How Drastically Has Bucs’ Run Game Improved In 2024?

There’s rightfully a lot to be concerned about with the Bucs through the first two and a half months of the 2024 season. In a very basic sense, their 4-6 record and what is essentially a three-game deficit in the NFC South race stand out as the most problematic.

Under that umbrella, there are injuries, a lack of pass rush from the team’s edge rushers, poor linebacker play and erratic performances from the secondary to be worried about.

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: USA Today

But one of the bright, shining lights of the first 10 weeks for the Bucs has been the drastic improvement of their run game. Year over year, the jump that Tampa Bay’s backfield has made is nothing short of remarkable.

Tampa Bay’s rushing attack has been abysmal for a long time now. It averaged 95.1 yards per game in 2019, which was Bruce Arians’ first year as the team’s head coach. That was only good for 24th, but considering what followed, the Bucs probably would’ve killed for that ranking in the years since. They were 29th in 2020 (94.9 YPG) and 26th in 2021 (98.4 YPG) before everything really bottomed out.

In 2022, Tampa Bay averaged 76.9 yards per game on the ground. That was dead-last in the league, and it was part of the reason Todd Bowles fired Byron Leftwich as the team’s offensive coordinator after that campaign. There was some improvement under first-year offensive coordinator Dave Canales in 2023, as the Bucs’ average jumped from 76.9 to 88.8. But that 88.8 mark still made them dead-last in the NFL.

Now, through 10 games in 2024, it’s been a night and day difference. Tampa Bay is averaging 125.3 rushing yards per game. Coming into play on Sunday, that ranked them 11th in the entire NFL. The Bucs haven’t even been top-20 in rushing since 2015, when they averaged 135.1 yards per game on the ground and ranked fifth. The next year, they averaged 101 rushing yards per game – and that was the last time their average hit triple digits.

What Has Led To This Much-Improved Bucs Rushing Attack?

The improvement in Tampa Bay’s run game has plenty of contributing factors. For starters, an overhaul to the offensive coaching staff has helped. While Canales replaced Leftwich as the Bucs’ offensive coordinator heading into 2023, little else changed. There was a change in philosophy with Canales coming in, but much of the staff remained the same as it was under Arians.

Bucs OC Liam Coen and C Graham Barton – Photo by: Cliff Welch P/R

This offseason saw more sweeping changes. When Canales left to take the Panthers’ head coaching job, he took offensive line coaches Joe Gilbert and Harold Goodwin (also the run game coordinator) with him. With that, Bowles brought in Liam Coen as his new offensive coordinator and along with Coen came offensive line coaches Kevin Carberry and Brian Picucci. That trio has proven to be a massive upgrade for the team’s run game.

Part of it is Coen’s scheme, and part of it is the work Carberry and Picucci have done with the offensive line. Personnel changes up front have contributed as well, with first-round center Graham Barton replacing Robert Hainsey and left guard Ben Bredeson stepping in to replace the combination of Matt Feiler and Aaron Stinnie.

The upgrade of going from Hainsey to Barton (even as a rookie) has helped, and the massive leap from Year 1 to Year 2 for right guard Cody Mauch has been another factor. All around, the running lanes are there far more often for Tampa Bay’s running backs than they have been in recent years.

That has helped Rachaad White, who is in his second season as the team’s starting running back. His carries are down from where they were at this point last season, largely due to the emergence of rookie Bucky Irving and the fact that he missed a game in October. White did go on to put up a blazing-hot finish to the 2023 season and fell just shy of the 1,000-yard mark. But through 10 games of last year’s schedule, he was averaging 3.3 yards per carry. Right now, his average is up to 3.8 yards per carry.

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: USA Today

But even though White is running more efficiently, the biggest source of improvement for the Bucs’ rushing attack has been the addition of Irving, a fourth-round draft pick out of Oregon.

Through the first 10 weeks of the season, Irving is Tampa Bay’s leading rusher. He has 492 yards and four touchdowns on 92 carries, and he has a 5.1-yard average thus far. Like White, he has benefitted from Coen’s run schemes and the lanes that the offensive line has been creating. But Irving is shiftier and can break tackles as well as anyone. He’s a creator, with 30 missed tackles forced after a rush (per PFF). That’s the 10th-highest mark of any running back in the league.

Sean Tucker may have faded back into the background in recent weeks for whatever reason, but there’s no forgetting that he contributed big-time to the Buccaneer rushing attack in Week 6. He won NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for a 14-carry, 136-yard performance on the ground (as well as another 56 yards receiving and two total touchdowns).

Bucs’ Backfield Has Been The NFL’s Most Improved In 2024

The Bucs’ improvement in the run game hasn’t just been drastic by their own measure. It’s also the most-improved across the league, as told by Pro Football Focus. In a recent article titled “The most-improved NFL teams at every position group in 2024,” running back went to Tampa Bay by a significant margin. Based on the difference between overall PFF grades from 2023 to 2024, Buccaneer running backs are up 23.2 points. The next-closest in terms of improvements were the Falcons (+15.2) and Eagles (+11.0).

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: USA Today

Here’s what PFF’s Bradley Locker had to say about the upgraded Bucs run game:

“Tampa Bay may be incredibly shorthanded at wide receiver, but its running back room has been spectacular in Liam Coen’s first year as offensive coordinator. All three of Sean Tucker, Bucky Irving and Rachaad White have earned overall grades of 72.6 or better, with Tucker and Irving eclipsing an 80.0 mark. The Bucs have a legit three-headed monster at RB in 2024 after White posted only a 67.5 overall grade last season.”

What’s been especially impressive about Tampa Bay’s improvement on the ground is that it’s largely been on display week in and week out. Even when the Bucs took on the Ravens’ top-ranked run defense and the Chiefs’ third-ranked run defense, they ran for 125 yards (4.2 avg.) and 95 yards (5.0 avg.), respectively.

With the rest of the schedule including six of seven games against porous run defenses, might the Bucs offense try to ride their improved run game to a playoff push?

Bucs’ remaining schedule vs. the run:

Giants: 28th (147.1 yards per game)
Panthers: 32nd (160.1 yards per game)
Raiders: 22nd (129.9 yards per game)
Chargers: 9th (110.6 yards per game)
Cowboys: 31st (152.1 yards per game)
Panthers: 32nd (160.1 yards per game)
Saints: 27th (141.0 yards per game)