Dismal Rushing Projections
July 23rd, 2019
PFF tribe: Rushing leader.
If you are a fan of the running game, brace yourself. The PFF tribe has grim news for Bucs fans.
The well-trained orangutans have run their stats through their spreadsheets, sprinkled pixie dust in the air and shined up their crystal balls to get a look-see into the Bucs’ rushing attack for 2019.
The tribe predicts a downright grotesque running game. How bad? Try dead-last in the NFL.
Someone by the name of Crystal Austin Gayle brings word that the tribe projects Peyton Barber to run for a Doug Martin-like, team-best 557 yards and a whopping three touchdowns. The tribe also believes the Bucs will rush for a league-worst 1,441 yards.
Joe has been reading critiques, listening to a lot of pods and radio shows conducting NFL previews, and Joe has yet to find anyone who believes the Bucs will turn around their putrid rushing ways; both stat geeks and real analysts alike.
It seems the only people confident the running game will be just fine are the folks collecting checks from Team Glazer and working within the walls of One Buc Palace.
If, once again, the Bucs are horrid running the ball, and the Bucs also have a losing record (again), Joe is confident folks are going to have some ‘splaining to do with Team Glazer come January.
July 23rd, 2019 at 12:25 am
It’s not like the on-line has been upgraded and solidified or that any of their rbs were starting to put up big yards towards the end of the season or that Leftwich is some established, revered OC… Far from it..
With Arians delegating rather than being more hands on, I think most of these predictions of yet another disappointing season is valid!
July 23rd, 2019 at 12:51 am
Ok, so they say we’ll be dead last? ..but why? How did they come to that conclusion. What numbers have they crunched that made them project Bucs last? Unless they have anything substantive to add to there prognostication they are just group thinking and there is no real investigative reporting. Fake News!
We’ve got a 3-headed monster in Barber, RoJo, and Anderson (great hands, and route runner) as our 3rd down back. They could easily produce 2000 all purpose yards. But seriously, our run game goes the way of the offensive line.
Why? Don’t know, just thought I’d be different.
July 23rd, 2019 at 12:55 am
PFF also projected that Hillary would win by 14 points.
Anywho, as a reminder, last years offense was the best in team history – in yards and points. I really don’t care if you run the ball or throw 4 yard passes to Humphries so long as you move the ball. This isn’t Dirk’s offense anymore, for better or for worse, and if the RBs aren’t getting hit 3 yards behind the LOS on every play the running stats might look better. But who cares if they look better if the team isn’t scoring as many points or winning the time of possession like they did last year.
July 23rd, 2019 at 1:01 am
I predict Ronald Jones runs for 2000 yards with 2500 Yards after contact.
July 23rd, 2019 at 3:05 am
Peyton barber will have 1,071 yards and 6 tds. Ronald Jones will have 715 yes and 4 yes. Johnstradamus has spoken.
July 23rd, 2019 at 3:06 am
Tds and yds. Spell check sux.
July 23rd, 2019 at 3:46 am
I think Anderson will be our leading rusher this season with Rojo a close second.
July 23rd, 2019 at 5:10 am
One more time … the 53-man roster is a LONG WAY from being finalized. There will be players on the 8 Sep roster who aren’t even on the team right now. BA’s ridden this merry-go-round before. PATIENCE.
July 23rd, 2019 at 5:27 am
No one in would really logically project anything better at this point but “terrible.” Other than Ellington, who is a question mark and hopefully a pleasant surprise (along with RoJo), what’s changed? Not really the O line. Oh sure, the coaching is different. Is BA going to drive his golf cart up the middle? He also brings a new scheme and playbook, new everything, but mostly the same old players. So the real “hope” is that BA and company can find something in the same players the last regime couldn’t, and can provide them something to make them perform. Fingers crossed.
July 23rd, 2019 at 5:27 am
Go go Soul Glow!
July 23rd, 2019 at 5:31 am
At DR…true…may find a serviceable back on the trash heap…but that doesn’t historically work out for us. I mean, Rodgers was hot and cold, mostly cold.
Thank goodness the $15 minimum wage has not kicked in yet, or the Bucs wouldn’t be able to afford whoever this year anyway.
July 23rd, 2019 at 5:59 am
To add to the discussion, the run-game does not exist in a vacuum. To be sure, if we are dead last in rushing, we will be looking to pick in the top 10 again next year.
It’s more about finding and exploiting the gaps in the defense. I don’t expect us to line up in ‘I’ formation 40 times a game and try to impose our will. This is where coaching will have the biggest impact: flexibility in play-calling.
