Licht: Jameis Must “Cut Down On Mistakes”
May 5th, 2016
The GM targets Jameis
Bucs overlord of football operations Jason Licht called out three expectations for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers today.
Licht was talking to Mike Florio of PFT Live on NBC Sports Radio, Joe’s morning-radio ritual.
Florio asked Licht what his expectations are for the Bucs in the mighty NFC South. Licht, who last year spoke multiple times about a playoff goal for this upcoming season, was clear and vague at the same time.
“Our expectations are too get significantly better as the season progresses, to play our best football at the end of the year when we’re knocking on the door,” Licht said. “And to cut down on mistakes offensively at the quarterback position, which he started doing midway through the year last year. … And then to affect the quarterback defensively, and just we want to make significant improvement week in/week out. Then once again, play our best football at the end of the year.”
Notice the “end of the year” emphasis? Notice that Coach My Scheme went 0-4 to close his reign of terror on innocent Bucs fans?
That could be a clue as to the No. 1 reason Coach My Scheme was fired: sinking the pirate ship against three sorry teams in a row in December.
It’s noteworthy that Licht called out America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston. Jameis was great, but he has to improve, especially in this division. There’s no climbing out of the Bucs’ perennial hole unless Jameis can be the second- or third-best QB in the NFC South. It doesn’t matter if he’s better than half the quarterbacks in the NFL. If Jameis is the worst in the division, then the Bucs have no shot.
May 5th, 2016 at 9:51 am
I don’t think he made an excessive number of mistakes for a rookie QB. The 1st Carolina game was the worst one that I remember him playing and I’ll give him a bogey on that one because it was a very wet and messy game. The biggest improvement that I think he needs to make is seeing the field better in the redzone and I think that’ll come with more experience.
May 5th, 2016 at 10:10 am
This is one of the least of my worries…along with the O line.
First we really don’t know how many turnovers were on WR’s not running proper routes…we know that was #3’s first pick…how many more? How many tipped balls off our butterfingered receivers. Not that #3 was flawless but his turnovers were magnified by the lack of support around him.
Second…as Joe has pointed out #3 is a football junkie…he has a year’s experience combined with a voracious appetite to learn his craft. He’ll be fine!
It’s the WR’s that count. I’m not as panicked as Joe however. While I agree our WR corps has some ??? in terms of targets for #3 we don’t look that bad. Sims should play a larger role…and what if Vitale is the real deal catching the ball out of the backfield or lined up in the slot?
Figuring Doug’s running and the available targets, combined with Koetter’s creativity in using the talent on hand…I’m really, really looking forward to the 2016 offense. Go #3!!!!
May 5th, 2016 at 10:11 am
Winston does need to get better. Obviously he started out rough in that first month, but even after that he misfired on several potential big plays in the 2nd half of the season. I do expect him to improve, but I think Licht is right to keep the pressure on him. Last year was ‘rookie good’, not ‘Super Bowl good’.
May 5th, 2016 at 10:24 am
I think he will improve In the endzone reason as a rookie he only threw one pick in the endzone for a rookie that’s impressive I think one thing he gotta work on is short throws something I know he will improve on and his deep throws cause dirk every play call is a play that’s going to the house and he will have to improve that all in all the things I’m worried about are thing Winston is working on which makes me not worried about him I believe he will be going back to the pro bowl next year
May 5th, 2016 at 10:27 am
I think Winston will improve, in particular, his completion percentage……I noticed many times when we had 3rd & short (3-6 yds)…..we chose low percentage down & out type passes more down field. I think we need to use the FB more and don’t mind more dinks & dunks in that situation.
I also think he will improve in the red zone.
May 5th, 2016 at 10:35 am
Winston made a big jump after the 1st few weeks of the season. That 4 int performance against Carolina was the catalyst and was what showed Jameis definitively how important it is to protect against turnovers. And from that moment on – “do what I do and stay aggressive – but above all, protect against turnovers” became Winston’s new mantra. And throughout the rest of the season he did a fantastic job of that – especially for a rookie.
Can’t wait to see what a whole off season of film study and all the physical work he has put in will do for Winston’s game this year. As Dilfer told him when he was just coming out of high school – (paraphrased) “yes your athletic and throwing skills are top notch – but it is your intelligence and football smarts that will set you apart from all other QBs”.
