Need More YAC
August 15th, 2019
“Ira, I’m sick of lousy YAC, too.”
No, Joe is not talking about the Bucs defense forcing fans each Sunday to pray to the porcelain god, a sad Bucs tradition in the post-Chucky era.
Joe is talking about YAC, as in yards-after-the-catch.
Per jet-flyin’, kiss–stealin‘, data-analyzin’, Bucs-film-studyin’, limousine-ridin’ Thomas Bassinger, typing for “Football Outsiders 2019 Almanac,” the Bucs were downright pitiful in YAC last season. And judging by history, Bassinger isn’t convinced Bucco Bruce Arians will change this.
Can Arians possibly do something about Tampa Bay’s recent troubles gaining yards after the catch? The Buccaneers were last with 4.3 average YAC last season. This was the fourth time in six years that they have ranked last in YAC, and they were 29th and 27th the other two years. The problem goes back to before Jameis Winston was drafted four years ago. However, Arians’ recent offenses don’t suggest a lot of change here; those Cardinals offenses also tended to be near the bottom of the league in YAC.
Joe is pretty sure, knowing about publication deadlines, Bassinger wrote this before Bucs training camp started. And it is there Joe learned to believe Arians will at least somewhat make the Bucs into a better YAC team.
Arians recently scolded speedy rookie receiver Scotty Miller for leaping for passes. The only reason Miller is on the team is for his speed. Arians explained that by jumping for passes, Miller is taking away his greatest attribute: speed. By catching the ball with his feet on the ground, he’s much more likely to create separation with the ball and score.
It’s a little element but a huge element. Arians is right. Speed is why the Bucs drafted Miller and it is that speed that can turn a short pass into a touchdown.
This edict by Arians went for the entire Bucs receiving corps. Arians said the only time he wants to see a jump ball is throwing to Mike Evans in the end zone.
Just the fact Arians emphasizes YAC enough to call out a player in public tells Joe the YAC numbers will improve.
August 15th, 2019 at 4:18 pm
Mike Evans lead the league in yards per catch, ahead of YAC monster and child beater Tyreek Hill. Not to mention the Bucs were #1 in passing offense.
If you want some cheap YAC yardage, if that’s important to you, just run screen passes over and over again – then you can satisfy the YAC stat Gods. Meanwhile in the real world, the Bucs moved the ball at will in the passing game, in fact they were the best at it, all while being near the bottom in YAC.
August 15th, 2019 at 4:18 pm
Under koetter and lovie the offenses never used slant passes or screens. Its all design, practice and execution. Arians will get this fixed. After his year off I know hes going to come out swinging. This is yhe best staff in franchise history and is going to be a ton of fun to watch. I really hope we have Bruce for at least 3 seasons. Gonna be sad when he leaves. ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS FANS!!!
COACHING IS EVERYTHING!
August 15th, 2019 at 4:20 pm
Hit’em in STRIDE !
August 15th, 2019 at 4:23 pm
Koetter employed a lot more stop routes, curls, and button hooks that forced the WR’s to stop to catch the ball and then try to pickup extra yards. BA and Leftwich seem to employ more fly, and go routes, slants, and post that hit the WR’s in stride and of course increase the y.a.c.
August 15th, 2019 at 4:35 pm
Well we need ask our 3rd 4th and 5th wideout because our HOF 1 and 2 punch wideouts ain’t doing that. Even if they had a clear shot (see Ravens game first drive) Godwin will drop it
August 15th, 2019 at 4:42 pm
The teams with a lot of YAC probably have QBs who don’t over throw receivers throw behind the receivers or put the ball in bad spots
August 15th, 2019 at 4:46 pm
The Bucs were, I believe, 1st in the league in terms of depth of target, meaning they weren’t hitting easy underneath stuff where guys catch and run, they were targeting guys deep. Sure, if you can hit guys in stride, that’s great, but that’s not what Evans was about, Evans isn’t usually running away from guys, he’s just bigger and can jump higher than who is covering him, so that’s why you get those high balls with no YAC – yet, as pointed out above, Evans lead the league in yards per catch. That’s a huge deal for a big guy who is not a speedster.
If you can get YAC that’s fine, but when you’re near the top of the league in yards per pass attempt, that means you’ve very productive in the passing game. Pointing to a stat like YAC and saying it’s an issue, well that’s fake news. Generally I really like Football Outsiders, but that’s some petty out of context work there.
August 15th, 2019 at 5:00 pm
@Buccaroo
You are correct.
August 15th, 2019 at 5:01 pm
Hard to get YAC on jump balls
August 15th, 2019 at 5:02 pm
If you want more YAC average……never throw the ball inside the 5 or in the end zone…..works every time.
August 15th, 2019 at 5:08 pm
agree with hitting recvrs in stride. this is about play design, and ball delivery on time and in stride.
August 15th, 2019 at 5:14 pm
Just my thoughts…just an amateur, so you can correct me.
