2022 Special Teams Rankings Released: Bucs Were Rotten
January 20th, 2023
Ugly 2022 ranking.
Earlier this morning Joe published a story about how, under coach Keith Armstrong, the Bucs’ special teams have been among the league’s worst since Armstrong arrived in 2019.
The 2022 rankings for this past season were just published. And Armstrong’s streak with the Bucs continues. The Bucs have a really rotten special teams ranking (and mind you, this is with a good kicking game).
Rick Gosselin, the long-time Chiefs and Cowboys beat guy known for his special teams rankings that meet the approval of NFL heavy hitters, published the 2022 results this morning on his website, RickGosselin.com. So how bad were the Bucs? Brace yourself.
Gosselin has the Bucs special teams ranked No. 30 for this season.
To be fair, the only teams ranked worse are the Chiefs and Eagles, both alive in the playoffs. The team with the best special teams rankings are the terrible Texans, who have the No. 2 pick in this spring’s draft.
In Gosselin’s annual special teams rankings, he has never had the Bucs higher than No. 22 since Armstrong showed up at One Buc Palace.
One could argue Armstrong’s special teams in four years with the Bucs produced far worse results than those of failed former Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich on offense.
Yet after the Day of Accountability at One Buc Palace yesterday, Armstrong survived. But the kicking coach, the guy responsible for Ryan Succop’s excellent percentage under 50 yards, Chris Boniol, got the boot.
Joe doesn’t get that move.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:35 am
He must be Bowles buddy.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:36 am
Those were Arians guys, not Bowles. Had Bowles been brought in through a normal hiring process he likely doesn’t pick any of Arians guys. Some of it is him picking the guys he wants and trusts. Our special team’s failures go on Licht as well. Darden was scared to get hit, he always ran for the sideline or waved for a fair catch.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:37 am
Why is Armstrong still employed? It would be a great question for Bowles or Licht to answer.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:37 am
Just goes to show in business, it’s not “what” you know, it’s “who” you know.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:37 am
At least BL had a few good years. Looks like the buddy system. Usually doesn’t turn out well.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:44 am
Hopefully this is not the start of another 13 year playoff drought.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:44 am
Realistically, nobody in the NFL puts a ton of emphasis on building good special teams units anymore. The NFL is basically trying to take returns out of the game and putting all emphasis on kickers. If you have a good kicker you don’t need great coverage guys, same with punters.
Armstrong may suck, but name me another special teams coach not named Rich Basachia.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:49 am
Our coverage worst of all
January 20th, 2023 at 11:54 am
Probably a talent issue as much as anything. Easier to find good special teams players than stars on offense and defense. Chiefs and Eagles are great examples that you cite.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:55 am
We can only pray that the house cleaning is not finished and by the time it is we will have ALL new coaches including Bowles.
The Glazers simply don’t understand the fans disappointment and flat out rejection of Bowles as HC next year!
January 20th, 2023 at 11:56 am
Our punt & kick coverage is terrible……our return blocking is non-existent….
On a positive note……we have cleaned up ST penalties……our punting is outstanding except when we outpunt our coverage……
Recommend kicking touchbacks every time to avoid retuns.
And, Armstrong isn’t totally out of the woods yet.
January 20th, 2023 at 12:02 pm
The ENTIRE coaching staff needs to go!!!!!!!
January 20th, 2023 at 12:08 pm
Does anyone know why Darden was the return man for so long, when there was a better option in Thompkins?
January 20th, 2023 at 12:11 pm
????
January 20th, 2023 at 12:12 pm
For all the comments, the sad reasoning is simple. They’re Temple buddies. NFL network has put out a ton of YouTube clips about the Bowles-Armstrong-Arians relationship during their time at Temple. I’m sure other coaches / personnel who stayed are also part of the Temple clique. Don’t agree with it, but sadly to be expected.
January 20th, 2023 at 12:13 pm
No excuse for Darden. Armstrong has to go.
January 20th, 2023 at 12:18 pm
Who can think of a good punt return in the last 3 years? Nuff said. St is field goals and punt returns and punt coverage. Kickoffs are gone from game with touchbacks. Get a return man
January 20th, 2023 at 12:19 pm
Walter
Then go back to Temple !
January 20th, 2023 at 12:48 pm
Temple is doo doo and Armstrong was TURRIBLE on the falcons and cannot believe he has survived this Purge….
also when is Licht getting sniped?
January 20th, 2023 at 12:55 pm
“Sniped” as in fired? What, building a Super Bowl roster and luring Tom Brady to town wasn’t good enough for you???
January 20th, 2023 at 12:56 pm
Yep, keeping Armstrong simply because of Temple connections is coaching malpractice.
January 20th, 2023 at 12:59 pm
Darden ended the season 4th in the league in yds/punt return with 10.6. He did this while returning the 2nd most punts in the league (33).
Thompkins, in a small sample size of 6 returns, ended with an average of 10.2 yds/return, which would have ranked 7th if held over a full season.
Darden only returned 3 kickoffs this year, averaging 22.3 yds/return.
Thompkins returned 12 kickoffs with an average of 21.9 yds/return.
Thompkins fumbled twice but lost neither while Darden never fumbled.
Thompkins was targeted 10 times as a WR with 5 catches for 32 yds.
