Will Dirk Koetter Get More Creative?
May 15th, 2016
One might be a bit troubled by a new film-heavy analysis of NFL playcallers from Matt Bowen, via BSPN.com.
Division rivals Mike Shula and Sean Payton made this “top-5” study, which focused on how prolific a playcaller is at crafting winning match-ups. The list is rounded out by Darell Bevell, Josh McDaniel and Bruce Arians.
Joe wholeheartedly agrees with putting Payton in the mix. Because of Drew Brees’ age and the Saints’ sad defense, New Orleans is an afterthought for many Bucs fans, but it shouldn’t be.
The Saints had plenty of defensive issues in 2015, but don’t let that get in the way of Payton’s brilliance as a playcaller or as a matchup creator. Last season, New Orleans led the NFL in passing yards per game (310.6), first downs per game (23.8) and third-down efficiency (47.4 percent), and ranked second in total yards per game (403.8).
Shifts, pre-snap movement and formation variety: The Saints head coach is going to put players in positions to produce and also get them in space — with Drew Brees throwing the ball. That’s a beautiful thing given Brees’ footwork, pocket mobility and accuracy. Back-shoulder, front-shoulder — he can make every throw. The ball is going to be on time and in the right spot.
A common thread for the five guys honored is they all call plays for veteran quarterbacks.
This year, Dirk Koetter calls plays for a veteran QB. That would be America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston.
Jameis is supposed to be a football genius with an off-the-charts pigskin IQ. Now that Koetter knows it, and has spent a year getting a feel for Jameis and breaking him in, the Bucs’ head coach should be able to take a big step in his playcalling.
The Bucs were not too creative offensively last year, in part because there were so many damn rookies playing offense, and because it was Year 1 in Koetter’s system.
That should all change in 2016.
When Koetter got the Bucs’ head coaching gig in January, Joe asked Koetter if he felt he would have more freedom as OC/head coach when it came to running the offense. Koetter was emphatic that Lovie Smith didn’t have a leash on him, but Koetter did acknowledge he would be free to gamble more.
Joe can’t wait to see what Koetter unleashes on the NFL.
May 15th, 2016 at 1:43 pm
Mike Shula single-handedly did more to get Tony Dungy fired than anyone else. He was so bad Shula was gone for 2 years and Mike Shula was still the top reason Dungy was fired. Anyone putting him in any Top 5 list should be shipped to ISIS for reeducation.
May 15th, 2016 at 1:57 pm
Koetter has already spoken about how his philosophy is going be able to change a bit now that Lovie dovie and his over-bearing conservative influence is out of the equation.
I’m thinking Top-5 Offense and hopefully Top-10 Defense.
Somehow, some way, the Bucs are taking the Title this season.
May 15th, 2016 at 2:06 pm
Rod Munch, that’s one haterism that I actually agree with.
Mike Shula was garbage until recently.
May 15th, 2016 at 2:22 pm
Mr. Jameis is a smart guy but he did not have the highest ftball iq( that was off the charts )at the nfl combine .. That honor goes to another qb at the combine last year
May 15th, 2016 at 2:45 pm
JW is a VERY different QB than Brees. JW does not have the accuracy Brees does. My guess is that DK keeps it simple so that JW doesn’t beat the Bucs as he did early last year.
May 15th, 2016 at 2:59 pm
Buc nut bress wasn’t accurate at the beginning of his career when he was with the Chargers he got better with time now bress isn’t the same QB anymore his arm has gotten weaker and as soon as he retires (which will be soon) who dat will suck again the fans just don’t see it and also lets not forget that that’s Sean Payton try to dangle Drew bress for Jameis Winston so that show tell u what bress on coach thinks about him
May 15th, 2016 at 3:00 pm
Last year we were ranked #5 in yds/gm but only #22 in scoring. That was with a rookie qb and two rookies on the line. Now our qb has a year under his belt, as do the aforementioned linemen. We have Martin with his contract settled, ASJ healthy (hopefully), and a play caller who knows what he’s dealing with. Not to mention our very own “Superback”. Things are definitely looking up.
May 15th, 2016 at 3:15 pm
Joe can’t wait, the fans can’t wait, so hurry up and wait. The Saints won their lone Super Bowl to tie up the Bucs at 1-0. I believe the Bucs will get there before the Saints do again. The Panthers are 0-2 and I believe the Facons are 0-1 in the big game. So in that department in the division the Bucs are tied for the lead. Happy days!
May 15th, 2016 at 3:33 pm
Jameis definitely doesn’t have the accuracy of Brees, yet. Until that happens they’re going to need to be a little more careful than Payton or whomever else is ranked highly. The kid has all the tools, but consistently good ball placement and touch are things he’s not too great at yet. In time he should get better, but it may not be this year.
