Sean Tucker

With Bucky Irving active for the first time since Week 4, Tucker received only one chance to establish the supposed "hot hand," and he flunked miserably. A distant third in both touches and snaps behind Irving and Rachaad White, Tucker seems to again be on the outside looking in of the Bucs' backfield rotation. Perhaps that changes if there is Week 14 garbage time against the Saints, but Tucker isn't looking worth a 12-team league roster spot with the playoffs about to begin.

The Buccaneers welcomed RB Bucky Irving back Sunday by re-inserting him as the clear backfield leader. Irving handled 17 of the 21 RB carries in the win over the Cardinals, gaining 61 yards (3.6 per rush) and scoring the team's only ground TD. Rachaad White followed with just 7 yards on two carries. Sean Tucker handled the other two carries for no gain. White led the backfield receiving with 3 catches for 22 yards on three targets. Irving got the other two backfield targets, catching both for 20 yards.

Active for the first time since Week 4, Irving did let Rachaad White and Sean Tucker handle some drives -- NextGenStats charted Irving as playing just 54 percent of the Bucs' snaps -- but the returning back was getting the ball basically every time he stepped on the field. His 13-yard touchdown run in the third quarter came one frame after a one-yard score was nullified by holding. The Bucs had clearly been waiting for this moment, and made the most of Irving's plays even if their "snap count" warning was technically true. With Irving avoiding further injury in a critical win, we would expect the training wheels to fall off further for Week 14 against the Saints. If you held onto Irving all this time, he's back to being a weekly must-start.

Irving is expected to be eased into action on Sunday, and should be treated as a volatile RB2. The Buccaneers' backfield is fairly deep, with RB Sean Tucker and RB Rachaad White in the fold. Irving's early-week full participation is a great sign regarding his physical health, though.

Bowles said that if Irving is fine after Friday's practice, he will be slated to play on Sunday against the Cardinals. This was the belief dating back to last Friday when Bowles said the team was eyeing a Week 13 return for Irving after ruling him out against the Rams. Irving is sitting on a 71-237-0 rushing line through four games this season and was averaging 22.5 touches per game over that span. While he's expected to step back into his starting role, it's hard to predict what his touch totals could look like after the string of success Sean Tucker has had in his absence. Regardless of what his role may look like, Irving still figures to lead the Bucs' backfield by a wide margin, putting him in the RB1/RB2 mix if he's activated this week.