Bucky Irving vs Tetairoa McMillan
2026 draft comparison · half-PPR
Updated Aug 23, 2026
Should you draft Bucky Irving or Tetairoa McMillan?
Last season — 2025, per game
Full game log & past seasons
| WK | OPP | FPTS | RANK | ATT | YD | TD | TGT | REC | RYD | RTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ATL | 12.5 | RB19 | 14 | 37 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
2 | HOU | 15.1 | RB14 | 17 | 71 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 50 | 0 |
3 | NYJ | 11.9 | RB17 | 25 | 66 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 33 | 0 |
4 | PHI | 23.0 | RB9 | 15 | 63 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 102 | 1 |
5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
10 | BYE | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
13 | ARI | 15.1 | RB14 | 17 | 61 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 0 |
14 | NO | 15.1 | RB12 | 15 | 55 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 26 | 1 |
15 | ATL | 7.6 | RB34 | 16 | 60 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 0 |
16 | CAR | 7.1 | RB41 | 19 | 71 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
17 | MIA | 5.8 | RB35 | 9 | 19 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 0 |
18 | CAR | 10.3 | RB19 | 26 | 85 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 0 |
Earlier seasons (2024)
| WK | OPP | FPTS | RANK | ATT | YD | TD | TGT | REC | RYD | RTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | WAS | 8.6 | RB31 | 9 | 62 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 0 |
2 | DET | 2.2 | RB62 | 7 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
3 | DEN | 9.9 | RB24 | 9 | 70 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 0 |
4 | PHI | 12.0 | RB22 | 10 | 49 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
5 | ATL | 4.6 | RB43 | 9 | 44 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 0 |
6 | NO | 17.5 | RB11 | 14 | 81 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 0 |
7 | BAL | 15.2 | RB17 | 9 | 23 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 54 | 0 |
8 | ATL | 11.9 | RB24 | 9 | 44 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 40 | 0 |
9 | KC | 4.9 | RB41 | 7 | 24 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
10 | SF | 16.2 | RB6 | 13 | 73 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 0 |
11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
12 | NYG | 24.2 | RB3 | 12 | 88 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 64 | 0 |
13 | CAR | 26.0 | RB1 | 25 | 152 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 33 | 0 |
14 | LV | 2.3 | RB49 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 0 |
15 | LAC | 12.3 | RB17 | 15 | 117 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -4 | 0 |
16 | DAL | 16.7 | RB16 | 16 | 68 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 0 |
17 | CAR | 21.0 | RB5 | 20 | 113 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 77 | 0 |
18 | NO | 15.4 | RB9 | 19 | 89 | 1 | 5 | 2 | -5 | 0 |
| WK | OPP | FPTS | RANK | TGT | REC | YD | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | JAX | 9.3 | WR31 | 9 | 5 | 68 | 0 |
2 | ARI | 13.0 | WR27 | 10 | 6 | 100 | 0 |
3 | ATL | 6.3 | WR46 | 8 | 3 | 48 | 0 |
4 | NE | 8.2 | WR36 | 8 | 4 | 62 | 0 |
5 | MIA | 10.3 | WR28 | 8 | 6 | 73 | 0 |
6 | DAL | 16.4 | WR12 | 5 | 3 | 29 | 2 |
7 | NYJ | 4.8 | WR57 | 5 | 3 | 33 | 0 |
8 | BUF | 13.4 | WR14 | 10 | 7 | 99 | 0 |
9 | GB | 6.6 | WR49 | 6 | 4 | 46 | 0 |
10 | NO | 8.5 | WR33 | 8 | 5 | 60 | 0 |
11 | ATL | 29.0 | WR1 | 12 | 8 | 130 | 2 |
12 | SF | 10.5 | WR27 | 7 | 2 | 35 | 1 |
13 | LAR | 10.8 | WR23 | 2 | 1 | 43 | 1 |
14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
15 | NO | 3.5 | WR73 | 4 | 2 | 25 | 0 |
16 | TB | 16.3 | WR13 | 10 | 6 | 73 | 1 |
17 | SEA | 1.0 | WR109 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
18 | TB | 8.5 | WR24 | 6 | 4 | 85 | 0 |
Latest takes
“Bucky Irving has dealt with a number of injuries in his short career with a foot sprain and a shoulder/ AC joint sprain last year. Rewinding to 2024, he also dealt with hip, back, toe, and hamstring issues.”
FantasyPros Staff· Aug 11“Bucky Irving , who is returning from a foot and shoulder injury that limited him to 588 rushing yards in 2025 after a breakout rookie campaign in 2024.”
Samuel DiSorbo· Aug 10“Check out all of DBro’s top fantasy football draft picks to target >> Bucky Irving (TB) It seems as if everyone in the fantasy community is fading Bucky Irving.”
FantasyPros Staff· Aug 10
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“If Bucky Irving struggles to stay healthy for the second consecutive season, Gainwell could have a career year”
Mike Fanelli· Aug 6“100 | (RB35) To be clear, Bucky Irving isn’t fading away despite a down season last year”
Kyle Zeigler· Aug 6“It’s odd that so many people are forgetting just how good Irving was over a fairly large sample size of games over the second half of his rookie season. Buy the dip.”
FantasyPros Staff· Aug 6“8 | Diff: +3 Over the last two seasons, with Bucky Irving in town, Rachaad White was a more effective per-touch player, but with Irving out of the lineup last year, he proved again that he can carry the mail (although while being horribly inefficient).”
FantasyPros Staff· Aug 5“Bucky Irving ‘s rookie season was as impressive as they come, considering his draft capital (125th overall).”