May 15th, 2016 at 3:40 pm
interesting article about our red zone efficiency last year and how it needs to improve this year.
http://www.bucsnation.com/2016/5/8/11635478/how-can-the-offense-improve-their-red-zone-issues-in-2016
May 15th, 2016 at 3:41 pm
Nothing rattles the JW haters more than to point out the fact that Winston has an extremely high football IQ. It goes against everything they were taught growing up.
Q:Who at the combine reportedly last year had a higher f-ball IQ than JW?
A: Nobody
May 15th, 2016 at 4:02 pm
Drew Brees also hit a bullseye from 25 yards away 10-10 times, nobody does that. And the style of the Saints offense is different than the Bucs that favors to a higher completion %, Koetter offense is closer to Arians. Jamies’s downfield accuracy will improve only making him more deadly. Jameis had a better Rookie year than Brady, Roethlisberger, Brees and Manning! None of them threw for 4,000 yards and ran for 6 touchdowns.
May 15th, 2016 at 4:14 pm
Tbbucs3. I agree he had a great Rookie season, and especially Brees and Manning(Manning threw more picks than TDs, I don’t know why he is even in the conversation) and Brady’s rookie season was on the Bench so why even put his name in this? However Rothlisberger was a Huge reason that his team went to the playoffs in his rookie year. Wins trump yards especially when almost half of those yards came in garbage time. I am a Huge JW fan but Big Ben had one for the Ages
May 15th, 2016 at 4:15 pm
“and especially ‘better’ than Brees and Manning”
May 15th, 2016 at 4:23 pm
Comparisons to Brees are irrelevant.
Simply put, he’s a generational talent. His accuracy and anticipation were born in the likes that he never had, nor needed, a huge arm to shred anybody.
Let our guy be our guy. You can win with many different styles of QB play if the OC understands his makeup.
May 15th, 2016 at 4:24 pm
Big Ben only won so much because of his defense and running game. He had one of the worst Super Bowls for a qb ever in his first appearance
May 15th, 2016 at 4:31 pm
Tony…….Big Ben started 13 games his rookie season and won ALL 13 of them. All the while he completed 66.4% of his passes with a 8.9Y/A with a better TD% and QB rating. C’mon man give credit where it is due.
May 15th, 2016 at 4:35 pm
This is what I love aabout having a HC/playcaller. He knows his ass is on the line. He has a forward thinking qb, the only thing that will hold him back is if the wr/te’s don’t come thru. rb is set with #22,#34. drops and injuries have have been a concern in the past year. This offense will be capable of carring the defense, every defense can be great if they are up by 10-14 points. whixh will be happening when Jameis masters the offense.
May 15th, 2016 at 4:36 pm
SB, yeah but compared to Rothesiburger if it wasn’t better then it was real close. And I hear the term “Garbadge time” often, Can we let quarterbacks use all 4 quarters in football? You saw all those great comebacks Jamies had at FSU, he did it regularly. The only true Garbadge time this year against the Titans and Panthers.
May 15th, 2016 at 5:09 pm
If the NFL is truly a ‘What have you done for me lately’ league, then Mike Shula is actually looking pretty good. The team he’s OC for, the Carolina Panthers, made it to the Super Bowl with a 15-1 record. Also believe that they put up 500 points on the season, a little over 30 pts a game, and was regarded as the #1 offense as a result. Not too shabby.
Point being: Coaches and players have to grow if they’re going to survive in the NFL. Mike Shula did, and that’s commendable. And I have full confidence that Dirk Koetter and Jameis Winston will do the same this year. Good article Joe.
May 15th, 2016 at 5:44 pm
NO hate intended… M.M. beat Winston on every test at combine including football iq test that was given… …it”s all ok .. being 2nd best may turn out to be the best in time
May 15th, 2016 at 6:18 pm
All of you are over estimating Winston. I expect that he’ll regress this year.
May 15th, 2016 at 6:28 pm
Ben- big mistake citing facts with this crowd. They have no interest.
May 15th, 2016 at 6:51 pm
How about let’s compare Winston to Glennon, Griffin & Lefevour….
Comparisons to Brees are meaningless at this point.
I agree that we should keep is somewhat simple for Jameis and let’s be creative with our backs, TEs & WR sets.
May 15th, 2016 at 6:54 pm
Tbbuc…..I am NOT knocking JW but his Highest yardage games were mostly losses. 509 in a loss to the Rams, 389 in a loss to the Bears, 479 in a loss to the Redskins, 411 in a loss to the Panthers. That is almost 2000 yards right there in only 4 losses. JW is going to be GREAT one day IMO. However the “4000” yards deal is a bit overblown. The Only win he had with over 400 yards was against the Eagles and we all know that was a Thing of Beauty.
May 15th, 2016 at 7:03 pm
[Please stick with one username. Trying to post under multiple usernames can and will get you banned. Noticed you were asked about being banned this weekend. Maybe this is why? Stick with one username, please. — Joe]
In this day and age 4000 yards is not as big an accomplishment as it once was. We keep seeing all these rookie flirt with or get 4000 and my bet is that trend continues.
