VIA TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS COMMUNICATIONS -
The National Football League today announced that Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 13, following his performance in Tampa Bay’s 26-23 overtime win over the Carolina Panthers. Irving becomes the second different Tampa Bay running back to claim the award this season, joining Sean Tucker (Week 6).
Irving led the NFL in Week 13 with his career-high 152 rushing yards, despite facing a stacked box on a season-high 32% of his carries on Sunday, according to Next Gen Stats. He contributed another 33 yards receiving to give him a career-best 185 scrimmage yards on the day, which were the most among all NFC players and the second-most across the league in Week 13. In addition, the rookie led the NFL in yards per rush attempt (6.1) among players with 20-or-more carries and ranked first in yards per touch (6.6) among players with 20-or-more touches. Irving put forth a monumental fourth quarter, amassing 109 scrimmage yards and 97 rushing yards – each the most among all players in the fourth quarter in Week 13. He leads the NFL in fourth quarter yards per rush average (8.1) among qualified rushers and trails only Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry in total fourth quarter rushing yards (306).
The Oregon product became the first rookie since De’Von Achane (Week 3) and Jahmyr Gibbs (Week 8) in 2023 with 185+ scrimmage yards, 150+ rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in a single game. He’s 1-of-3 players to record those numbers this season, joining Barkley (three times) and Henry (twice). Achane, in Week 3 of last season, was the most recent rookie running back to earn player of the week honors.
On the season, Irving leads all rookies in scrimmage yards (1,017) and rushing yards (732), while tying for the rookie lead in rushing touchdowns (six). His six touchdowns from scrimmage are tied for the second-most among rookies, trailing only Marvin Harrison Jr. (seven). He also ranks fourth among all NFL players in yards per touch (6.1), trailing only Gibbs, Barkley and Henry (minimum 125 offensive touches). With Irving as the leading rusher, Tampa Bay has improved its rushing offense from 32nd in the NFL in 2023 in both yards per rush (3.4) and rushing yards per game (88.8) to fourth (5.1) and eighth (137.2), respectively, in 2024.
The Offensive Player of the Week honor marks the first of Irving’s career and the first for a Tampa Bay rookie since Chris Godwin in 2017 (Week 17). He joins Godwin, Mike Evans (Week 11, 2014), Doug Martin (Week 9, 2012) and Warrick Dunn (Week 2, 1997) as the only offensive rookies in franchise history to claim player of the week recognition.
COVER PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES