Oregon's Bucky Irving tabbed by PFF as one of the nation's top draft-eligible running backs
After a stellar debut campaign in Eugene, Oregon running back Bucky Irving is already generating plenty of buzz ahead of the 2023 season.
Earlier this week, Pro Football Focus released its list of the top 10 running backs in the nation eligible for the 2024 NFL Draft.
Irving landed at No. 3 on the list, behind only Michigan’s Blake Corum and Arkansas’ Raheim Sanders.
Here’s the rundown on Irving from PFF’s Max Chadwick.
“Irving was one of the most electric backs in the country last season. The sophomore forced a missed tackle on 43% of his attempts, which was second in the country. It was also the fifth-best single-season mark in the PFF college era (more on that later). It remains to be seen how Irving fares on an increased workload. The Minnesota transfer’s 157 attempts were tied for 67th in the nation and were only 17 more than his teammate, Noah Whittington. With Whittington also returning, Oregon will likely once again employ a committee approach to its backfield next season.”
As a sophomore in 2022, Irving ran for 1,058 yards and five touchdowns on 157 carries (7.3 yards per carry) in 12 games. He also caught 31 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns.
He earned honorable mention all-conference honors.
Irving garnered an overall grade of 91.1 from PFF last season, which ranked second among Pac-12 running backs who play regularly behind only UCLA’s Zach Charbonnet (91.5). Irving’s grade ranked sixth nationally.
During spring ball, Oregon running backs coach Carlos Locklyn was asked where he hopes to see Irving and Whittington improve before next season.
“For me, with those two, I’m pressing on them more to become leaders,” Locklyn said. “The football part, I’m gonna help them take care of that. I’m gonna have them on that. But the biggest part is helping them become better leaders and showing the young guys the standard and what the standard is. Those two — we’re happy to have them, it’s a blessing to have them. They are very talented kids. I think we’re gonna see some things out of both of them that we didn’t last year. They’re capable of doing a lot of things.”
Irving, Whittington, sophomore Jordan James, and freshmen Dante Dowdell and Jayden Limar will form one of the deepest running back stables in the nation in 2023.
Former Oregon running back Trey Benson, now at Florida State, also landed on PFF’s list.
Here’s the rundown from Chadwick on Benson.
“Benson was historically dominant as a tackle-breaker this season. The redshirt sophomore’s 51% forced missed tackle rate didn’t just lead the country, it set the PFF College record. Like Irving, Benson didn’t see as much of a workload as others on this list. The Oregon transfer failed to crack 1,000 rushing yards after only receiving 154 carries. Even with that low number of attempts, his 79 forced missed tackles were still third in the Power Five to Bijan Robinson and Chase Brown. Both of those players had over 100 more carries than Benson.“
