The Tampa Bay Buccaneers walked out of the 2024 NFL Draft with seven total draft picks. These new rookies — along with some undrafted free agents — are what they hope will help elevate them even further in the upcoming season as they go for their fourth consecutive NFC South division title.
Even though head coach Todd Bowles is known as a defensive head coach, the Buccaneers' draft strategy wasn't centered that way. Of their seven draft picks, five were on the offensive side of the ball, with three of them being skill position players.
Their first-round draft choice addressed an immediate need by selecting Duke center Graham Barton at No. 26 overall. Barton looks to be the immediate replacement for Ryan Jensen, who decided to retire. After two defensive choices in edge rusher Chris Braswell out of Alabama and defensive back Tykee Smith out of Georgia, it was back to offense for the Buccaneers.
It started with their first of two third-round choices, Washington wide receiver Jalen McMillan (the other was Smith). Then in the fourth round, it was Oregon running back Bucky Irving, followed by Texas-El Paso guard Elijah Klein in the sixth, and finally Washington tight end Devin Culp in the seventh round.
The one that really starts to stand out here — at least, if we're looking for the Buccaneers' rookie sleeper pick — is Irving, who had quite the career in Eugene, Oregon.
Fourth-round draft choice Bucky Irving is the Buccaneers' rookie sleeper of 2024
Last year's leading rusher Rachaad White fell just shy of reaching 1,000 yards (990). But behind him was little help as the Buccaneers rushed for just 1,509 yards for the season, at just 3.4 yards per carry, which was worst in the league. They also had just seven rushing touchdowns on the season, which was third worst in the league.
Needless to say, the Buccaneers were looking for some rushing help in this year's draft. The problem was that this was one of the worst drafts in recent memory for running backs. The first running back wasn't taken until the second round at No. 42 overall when the Carolina Panthers selected Jonathon Brooks out of Texas.
Bucky Irving was the sixth running back taken, making it all the way near the bottom of the fourth round. But that shouldn't deter Buccaneers fans from believing this could be a valuable player. That just makes him the rookie sleeper for Tampa Bay.
Irving is coming out of the Oregon Ducks' high-powered offense last season that put up big numbers all around — through the air and on the ground. He was a big part of their ground game. He led the team with 1,180 rushing yards, averaging 6.3 yards per carry with 11 touchdowns.
But the former Duck is also pretty lethal out of the backfield. Additionally, he had 56 receptions — most for any FBS running back — for 413 yards and two more scores.
Irving is by no means the big, sturdy back that probably everyone was wanting, but the 5-foot-9, 192-pounder has the ability to make a lot of defenders miss him, as he had an FBS-high of 144 broken tackles, according to ESPN.
Considering the Buccaneers have had the worst rushing attack in the league over the last two seasons, getting a guy like Irving with his abilities to do work in and out of the backfield gives this team's offense an immediate upgrade.
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