Bucky Irving Scouting Report and Fantasy Football Outlook

Bucky Irving Scouting Report

• Underdog ADP: 186.6 overall (RB56), rookie RB7

Bucky Irving had an extremely productive college career, having played one year at Minnesota before spending his final two seasons at Oregon. During those two seasons in Eugene, he racked up 2,950 scrimmage yards and 21 total TDs while serving as the primary back.

Unfortunately for Irving, his NFL Draft stock has seemingly taken a hit since the season ended primarily due to his poor showing at the NFL Combine. Based on current mock draft projections  he should still be drafted as one of the top 10 or so RBs in a weak RB class, but we’ll have to see how NFL teams evaluate Irving's film compared to his poor measurables.

Irving is currently the RB9 in Dwain McFarland's rookie RB model, which is slightly behind his current positional ADP as the rookie RB7 in Underdog best ball drafts.

In my opinion, his cost in drafts right now is a bit high given the potential that he could go later than expected in the NFL Draft. Still, if an NFL team were to draft him early on Day 3, I’ll be more willing to draft Irving in best ball at his current cost.

Pros and Cons of Bucky Irving

Pros

Elusiveness

Irving’s tape is littered with broken tackles and extra yardage, as he combines a nice jump cut with good power for his size to regularly create yards after contact. Despite not having reached 190 carries in either of his two seasons at Oregon, Irving managed to rank among the very best RBs in college football at making defenders miss.

• 2022: 67 missed tackles forced (15th nationally), 172.4 elusive rating (6th)
• 2023: 69 missed tackles forced (10th), 149.2 elusive rating (13th)

Those are really strong numbers that rank right up there with some of the best RB prospects in college football over the past two seasons. This is evident on his film as well, as Irving rarely went down on first contact and was always fighting to maximize yardage on his touches. He seems to have very good contact balance for his size, which allows him to play bigger than he is.

I’m skeptical that this skill set will translate quite as well to the NFL due to his size (or lack thereof), but I definitely want to root for a guy like Irving who plays bigger than he is.

Pass-catching

Few RBs in this class can match up to Irving’s receiving production in college. He caught 95 passes for 785 yards with a 1.36 career yards per route run (YPRR), all of which are very encouraging numbers. Irving even lined up in the slot and out wide on occasion, though that isn’t a role I'd project heavily for him at the NFL level.

The elusiveness discussed above is also apparent in the passing game, as Irving regularly created a lot of yards after the catch (YAC). Across all three seasons in college, Irving never averaged lower than 9.6 yards after the catch per reception. On top of that, his 526 YAC in 2023 ranked third best among all college RBs.

Sep 30, 2023; Stanford, California, USA; Oregon Ducks running back Bucky Irving (0) scores a touchdown against safety Mitch Leigber (32) during the second quarter at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

After having watched a decent amount of his college touches, I would describe Irving as more of a reliable receiving back rather than a dynamic one. He doesn’t appear to be a great route runner, and most of his receiving work came on dump offs and screen passes. And in 27 games at Oregon, Irving had a negative average depth of target (aDOT) in 20 of those games and only eclipsed a 1.0 aDOT in five of those contests.

Irving could be a solid pass-catching RB at the pro level, but I struggle to see him becoming great in the receiving game. He's more of an accumulator rather than a true difference-maker in the passing game. And while that type of role can definitely have value for an NFL team, I don’t expect coaches to make it a priority to get him the ball. Finally, Irving isn’t a great pass protector yet, so that could also limit his ability to earn snaps on passing downs early in his career.

Cons

Athleticism

Irving’s draft stock seems to have taken a pretty big hit following the NFL Combine. He tipped the scales at just 5’9 and 192 lbs., and he proceeded to test as one of the worst athletes at the RB position.

His 40-yard dash time was bad, but not atrocious. The main causes for concern were his extremely underwhelming results in the vertical jump, where he finished dead last among all RB participants, and the broad jump, where he finished second-worst among RBs. 

I like Irving’s tape and do think that he can stick in the NFL as a reliable RB who won't make many mistakes, as that's something coaches value. At the same time, his lack of burst and long speed will cap his fantasy ceiling even if he were to carve out a significant role. Irving can be a versatile backup in the NFL, but I struggle to see anything more than that.

Size

It's very difficult to be both undersized and a poor athlete as an NFL RB. The success of Kyren Williams has a lot of people looking for the next player in that mold, but the truth is that we may not see another player like Williams become fantasy relevant for a long time. Irving’s lack of size could prevent him from ever earning a large workload even if he can prove to be a competent RB in the NFL.

However, he does exhibit good power for his size as well as solid vision and patience as a runner. Even if it's unlikely that he'll ever claim a true starting role, I think Irving is at least capable of filling in as a spot starter in the event of an injury to the starting RB on his eventual team.

Fantasy Football Outlook for Bucky Irving

I’ve had a hard time with how to project Irving for fantasy purposes. He was very productive at a premier college program and is a decent pass-catcher, both of which could indicate a valuable role for fantasy in the future. At the same time, Irving's below average size and lack of athleticism seem like major limiting factors for his long-term upside.

As with most RBs, draft capital will be an important piece of the puzzle. We'll need to see how much NFL teams ding him for his poor NFL Combine performance, as it'll be extremely difficult for him to carve out a significant role if he's drafted late or not at all.

Jan 1, 2024; Glendale, AZ, USA; Oregon Ducks running back Bucky Irving (0) hurdles over Liberty Flames defensive back Brandon Bishop (6) during the second half in the 2024 Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

I envision Irving as the No. 2 or No. 3 RB in a committee backfield who can do a little bit of everything but never stands out enough to make coaches want to put him on the field more. He’s the kind of player who may need to contribute on special teams if he's going to be active every week.

The best upside case I can make is for Irving to work his way into a receiving back role with the ability to spot start when there are short-term injuries ahead of him. His ability to break tackles and churn out positive yardage should make coaches comfortable putting him on the field, but I don’t see a skill set that can help elevate an offense or consistently deliver big fantasy performances.

I’m mostly avoiding Irving in dynasty and best ball formats, but if his price continues to drop, there will come a point where I’ll be willing to take a flier on him as an end-of-bench stash. Overall, I liked his tape, and he appears to be a better football player than athlete.