Tampa Bay has been hit hard by the injury bug in the wake of their Monday night loss to the Ravens, taking heavy losses both at wide receiver (Mike Evans and Chris Godwin) and now potentially at running back. The second of the three heads in the recently expanded backfield by committee, Bucky Irving is dealing with a toe injury that has held him out of both practices so far this week. That obviously doesn’t bode well for his availability this weekend, and he’s in danger of missing what’s a relatively difficult matchup on paper against the Falcons’ run defense. Should Irving miss this week, the Buccaneers backfield would be condensed to Rachaad White and Sean Tucker. Both running backs would have utility in fantasy lineups considering their abilities in the passing game, especially with the losses of Godwin and Evans looming large over Tampa Bay’s offense. Rachaad White can likely be started as a mid-low RB2 if Bucky Irving is ultimately able to go, but in the event Irving doesn’t play, White would be upgraded to a high-RB2 while Sean Tucker would be worth a look as a flex play. Fantasy managers should monitor the final injury report for the week later today, as another DNP would likely mean that Irving would miss the first game of his NFL career to injury.
top of page
bottom of page