Offensive Observations
September 2nd, 2019
Laughs at stat geeks.
Joe happens to think the Bucs tight ends are the best pair in the NFL. But dudes working for a Mickey Mouse outfit earning probably more than Joe seem to think differently.
That’s right, bring in Mike Clay of BSPN. Clay, a spreadsheeter, is of the mind the Bucs do not have the best tight end tandem in the NFL.
Who does? That would be the Eagles. You know, good ol’ NFC East.
Zach Ertz set the NFL single-season record for receptions by a tight end last season, and he’s joined by 2018 draft pick Dallas Goedert who, by all accounts, appears to be a budding star.
Now Ertz in Joe’s eyes is quite good, no question. Goedert?
Well, Goedert has four touchdowns in his lone season in the NFL. Not shabby for a rookie tight end.
Joe thinks O.J. Howard is a damn good. Better than Ertz? That’s a good debate. As for as Goedert, let’s compare him to Bucs backup tight end Cam Brate. Brate only has the ninth-most receiving touchdowns of any player in the NFL the past three seasons.
Yes, that’s more than Howard and Ertz. Isn’t the NFL all about touchdowns?
So yeah, Joe will take Howard and Brate over Ertz and Goedert all day any day.
Now, for the bad. Clay also ranks the worst offensive units in the NFL. And guess which team he has as having the worst running backs in the NFL? Yes, it’s your Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Joe can’t disagree too much with that.
You know this and Joe knows this, the Bucs simply cannot run the ball. Everyone seems to know this.
Everyone, that is, but the shot-callers down on Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. over at One Buc Palace.
September 2nd, 2019 at 12:12 am
Ill wait untill they play a game before I judge them. Heck we beat 3 teams this pre season.
September 2nd, 2019 at 12:21 am
At least you didn’t blame the running backs this time. You must be slipping. Hahaha
O lines need time to gel. The 2002 Bucs o-line had an epic special gelling experience, that made the difference. It: could happen again.
Go Bucs!
September 2nd, 2019 at 12:25 am
what are the odds we’ll be talking about the draft before Thanksgiving?
September 2nd, 2019 at 12:31 am
Ok, we may not in the eyes of some, have the top TE duo in the NFL, but when Licht and Arians decided to keep OJ, Cam, Anthony, and Tanner became the deepest bench in the NFL.
Go Bucs!
September 2nd, 2019 at 12:42 am
Joe there is no debate. you are confusing Howards potential with actual production…. let’s hope howard can complete a full nfl regular season before comparing an unproven player with great potential to a proven great player. .
September 2nd, 2019 at 12:45 am
Our running game wasn’t that awful last season. Could have been better had the OC tried calling more plays involving the running backs. RB check downs and screen passes were near non-existent.
RB’s combined for 1500 yards and 8 tds.
September 2nd, 2019 at 12:47 am
The concept of actually earning the title of great through on field accomplishments not wishful thinking by fanboys is totally lost on Bucfan…. bucs have been so bad for so long bucfan has no concept of actual greatness
September 2nd, 2019 at 12:54 am
It just happened to take 4 of them to get those numbers. Run by committee.
September 2nd, 2019 at 12:56 am
Hump was the checkdown machine who took targets away from the RB’s who were kept in to block.
September 2nd, 2019 at 2:15 am
Buccaroo,
I’m confused about the idea that our running game could have been better if monken called more passing plays.
That doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. Did you mean something else or forget to add something that would make those two things come together?
September 2nd, 2019 at 2:23 am
Man another day another article of Joe grinding his axe about this teams running backs. Nothing else mattered in the ground game bad play design’s atrocious run blocking and don’t get me started on play calls I guess it was all on our backs. I guess the expectation is for whoever is running out there for us is for them to go turn into Mike Alstott and truck everything over.
September 2nd, 2019 at 2:24 am
If we had a great RG our running backs would be fine.
September 2nd, 2019 at 2:47 am
D1
I was talking about touches by the running backs combined yards ground/air
September 2nd, 2019 at 3:24 am
I think they ran the ball well in preseason
September 2nd, 2019 at 3:40 am
the thing about cam brate is he looks like a patriot…
tell me i’m wrong…
dude be hangin’ in harvard yard
September 2nd, 2019 at 6:19 am
think about trading brate for offensive line depth and free up cap space
September 2nd, 2019 at 6:21 am
I’m not quite sure OJ Howard was used nearly as much as Ertz……and both of our TEs were injured…
Shouldn’t the TE group be judged as a whole?…..you would have to include Auclair to last year……and now Tanner Hudson….
