Post-Sims Decisions Forthcoming
August 29th, 2018
Embracing change
Your Buccaneers have a long history of backup running backs getting thrust into prominent roles.
Bobby Rainey and Mike James put smiles on a lot of faces during lost 2013 and 2014 seasons.
Earnest Graham emerged after years on the bench in 2007, and injuries freed rookie LeGarrette Blount to run wild in 2010.
Joe could go on. The point is running back depth is a critical cog for a majority of NFL teams.
And like him or not, the loss of Charles Sims to injured reserve last week means one of the best third-down offenses in the NFL last season just lost its third-down back.
No running back took more snaps than Sims did for the Bucs last year.
Joe asked Dirk Koetter about the gravity of the Sims loss this week. Koetter didn’t seem phased.
“Well, I mean there’s going to be change. You’re going to change over a third of your team every year and Charles Sims has done a really good job for us as a third down back in my tenure here,” Koetter said. “It’s always hard to lose a guy like that emotionally, but yet there’s always other guys pushing to try to take his job at the same time and this training camp is no exception to that. There’s guys that are pushing to try to take that job. It’s unfortunate that Charles got hurt, but like when any player gets hurt we just have to figure out what we’re going to do and keep moving. I’m not going to lay it all out for everybody right now, but it’ll become clear enough here soon.”
The Sims loss isn’t stinging Bucs coaches much, Joe believes, because Sims wasn’t having a very good camp.
But now what? Jacquizz Rodgers will be relied on heavily, and that probably will cut his special teams snaps, which will have to be picked up by somebody. And Ronald Jones isn’t much of a special teams player.
Koetter referenced the battle for the final running back spot yesterday, which presumably is between rookie Shaun Wilson, who looked solid as a kick returner against the Lions, and Dare Ogunbowale. The second-year RB is a converted cornerback and looks like a strong special teams cover guy, and he has five catches this preseason for 66 yards.
Both guys have a lot to show tomorrow night, and who wins the gig on the 53-man-roster might just come down to who is the better pass blocker.
August 29th, 2018 at 10:13 am
” I’m not going to lay it all out for everybody right now, but it’ll become clear enough here soon.”
Koetter is playing his cards close to the vest. Don’t blame him. We’re going to catch some teams unaware of how good we are and Koetter and Smitty have been vanilla in the pre season.
I’m jacked! As good as we’ve looked in the preseason I think we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg. It’s not like Koetter/Moncken have shown their offense.
This is why I just smile when people go nuts for Moncken’s play calling in the preseason. He may be a great play caller but PS is no indication. There are too many calls based on seeing certain players in certain situations and actually winning a preseason game takes a back seat to finding out who can play.
And all the coaches are generally trying to hide their “real” offenses and defenses.
August 29th, 2018 at 10:49 am
SPBF : Love your optimism, wish more shared this. I think we’ll do ok and maybe surprise some people.
August 29th, 2018 at 11:10 am
I think SPBF is on to something. The problem is joebucsfan and the fans are jaded by the Bucs so it’s hard to want to say or think this team could be 10-6 or 11-5.
It’s pretty obvious the Bucs look much better than last year at this point and the Bucs have upgraded their weak areas significantly.
August 29th, 2018 at 11:13 am
I wonder if there is a RB out in FA that Licht may be looking at….
August 29th, 2018 at 11:20 am
Well we get a chance to see what these guys can do pretty soon.
I am cautiously optimistic for this season.
Cant wait to see how they play these first 3 games.
GO BUCS!!!
August 29th, 2018 at 11:33 am
Blind Melon. They already brought in Terrance West. So the answer to your question is yes, West and maybe others.
August 29th, 2018 at 11:34 am
Wilson will be the 4th RB.
Ogunbowale to the practice squad.
4th RB spot may well be the one cut when JW returns after game 3.
August 29th, 2018 at 11:40 am
Wilson >>> Charles Sims.
August 29th, 2018 at 11:42 am
Lord I like your optimism but Wilson has a long way to go before that is true.
August 29th, 2018 at 11:51 am
Simms will not be missed for his running or pass catching…the replacements are equal or better….he will be missed for pass protection which the new guy will have to learn OJT
August 29th, 2018 at 11:52 am
Jacquizz Rodgers always does well with a good offensive line.
My guess is one of two things will happen:
• Shaun Wilson will be the 4th RB (most likely)
• Cross will be moved to the RB group as a fullback so they can keep Johnson and still have only 4 TEs.
August 29th, 2018 at 11:54 am
So far as Shaun Wilson, the kid’s got heart, but his size does concern me. Then again, so does the size of Rojo, who is a little bigger.
lol…poor Rojo. I watched him block on one play…he almost got run over, but he managed to hold his guy up long enough for Jameis to get the ball off for a good gain.