Our passing offense SHOULD be good enough to open up run lanes. And, keep in mind, the previous staff was somehow allergic to screens unless they were in obvious situations and thrown primarily to Hump!!!
Coaching HAS to make a difference here, it just has to.
July 23rd, 2019 at 6:15 am
Magadude … Serviceable? Trash heap? Let’s see, right now we’re projected to have the worst running attack in the NFL. We’re at the bottom of the well looking up if you believe all the prognosticators. Three factors play in to improving ‘what it is’: (1) OLine; (2) RBs; (3) coaching. That last one ‘is what it is’ and HOPEFULLY ‘what it is’ will be better than ‘what it was’.
The OLine IMO is the worst of the three. Bucs desperately need at least 1 new OLineman before 8 Sept: a RG at the present moment (but sliding guys around could change that). Adding a quality veteran OLineman would be my first priority. Adding a quality veteran RB would be my 2nd priority.
If Bucs play their cards right, they should have at least $8 mil available by end-summer to pay for those 2 upgrades (plus have another $4 mil in reserve for injury replacements, etc). Guys who’ve been released or cut should come at a discount (just to keep their careers alive if nothing else). Have a little faith … and patience.
July 23rd, 2019 at 6:22 am
yawn
July 23rd, 2019 at 6:24 am
I think that Barber could easily have a much better season with better blocking.
Still need that added wrinkle with a dangerous back out of the backfield in the passing game. One issue I have is banking on oft injured players to contribute.
Licht has tried this strategy all too often and failed. So I’m reluctant to
bank on Ellington to contribute in a meaningful way. We just have to wait and see who is on the roster at the start of the season.
July 23rd, 2019 at 7:17 am
Its hard to have a run game with the defense performing as it did and us playing from behind (way behind).
I want an identity that opponents fear. Even if we had one of the top the running backs, they might not be prolific due to the amount of passing weapons and BA’s down field style.
Unstoppable passing game is the leading candidate for an Identity.
If we are up by 14 late in the game, guess what happens? That’s right we run the ball and the clock.
If we are down by 14 in the 4th, guess what? We will be pass heavy.
We have seen this scenario play out far too often for me to care about the running game more than squaring up the defense!
The running game just needs to be complementary.
In BA I Trust!
July 23rd, 2019 at 7:19 am
@DR…I’d agree they are more inclined to find a O line player, but probably only for depth. But if we’re looking for starters 5-10 days before SF game just because the guys we have stink, we’re in for a looooong season.
July 23rd, 2019 at 7:24 am
Correct Sport. Our defense has been the key to our success for a long time! As a long time Bucs fan, we saw years where our defense was dominant and our offense was non effective and we still won games! Now it is the other way around where we can score points but can’t stop other teams and we lose. Defense gets fixed and the Bucs will win!
July 23rd, 2019 at 7:41 am
I checked my crystal ball and it told me that Darrell Henderson rushes for at least 500 yards more than the Bucs.
July 23rd, 2019 at 7:52 am
Magadude .. Completely agree that finding a veteran OLineman is the more likely scenario, and I’d be happy with that. There are a number of teams that drafted OLinemen in the past 2 years who’ll be looking to release higher-paid veterans IF the younger guys work out in preseason. Many of those vets would still have a lot left in the tank, they’d just be too expensive to keep for depth.
You & I both know that BA will be keeping a close eye out for one of those. The right side of our OLine just won’t cut it. Cappa isn’t ready, and I personally doubt he’ll ever be ready. Vea & Suh will have him for lunch in training camp once the pads come on. Cappa’s not strong enough to go toe-to-toe with either one of them. Give it time … there’ll be additions before San Fran.
July 23rd, 2019 at 7:56 am
What did they do to improve the running game?
Same weak o line that got very little push upfront and no special back to make up for the poor line
Gotta hope the d improves as this run game will not
July 23rd, 2019 at 8:19 am
Running game sucks , o-line sucks Jameis will have to throw all day good luck. BA or BS we shall see in September.
July 23rd, 2019 at 8:21 am
Keep shouting it from the rooftops. Keeping it real.
July 23rd, 2019 at 8:31 am
Wouldn’t surprise me if the Bucs came in dead last. They didn’t upgrade the running backs or Offensive line even though they were horrendous last season. Hard to think that coaching will make that much of a difference. We’ll see.
July 23rd, 2019 at 8:38 am
Pff also rated OJ Howard as the worst rookie of 2017 so that’s what their ratings are worth.
