Using The Tight Ends
August 15th, 2020
The Bucs and tight ends.
Last year was borderline illogical to Joe and, to this day, it’s very difficult to believe.
Bucco Bruce Arians came to town with a reputation, by some, of a coach who doesn’t use tight ends. Joe scoffed, pointing out Arians used Heath Miller as offensive coordinator of the Steelers.
With O.J. Howard and Cam Brate, only a maniac wouldn’t use them.
But it is hard to quibble with results. The Bucs had the best passing offense in the NFL last year despite not using Brate or Howard much.
When both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin were lost to injuries in December, Joe thought surely Arians (or offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich?) would begin targeting Brate and/or Howard.
And so did Brate and Howard.
That never happened. Instead, Mr. Entertainment, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, was throwing to dudes Joe wouldn’t know if they were pouring him a pint at Hooters or Big Storm Brewing.
(Fun fact: You can get Big Storm draft beer at select Hooters locations. Joe had a pint last week at his local Hooters.)
So this year, even with the addition of future Hall of Fame tight end Rob Gronkowski, is Arians (Leftwich?) going to ignore tight ends again?
Earlier this week in a Zoom conference call with the members of the local pen and mic club, Arians said tight end is a position that should be active. When asked to give his take on his stocked positions that should be dangerous, Arians said tight ends is one of three.
“I would think right now, our tight end [position] is loaded,” Arians said right away. “We should have more production [from tight ends] than we had last year.”
Yeah they should.
Again, Joe can’t nitpick. Are Brate and Howard talented? Yes, of course. Still, even though they were used as if they had an accident in their pants on the sidelines, the passing offense was humming like rarely seen in team history.
Joe’s a big believer in not repairing something that is not broken. So if the Bucs were tearing up defenses without tight ends, so what?
But if Arians (Leftwich?) is not going to use tight ends more, then why did the team trade for Gronk and pay him $10 million when it could have traded for, say, a corner or a safety or a running back?
If you have Gronk, use him for crying out loud.
Joe suspects park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring Bucs quarterback Tom Brady will use the tight ends.
August 15th, 2020 at 8:22 am
I think Joe that this is probably a result of TB 12’s influence. He loves throwing to the TE’s and if I’m not mistaken I read somwhere (this here blog?) that Brady lobbied hard for Gronk to come out of retirement and join him in the “new sombrero”.
August 15th, 2020 at 8:23 am
With our previous QB, good chance the TEs were open as a 2nd option. Keep in mind Winston couldn’t execute a basic dump pass to the RBs. We have no way to know what the play design was or the proper read, Winston was going with whomever he had locked in on before the snap regardless of the matchup…..in most cases it was Perriman. Winston was exceptional at pushing the ball down the field but terribly ineffective as a game manager. I anticipate Brady will manage the game/offense more effectively which will lead to less turnovers, more touches by TEs/RBs and more wins.
August 15th, 2020 at 8:30 am
Maybe if brate didn’t actually have an accident in his pants on fourth down last year, I would have more confidence in him. Could it be that our tight ends aren’t actually as talented as they appear (besides gronk). Brate has already aged and Howard is too inconsistent.
August 15th, 2020 at 9:19 am
Isn’t beer by the pint an England thing? Never heard that term uttered in a US bar in almost 40 years of tavern participation.
August 15th, 2020 at 10:19 am
If the TEs are open….Brady will hit them…..period. I suspect they will be mostly blocking and Brady will hit them as a 2nd or 3rd option.
August 15th, 2020 at 10:29 am
BigHog Says:
August 15th, 2020 at 6:37 am
THE You People Movement is gushing today!!
……………………..
LOL Big Racist is at it again. Do you even realize that YOU are what is wrong with the world today?
August 15th, 2020 at 11:20 am
Maybe JC wanted to be ballin’ for checking the sheets downfield.
Maybe throwing into double coverage to WR’s was more important than taking what the D gave him with TE’s on shorter routes.
Maybe JC threw to a guy he locked on at the snap.
I doubt it’s all on Arian’s game plan to not use TE’s.
It would be interesting to do a film review to see how often a TE was open when JC threw to a tight downfield window to a WR. I suspect the number and % would be surprisingly high.
Maybe this is part of what BA refers to as “negative production.”
August 15th, 2020 at 11:41 am
Good post Cobraboy – and agree that you have to factor in the QB decision making as lack of TE targets may not have been directly tied to play call. Also factor in that Brate was injured and Howard had played soft. Let’s not pretend like our TE’s were top notch those last few games when our WRs were out.
