Obviously, there is an art to forcing missed tackles. A Bucs running back is still aiming for that streak. Another Bucs running back is gifted with this trait.
One of Joe’s biggest complaints about running back Rachaad White is that Joe is pretty convinced he can’t make a letterbox miss him.
As Joe has often written and expressed when people have been stomping their feet and screaming about how the Bucs offensive line isn’t opening up enough holes for White (assuming he’ll see them), Joe has stated over and over, “Roger Goodell always it also allows the running backs to avoid defenders and make guys miss.”
White was and still is bad at it.
Not Bucs rookie Bucky Irving. When the Bucs drafted him in the fourth round, the Bucs talked about how he made future players miss. Often, the first player. That much was clear on tape of the Oregon game.
And boy, that sure carried over to the NFL. per NextGen statisticsno running back forced more tackles, percentage-wise, than Irving. It appears that on nearly 46 percent of his runs, Irving forces a turnover.
So basically on half of his runs, Irving is able to dodge and defend and get more positive yardage on his carries.
Joe looked up the PFF Tribe running stats. They had Irving with the 11th most missed games (25). (White is number 38 with 11).
Now that the Bucs offensive line is looking pretty good, and on Sunday the Bucs were opening holes so wide that even White couldn’t miss them, Joe is looking forward to Irving taking the dudes’ shoes off and breaking the ankles of the secondary… and third levels more often.