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VideoFrom Fantasy Football with Ian Hartitz

Why I'm FADING Bucky Irving in 2026

STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this video and kept the full transcript here for context.

1 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 7, 2026
Published
Fri, August 7, 2026
3
Player insights
3
Players mentioned
Topics
Bucky IrvingKe'Shawn VaughnSean Tucker
Player analysis

Player insights

3

Bucky Irving

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Ian Hartitz is fading Bucky Irving in 2026 drafts, noting his current ADP (RB17-RB21) is too high for a player lacking a guaranteed goal-line workload. While Irving is expected to lead the team in touches and pass-down work, Hartitz argues that betting on a player in the first five rounds who isn't a clear-cut workhorse is a steep risk. Hartitz specifically highlights that Sean Tucker maintains the short-yardage role, evidenced by a 9-0 advantage in carries inside the 5-yard line last season. Hartitz views Irving as an RB3 tier player, comparing his value to Ke'Shawn Vaughn and Rico Dowdle rather than his current early-round draft position.

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Ke'Shawn Vaughn

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Ian Hartitz compares Bucky Irving's fantasy tier to Ke'Shawn Vaughn, suggesting Irving belongs in an ambiguous, muddled RB3 tier rather than his current early-round draft position.

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Sean Tucker

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Sean Tucker is projected to maintain the short-yardage role for the Buccaneers, as evidenced by his 9-0 advantage over Bucky Irving in carries inside the 5-yard line last season.

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Full transcript

Episode Transcript

36
0:00Buccaneers running back, Bucky Irving,
0:01who don't look now, guys, is going as
0:03early as RB17, as low as RB21. Again, in
0:06our three home league sleeper, Yahoo and
0:08ESPN, with our early ADP here. So,
0:11looking at Bucky, 2024, hell of a drug.
0:14This dude was one of the most fun
0:15players to watch with the football in
0:16his hands. Some of the, you know,
0:17reversing field runs, just absolutely
0:19fantastic stuff. I think he's
0:21going to be the starting running back
0:22for Tampa Bay. That's fine, that's
0:23dandy. He's probably [music] leading the
0:24way in touches, pass downs. Reigning,
0:27defending Steelers team MVP, Kenneth
0:29Gainwell, is coming off the football
0:30field. Short yardage? That's
0:32Sean Tucker's job, guys. Last year, it
0:34was 9 to 0 in favor [music] of Sean
0:36Tucker versus Bucky Irving on carries
0:39inside the 5-yard line. If Bucky gets
0:41closer to guys like Ke'Shawn Tucker and
0:43Rico Dowdle, kind of that ambiguous,
0:45muddled RB3 tier, okay, because that's
0:47what I think he is in this new version
0:49of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers backfield.
0:51And I just don't like betting on guys
0:52who need to be among the league's best
0:55players at the position to make up for a
0:56lack of a workload. As a top-five round
0:59pick, so again, maybe Bucky proves me
1:01wrong, maybe he's just awesome. Seems
1:03like a really steep bet for me. In the
1:04first five rounds, I am out on Bucky
1:06Irving in 2026.

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