Devy Digest: Bucky Irving

The Devy Digest, highlighting Oregon Ducks running back Bucky Irving.

• Mar’Keise “Bucky” Irving
• Position: Running Back
• Oregon Ducks
  
• 5’10” 194 lbs
  
• Age: 21
  
• Draft Eligible: 2024
  
• Devy Digest RB 2024 Draft Rank: 5

Who is Bucky Irving?

Bucky Irving was a 4⭐️ in the composites. He attended Hillcrest High in Illinois and was part of the 2021 class. Irving initially committed to Minnesota. As a True Freshman, Irving was second on the Minnesota team in carries (133) and yards (699) as the team’s most efficient runner. In that offseason, Irving would enter the transfer portal and end up with the Oregon Ducks. Irving opened up about his reasons for the transfer, saying it was due in part to the lack of creativity with the Minnesota offense, feeling his traits were not being used correctly. Well, Irving found the perfect home with Oregon.

In his first year in Eugene, Irving ran for over 1,000 yards and was a receiving threat with 31 receptions. This past year, Irving improved on both fronts and became a dynamic weapon for the Oregon Ducks. This would lead to him deciding to forgo his Senior season to enter the 2024 NFL draft.

 

Strengths

Bucky Irving has good patience and vision as a runner. He will wait for his blocks to form, survey the holes and choose the correct lane. Irving also has good open field vision and excels in space with good lateral quickness and agility to evade defenders. Irving will use this trait in between tackles to make a defender miss in a phone booth, as well as in open space at the second level. The Ducks’ RB has good contact balance as a runner and shows more willingness to shed the first defender than appearance would suggest.

Irving is an instinctual runner and has a good feel for where he needs to go to get to the second level. He will use his quick burst and lateral agility to bounce his runs out wide and will seek open space. Irving can change direction on a dime and uses his vision in the open field to gain additional yards.

As a pass catcher, Irving performs well and should be useful at the next level. Irving uses his lateral quickness to evade defenders who are coming at him and can quickly get up the field. He does so with little wasted movement east and west. Irving will dance at times, but does so going north and south as a runner. Bucky brings toughness for his size and is someone that is slippery enough to carve out a role at the next level.

Areas of Improvement & Concern

At times, Bucky Irving will bounce his runs out and get in space, rather than work between the tackles to gain the hard 3-4 yards needed at the next level. He’s also not a very good pass blocker and has missed blitz assignments. While Irving possesses good speed, it is not a trait that he will excel in at the next level. By no means is he a slow runner, he just doesn’t have home run speed. Lastly, Irving’s frame is somewhat slight. It will likely only allow him to add on another 5-10 pounds. Irving added roughly 15 pounds during his collegiate career, so it’ll be interesting to see what his playing weight will be in the NFL.

Beyond the Numbers

During his time at Oregon, Bucky Irving averaged nearly 4.2 yards after contact with 136 forced missed tackles. He was utilized as a zone and gap scheme runner in Eugene and had a 38.75% breakaway percentage.

As a pass catcher, Irving had 85 receptions with the Oregon Ducks and should be utilized in space at the next level. He’s never had more than 186 carries in any season, which further details the expectations that Irving will be a change of pace back. We felt the same way with De’Von Achane last year and in limited touches, we saw how effective Achane could be. Just because Irving won’t get 20 touches per game, it doesn’t mean he won’t be effective at the next level for fantasy football and in the NFL itself.

Devy & C2C Value

In Devy drafts, it’s likely Bucky Irving could have been taken in later rounds last year. And if he was, you should hang on to see if he can get Day 2 draft capital to see what offers you can get if you don’t need him on the NFL roster.

In C2C leagues, he was likely taken in the first 15 rounds of a startup and likely a starter on your CFF side. There’s enough buzz around him that if you wait until draft time, you could flip him for something on the NFL side and a mid-to-late supplemental pick if you add something on top of Irving. It’s a weak running back class and Day 2 draft capital could create enough buzz to capitalize on and move him during the summer months.

NFL Outlook

It’s likely that Bucky Irving gets Day 2 draft capital and could be a second round pick if a GM falls in love with that style of running back. Irving will likely never be a workhorse at the next level, but he could carve out a role as a passing down and change of pace back. That could allow him to accumulate 12-15 touches per game between 4-5 targets and 10 carries.