The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 0-3 start got drearier in Week 3 when Baker Mayfield dislocated his right thumb late in a 23-16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Mayfield is expected to miss at least three weeks, leaving undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels to make his first NFL start against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. Daniels completed none of his three passes and threw an interception after replacing Mayfield against Minnesota. The good news? It can only go up from here.
That quarterback change creates some uncertainty for Bucky Irving, who remains one of the few reliable pieces in Tampa Bay’s offense. Irving has rushed 40 times for 180 yards and a touchdown through three games while adding 13 catches for another 61 yards. His 4.5 yards per carry is also an improvement from the 3.4 yards he averaged during last season.
There unfortunately isn’t much precedent for how Irving will perform without Mayfield, though. Mayfield started every regular-season and playoff game for Tampa Bay since Irving entered the league in 2024, meaning Week 4 will be Irving’s first regular-season game with another quarterback starting alongside him.
Bucky Irving’s Usage
Irving has been heavily involved this season. He opened with 15 touches for 93 yards against Cincinnati, then handled 21 touches against Cleveland and 17 against Minnesota. He has averaged 17.7 touches and 80.3 scrimmage yards per game overall, although his passing-game role has been less secure than those reception totals suggest, since Kenneth Gainwell has handled much of Tampa Bay’s third-down and two-minute work.
That workload has also come with nice efficiency. Irving rushed for 45 yards and a touchdown on eight carries in Week 1 before producing 89 yards on 17 attempts against Cleveland. He wasn’t great in Week 3 against Minnesota, however, only producing 46 yards on 15 carries. But Irving still enters Week 4 averaging 4.5 yards per attempt.
Daniels’ mobility could take away some rushing opportunities from Irving, while Irving’s lack of goal-line work is already a concern; he has yet to record a carry inside the 10 this season, which is terrible news for fantasy managers. Tampa Bay could lean more heavily on the running game with a rookie quarterback making his first start, but there is little evidence to assume Irving will handle additional passing-down work in this upcoming game.
Matchup
Green Bay looked like a difficult rushing matchup through two weeks, allowing just 174 yards on the ground and 2.85 yards per carry, the second-lowest rate in the NFL at the time. That changed dramatically against Atlanta in Week 3. The Falcons ran 41 times for 242 yards, 5.9 yards per carry and three touchdowns, while Bijan Robinson accounted for 194 yards and two scores on 29 attempts.
It’s probably too early to call Green Bay a bad run defense based on one game, especially considering how well it played over the first two weeks. However, Atlanta showed that the Green Bay defense can be attacked on the ground, and Tampa Bay has plenty of incentive to test that right now. Irving has already received at least 15 carries in each of his last two games, and another workload approaching 18-20 touches would give him enough volume to remain productive even if Tampa Bay’s passing offense takes a significant step backward overall.
Irving should remain a solid RB2 for Week 4, though, even without Mayfield.