You get YAC by leading receivers into open areas, which means throws leading receivers to open areas, or receivers getting open into open area’s, where they can take a couple steps before encountering defenders…you know…kind of what a guy we never hear mentioned in any articles here…Spencer Schnell… that is why things like cone drill change of speed and direction are important, and is talented at finding holes in defenses. Not saying he has the stature to make the team…but jump balls won’t accomplish that, or straight ahead running unless you can simply outrun everyone else.
August 15th, 2019 at 5:15 pm
Pittshore,
Hard to disagree with facts. Arians was very unhappy with all the jump balls. Why? Because there is zero chance to advance the play. I’m sure Evans would agree it’s hard enough to catch the ball when you are open it’s extremely harder to catch an obviously contested pass having to go over the defenders head.
August 15th, 2019 at 5:32 pm
Loyal,
The word that you’re looking for is accuracy. And it’s the difference between a 15yd gain and one that goes for 6. Clyde Christiansen said that He had to explain to Winston a new definition of accurate. Basically, get winston on the same page as him. Combine a smaller target area and better mechanics and the situation should improve.
As for jump balls .or not jumping is the key to better YAC …….I’m at a loss !
August 15th, 2019 at 5:33 pm
I agree hit’em in stride!!!!! Be frigging accurate! Stop throwing ints….. that’s all I ask, is that to much?
August 15th, 2019 at 5:34 pm
Bucemup,
When you state koetter never ran screens, are you referring to RB screens?
August 15th, 2019 at 5:40 pm
it was the koetter scheme. other than those bubble screens, it seemed like the typical flow was to wait a long time for a play to develop, and then fire it in to a fairly well covered guy who would be tackled immediately. JW’s ball placement was not helping but i think the play design was poor in a league where every other QB seems to have a target available before the defense can reacy
August 15th, 2019 at 5:45 pm
YAC is more about offensive design/philosophy/playmakers than QB and accuracy.
I’ve read about a bunch of RB passes / screens / check downs this camp vs last year. Those = YAC plays.
The first drive of preseason had multiple YAC plays to make the QBs life easier. 2 dump downs to RBs who picked up YAC. A quick pass screen to Godwin for a YAC TD.
I’ve been banging the damn table for more of those type of plays the last few years. Especially in red zone. Make it easy on the QB. Don’t have him take a 7 step drop and look for a long developing DJax route. Quick passes. Screens. Rub Routes. Better run game execution. Not rocket science
August 15th, 2019 at 5:46 pm
reacy = react
the weak run game and non-existent play action passing game was also a big factor. when defenses have no respect for the run you are throwing into more coverage than a reasonable balanced team or a team that actually relies on playaction passing
August 15th, 2019 at 6:01 pm
Get your heads out of the sand and see the writing on the wall🏉 Denial And excuses. I don’t know if you people know what accountability is…
August 15th, 2019 at 6:09 pm
Lol… Koetter called plenty of hit’em in stride with Fitz…. simply something Jameis is flat out terrible at, not a good characteristic in a NFL QB
August 15th, 2019 at 6:50 pm
Koetter called plenty of hit’em in stride with Fitz…
The guy who threw more Interceptions than Touchdowns over his last 6 starts?
It’s insane what 2 freak fluke weeks did to us all with the beard love lol
If you compare the last 6 games of Fitz stats to the last 7 of Jameis, it looks like Tim Tebow vs Peyton Manning
GO BUCS!
August 15th, 2019 at 7:08 pm
AlteredEgo, straight up question for you:
You’ve never seen Winston hit a guy in stride?
Objectively speaking, I’ve seen it countless times. Sure, there are times it doesn’t happen, but sometimes in the NFL the receiver has to work a little bit to go get a ball… It isn’t some pamper league where wideouts can’t function at all unless you wipe their a$$, pay their phone bill, make them dinner and place every freaking throw ever-so perfectly because they’re afraid of breaking a nail…
I guess my real question is, why do you pretend like every snap of his entire career has just ended in abysmal failure and he has NEVER, EVER done anything right whatsoever? Do you close your eyes and play “neener neener” on those snaps or….
I mean, it’d certainly be fitting from the way that you and some of these other a$$clowns post on the regular.
Would you rather have Dak Prescott quarterbacking the Buccaneers? The guy with the best o-line on the planet, arguably the best running back in the league, a perennial top 5 defense and the most accurate kicker literally of all time? That all has NOTHING to do with his win-loss record that rivals Tom Brady during the same span, does it? It’s all because Dak is just some young hot shot, do-no-wrong gun slinger that just wills his team to victory and drags them to the playoffs, right? I mean, he certainly wouldn’t be absolute @#$(ing TRASH on this particular Bucs team…
What’s hilarious is that I’m almost 100% sure that your answer would be a resounding YES!!! OMG I WOULD LOVE DAK OVER JAMEIS!!! I WOULD NEVER PAY JAMEIS $20MIL, BUT I WOULD PAY DAK $30 MIL NO QUESTION!!! FRANCHISE QB RIGHT THERE!!!
Which of course, in and of itself, completely destroys your credibility.
Feel free to take your time coming up with some empty, one sentence response that doesn’t prove anything while you walk away from your comp strutting like a pigeon. All the other mouth breathers like Pitts, maga, bandit, etc. can come wipe your behind and get served one-by-one as well if it’s too complicated for you.
