“Tom And Gronk Are Going To Make Them Better”
July 17th, 2020
The bar has been set very, very high for Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
But Joe hears a lot of smart people saying it should be higher, which is almost unthinkable.
Evans and Godwin combined for 2,490 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns last year on 153 catches. Godwin gobbled up 71 percent of the balls thrown his way and may not have dropped one. Evans had the third-best season of his stellar six-year career.
Despite that gaudy production within the NFL’s top passing offense, Hall of Fame general manager Bill Polian was barking on WDAE radio this morning about how Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski will make the dynamic Bucs duo better. Polian talked about coverages and matchups and nearly-indefensible Gronk leading to easier opportunities for Godwin and Evans.
“Tom and Gronk are going to make them better,” Polian said.
It’s a nice thought, and if true, the Bucs would be nearly unstoppable. But a little reality is in order. Godwin can’t get much better than he was last season in just 14 games. And Brady is less likely to wait for — or create — some of the big plays that went to Evans.
So Joe disagrees with Polian, but Joe believes Brady and Gronk will make the Bucs offense much more efficient. And that’s really all that matters, scoring points while not turning the ball over.
July 17th, 2020 at 10:29 am
“Tom and Gronk are going to make them better,”
The sheep better hope so!!!!!!!!! Because the change in coaching surely did not!!!!!!!!!!!!! 7-9 losing season against a soft schedule!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If broken down gronk and the old cheating goat do not, then a Full Rebuild will be demanded by the “real” fans!!!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully the local media and sheep will hold them accountable, (but I seriously doubt it)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
go bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 17th, 2020 at 10:30 am
Gosh those uniforms are ugly can’t wait for the new era to begin.
July 17th, 2020 at 10:38 am
Agree with you Joe The gaudy stats most likely won’t be there, but we should stack more wins. I can actually see Evans start slow with Brady for radon’s previously stated.
In BA I Trust!
July 17th, 2020 at 10:43 am
@Pryda…Amen…love the helmets…detest from the neck down.
Regarding change in coaching Realisto…
I think Koetter clearly knew Winston was not the guy, and we heard of at least three occasions during his tenure where Winston went in and ran a completely different play. Not an audible…and whole different thing. Now, I think Koetter knew well what he was working with, and ironically, he was kept on over Lovie because of wanting to develop Winston He tried.
Enter Bruce Arians. The Quarterback Whisperer. Winston pros and Winston cons all seemed to welcome Arians. Some said “Finally, now Winston will be who is supposed to be as BA knows how to coach.” Others said “If BA can’t fix him, no one can.” We know the outcome. Thank God. So if for no other reason, bringing in Arians was a good thing…the Bucs are ARE better over it.
Curious Realisto…who is your favorate NFL team?
Happy Friday All.
July 17th, 2020 at 10:50 am
Tom’s ability to read the defense, and see the field to find the open reciever, is going to open this offense up.
Previously, It seemed the opposing defense knew what the offensive play was before the snap. JW *seemed* to have tunnel vision and forced the called play to work as opposed to finding the receiver running free.
Evans and Godwin may see a smaller percentage of the targets and yet still reach their yardage goals.
The tools (toys?) are there for Tom, perhaps more than he has ever had to play with ever before. I expect a great year out of all of them.
July 17th, 2020 at 11:26 am
@awshbucs
Not when the schedule was way softer and how healthy the team was compared to other years!!!!!!!!! And not when the coach and gm took all offseason to keep saying how coaching was the only issue and they had all the fixes and answers!!!!!!!!!!
go bucs!!!!!!!!!!
July 17th, 2020 at 11:43 am
Tom and Gronk are going make the Bucs offense look like the NFL’s best the first week or two.
After that Brady will get the timing with Godwin, Johnson and co. down. He will also have learned how Evans works. The offense will get better while the rest of the teams play catch up.
If the defense can feast a few times the Bucs will be better than fine.
July 17th, 2020 at 12:39 pm
IMO, there were too many times Jameis had trouble finding an opened receiver. Maybe that’s why he spent so much time in the pocket and had so many INT’s. I think this is where the two of them will help. Gronk is going to get added attention from the defense and hopefully Brady gets the ball out a lot faster. We may not have as many big plays, but I’m expecting them to move the chains more regularly.
July 17th, 2020 at 1:42 pm
The biggest limitation will be there is only ONE football for the offense to play with at any given time.
Given that Brady is just naturally more conservative than JW there will be fewer forced balls meaning fewer opportunities…not all of JW’s “Hail Mary’s” were ints or incompletions…he got plenty of completions out them as well.
Problem is the bottom line in football is getting more points on the scoreboard than the opponent when the final gun goes off. Turnovers make that a real challenge.
July 17th, 2020 at 3:34 pm
Bet the over on Tom Brady passing yards
July 17th, 2020 at 4:34 pm
Overall, the passes may be shorter this year, but I also think that Evans and Godwin will set career bests for YAC because I believe they will be catching the ball “in stride” much more often.
July 17th, 2020 at 7:10 pm
He better be able to to read that DEFENCE like you speed reading…his yearly stats will not come close to the numbers of last season ….when the year is over…you people check your sheets!!! I CANT BREATH!!!
July 17th, 2020 at 7:58 pm
I CANT BREATHE! I did that for the smart people…you people!!!
July 17th, 2020 at 9:06 pm
Lol some of these commenters are off their meds!!!!!
July 17th, 2020 at 10:18 pm
Mike is going to put up Tecmo Bowl numbers this year and make those (Ira) who put lesser players ahead of him look crazy.
July 18th, 2020 at 8:09 am
Jason Says:
July 17th, 2020 at 4:34 pm
…Evans and Godwin will set career bests for YAC because I believe they will be catching the ball “in stride” much more often.
THIS! I have been thinking this for years about JW’s game ever since college. Whether it was Fitzmagic, Griffin (in preseasons), heck, even Glennon; when a different QB was in, the ball would hit the receivers in stride much more frequently. I was actually surprised each time JW did hit the player in stride. Over the last couple years (especially during the Fitz period), you could read it in the receivers’ body language that they missing opportunities for YAC, even scores, because of ball placement from JW. Players like VJ, DJ, ME, and even AH and BP lost tons of YAC because of this. It was maddening, and at least for me, was a main contributor to the frustration with JW.
July 18th, 2020 at 10:45 am
No doubt our offense is the most dangerous in franchise history, just looking at the roster. The defense is rock solid up front and the DBs look very promising. I would go so far as to say we’ve never had better balance, even with the 2002 team. The defense dominated. The offense wasn’t on the same level. No preparation hurts every team, but a new QB makes it even tougher. I honestly expect the season to be cancelled, and a new contingency plan laid out for 2021. Some guys will retire, possibly even Brady. We have a ton of young talent and can’t afford to waste it starting over with more rookies.