May 5th, 2016 at 11:12 am
Lot of vet FAs that are basically on the fringe of retiring:
Anquan Boldin 35
Roddy White 34
Andre Johnson 35
James Jones 32
Lance Moore 33
Greg Jennings 33
Also some other interesting depth guys
Andre Caldwell 31
Hakeem Nicks 28
Pretty terrible FA WR class. No wonder guys like Mathews & Marvin Jones made big $$. The only guy might be worth his contract was Travis Benjamin who many Bucs wanted.
It’s sad but I’d take Louis Murphy over all these guys as a #3. He’s still only 28 and can stretch the field even if he’s had an inconsistent career. It’d be nice to add one of these guys and I think our WR depth would be fine at that point.
ME / VJax / LM / Boldin / Humphries / Bell or whoever wins 6th WR spot
Even though Joe hates Dontae Dye the team seems to like him. He’s looked better than Herron at least lol. The bad drop he had against the Saints is all i can remember really. I think he had a TD in the Eagles game or something though
May 5th, 2016 at 11:35 am
I’m glad this was brought up. Because the defense was so bad, it almost overshadowed the offensive issues. The whole team has to improve. The D is not the sole reason we went 6-10.
I am not concerned that, a then rookie QB, made the kind of mistakes he made. There was noticeable progress throughout the season. Again, if we’re to be in contention, everyone will need to work hard on their craft.
May 5th, 2016 at 12:16 pm
ASJ is the engine that pulls this train, without him, our offense will not be complete. End of discussion
May 5th, 2016 at 12:37 pm
LakeLandBuc: ASJ is on thin ice it seems. The team really likes Brate and Vitale is also here to put the pressure on in camp. I’ve had tremendously high expectations of ASJ and been utterly disappointed. It’s put up or get out time for this injury prone second round gamble.
May 5th, 2016 at 12:38 pm
Jameis needs to improve his accuracy and limit the turnovers and this offense will be fine if ASJ and Jackson stay healthy.
Until the accuracy improves though I’m not sold on Jameis
May 5th, 2016 at 1:00 pm
Tampa Tony Says:
May 5th, 2016 at 12:38 pm
“Until the accuracy improves though I’m not sold on Jameis”
I nominate this for dumba$$ comment of the week
May 5th, 2016 at 1:03 pm
Second year. He is no longer a rookie. There are NO excuses. He is either a winner or a loser. His record will be what it says he is.
May 5th, 2016 at 1:19 pm
@Pickgrin- I don’t find what Tony said to be unfair. He’s a second year player who needs improvement. I know we want to induct him to the HOF already but, 6-10, and it wasn’t all the defense’s fault, believe it or not. He made plenty of mistakes that probably lost us a few games. Like I said, he’s a second year guy, he hasn’t proven anything yet.
He’s a charismatic guy. It’s easy to dismiss his short-comings. I’m sure there will be improvement. It’ll be fun to watch him mature as a player in the coming years.
May 5th, 2016 at 1:34 pm
Tampa Tony Says:
May 5th, 2016 at 12:38 pm
Jameis needs to improve his accuracy and this offense will be fine.
————–
Ditto!
May 5th, 2016 at 1:37 pm
“lost us a few games” “hasn’t proven anything yet”
SMH
May 5th, 2016 at 1:38 pm
I also remember Dye catching a TD pass in the back of the endzone, either that or I’m slipping.
May 5th, 2016 at 1:59 pm
i want ANQUAN BOLDIN!
May 5th, 2016 at 2:01 pm
I get you Pickgrin and I’m as optimistic as the next person but it’s true. 6-10 is 6-10. Are you suggesting that Jameis is without fault? He and many others made mistakes that cost us games last year. That’s fact.
Shake your head all you want, he’s still got a ways to go my friend. I think he can be that guy, but one year is not a sufficient sample size to make that judgement.
I like the guy, he’s got fire! He’s still learning though.
May 5th, 2016 at 2:25 pm
Oh there you go again with this 3rd best or 4th best analogy that I bever understood and still don’t.
Yes I know today’s game favors the QB and the offense, but I’ll never understand that coming from a Bucs fan that pretty much saw his team reach the playoffs year in and year out, plus a SB win on the backs of it’s defense.
The accolades you give Shaun King for taking us to the NFC Championship makes a little more sense now. So I’ve got that part figured out….finally.
To you Shaun King was a big reason why they reached NFC Championship.
To most of us on here we simply no better.
