The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had one of the more promising running back rooms in 2025. They had a deep rotation with breakout star Bucky Irving leading the pack, with Rachaad White and Sean Tucker backing him up and providing their own unique skillset to the group. In all, it was a rare instance where a team had all the pieces needed to make plays.
That leads us to today, where the team has lost White in free agency, and they will now pivot to Kenny Gainwell. They signed him away from the Pittsburgh Steelers in free agency, and now he is poised to help the team have a more dynamic approach out of the backfield with his pass-catching.
In fact, the pass-catching is something that excites Gainwell.
New Bucs running back Kenny Gainwell (he prefers it over Kenneth) caught 72 passes for the Steelers last season an takes pride in his pass catching. pic.twitter.com/Z0wSAiRpeE
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) March 12, 2026
He explained, “I work on that a lot. You know, I work on what I can do with my hands and your feet. I’m just very proud that the Lord gave me these great hands to go out there, you know, do what I do.” He also addressed the comment about him having 73 catches in 2025 and how big a number that is for a running back. To that point, he added, “Yeah, it’s a big number for, you know, a running back, especially a RB2. I took, took pride in what I do…”
With new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson coming in with a system that allows for two running backs to make an impact, Gainwell could be in for another big year.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: NFL Offseason: Bucs RB Kenny Gainwell ‘takes pride’ in catching passes
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