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When is Bucky Irving coming back? Will Bucky Irving play again this season? Read about Bucky Irving's return date and injury updates for 2025 as of Week 12.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving (foot, shoulder) hasn't played a single NFL snap since Week 4. He's been dealing with shoulder and foot injuries in that time.
RBs Sean Tucker and Rachaad White have filled in for him in the meantime. They've had some good production mixed in with middling results -- in particular, Tucker exploded for three rushing touchdowns and over 100 rush yards last week against the Buffalo Bills.
But it's not like Irving is about to lose his job. He was electric last season, and though he hasn't played lights out on the ground this year, Tampa Bay has struggled with run blocking. Irving is a wizard in space and running after the catch. So, when will he return?
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Bucky Irving Injury Update for Fantasy Football
Irving was finally able to return to a limited practice last week. This absence has been longer than expected, and it's not a total surprise why -- apparently, his shoulder injury was a bigger concern than his foot issue, and he waited before disclosing it to the team.
Last week, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said that Irving wouldn't be put back into games until his shoulder could withstand hits again. This lines up with reporting that he's dealing with a subluxation injury, which is a partial dislocation of the shoulder joint.
Obviously, that would need to heal and be stabilized before he returns to play. Getting hit in a partially dislocated shoulder could cause it to partially dislocate in another direction or lead to a full dislocation, which would cause him to miss even more time. You need your arm connected to your body by more than just muscle, tendons, and skin, after all.
Irving's return to practice is encouraging. It seems like he's lined up for a return in either Week 12 or Week 13, and unlikely that he'll be held out for longer than that. So, it would be surprising if he doesn't play in next week's game, even if he's held out for this one.
Bucky Irving Fantasy Football Outlook
Irving's rushing numbers falling off a cliff are definitely concerning. After averaging nearly 5.5 yards per carry in his explosive rookie season, he's been bottled up to the tune of just 3.3 yards per carry. Last year, the run blocking was arguably the best in the league, especially on tape.
This year, not so much. Tampa Bay ranks 30th in the NFL in ESPN's Run Block Win Rate, and though its offensive line has dealt with injuries, that doesn't explain such a sharp fall-off all on its own. He's not a powerful or big RB who can bull over tacklers. He needs to get into space to work.
His value this season largely comes from his receiving work. He averages around 12.5 PPR fantasy points per game from receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. But in four games, he has just 237 yards and zero rush touchdowns on the ground. That's 23.7 points, which averages to under six per game as a runner.
On a Tampa Bay offense that's dealing with a ton of injuries to pass-catchers, it makes a lot of sense to get him the ball in the passing game. Mike Evans (collarbone) and Chris Godwin (fibula) are both set to miss at least a few more weeks of action, meaning Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield has every motivation to target Irving more when he returns.
His 72-yard touchdown catch against the Philadelphia Eagles was his best play of the season, and it seemed like he was on pace to get even more involved in the passing game before he got hurt. He's an RB1 when he returns to the field.
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 12 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Wan'Dale Robinson, Parker Washington, Sean Tucker, Kyle Monangai, Jordan Addison. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 12. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 12 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
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Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, players news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
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Popular Week 12 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 12 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 12 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 12 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Wan'Dale Robinson, Parker Washington, Sean Tucker, Kyle Monangai, Jordan Addison compared to others:
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