Remember Jameis pushing the ball to Evans to get him over the 1000 yard mark at one point. That’s the kind of crap that Brady will not do. Open target gets ball via pre-snap read and formation adjustment.
August 15th, 2020 at 12:17 pm
OLine performance directly correlates to TE production
August 15th, 2020 at 12:20 pm
Dang man look at the source. OJ was a freaking 3 year vet last year……Rightfully so was made a big part of the gameplan going into the season. And he was downright horrific. He deserved to have no role.
And what happened when Mik and Chris went our and we needed OJ against the Texans? I know he was a large part of that game plan. Somebody tell me what happened.
Yall drive me sick with this OJ talk. I never saw a player held so little accountable as this guy…….well prepare you excuses for him now. If you think he’s gonna fumble the ball all over the field and blow assignments………I got news for ya. It arent gonna fly under Tom Brady. OJ needs to git right or hit out. And after 3 years I’m about done give up on OJ already……….yall have fun keep your fingers crossed and remind us how great his yac is.
August 15th, 2020 at 12:46 pm
Not exactly sure who “JC” is unless you are referring to Jake Arians’ buddy J.C. Cornell.
Are you referring to the same quarterback who turned Cam Brate into one of the top tight ends in the NFL for touchdowns, right? Three years running.
You talking about the same quarterback who threw the ball when O.J. Howard (when he did play) had his best seasons?
You typing about the same quarterback that both the Bucs’ general manager and his former coach said likes to throw to tight ends?
Joe’s guessing your Hail Mary pass here fell on the grass incomplete.
August 15th, 2020 at 12:48 pm
Never heard of Doug Martin?
August 15th, 2020 at 12:58 pm
Topdoggie, you need to expand your beer repertoire. Leave those Millers and Budweisers behind and order a delicious PINT of a good, local craft brew. There are plenty of great local breweries to choose from.
August 15th, 2020 at 1:28 pm
@Joe: Opinions vary. Some defend Jameis Christ, other grew very, very tired of his up-and-down inconsistency bordering on schizophrenia. Dude had a nice streak in mid-season, sandwiched with abysmal performance and decisio-making.
JC threw to TE’s before Godwin showed up and the WR cupboard was more bare.
I am not blaming the lack of TE production fully on Jameis Christ. I DO opine he was part of the problem.
Like I said: I’d like to do a deep dive on how often a TE was open when he forced the ball to a WR who was covered. I just doubt BA did not have TE plays in the game plan. BA is a smart coach. Only a fool would ignore TE’s.
Not a “Hail Mary”, but a “Hell Yes.”
August 15th, 2020 at 2:24 pm
If we don’t have some semblance of a running game (PAP) it won’t matter
AND the OLINE???
August 15th, 2020 at 2:49 pm
Poor or lack of coaching strategy is at least 50% responsible for the teams failure. JW was an easy Scapegoat.
Now Licht and BS hired the biggest ScapeGOAT of all time to cover their own ineptitude.
“Hey we did our best, we went all in…No risk it no biscuit….Blah blah blah….you can’t blame us, sometimes in life things don’t work out but we have it our best shot. No, you’re lazy and you suck at coaching BS, you’re checked out and you’re a phony who didn’t have the nerve to coach up JW- just keep firing- just keep firing-just keep firing- don’t worry about your tight ends- oh your fired, and out of the ring of my “genius”self proclaimed whisperer confidence and competence.
August 15th, 2020 at 4:07 pm
My biggest complaint against BA is, he does not know how to incorporate TEs into his offense. This is not just with the Bucs but also as a head coach with his past teams.
Hopefully Brady and Gronk will make BA reconsider using TEs as pass catchers and not just as blockers.
August 15th, 2020 at 9:05 pm
Will someone please explain to me the reason O.J. COWARD is ahead of Cameron Brate on the depth chart?
August 16th, 2020 at 11:19 am
Hopefully Howard has a career year.The guys is probably the most physically gifted tight end in the league and is a nightmare for defenders.I just question where his head is at, seems like a loader but Hopefully that looks different this year
August 16th, 2020 at 3:52 pm
I think we are to trade him for a second round pick and maybe used him to either draft a quarterback for the future or sign a young vet like Haskins or maybe even Wentz if he gets hurt this year and Philly move on from him 🤔 it’s a crazy idea but you never know .