Wyatt Bertolone· Aug 3“Bucky Irving was the only top-12 drafted RB to miss more than two games.”
Jordan Pullett· Jul 29“Bucky Irving finished as the RB13 his rookie year before slumping to an RB 34 playing 10 games the following season. More concerning than the games missed is his carries inside the 5-yard line in 2025: zero.”
Peter Kettering· Jul 24“Bucky Irving checks all the boxes when it comes to identifying a true “buy low” player.”
Jonathan Lange· Jul 23“After finishing his rookie season as the RB13, averaging 14.4 PPR fantasy points per game, Bucky Irving regressed last year and struggled to stay healthy, missing seven contests. Furthermore, Irving had offseason shoulder surgery and might not be fully ready for training camp.”
Mike Fanelli· Jul 19“Irving finished dead last in that metric among qualifying running backs last season, which sounds damning, but he ranked sixth in the same metric in 2024. The difference is the offensive line: Tampa Bay’s line ranked second in adjusted line yards during Irving’s rookie season and collapsed to 22nd last year due to injuries.”
FantasyPros Staff· Jul 17“Even before the injury that sidelined him, Irving averaged just 3.3 yards per carry while ranking 32nd in explosive yards, 45th in missed tackles forced per attempt and 33rd in runs for first downs at his position. With Tampa Bay deploying a full rotation of backs, it feels extremely hard to replicate.”
Kyle Zeigler· Jul 11“You can't deny the value Bucky Irving provided us in 2024. He played all 17 games and finished as the RB13 in PPR scoring after entering the season as the RB52 in expert consensus rankings (ECR). Irving was electric, averaging 5.4 yards per carry while ranking fifth in explosive yards and fifth in missed tackles forced.”
Kyle Zeigler· Jul 11
“Tetairoa McMillan emerged as the Panthers’ top option as a rookie, earning the 2025 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award and establishing strong chemistry with Bryce Young .”
Lawrence Iacona· Aug 19“Last season as a rookie, Tetairoa McMillan recorded a 25.4% target share, catching 70 passes on 122 targets for 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns. He finished as the WR15 in PPR leagues. Now, he’s being drafted as the WR17.”
Richard Janvrin· Aug 18“McMillan is currently ranked as the WR17 in expert consensus rankings (ECR), and I feel that managers are paying a premium for a player with many surrounding question marks. Last season, the chips fell nicely for McMillan to finish as a volume play, but increased competition and middling play under center have me worried about his outlook in 2026.”
Evan Tarracciano· Aug 14
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“While I like McMillan, he is overvalued as the WR15 in ADP.”
Mike Fanelli· Aug 14“If I missed on early wide receiver in favor of loading up at running back, I would be fine with Egbuka as my WR1 heading into the season.” – Aaron St Denis ( Fantasy Sports Advice Network ) Tetairoa McMillan (WR – CAR) “Few receivers in the WR13-WR30 range offer the kind of ceiling Tetairoa McMillan brings to the table.”
FantasyPros Staff· Aug 11“Tetairoa McMillan (WR – CAR) Tetairoa McMillan already produced enough as a rookie to make him an obvious dynasty asset, but he remains particularly attractive because his best football may still be ahead of him”
Ryan Kirksey· Aug 6“ADP: +6 Tetairoa McMillan wasted no time establishing himself as Carolina’s clear-cut WR1, winning Offensive Rookie of the Year after nearly topping 1,100 receiving yards on 126 targets.”
FantasyPros Staff· Aug 5“However, competing with Tetairoa McMillan for targets is one thing, but competing with McMillan to get a share of Bryce Young’s passing game is less tantalizing than what I’d like it to be, since Bryce’s 188 passing yards per game last year was a career high.”
Tony Martin· Jul 30“Tetairoa McMillan (WR – CAR) McMillan is coming off an Offensive Rookie of the Year season, but his outlook depends heavily on his quarterback and that quarterback’s offensive line, which is off to a rough start with two starting tackles already dealing with camp injuries.”
FantasyPros Staff· Jul 25“Tetairoa McMillan (WR – CAR) | ADP: 37.7 (WR15) The Panthers should be ecstatic about pulling the trigger on Tetairoa McMillan with the eighth pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He had a stellar rookie season.”
Josh Shepardson· Jul 24“Yet, according to Fantasy Points Data, he had the 11th-highest receiving yards market share (30.7%) among players with at least 30 targets last year. While I like McMillan, he is overvalued as the WR14 in ADP.”
Mike Fanelli· Jul 17“McMillan commanded a 23% target share for Carolina's offense, but the main problem is that Carolina doesn't want to throw the ball and instead leans heavily on its run game to move the chains on each possession. McMillan will undoubtedly lead Carolina in targets again, but that number is hard-capped.”
Evan Tarracciano· Jun 25“McMillan was quietly a fantasy star as a rookie despite Carolina's inconsistent passing attack, finishing as the WR15, averaging 8.3 non-PPR fantasy points per game. Furthermore, he was the team's best weapon in the red zone, totaling seven receiving touchdowns, more than double the next closest Panther.”
Mike Fanelli· Jun 22“Tetairoa McMillan (15th in total WR points last year) is going for an average auction value less than their projection.”
Evan Hoovler· Jun 19“Tetairoa McMillan's consensus ADP is WR19, whereas he's the WR11 on MFL. As a rookie last season, McMillan led the Panthers in target share by a wide margin at 25.4%, though when Jalen Coker was on the field, McMillan's target share dropped to 18.5%. McMillan can volume his way to a respectable fantasy line, but his touchdown upside could be limited given the Panthers' third-hardest schedule and Bryce Young's poor performance against winning records.”
Richard Janvrin· Jun 19