Antonio Brown And Numbers
June 23rd, 2021
Declining?
The fun part of thinking about the Bucs in the summer — don’t get Joe wrong, Joe’s always thinking Bucs — is trying to project how much better the team can be.
Yes, you read that last sentence correctly.
But one stenographer out there is not exactly riding the bandwagon of furniture-tossing, bicycle-throwing Bucs receiver Antonio Brown. If Kristopher Knox at Bleacher Report had to choose a Tampa Bay player that sees his skills and productivity decline this fall, he believes it will be Brown.
… He’s 32 years old and three years removed from his last 1,000-yard season. He’s also coming off of a knee surgery that delayed his signing with Tampa.
If Brown continues to decline—he averaged just 10.7 yards per catch in 2020, the second-lowest of his career—Tampa could turn to younger receivers like Scotty Miller and rookie fourth-round pick Jaelon Darden for the No. 3 receiver role.
Brown’s one-year, $3.08 million deal is fully guaranteed, so he isn’t a candidate to be cut. However, the seven-time Pro Bowler may become just one of Tom Brady’s targets instead of being one of the biggest stars in the NFL as he once was.
Well, as you will hear in the next “Ira Kaufman Podcast,” Brown very well could be just a guy with the Bucs this fall. Why? Not because of eroding skills but because there is only one football to go around between Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, foot-rubbing, car-littering Rob Gronkowski, Cam Brate, Scotty Miller and O.J. Howard, and maybe more throwing to running backs.
As far as Brown’s reduced numbers in 2020, he had been out of football for over a year and had to relearn his old Steelers offense in midseason.
Hey, Brown had better stats than Michael Thomas and some believe Thomas is a top-10 receiver.
So in reality, how badly did Brown’s numbers drop?
June 23rd, 2021 at 5:41 am
Why does the National Media leave their brains out side the door. AB is gives the Bucs offense an X Factor. All the more AB causes the offense to be a living nightmare for defensive coordinators. He has plenty of Juice left, he has very little action the last couple of years on the football field because of his various antics. This Buc offense led by Brady would match up with any of the all time great offenses in the storied history of the NFL. Good luck trying to contain this group of offensive weapons. I guess you could call this offense ‘Suicide Central” for opposing defensive coaches and players. A lot of midnight oil will be burned this year by coaches trying to stop the Bucs offense, and the Bucs will still average 30+ a game again.
GO BIG BAD AZZ WORLD CHAMPION BUCS!!!!!
June 23rd, 2021 at 6:30 am
Tyler Johnson
June 23rd, 2021 at 6:38 am
They are grasping at straws because the thought of the Bucs repeating as Super Bowl champs , or just being good for years to come, makes them crazy.
June 23rd, 2021 at 7:41 am
When AB was with Pittsburgh, he was running the routes the ME13 runs HERE. Most the stuff they seemed to send him on was underneath
June 23rd, 2021 at 7:54 am
The best #3 WR in the NFL……the only reason his stats drop off if if he is injured or Godwin & Evans numbers soar….
AB is an absolute pro on the field….my bet is on him.
June 23rd, 2021 at 8:08 am
Yea I wanna see 3 1,000 yard receivers.
En route to a 5,500 yard season
And 55 TDs and 5 interceptions.
ME has 8 straight 1,000 yard seasons.
4 receivers catch 10 TDs.
Both RBs have 1,000 yards.
We average 38 points a game.
Give up only 17 points a game.
Darden returns 3 kicks for TDs
We have the most turnovers
More than 1 person makes the Pro Bowl.
Devin White wins DPOY
Brady wins MVP
Bucs repeat with a SB win.
I bet at least 6 of these happen.
June 23rd, 2021 at 8:27 am
The biggest observation missing from Knox’s assessment is that AB was also the most targeted receiver for Brady and the Bucs after he signed with the team.
Anyone who watched AB last year saw exactly what was the case. It took him 2-4 weeks to get back into game shape and figure out his timing and the offense. After that, there was pretty much no drop off in his skills, speeds, or ability from the AB he’s always been.
I like both Evans and Godwin better, and I think all three receivers bring a different elite #1 level WR skillset to the table. But Brady is going to look for and throw to AB the most because of the 3 receivers AB is the best at consistently getting open.
I’m making this claim again. The AB signing was, in fact, the most underrated signings this offseason, because if he stays healthy he’s going to be the teams leading receiver in both receptions and yards this year.
June 23rd, 2021 at 8:28 am
Also, I REALLY hope BillyBucoff is right. Those are some lofty numbers but none of them are entirely unrealistic. Maybe 2, 1,000 yd RBs is a bit pie in the sky, but…It’s a great time to be a Bucs fan!
June 23rd, 2021 at 9:02 am
Is t Knox the cretin saying that Gholston would be cut?
June 23rd, 2021 at 9:31 am
I like your list BillyBuc.
The primary reason that any Buc WRs stats decline, is that there is so much talent and only one football. August 1976 has it right. Who do you want to get beat by? ME13? Godwin? AB? Gronk? OJ? Scotty? Johnson?….Oh, and don’t sleep on the run-game either!
