With the Buccaneers acquiring Washington wide receiver Jalen McMillan and Oregon running back Bucky Irving in the 2024 draft, it’s easy to see them adding immediate value to Tampa Bay’s offense.
McMillan will help improve the wide receiver corps and will likely serve as the Buccaneers’ third receiver behind Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. The former Washington star said: Full-scale production Over the past three collegiate seasons, he caught 163 passes for 2,121 yards and 17 touchdowns. His standout performance came in 2022, when he caught a team-high 79 passes for 1,098 yards (13.9 average) and a team-high nine touchdowns.
McMillan can line up on the outside and in the slot, providing another reliable target for Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, who will be looking to build on his 4,000-yard, 28-touchdown season in 2023.
Buccaneers RB Bucky Irving – Photo courtesy of USA Today
As for Irving, he adds a new dimension to the Buccaneers’ struggling ground game. Consecutive 1,000-yard runners He will play at Oregon in 2022 and 2023 and has rushed 343 times for a total of 2,256 yards (6.6 average) and reached the end zone on the ground 16 times. He also caught 85 passes for 692 yards (8.1 average) and five touchdowns over the past two years.
As Josh Quapo of Pewter Report put it: here and hereIrving was something of a machine when it came to forcing missed tackles in college, forcing 69 total tackles in 2023 (per PFF). The fourth-round pick would pair well with third-year running back Rachad White, who totaled over 1,500 yards last season and was just 10 yards shy of his first career 1,000-yard season.
So, on a very basic level, McMillan and Irving are two more playmakers the Buccaneers could incorporate into their offense: A core of Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan, Trey Palmer, Cade Otton, Rachad White and Bucky Irving should give offensive coordinator Liam Cohen plenty to work with in 2024. But the two rookie playmakers could bring value beyond just surface production.
Buccaneers rookies can provide needed support to the offensive line
Buccaneers wide receivers Trey Palmer, Chris Godwin and Mike Evans – Photo: Cliff Welch/PR
The 2023 Buccaneers were extremely fortunate considering Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Rachad White were able to play in 19 of the team’s 19 games. Though each player had their moments of injury, Evans played 973, Godwin 1,000 and White 959 of the team’s 1,236 offensive snaps last season.
That’s a high snap rate, and for each player to make it through the season without missing a game would be a rare, near miraculous feat and not something the Buccaneers can necessarily count on every year.
But at the end of the day, the depth behind Evans, Godwin and White just wasn’t reliable enough to rely on when any of those three were dealing with the little injuries and wear and tear that comes with playing in the NFL.
Last season, only four running backs played more than 60% of their team’s snaps in every game they played.
1) Kyren Williams
2) Travis Etienne
3) Ratchad White
4) Josh Jacobsthat’s it.
— Graham Barfield (@GrahamBarfield) May 20, 2024
At receiver, Tampa Bay had sixth-round pick Trey Palmer behind Evans and Godwin, but honestly, no one else was much better. In the backfield, the Buccaneers had Chase Edmonds behind White, but Edmonds himself had injury issues, including being placed on injured reserve early in the season. Aside from Edmonds, they also had Ke’Shawn Vaughn, who was released during the season, and Sean Tucker, an undrafted free agent who didn’t have the confidence of the coaching staff.
Buccaneers WR Jalen McMillan – Photo: Cliff Welch/PR
Enter Jalen McMillan and Bucky Irving, two rookies who could add depth and fill in any holes in the event of injuries to wide receiver and running back, respectively, while also taking some of the strain off the Buccaneers’ top playmakers.
If McMillan and Irving could cut down on some of their significant snap shares, it would help keep Evans, Godwin and White fresh, which would increase the chances that each player could make it through the entire season without missing a game.
A fresher Evans, Godwin and White available on a weekly basis? The Buccaneers would likely agree to that in a heartbeat, and they’ll want to be ready to do just that with the addition of these two playmaking rookies.
It’s really impressive that Evans, Godwin and White played the percentage of snaps they did and won all 19 games. But the Buccaneers can’t operate with the expectation that it will happen again in 2023. That’s the key. The Buccaneers should not do Must Expect that to happen again, and that’s the second piece of the double value these two promising rookies will bring in 2024.