To me the yards don’t define Winston the moments do. When the team needs a drive Winston delivers…..the rest of the offense not so much(last year).
I pray this year that the defense is capable of giving Winston more of these moments in the 4th quarter.
May 15th, 2016 at 7:05 pm
I am gonna call it right here. IF………..IF…….we get to the halfway point in the season next yr and have a winning record, then I am going to fly down there and throw a party for Every Bucs fan on these threads at a local bar of Choice! Mind you we play Both SB teams and Arizona in that span along with Atl 2x. Screen shot this if you like?
May 15th, 2016 at 7:45 pm
SB-Who gets to choose the establishment?
Also I’ll support your cause second rounds on me
May 15th, 2016 at 7:49 pm
@ Buccaneers…….I would say that would be a vote among those that are gonna show up. IF we are really at 5 and 3 my wife won’t have grounds to stand on for saying no to me. I would just say lets have a vote.
May 15th, 2016 at 7:54 pm
Nole on Sat, Buc on Sun. and I met a couple months ago when I was down there at a place called Graffiti Junktion but that was in Orlando. I guess we would make it in Tampa tho. I don’t care really 2500 miles vs. 2545 isn’t that big a deal in my case.
May 15th, 2016 at 7:55 pm
Koetter is the Man and Licht is building a solid team for him to run. Good thing Lovie isn’t here to spoil it like the last three coaches have done.
WHOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 15th, 2016 at 7:57 pm
One thing with the Saints, they’re defense was STILL doomed from the day they hired Rob Ryan….if they can fix that side of the ball and special teams they could take back the South. The Panthers get Kelvin Benjamin back and The Bucs finally have the right staff to put the pieces in the right place.
Atlanta will finish last in the division this season.
May 15th, 2016 at 8:03 pm
I don’t know the Saints don’t have anybody who scares me at all….after Brees of course. They look like they need a rebuild but are wiffing when it comes to getting good players, kinda reminds me of some prior Buc teams.
Atlanta looks a lot tougher to me.
May 15th, 2016 at 8:28 pm
Atlanta got no pass rush I’m not scared of Atlanta
May 15th, 2016 at 8:51 pm
I think NO has better players on defense than the stats tell…kinda like the guys we had.didnt look so good on paper but that was becasur of lovie . May have a quick improvment on defense
May 15th, 2016 at 9:05 pm
Bucnut2 Says:
May 15th, 2016 at 6:18 pm
“All of you are over estimating Winston. I expect that he’ll regress this year.”
Yes all of us. Like 98% of the posters.
Isn’t nice to be in the clueless 2%?
May 15th, 2016 at 9:08 pm
I expect JW to have big year.
I also expect Bucnut coming on here and trying to do his very best to diminish what he’s doing throughout the season.
Of course you expect him to regress. You never thought he’d progress even before they drafted him.
Please don’t go away during the season. Please don’t change your name either.
May 15th, 2016 at 9:11 pm
Bucnut2 wants Winston to regress. All he ever does is criticize. He can’t ever get excited about the potential Winston shows because he wants so bad to be right about Mariota. The Bucs could win a Super Bowl with Winston and Bucnut would complain it wasn’t 2.
May 15th, 2016 at 9:19 pm
Ben – Are you misinformed enough to think that the Wonderlic Test is the same as a football I.Q. test? Here’s a hint, it’s not….
Oh and Winston was praised by many teams as the best they ever saw on the board (which would show his football I.Q.).
May 16th, 2016 at 12:03 am
Bucnut and Ben, you guys are a trip, STILL on the Mariota bandwagon a year later ….. FYI the Wonderlic doesn’t measure “football IQ”, it has nothing to do with football.
May 16th, 2016 at 4:06 am
Winston will not regress. Why? Vincent Jackson will start in every game. Mike Evans will return to his rookie form. Austin Seferian-Jenkins will play his first full season and still be outperformed by Cameron Brate. Doug Martin and Charles Sims will continue to be the best RB duo in the NFL. Dan Vitale will be Winston’s new favorite target. JR Sweezy will set the tone for the offensive line, who will have the services of Demar Dotson, in his first year as an All-Pro. The player who will make a big difference from last year to this year will be Winston’s number three receiver Louis Murphy, whom will rebound from his leg injury last year. Oh, and don’t forget about our new kicker who will allow the offense to kick from 40 yards in. How does this make Winston better? Winning makes everyone better.
May 16th, 2016 at 8:49 am
@BEN
Mariucci refereed to Winston as “the Smartest QB he has ever seen” when he put him to the test with the white board and asked him about defensive formations and offensive plays. I don’t know what coverage you were watching leading up to the draft, but Winston was considered “light years” ahead of any QB in that draft, including MM.
May 16th, 2016 at 8:59 am
@BEN
BTW out of the top 5 scores on the wonderlic test there was only one QB on that list and his name is Ryan Fitzpatrick, a journeyman who can’t stick with a team for more Than one season. The no. 1 guy was a punter. So don’t put too much into a test that is basically meaningless.