Last Sunday’s Bucs–Giants game featured the NFL‘s top two rookie running backs in Tampa Bay’s Bucky Irving and New York’s Tyrone Tracy Jr., who entered Week 12 as the only rookies with 500 rushing yards on the season.
Much like the Bucs, Irving came away as the big winner, breaking loose for a 56-yard run on the way to 151 yards from scrimmage in Tampa Bay’s easy 30-7 win. Irving has split the workload with third-year back Rachaad White this season but still leads all rookies from any position with 831 yards from scrimmage.
Not bad for a fourth-round pick out of Oregon. If the Bucs are to make a charge into the playoffs with an easy schedule over the last six games, Irving will be a significant part of that. His 18 touches on Sunday were a career high, with six catches for 64 yards in addition to his game-high 87 yards rushing.
Irving has led a remarkable turnaround to the Bucs’ run game, which had ranked last in the NFL in yards per game and yards per carry in each of the past two seasons. The arrival of new offensive coordinator Liam Coen and offensive line coach Kevin Carberry, the addition of first-round pick Graham Barton at center and Irving have all combined for huge gains. The Bucs are now 10th in the league in rushing and fourth in yards per carry.
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The team’s average of 4.94 yards per carry would be the best in franchise history, and Irving is easily having the best season the Bucs have ever seen on a per-carry basis. He’s at 5.36, and in Tampa’s 49 seasons, only twice has a back had 100-plus carries and averaged even 5.0 yards. Ronald Jones, helped by a 98-yard run, averaged 5.09 in 2020, and LeGarrette Blount averaged 5.01 in 2010.
Such consistent big-play production is rare in a rookie running back. If Irving can sustain his current average, he’d rank as the eighth-best rookie ever in a season with 150-plus carries, with names like Adrian Peterson, Franco Harris and Clinton Portis ahead of him.
Irving might even be able to improve on that average. Two of his remaining six games, including Sunday, are against a Carolina defense that ranks 32nd against the run, and another is against Dallas, which ranks 31st.
For Caleb Williams, an NFL rookie record within reach
It came in another loss for Chicago, but Bears rookie Caleb Williams had a great performance Sunday against the Vikings, throwing for 340 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. It says more about the Bears’ QB history than it does Williams, but he has already set the team rookie record for passing yards — 2,356, breaking Mitchell Trubisky’s record. Also, Williams’ 11 touchdown passes tie him for that Bears rookie record, with the great Charlie O’Rourke, who had 11 in 1942.
There’s an NFL rookie record now within reach for Williams. He’s gone more than five games without throwing an interception, a stretch of 193 passes. With 19 more this week, he would pass Kyler Murray’s NFL rookie record of 211, set in 2019. It might not be that easy as the Bears are playing Detroit, and the Lions have 14 picks this year, third-most in the NFL.
Should Bears feel good about Caleb Williams’ development so far?
Chop Robinson sparks Dolphins‘ recent surge
Dolphins rookie Demeioun “Chop” Robinson had a quiet start to his NFL career, going his first seven games without a sack as Miami struggled to a 2-6 start. But the Dolphins have won three straight, and Robinson has been part of their defensive turnaround, with 1.5 sacks Sunday to give him 3.5 in his past four games. Among all rookies, only the Rams‘ Braden Fiske (5) has more in that span. Robinson had one play Sunday where he lost a sack when an official review reversed the call to an incomplete pass, but he got half a sack on the following play.
Robinson, picked 21st overall out of Penn State, has a chance to finish in the top five in Dolphins history for sacks by a rookie. If he keeps playing like he has recently, Robinson is within reach of Jaelan Phillips‘ 2021 team rookie record of 8.5.
Zach Frazier leading all rookie linemen
There are now 18 rookie offensive linemen starting across the league, and while it’s hard to rank their impact across multiple positions, the highest-ranked rookie by Pro Football Focus grading is Steelers center Zach Frazier, the league’s No. 5 center by PFF’s measure. His ranking is well above the top-rated rookie guard — the 49ers‘ Dominick Puni, whom PFF ranks 11th — and the top-rated rookie tackle, Chargers rookie Joe Alt, who ranks 15th among tackles.
Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.
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