“They Need To Get Another Guy In Here”

The Buccaneers’ running backs room? Not good enough, says an astute observer and friend of Todd Bowles.

Joe’s referring to Pat Kirwan, the former Jets linebackers coach and personnel director, who also spent time as a Bucs scout before launching his award-winning career on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

Kirwan dissected every NFL team’s running backs corps this week and decided the Bucs are a man short.

Per Kirwan, rookie Bucky Irving is a good No. 2 running back option but he’s not prepared to carry the mail if he must. Chase Edmonds is a No. 4 running back and Sean Tucker is practice squad material, says Kirwan.

As for Rachaad White, Kirwan likes White overall but sees a running back headed toward burnout. White had 336 combined touches last season, Kirwan noted, and Joe will add that White had another 32 in the postseason.

That’s a lot of hits.

“If they’re going to keep four, they need to get another guy in here,” Kirwan said. “Doesn’t have to be a great player, but another guy. Rachaad White … once you get these guys that are over 300-plus touches [in a season], you do that two or three years in a row and they’re shot. So be careful, need to pace him a little bit more. Irving should be the guy that could help but he’s only a fourth-round pick.”

The 300-plus touches mark is no joke. Running backs rarely do that in the modern era and the ones that handle it usually are elite players. After former Bucs All-Pro running back Doug Martin logged his second 300-plus touch season, he was never close to the same player.

A lot of fans wonder what happened to Saints stud running back Alvin Kamara. Joe would says look at his jacked up per-game workload through the 2021 and 2022 seasons.