THE OPTIMIST: Historic Combination Grows
September 20th, 2015
In these unsettled times of devastating Bucs losses, constant change and growing pains, Joe thought it would be wise to bring back THE OPTIMIST.
THE OPTIMIST is Nick Houllis, a Bucs fan and an accomplished writer whose steadfast allegiance to the Buccaneers goes back to the 1970s. Houllis is the founder, creator and guru of BucStop.com, a place Joe goes to get lost in time via Houllis’ stunning video collection.
THE OPTIMIST will shine that positive light in your eyes. Some will love it. Some won’t. … Of course, THE OPTIMIST’s opinions are his alone and are not influenced by Joe.
Fans who remember the first playoff Bucs, the only team in Orange to succeed in the uniforms, the 1978-1982 Bucs, know we had a dynamic pass/receiving combination.
.
And we are on the verge of seeing that happen again.
.
Later this season, Doug Williams will rejoin Jimmie Giles in the Buccaneers Ring of Honor. They joined up so many times on the field. It put Giles in the Pro Bowl as the Bucs’ first offensive Pro Bowler, and the only one until the late 90s!!
.
We’ve had tight ends who weren’t half bad, Ron Hall, Dave Moore, Kellen Winslow, Jr., but no combination was more lethal than Williams to Giles, and we may be on the verge of the next — Jameis Winston to Austin Seferian-Jenkins.
.
Nobody likes a tight end that can’t block, or can block but can’t catch; ASJ can do it all, and already in his second year he has two touchdowns going into Week 2. There will be more in the weeks to come.
.
Jameis loved throwing to his tight end in college, and offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter draws up plays well to his TE, so the numbers and tell tale signs are there. But even last year in his rookie season, you could see Seferian-Jenkins’ body of work looked so much like how Giles started in Tampa.
.
After one year, Giles and Williams were a lethal combination, and Winston to ASJ is about to become the favorite TD threat in Tampa Bay.
September 20th, 2015 at 8:36 am
I hope Austin continues his production. Wouldn’t mind seeing 2 tds to Austin, 2 to VJax, and 2 to Evans.
Then again, I’ll be happy with us having at least one more point that the Saints.
Go Bucs.
September 20th, 2015 at 8:40 am
@joe
And VJ only needs 949 garbage time yards and ME needs 1000 garbage time yards and Some can say that the Bucs have the Most Dominate WR Duo in the NFL!!!!!!
September 20th, 2015 at 8:42 am
We got Jimmy Giles from the Houston Oilers in 1978, when we traded the top pick to Houston. They wanted Earl Campbell, so they gave us Giles and some draft picks. Then we drafted Doug Williams with the 17th pick. Our passing attack consist of Doug Williams, Jimmy Giles and Kevin House. I believe we can get more from Jameis, Mike Evans and ASJ.
September 20th, 2015 at 9:25 am
It will be a moral victory just to prevent a Saint from being Offensive Player of the Week.
September 20th, 2015 at 9:39 am
I’m joining THE OPTIMIST, I’m full of optimism, as optimistic as all get out. Today I’m OptimistBuccfan37.
September 20th, 2015 at 9:45 am
Unfortunately I don’t believe peace will ever be restored in Bucs nation. If Mariota wins and Winston loses the Mariota fans will be saying “i told you so “vise versa if Winston wins. This pick has torn the fans apart. I never seen anything like this. We have a quarterback controversy on our hands that bucs can’t fix. The worst part it’s what we deserve for throwing that last game, which you can convince me otherwise. As the saying goes ” be careful what you wish for you just might get it”.
September 20th, 2015 at 10:01 am
I’m also old enough to have been here during the 70’s. Those early teams went on the field expecting to lose. We are right back in that place today. If you could look into the mind of any of the 53 Bucs going on the field today – do any expect to win? Or are they just trying to avoid being embarrassed?
September 20th, 2015 at 10:18 am
LOL! Too funny. A QB that throw’s wobbily ducks and trips over his own shadow! We sure know how to pick ’em in Tampa.
September 20th, 2015 at 10:24 am
I would like to see more seam passes. Winston appeared to throw those with the most accuracy and threaded the needle several times in the preseason when seam passes were the read.
September 20th, 2015 at 11:34 am
Thanks for the historic perspective… Its about to get historic once again!!! Take it to the bank!!! This combo will lead to a scary good offence… Gonna boil down to our D being just good enough!!! Which is an ironic reversal of roles in Tampa!!!
September 20th, 2015 at 11:35 am
Seminole Bill ,
I was young back then (7 or so) but I remember those times. We had an owner that was not devoted to winning and we were stacked with players that were cast.offs from 31 other teams. You are right about the losing attitude of that team.
This team is nothing like that one. Our nuceus of players are committed. They are not giving up. The NEW veterans may feel as you say, but not the established guys.
And certainly NO ONE on offense feels that way. (Well, maybe Evans)
Our patchwork defense hurt us last week. Our rookies hurt us last week. All of these will get better.
So far as Winston, I expect him to throw a lot of picks this year. Doesn’t mean he”l suck. Favre didn’t. Luck didn’t. Eli didn’t. Peyton didn’t. All had high picks at first.
September 21st, 2015 at 7:32 pm
Its ashame that too many people think of the OLD bucs as losers. Im not talking about the 76-77 teams, or 83 and up, from 1978-1982, the Doug Williams years, the Bucs were a team no one wanted to play. They hit hard on defense, and could score from anywhere with big play arm of Williams, and big play threats in Giles and House (house was 81&82 mostly). These were proud years and set the tone for the Bay area to follow football and be football fans.