Rest assured, someone will be open!
June 23rd, 2021 at 10:02 am
Another off season and pre-season of practice. More time to gel on both sides of the ball. Increased chemistry. IF. IF this team can just stay healthy they could go undefeated. Write it down. take it to the bank. smile at the cashier.
June 23rd, 2021 at 10:26 am
Hey Joe what does Johnny Knoxville I meant (kristopher Knox) know about football anyway he seems to think that will Gholston is a non-factor as well. I bet he works for the same company as DooooshLaRue (bagg)
June 23rd, 2021 at 10:42 am
AB is totally awesome!
Who can forget when he beat the Kansas City defender in the end zone, in the Super Bowl ?
June 23rd, 2021 at 11:02 am
“If Brown continues to decline—he averaged just 10.7 yards per catch in 2020, the second-lowest of his career—Tampa could turn to younger receivers like Scotty Miller and rookie fourth-round pick Jaelon Darden for the No. 3 receiver role.”
In his first SB, AB had one catch. This SB, he had six catches and a TD. Is that a decline?
Kristopher Knox is not very good at his job.
June 23rd, 2021 at 11:10 am
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that his numbers might decline.
June 23rd, 2021 at 12:22 pm
“AB is the hardest worker imaginable.”
-Every NFL teammate AB has ever had
He’s fine.
Who’s not fine is the #3 slot CB trying to cover AB with TB12 throwing the ball.
June 23rd, 2021 at 12:26 pm
Everybody’s numbers declined. But they won the Super Bowl. This is what it takes to win. Individual numbers don’t matter, Wins and Rings do.
June 23rd, 2021 at 12:32 pm
AB took awhile to get going but had some key catches in the 8 game win streak. But with these receivers and TEs, it’s a nightmare trying to stop this pass attack. Stat sheet is a bit deceiving if you just go by individual numbers because the pass is so distributed.
And it’s good to know if Godwin or Evans is out for injury the offense shouldn’t miss a beat. It’s a long season, chances are one of them will miss a few games.
June 23rd, 2021 at 12:36 pm
10.7 yards per catch is a first down whats the problem? lol
June 23rd, 2021 at 1:54 pm
nate Says:
June 23rd, 2021 at 12:36 pm
10.7 yards per catch is a first down whats the problem? lol
Can’t do anything but agree plain and simple
June 23rd, 2021 at 2:23 pm
of course his ypc went down. his first couple games it was basically screen passes to him, and the last game they forced all those quck passe to him so that he could get whatever bonus they had for him. did he even look at all slow on the field though?
June 23rd, 2021 at 2:32 pm
Hey, all you need to know is AB SB TD.
June 23rd, 2021 at 2:39 pm
AN IS CLUTCH!!! GO Bucs!
June 23rd, 2021 at 2:48 pm
I didn’t really sense a decline in AB, I thought it took him time to get into NFL game shape, as well as getting acclimated to both a new offense and Brady. I think people forget that AB played a grand total of one game with Tom Brady prior to Tampa Bay.
I love how he broke off the designed play during the Super Bowl, and simply used his smarts to get open. The fact that Brady anticipated Brown doing this shows some great chemistry.
June 23rd, 2021 at 4:15 pm
CB1 gets Mike Evans
CB2 gets Chris Godwin
CB3 gets AB
Linebacker gets Gronk
Defensive Coordinator gets diarrhea.
June 23rd, 2021 at 4:53 pm
During the 8 game win streak Evans had 35 catches, AB had 33 and Godwin had 30. A healthy AB will have lots of opportunities this season as he is the best WR on this roster for YAC and he also has a better catch percentage than Evans.
June 23rd, 2021 at 8:45 pm
…3 years removed from his last 1,000 years season. Wow! Umm…how much did AB play? Not 3 full seasons, where his performance might have been going down, game by game. Is that a good measurement?
Once AB got in some kind of game shape last year, did he play well on his new team? Does TB12 approve of his WR? Should AB know the playbook better this year? Will AB and the team benefit by an actual pre-season?
Is Gronk also being measured over the last 3 years?
Come to think of it, we all heard similar projections about TB12, after being locked into a system and contract, where the coach’s fantasy is to win with defense and special teams. And how about that weak arm? Surely, he cannot throw the long ball anymore. So many latched their wagon on that one. What a curiousity.
June 23rd, 2021 at 11:37 pm
As Jerry pointed out a 8 game win streak,,I know some were playoff games,, interesting fact Ab came in prior to that win streak!!!!
June 23rd, 2021 at 11:39 pm
Things that make you go hmmmmm
June 24th, 2021 at 12:19 pm
I do not care about AB’s numbers, or ME13, or CG14 or any of our talented TE’s or Bernard out of the backfield.
ALL of these guys can put up elephant numbers when given the opportunity. There is only ONE football…individual numbers will be depressed…but the thing that remains for all of our stud players…is the # of BIG PLAYS!!! Which of these guys will be game breakers?
The beauty is that any and all of them are capable of making a truly BIG PLAY!