Koetter Talks Two-Quarterback Solution
June 15th, 2017
Message sent
Among the minicamp-closing nuggets delivered today by winning Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter was an interesting one on quarterbacks.
When Koetter arrived as offensive coordinator in 2015, the Bucs pounced on QB Ryan Griffin when he was cut by the Saints after the preseason.
Then head coach Lovie Smith had been a two quarterback guy through much of his career. He even once, in a moment of extreme wisdom and clarity with the Bears, cut Josh McCown in favor of having Jason Campbell be his backup in Chicago. But after scooping up Griffin for Tampa Bay, the Lovie regime committed to three quarterbacks, parking Griffin behind Mike Glennon on the depth chart all that season.
Griffin, who Koetter later said was a developmental target of his, returned for the entire 2016 campaign in the No. 3 role, and he was slapped with a restricted free agent tender, $1.8 million, to return for this year.
However, the Bucs then signed Jets reject (which these days means you’re a good football player) quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to big money.
Today, Koetter was asked about carrying three QBs on his final roster. And he said, “we’d probably prefer to go with two.”
It wasn’t a firm decision by Koetter, but it was a thunderous message to Fitzpatrick and Griffin.
Don’t get comfortable on your vacation — or when you return.
On this potential roster reshaping, Joe will point back to Koetter saying his Bucs were “cheatin’ danger” last year, courtesy of versatile departed linebacker Daryl Smith, whose presence allowed the Bucs to carry one less linebacker than usual.
In fact, this season, the Bucs might need one more linebacker than normal (so two more than in 2016) to accommodate rookie Kendall Beckwith, whose recovering knee may not cooperate and be ready for opening day.
June 15th, 2017 at 3:19 pm
I wished someone had warned us,,,,Oh wait!!!!
It another “Buc Realist Repost”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Buc Realist Says:
May 19th, 2017 at 11:13 am
Great move Bucs!!!!!!!!
Do not be surprised when this team only carries 2 QB’s!!!!!!!!!
Go BUCS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 15th, 2017 at 3:35 pm
Realist, that repost won’t qualify you as Nostradamus. Two QBs? You mean like virtually every other team in the NFL? It’s the LB situation Bucs need to focus on more than the QBs (the QB thing will work itself out in preseason IMO). The LBs situation, however, is tenuous. Obviously Lavonte & Kwon are our starters (duh) but 2 questions remain.
First, who’s the SAM (Bond or Beckwith or someone else)? Neither Bond nor Beckwith has ever logged a single NFL snap. Bunch of guys in the mix (to include Glanton, Knox & Lynch with some experience) but would much prefer to see someone jump to the head of the class, and quickly. Second, who’s Kwon’s backup? Obviously the intention is to cross-train Beckwith to be MLB & SAM, but that’s a lot for a rookie to absorb in preseason, assuming Kendall really is ready when preseason starts. Whoever wins the SAM job, they’ll most likely be picked on mercilessly by opposing offenses until they prove themselves.
June 15th, 2017 at 4:03 pm
The roster spot is even more needed for an extra WR,TE or RB.
June 15th, 2017 at 4:26 pm
This is interesting though. With Griffin having that tender on him, does that mean they cannot cut him? (I’m unclear)
If they can, he still qualifies for the practice squad, which is where they’ll hope to put him.
I think Griffin would have to look blockbuster in preseason to beat Fitz out of the backup job…to the point where the Bucs can’t risk putting him on waivers.
June 15th, 2017 at 4:32 pm
Pickgrin Says
“The roster spot is even more needed for an extra WR,TE or RB.”
Not really. Well, maybe RB.
We have plenty of good quality WRs.
Evans, Jackson, Humphries, Goodwin and Walker will claim the first 5 spots, leaving one spot for the other WRs to fight over. Bucs usually only keep 6. I think it will be Martino who gets the final spot. Huff is toast, barring injuries.
At TE we’re good. Teams usually keep 3-4, and we have a good group to fill that position.
RB is where I think you might be right. Mainly because I think there is a chance Koetter keeps his short yardage back this year (Quayvon Hicks), at least through Martin’s suspension. I can see Barber getting the axe.
June 15th, 2017 at 6:11 pm
Bonzai,
According to Greg Auman/TBT, Ryan Griffin is no longer eligible for the practice squad.
Greg AumanVerified account @gregauman Jun 1
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Greg Auman Retweeted David Mayer
Liufau has practice-squad eligibility and Ryan Griffin does not. He needs Bucs to decide to carry two QBs on 53, then stick as 3rd on PS.
June 15th, 2017 at 6:17 pm
Good problem to have
June 15th, 2017 at 6:25 pm
Defense rules
? Didnt kwon start as a rookie and by doing so took the green dot from LD
Who is to say a guy that played with kwon and probably rooming with him cant be on a faster track than kwon
And if he can excell he will be are future mlb with kwon going back to his natural position of wlb
June 15th, 2017 at 6:32 pm
And lets not forget a slimmed down spawn who might see work at sam and then go put his hand down in nickel
June 15th, 2017 at 7:14 pm
NOT that difficult to figure out …
QB -2
RB – 4
WR – 6
TE – 3
T- 4
G – 4
C – 2
OFF – 25
DE – 5
DT – 4
OLB – 4
ILB – 2
CB – 6
FS – 2
SS – 2
DEF – 25
K- 1
P – 1
LS -1
June 15th, 2017 at 7:16 pm
Long Snapper is the Roster Spot that truly needs to be a Backup OL guy and not a dedicated roster spot. I’d rather keep another DL/OL/TE than a LS.
June 15th, 2017 at 8:01 pm
JTHV – I think that is a pretty good breakdown. Maybe go with 4 TEs though. And one less OL. Two QBs would help a lot.
June 15th, 2017 at 8:12 pm
Bonzai says:
“We have plenty of good quality WRs.”
That was the whole point. We will want to hang on to a talented youngster at one of those 3 spots instead of keep a 3rd QB on the roster. The question is who? Sperbeck? Dye? Martino? Your boy Walker? TE Auclair? Alan Cross? Peyton Barber?
See what I’m sayin? There is NFL quality talent there that just needs more development and may not be possible to slip onto the practice squad….
June 15th, 2017 at 8:46 pm
No way they carry less than 4 TEs on this roster in 2017. No way.
I would guess 1-2 less OL than what you’ve predicted, but otherwise pretty spot on.
June 15th, 2017 at 9:18 pm
JTHV … That looks like the ‘standard’ lineup (25-25-3) that most clubs probably strive for, except for the TEs. I agree with Casual Observer that we’ll probably keep 4 TEs, and I think it’ll come at the expense of the 10th OLineman (several of our backups can play more than one position). One other thing that may play out though is DLine. I’d go with 9 total also like you have, but the Bucs may opt to keep a 6th DE bringing the total to 10 there (Mike Smith substitutes a bunch, and our record of keeping DEs healthy is pretty dismal). If they do that, they may compensate by reducing the LBs from 6 to 5 like we had this past year.
June 15th, 2017 at 10:14 pm
glennon should be available by mid season if either griffin or fitz fizzle.
June 16th, 2017 at 12:34 am
JOE,
You didn’t mention the bigger news here: Shortly after Koetter was finished answering the question about QBs he was asked whether he was going to keep two kickers…..coach abruptly answered the reporter with a big, fat, “NO”.