August 15th, 2019 at 7:13 pm
“Coaching is everything?
Can someone tell ROJO to stop catching with his stomach and instead use his hands?
Kobe is busy fixing golf carts”
Kobe Faker
August 15th, 2019 at 7:38 pm
Think BA also said no more jump balls too recently. But I thought Winston was hitting all in stride now? I thought, problem solved! Yahooo….hit ’em in stride baby. I know, a bunch of INTs at practice in the week that followed, but hey, it’s only practice. Yup, think QB inconsistency on accuracy plays a role here.
Probably one reason they had to build the indoor practice facility was because Winston was sailing so many footballs into the surrounding neighborhoods, they built it to save money.
August 15th, 2019 at 8:37 pm
YAC is a stat for accurate QBs… every man playing WR in the NFL can run and cut. But how many can stick their hands out at full speed and the ball is there?
Draft Trevor 2021.
August 15th, 2019 at 9:29 pm
Pseudo Dak any day.
August 15th, 2019 at 9:31 pm
PriMech54 some advice brother don’t waste your time, he along with many others on this board have no idea what they are talking about. Last year during a game I posted Everytime Jameis hit someone in stride just for Altered and of course I got some smarmy useless comeback cause he has nothing to contribute but nonsense.
August 15th, 2019 at 9:39 pm
‘@Ndog…I’m at the games so have to see the film after…BUT..just a note: When you posted Winston hitting someone in stride, I think you’re maybe talking about pre-game warm-ups?
August 15th, 2019 at 9:42 pm
Maga as usual your comment brings no value what so ever.
August 15th, 2019 at 9:43 pm
Thanks Ndog. Glad you like ’em.
August 15th, 2019 at 9:51 pm
Methodology: Address. Offer statistics. Explain. Familiar word pattern. Insult. All caps rant. More familair word pattern. Weird, illogical main point. Call others names. Insult again. Close.
Repeat.
Good heavens, at least mix it up a little bit so it’s not so obvious. Weask attempts to differentiate the “personalities” is not enough. And it’s always back to the same theme.
August 15th, 2019 at 9:58 pm
Well, I know it’s been a rough week for practice but that is what practice is for, and here we are heading into the game tomorrow night. Now, I didn’t to see any practices this week, but I am familiar with the new drills BA has them doing. The only one I’m not sure about is where they line up and Winston throws it to the other team. What do they call that again?
August 15th, 2019 at 10:28 pm
BA will fix this issue. He’s already said he was on Miller for jumping when he catches the ball – which allows for him to be tackled sooner.
BA is a technician who will teach the importance of YAC. Most games last year were lost by a field goal or less. If we improve our kicking and YAC, I’m guessing will be be north of 8-8.
August 15th, 2019 at 11:28 pm
The only stat that matters is points scored.
August 16th, 2019 at 12:06 am
I can firmly say I enjoyed that fresh perspective and point made by PriMech.
Honestly there are about 26 other QBs that would have been terrible on these Buc’s teams the last few years, who are starters currently.
Moronic to blame the guy, just because he touches the ball the most.
August 16th, 2019 at 3:08 am
Lord Corn,
“YAC is more about offensive design/philosophy/playmakers than QB and accuracy”
Incorrect!
It’s a false equivalent. All of the points are part of the process. But the most important part is the QB’S ability to deliver the ball to a receiver.
Not sure what you are looking at as a 7 step drop. Everything was based on 3 or 5 . I’m guessing you noticed winston was in the pocket waiting to throw for what at times seemed like minutes. This is part play design and part jameis .
Added to the jameis side of the scale is his delivery. Simply put, his release isn’t among the quickest in the league. That adds time to the process.
Its all fixable so there’s nothing wrong. I’m somewhat shocked by Clyde’s comments regarding the need to define what an accurate thrown pass is vs a completion but not accurate throw. I get that fans equate completion % to accuracy. But I am shocked that Jameis wasn’t coached in knowing the difference and there’s no way to improve something that is not identified.
Never thought highly of mIke baja. , this is just another example of why.
Again, I believe that Jameis will improve this year. I expect some areas to improve dramatically how this will effect his year end batch type stats is the question. It’s possible that Jameis improves and I’m talking big gains but his
Cumulative numbers may not reflect the improvements in his play. If that occurs it’s going to be tremendously entertaining to read the comments .
August 16th, 2019 at 8:30 am
Hey Joe. How about a practice recap??
August 16th, 2019 at 3:22 pm
@D1
There’s a reason you see certain teams / play callers produce more YAC consistently than others regardless of the QB.
Play design + Personnel is HUGE for YAC.
The Giants were a top 4 YAC team solely because of Saquon barkley for example. Same with Carolina and McCaffery (10th)
Chiefs/Pats/Rams always have high YAC because they use quick passing offenses with lots of YAC opportunities for their RBs / WRs.
49ers were a top 3 YAC team last year even though their QBs weren’t that great because of the system.
Yes accuracy matters but when talking YAC the system/design/personnel is more important and all the data shows this.