A veteran sportswriter and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame