Who Should I Start? Mike Evans or Bucky Irving

Sunday, September 13, 8:41 PM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving totaled eight carries, 45 rushing yards, and one rushing touchdown in Sunday's Week 1 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals. He also caught all seven of his targets for an additional 48 receiving yards. Outside of the Bucs' loss, this was a great game from Irving for many reasons. He scored a touchdown, he was highly efficient on the ground with 5.6 yards per carry, he caught seven passes, and he totaled nearly 100 scrimmage yards. After plenty of speculation that Kenny Gainwell could carve out a substantial role in the backfield, Irving proved that he's still the lead back. The only real blemishes on his game were a first-half fumble and the fact that he only registered eight carries, but at least the latter fact was merely a product of the game script. He has a chance to touch the ball 15-20 times with 100+ yards next week against the Cleveland Browns, who have major question marks on both sides of the ball. Irving ranks as a high-end RB2 going into Week 2.