Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles delivered praise to running back Rachaad White following Sunday’s 38-35 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. White was Tampa Bay’s lead back in week five in the absence of Bucky Irving, who is dealing with injuries to his foot and shoulder.
White was Tampa Bay’s lead back in 2023, but was forced into a split role in 2024 and the beginning of the 2025 season as Bucky Irving emerged as an elite playmaker. Now leading the Buccaneers run game without Irving, Bowles praised White’s game on Sunday.
“He’s matured, obviously he’s played a couple of years now,” Bowles said. “He does his job, he’s very professional, he’s a great teammate in the locker room and a great team player. He understands how to play the game, he knows how to play the game very well so we count on him a lot.”
From an outside perspective, Irving’s emergence has made him the Buccaneers RB1 in most people’s eyes, but to Bowles, White is still a lead running back caliber player.
“I don’t think he’s taken a different role, I think he’s still a lead back, we still see him as a lead back,” Bowles said. “We just have two of them now.”
White To Lead Buccaneers Run Game For Near Future
According to Adam Schefter, Irving is dealing with a shoulder ailment that is more of an issue than his foot sprain, which is what initially landed him on the week five injury report.
Schefter has reported that Irving will more than likely miss Tampa Bay’s week six game against the San Francisco 49ers. This means that White will once again be counted on to carry the load in the back field behind Baker Mayfield for at least one more week.
It’s not a role that White is unfamiliar with. In 2023, his first full season as the lead back in Tampa Bay, White carried the ball 272 times while making 64 receptions in the pass game with nine total touchdowns.
White finished Sunday’s game with 18 touches, a number that will probably rise against San Francisco.
Baker Mayfield Playing His Way Into MVP Conversations
Mayfield’s career has been revived in Tampa Bay the last few seasons. He’s off to the best start to any season if his career through five weeks as he’s lead the Buccaneers to a 4-1 record in some thrilling close games.
Mayfield has thrown 10 touchdowns and just one interception through five weeks, while putting up 1,283 yards in the air, fourth most in the NFL. He’s also been elite on the run, picking up 144 yards on the ground in 19 attempts, many of which have come on big, drive-extending downs.
His connection with rookie Emeka Egbuka has been outstanding, as the two have connected 25 times for 445 yards and five touchdowns. Egbuka is fourth in the NFL in receiving yards and tied for second in receiving touchdowns.
Mayfield currently has the fourth highest MVP odds on Draft Kings at +1200. He only trails Josh Allen (+150), Patrick Mahomes (+400), and Justin Herbert (+1000).
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