It’s just too bad we dont have the leader of 2018s 3rd worst rushing attack. Savior Dalvin Cook.
July 23rd, 2019 at 8:40 am
Just the sort of article we need to fire us up! Woot!!!!
July 23rd, 2019 at 8:43 am
AlabamaBucsFan
The Bucs Oline was not that bad last year. QBs had plenty of time to throw. Yes there was a major weak spot (right guard), but that was with Caleb there. They did address that spot with Alex Cappa…and we do not know how he will be there yet. He certainly cannot be worse, so I would consider him an upgrade.
July 23rd, 2019 at 8:49 am
Bruce Anderson will be a pleasant surprise to many Bucs fans. Had the Bucs drafted him in the 5th and got Gay as a UFA the fans would feel more like the RB position was addressed even know the outcome is the same.
July 23rd, 2019 at 9:14 am
Oh Bonzai. You mean the same Cappa who couldn’t even beat out the same Caleb Benenoch who was so awful?
Yeah they were a better than average pass blocking unit. But they absolutely ducked at run blocking. Especially at RG and Rt.
July 23rd, 2019 at 10:02 am
I just hope BA isn’t done with O-line and finds a few decent players during the preseason. We can’t go into the season with Cappa starting at RG or RT, he is not the answer.
July 23rd, 2019 at 10:35 am
AwShbucs Says:
“Oh Bonzai. You mean the same Cappa who couldn’t even beat out the same Caleb Benenoch who was so awful?”
You may not realize this, but seniority exists in football, just like everywhere else. Koetter’s loyalty to his starters is well documented. He wanted Caleb to have his shot, right or wrong.
Also, Cappa was a rookie. Now he has a year under his belt. That’s called development, buddy.
July 23rd, 2019 at 10:38 am
Buc4evr Says
“We can’t go into the season with Cappa starting at RG or RT, he is not the answer.”
How do you know that?
You may be right…or you may not be. But others than an unsubstantiated story by someone who clearly made it up, all news about Cappa is that he was coming along fine.
And the reason we know that story was made up is because it was based off OTAs…and Linemen cannot be judged in OTAs because they do next to nothing.
July 23rd, 2019 at 1:31 pm
WTF is going on here? Can somebody give me a logical explanation for this absurd negative hyperbole!!!!!!
First begin by telling me how we’ve all agreed what a disaster last year was…from the suspension…benching..poor OL..DL…running game…and invisible secondary. We totally SUCKED!!!
If we were literally TRYING to be worse than last year it would be hard.
Peyton Barber is not Saquan Barkley. We freaking get that already. But dang…the monkeys at PFF are suggesting that Peyton Barber is going to regress and gain 40% less than last year?
What would make that happen outside of injury or a better player getting Barber’s reps. WHY would our running game be 40% WORSE than last year. Can we not even match last season’s horrid effort?
We are getting better/worse/staying the same? We were soooo bad last year there is really only one way to go and that is up.
July 23rd, 2019 at 4:28 pm
Peyton Barber statistically could have had a far better year last year. In way too many games, Bucs dumped the running plays after falling two scores behind. It would be great to see and expound what stats Barber could have had if his first half stats carried into the second half. Half-way decent defense that keeps Bucs within one score could mean a more balanced offensive attack and better stats for whoever is running the ball for the Bucs.
July 23rd, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Seniority does not exist when the player in question is playing like hot garbage Bonzai. You have got to be kidding. If that’s really what you think as to why Cappa couldnt replace benenoch, then just do yourself a favor and stop posting and letting people know your opinions. Because you’re embarrassing yourself guy.
July 23rd, 2019 at 6:08 pm
He clearly could not get on the field because he wasnt good enough. If I had to say why I’d wager he simply lacked the functional strength necessary to handle NFL defensive tackles as opposed to DIII “defensive ends” who are probably working at an Amazon fulfillment center right now. His limited reps showed this especially in Pass pro where he was ole’d/ ragdolled several times.
For you to just presume the report citing disappointment in his Development is just fake news is really irresponsible. Because we’ve seen absolutely nothing from Cappa to assume hes any better than he was last year. If I had to say when I think Cappa might be ready by 2020 if he ever is.
I hope he shows great improvement and becomes a legit starter this year. But I dont expect it.
July 23rd, 2019 at 6:18 pm
We have the worst stable on the leauge.
After 6 Jason drafts our backfield is ro jo and Barber
July 23rd, 2019 at 7:14 pm
Football is around the corner. Hope is restored.