May 5th, 2016 at 2:25 pm
know*
May 5th, 2016 at 3:01 pm
Jameis accuracy was below 60% because he was attempting a lot of deep throws. That’s why we need more production from our TE’S, VJAX 62 tgts, 33 rec, Dye 30 tgts, 11 rec, Evans 148 tgts, 74 rec. And that don’t include the 25 drops between them, the playcalling has to change and we need more production from the TE position. It don’t matter if it’s ASJ, Brate, Vitale or someone else, one of them need to step up. Jameis completed 58.3% of his passes, but he only completed 48.5 % to these wideouts and 68% to the rest of his receivers. The solution is simple.
May 5th, 2016 at 3:21 pm
Lmao 2nd or 3rd best give me a break Future MVP Jameis is going to light it up this season!
May 5th, 2016 at 3:22 pm
@LakeLandBuc … “Jameis completed 58.3% of his passes, but he only completed 48.5 % to these wideouts and 68% to the rest of his receivers. ”
Excellent analysis, and I basically agree with you … Bucs have to complete more balls down the field (I believe Dirk Koetter said that earlier in the year but might be wrong).
Jameis’ 58.3% (312 of 535) is pretty close to Cam Newton’s 59.7% (296 of 496) last year. Both had exactly the same yards per catch average (12.96). But Cam went 15-1 and threw 35 TDs, whereas Jameis was 6-10 and threw 22 TDs. That’s essentially 7 more points per game for Cam but with basically the same QB statistics. Scoring 7 more points per game, Bucs would’ve gone to the playoffs.
So what’s the real difference between Jameis and Cam? Did the Panthers have significantly better WRs and TEs than the Bucs? Perhaps, but I think it’s a lot more complicated than that. Part of it’s the game plan, part of it’s the QB’s accuracy, part of it’s the WRs and TEs and RBs, part of it’s even defense (and the field position they give the offense). And part of it’s probably pure luck.
May 5th, 2016 at 3:35 pm
Defense Rules and a major part of it was drops. lol
May 5th, 2016 at 3:42 pm
@DefenseRules
That was an excellent post! And it’s that last very accurate point that is hard for so many to accept. And part of it’s probably pure luck.
May 5th, 2016 at 3:43 pm
And speaking of luck? Anybody wanna venture a guess as to whether the Bolts would be true Stanley Cup contenders if Stammer and Stralman were healthy. What a freaking killer team. They still may pull it off.
May 5th, 2016 at 3:49 pm
Defense Rules….lots of moving parts.
You got that Joe? lol 🙂
May 5th, 2016 at 4:13 pm
Winston, in that picture, looks like Doug Martin just kicked his hamster!
May 5th, 2016 at 6:09 pm
Imo one of the reasons for his accuracy is that he’s got 2-3 guys breaking threw the line as he tries to throw. When he has time he’s lethal.
May 5th, 2016 at 7:17 pm
Well no kidding Jameis needs to improve, that’s what everyone is so excited about, not his rookie year but that he did that well as a rookie since we all expect him to be quite a bit better in year 2.
May 5th, 2016 at 9:47 pm
Winston was a record setting rookie QB. How about we try to stop all the over the top and down the middle big plays first. Winston is a proven winner give him time
May 5th, 2016 at 9:54 pm
Noticed that GMC did not do anything all year?
May 5th, 2016 at 10:10 pm
He could not hit the broad side of a barn. In the clutch. When we crawled back into a playoff chase. He has to be more consistent. He had a good rookie season not great. Yaya over 4000 yards. Whoopty do. John Kitna or Freeman could do that. YOU CAN NOT WIN IN NFL. WITH A QB THAT COMPLETES UNDER 60% of his passes.
May 5th, 2016 at 10:16 pm
Poor Glennon………..You also can’t win with Capt Checkdown.
Where’s the Nole Patrol on this one?
May 5th, 2016 at 11:51 pm
Cmon 87 nobody in their right mind. Would stand in the pocket behind that Oline
May 6th, 2016 at 7:16 am
one difference I see in Carolina is that cam gets a lot of time to let the play develop.except against Denver,where he took a pounding for holding the ball too long.Our line has not developed into that solid pass blocking line quite yet.
Many people point to WR drops as an issue and it is but the truth is our tall recievers give Jameis an extra large target area that has helped him complete passes
at times when other recievers wouldn’t get too it. It is also time for ASJ to stop posing and provide another outlet with sure hands and extended reach.
May 6th, 2016 at 7:49 am
Winston does need to improve, but not many QB’s make the pro bowl in their rookie season. He’s only gonna get better.