We're less than two months away from the NFL season unofficially starting with preseason games in August, and even closer to teams reporting for training camp.
That means we're closer than ever to seeing how this new-look Tampa Bay Buccaneers team will perform.
One of the biggest questions of the offseason was what would happen to the run game. Bucs fans had to endure an absolute sludge factory out of the backfield last season, with the run game ranking among the league's worst.
To fix this, the Bucs hired Dave Canales from the Seattle Seahawks as the new offensive coordinator who brought in former Dallas Cowboys running backs coach Skip Peete to help him. Peete's pedigree speaks for itself between what Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard did in Dallas, and Canales comes from a Seahawks system that collected running backs like rare coins but deployed them masterfully.
Bucs fans are hoping those two can team up to fix an embarrassing run game, one that has a new RB1 and another guy who is already drawing comparisons to the best running back in the league.
Buccaneers running back is being compared to Nick Chubb
There are two thoughts you probably have seeing a quote comparing a Bucs running back to Nick Chubb and they're both wrong.
Rachaad White is not the running back being mentioned rather he's the one making the comparrison based on what he's seen in camp so far this offseason. White was referring to undrafted free agent Sean Tucker, dubbing him 'Baby Nick Chubb' while speaking to the media.
“Then you see Sean too – they’ve been calling him ‘Baby Nick Chubb’ now around here,” White said, via Pewter Report. “He don’t really like that, but it was just funny, joking with him. You can tell he’s ready to be out there.”
The other thought is probably something along the lines of 'oh great, White isn't the back being called Baby Nick Chubb', which is also the wrong way to look at it.
White has a fair amount of hype around him heading into his first season as RB1. Last season wasn't pretty for hte run game, but the flashes we saw from White indicate that he has the tools to be a special player.
Hearing that another player -- not White -- is drawing Pro Bowl comparisons in camp is something to be very excited about. That means the Bucs have two special backs entering a season where the only direction to go is up for one of the league's worst rushing attacks.
To be fair, White seems like he was sort of joking when making the comparison, but it also doesn't seem like he's making it lightly either. The takeaway probably shouldn't be that Tucker is looking like the next Best Running Back in the NFL, rather he's coming to camp hungry to prove himself and has so far displayed enough to impress the guys already there.
Add to this the fact that Skip Peete is the new Running Backs coach and all of a sudden the running game is looking better than it did last year. That's a low bar to clear, but everything seems to be lining up for that part of the offense to take a massive -- and important -- leap forward this season.