We absolutely have the best group.
September 2nd, 2019 at 6:26 am
They brought in an extra blocker in the last preseason game while Vinnie JR. was in . I think its part of the reason Anderson was effective. This option should still be on the table ,if Arians can use it as effectively as Koetter did in Jameis’s rookie year.
September 2nd, 2019 at 7:43 am
Absolutely unforgiveable for Licht and company not do anything to fix it. Their only solution was to move small school Cappa as a starter.
September 2nd, 2019 at 7:43 am
“RB’s combined for 1500 yards and 8 tds.”
I can’t help thinking that Henderson might have helped. He had 2300 yards and 27 TD’s as a back up last year.
Just saying.
September 2nd, 2019 at 8:17 am
Someone said Hump was the dump off option who took all the short passes from the RBs in Dirks offense last year…
Now imagine this year, with Dirk in Atl, where he has Calvin aridley as his Adam Humphrey…
Come to think about it, the Falcons are equal to or better than the Bucs at every single offensive skill position…
Jones>=Evans
Sanu>Godwin
Ridley>Watson
Freeman>Barber
Hooper>=Howard
Ryan>>Winston
Dang it.
Alright, so our 2nd string TE might beat out their second guy and don’t you know how much DK like a two TE set, so we got em there.
September 2nd, 2019 at 9:37 am
Bruce Arians might know more about the Bucs running game than we do. Just possibly. And not signing over the hill, too-expensive Lesean McCoy with the Bucs salary cap situation was definitely the right move.
The Bucs running game will be at least average in 2019. Arians won’t sit still if it’s not. He’ll measure what’s wrong and fix it.
September 2nd, 2019 at 9:37 am
Pete Mitchell-
I doubt if Arians would blow a 25 pt lead in the Super Bowl
September 2nd, 2019 at 10:00 am
Buccaroo,
Thanks for clarifying.
-I was thinking that was what you meant but I would rather ask than assume.
To your point, I don’t know that our RB’s would have been a better option .
I do know that there was many opportunities for RB’s as a ck down . Winston didn’t go that direction as often as He could have but, Winston is pretty darn good at putting the ball down the field , and prefers to do so, so I will ask you.
Do you think if the RBS had gotten more opportunities it would have made a difference?
September 2nd, 2019 at 10:37 am
D1
I don’t think so but it would’ve inflated the touches and combined yards by the RB’s.
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:24 pm
D1
“Winston is pretty darn good at putting the ball down the field”
How far down we talkin’?
September 2nd, 2019 at 10:15 pm
Cant wait for the next 5 years with licht, we get to draft another 20 DB’s, no d lineman or o lineman. Our record this year will be 3-13, and we will be looking for free agent qb’s
September 2nd, 2019 at 11:23 pm
You guys kill me. Keep crying about right gaurd and right tackle. Blaming Licht for it. What do you want him to do. You just can’t go sign an all pro offensive lineman every Tuesday. All the guys that hit free agency get huge contracts and are usually cut in two years. Because there is a reason they were a free agent and the new teams who all the fans get to say all offseason they are going to be great because we signed the one year wonder all pro offensive tackle to a huge contract. Then get to wonder why the guy sucks now and then it has to be coaching. Because all football is is the right players in the right scheme. A pro bowl gaurd with one team could not make the team on another. Because he doesn’t fit there blocking scheme. You can’t have an all pro at every position. Every team has weaker players starting. The salary cap aaaures that happens. Yeah you can draft first round offensive lineman every year and have a decent line for two years until they all need big contracts. Then when they go out on there own guess what there not as good as they were with 4 other first round picks surrounding them. Could we really afford to field a team if we had drafted a right tackle 5th overall or spent another 15 million on the right side of our line. You can’t have 70 million wrapped up in your offensive line. Let cappa play a game or two let him develop. If he does then you have two more years of a good right gaurd at a bargain price. But this is the new generation we won’t wverything fixed now we want an all pro name recognition at every new position now. Or the coach,gm and owners are all the worst in the league
September 2nd, 2019 at 11:33 pm
Pete Mitchell you lost me when you said sanu is better than Godwin. And hooper is better than Howard. And then compared Ridley to are 5th receiver Watson. Give 32 gms the choice between Godwin over sanu and Howard over hooper and all 32 gms would take the bucs. And do the same in fantasy if you draft hooper over Howard and sanu over Godwin please send me link to your league I’m in