August 29th, 2018 at 11:56 am
Pickgrin Says
“4th RB spot may well be the one cut when JW returns after game 3.”
It;s anyones guess at this point, but my money is on Ryan Smith being the one cut. I suspect he;ll be completely expendable by then because of our two excellent, freshly drafted CBs.
August 29th, 2018 at 11:56 am
And by ‘my money’, I mean belief, not actual money. 😉
August 29th, 2018 at 12:00 pm
Bonzai – Told you the same thing yesterday.
Ryan Smith isn’t going anywhere. He’s an exceptional “gunner” and sticks on the team on that basis alone at his salary level. He’s not a finished product at CB either. Smith will 100% be on this team for at least the next 2 years and finish out his rookie contract.
August 29th, 2018 at 12:10 pm
We need another back, sims did not seem dependable to me.
August 29th, 2018 at 12:32 pm
Id say we have the lowest ranked running back stable in our division, hands down.
Whatever mug is brought in unlikely to change that.
That being said if barber stays healthy he has looked really good in preseason.
Might get by, but a serious weakness.
August 29th, 2018 at 12:34 pm
We basically have one solid back on the roster in Barber.
Rodgers is a pro but nobody is game planning for him
RO Jo doesn’t know the playbook, cant block, cant really catch, and runs like Micheal Jackson dances. But, if he gets a huge hole he will take it to the house.
August 29th, 2018 at 12:54 pm
I thought Wilson looked good when he was given a chance.
August 29th, 2018 at 12:59 pm
Shaun Wilson has the ‘juice’. Hopefully the Bucs brass realize it.
#Get After It!
August 29th, 2018 at 1:00 pm
does anybody have a clue why Jason light eights Adrian Peterson so much? We had a shot at them last year when Doug Martin was facing a suspension and then this year when we have no running back deck and power his way for a first down or touchdown. At very least he’s a veteran still showed power and speed and could give Barber a rest. I’m not saying start them but you’re crazy if you don’t think he’s better than all of our running backs. The Redskins signed him for league minimum. Only about 1 million a year. It’s a crying shame we keep missing that opportunity.
August 29th, 2018 at 1:01 pm
Stupid auto correct screwed up that statement but I think you guys know what I mean
August 29th, 2018 at 1:06 pm
Every year a RB comes out of nowhere once he gets a chance, and I see a 1000 yard rusher and gets it done, why can’t that be Barber, I think fans sometimes look for the name, just from the last year, I think the line loves blocking for Barber, our RB situation is not as dire as some tend to believe. Neither Freeman for the Falcons or Ingram for the Saints were the runners they are now, it has yet to be seen what McCaffrey will be now that he is the main guy with the Panthers
August 29th, 2018 at 3:00 pm
I disagree about Moncken’s play calling. It’s much less predictable imho. The last couple of years you could absolutely tell when we were going to go run, run for less than three yards and pray to Jameis to save us on third down. We did it often early in games, when we first got to the red zone and when the coaches were nervous (thinking about the 3 point win over the Panthers two years ago when we got the ball with 2:00 minutes to play and went run, run, pray. After Jameis completed the first down pass to Evans, Gruden audibly gasped, “Unbelievable. They had only one player to go do and they still completed it for a first down.”
We played games where we had only 8 (discounting knee downs and end or game or half run it out possessions) drives, and over the season we had 32 less than Jacksonville. You can’t get obstinate and give up two of those 8 chances beating your head against the wall with run, run, pray. When your team has a qb with among the highest yards per attempt and your running back has a historically bad yards per run attempt, game planning to run 50% of the time is asinine. And stop with the “you need the running game to pass successfully.” The great teams in this era pass to run, not the other way around.
I think Koetter is a good coach, one that will lead us to the promised land if the Glazers do their part. Nevertheless, he’s obstinate to a fault. And being overly contumacious is one of the 10 deadly sins for a football coach.
August 29th, 2018 at 3:50 pm
They both seem like very limited upside guys, roster fillers who won’t make much of an impact. Would be cool if I’m wrong, but we shall see. Also going back it’s a shame Mike James couldn’t stay healthy, seemingly every time he played he was productive, he moved the chains, ran with very good power – he’d show something and then immediately get hurt. He bounced around for a while so other teams saw the same thing, I think it just all came down to health for the guy. For Rodgers I think he’ll do fine in that role, but losing Sims is a big deal, he wasn’t just a fantastic 3rd down back, he was the best blocking RB on the team as well, which is why he was on the field so much. Rodgers is a very good blocker at RB so I don’t see too much of a downgrade there, and Rodgers can catch almost as well (remember Sims was lining up at WR at the end of the 2016 season when everyone was injured).