Dominating The Division
March 3rd, 2021
Whoopsie!
The gang over at Football Outsiders has decided to break down the NFL stars by division. As you can expect, the Bucs dominated stars in the NFC South.
Still, there are some interesting observations Joe felt compelled to type about.
Yes, the Bucs were well-represented except for a handful of positions.
Secondary: What was considered the lone Bucs’ weakness entering the playoffs now appears to be a strength since the Vince Lombardi Trophy has been cleaned up and polished and placed on Team Glazer’s desk. The Bucs had three defensive backs selected by Rob Weintraub — Carlton Davis, Jordan Whitehead and Antoine Winfield.
Special teams: It’s really no surprise the Bucs did not have a return man listed. The Bucs’ kick and return games have been subpar if not lousy for years. But kicker? Joe doesn’t know of too many more accurate kickers than Ryan Succop, which is one reason Joe believes he’s the third-most important free agent to re-sign. Weintraub instead selected Atlanta’s Younghoe Koo — that first name could get you in a lot of hot water in many corners of the world. Koo isn’t a bad choice at all but better than Succop? Joe doesn’t remember Succop choking like Koo did at Kansas City.
Tight end: The Bucs may be deeper at tight end than any NFL team, yet none made the all-division list. Saints tight end Jared Cook did. Somewhere, Winfield has to be smiling. Joe doesn’t remember foot-rubbing, car-littering Rob Gronkowski putting the ball on the ground as badly and at the worst time like Cook.
Running backs: You go, RoJo! Ronald Jones along with Alvin Kamara were the top two running backs selected. This is another reason why, though Joe would hate to see Playoff Lenny go, Joe won’t lose much sleep if Playoff Lenny runs for the money.
March 3rd, 2021 at 11:30 am
Gotta get a return man. MUST HAVE!
March 3rd, 2021 at 11:37 am
Beautiful photo…season/franchise saving play right there…not hyperbole either.
March 3rd, 2021 at 11:37 am
Would be nice to take the Saints return man off their hands.
March 3rd, 2021 at 11:37 am
Here’s the deal, Joe; is the defensive secondary really that good? The sum looked worse than the parts during the regular season due to the defensive schemes being used by Bowles. But then Bowles put together some very impressive game plans during the playoffs, making the defensive secondary look tight. Were they really ever that bad, and were they ever really that good?
March 3rd, 2021 at 11:43 am
You are right!
March 3rd, 2021 at 11:45 am
Fair. Carlton Davis is good. Joe learned since the Super Bowl that SMB was playing hurt through much of the regular season. Dude had three picks in the playoffs which is flat balling out. And he is winning off the field as well.
March 3rd, 2021 at 11:50 am
What the Buc’s need to improve more than anything is Kick/Punt Coverage!
March 3rd, 2021 at 11:59 am
RoJo can’t catch a cold so he isn’t a every down back . Lenny is the better choice to have on the team.
March 3rd, 2021 at 12:07 pm
rOjO cAn’T cAtCh. Same people touting Fournette not realizing that he had more drops and wasn’t much better. Anyone else remember Rojo’s 31 yard TD catch and run vs KC in the regular season? The dude is a stud. For the record, the worst receiver at RB I’ve ever seen was Cadillac Williams during his rookie season. He ended his career as a 3rd down RB. People do get better. Rojo getting better at catching the ball is a given.
March 3rd, 2021 at 12:09 pm
All the dominance and only 1 pro bowler and 0 all pros. Hmm.
March 3rd, 2021 at 12:18 pm
Good thing Pinion lead the league in touchback percentage in 2019 & was 2nd in 2020.
Even though he kicks it deep in the endzone……some teams opted to run it out….and successfully.
Our kick & punt coverage is sub-par.
As for Succop…..correct me if I’m wrong….but I think he missed 3 field goals….2 were blocked and the other hit the uprights.
March 3rd, 2021 at 1:00 pm
Bucs need to upgrade Special Teams Punt Game
The Bucs return game and coverage are the two biggest glaring weaknesses on the team. I don’t know much about the Special Team coach but an upgrade there may be in order.
March 3rd, 2021 at 1:14 pm
Younghoe was 37 of 39, including 8 for 8 past 50 yards, he had an incredible year. The only blemish was a big one, his miss at KC to force OT… I like Ryan, thought he’d have a very good year, but give me the younghoe who is cheap and youthful.
March 3rd, 2021 at 1:18 pm
Football Outsiders is generally pretty good, but Jared Cook?
They did already on their list have Brady, Godwin, Evans and Jones, along with Wirfs, Marpet and Jensen, so they might have just tried to get some non-Bucs somewhere.
Still, there isn’t anyone taking Cook over Gronk, or even OJ if he’s healthy.
March 3rd, 2021 at 5:41 pm
Jared Cook just got cut, which isn’t a surprise.
March 3rd, 2021 at 7:42 pm
Falcons and Panthers got nothing.
It’s all about the Saints. The Saints are still good. If Brees comes back, which it seems is more possible right now, it’s all about press coverage because there’s no reason to fret over anything deep.
If they go with Jameis, take away his first option and get pressure, he’ll make mistakes.
I am curious with what Sean Payton can do with him though.
It also is very curious that one of his teammates and the mayor are both out there saying how much they would love Watson. Not exactly a vote of confidence in Winston
March 3rd, 2021 at 7:58 pm
There seems to be misinformation regarding RoJo’s receiving vs Lenny’s receiving.
According it NFL.com…
Fournette: 47 targets with 36 receptions.
RoJo? 42 targets with 28 receptions.
Those numbers don’t reflect a significant difference. I hope RoJo does the same as he did last year and work on receiving in the offseason. If he improves just a little, he will be considered a 3 down back by everyone.
March 4th, 2021 at 5:10 pm
did anybody else notice on the pic that aint player tried to kick devin white when he got gangtackled