Darden was targeted only twice but caught both for 26 yds (one of which was a 25 yarder).
Thompkins had two rushes for 26 yards (with a long of 17) while Darden rushed once for 2 yds.
Thompkins does look like he will fight for more yardage than Darden, but, statistically he was not a huge upgrade over Darden.
January 20th, 2023 at 1:00 pm
I think that poor Special Teams play is as much a reflection of the quality of DEPTH that a team has as it is on S/Ts coaching. The majority of the S/Ts players were not starters. So if your S/Ts aren’t good, isn’t that a reflection also on the quality of those on the team who can’t win starting positions?
If you look at all the snaps taken in most games this year, Bucs had some decent starters but very suspect DEPTH. We had 13 players who got 30% or more of the S/T’s snaps. Of those, only 2 got more than 30% of the offensive or defensive snaps … Anthony Nelson (56%) & RNR (49%). Those other 11 were our depth … Delaney, O’Connor, Kieft, Britt, McCollum, Vaughn, Avery, Fatukasi, Russell and of course Camarda & Triner. None of those first 9 players have a very strong hold on their spot on the team IMO, and I doubt any of them are players you’d build a team around.
January 20th, 2023 at 1:00 pm
I think that poor Special Teams play is as much a reflection of the quality of DEPTH that a team has as it is on S/Ts coaching. The majority of the S/Ts players were not starters. So if your S/Ts aren’t good, isn’t that a reflection also on the quality of those on the team who can’t win starting positions?
January 20th, 2023 at 1:01 pm
BTW, if you look at all the snaps taken in most games this year, Bucs had some decent starters but very suspect DEPTH. We had 13 players who got 30% or more of the S/T’s snaps. Of those, only 2 got more than 30% of the offensive or defensive snaps … Anthony Nelson (56%) & RNR (49%). Those other 11 were our depth … Delaney, O’Connor, Kieft, Britt, McCollum, Vaughn, Avery, Fatukasi, Russell and of course Camarda & Triner. None of those first 9 players have a very strong hold on their spot on the team IMO, and I doubt any of them are players you’d build a team around.
January 20th, 2023 at 1:02 pm
BTW, if you look at all the snaps taken this year, Bucs had some decent starters but suspect DEPTH. We had 13 players who got 30% or more of the S/T’s snaps. Of those, only 2 got more than 30% of the offensive or defensive snaps … Anthony Nelson (56%) & RNR (49%). Those other 11 were our depth.
January 20th, 2023 at 1:08 pm
everything was DOOKIE
January 20th, 2023 at 1:17 pm
nep·o·tism
/ˈnepəˌtiz(ə)m/
the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives, friends, or associates, especially by giving them jobs.
January 20th, 2023 at 1:26 pm
Good one, Brisket.
January 20th, 2023 at 1:29 pm
Gotbbucs is absolutely right if you got a good special teams unit awesome but if you don’t it’s not on the top of any agenda board to really do alot about it as long as you have a competent kicker and punter the rest ismt really stressed to a much about unless you are a fan of course lol.
January 20th, 2023 at 1:35 pm
Joe Says:
January 20th, 2023 at 12:55 pm
also when is Licht getting sniped?
“Sniped” as in fired? What, building a Super Bowl roster and luring Tom Brady to town wasn’t good enough for you???
————-
What a load of crap. Licht was about to be run out of town in a rail before BA was brought in out of desperation. Licht didn’t lure Brady, TB12 had to settle.. Greenberg does the math. Licht sits around drinking cheap beer and wearing flip flops to the office. Time for a real GM, not the Big Lebowski.
January 20th, 2023 at 1:36 pm
He’ll be fired next offseason along with Bowels.
January 20th, 2023 at 1:43 pm
Licht got so lucky that Tom Brady came into town, his picks are way more whiffs than hits, and his “im super smart watch this pick” drafts are so suspect. If they let Licht hang around then he will be a part of 5 HC’s? At some point maybe it is the guy buying the ingredients for sushi, when you want to make spaghetti
January 20th, 2023 at 1:53 pm
StickinUp4Centers: You are correct on the stats, but how many times did Darden call for a fair catch with nobody near him? At least a few times, that I remember. How many times did he “slip” to avoid contact? A lot of times, it seemed to me. IMHO, he just wasn’t cut out for the job. It seemed like coaching malpractice to keep Darden around for so long.
January 20th, 2023 at 1:54 pm
Bowles = Lovie 2.0
Stubborn, inept and zero accountability.
Starting to think Leftwich was the fall guy, and that our neutered offense was by design from Bowles (and obviously injuries, poor o-line play, poor execution all played a part too)
January 20th, 2023 at 1:55 pm
@Joe
Enough with the “failed” offensive coordinator when you’re describing Byron Leftwich, he won us a Super Bowl as our offensive coordinator. Leftwich had one bad year as our offensive coordinator and you choose to remember his legacy as a “failure” because you are hateful and malicious
January 20th, 2023 at 1:55 pm
Sorry jmark but if you think Licht didn’t play a big part in bringing Brady here, I dunno what to tell you.
LOFL at “Brady had to settle”
January 20th, 2023 at 2:01 pm
Bills 9ers eagles chiefs Bengals. According to football outsiders, these are the best special teams units. The take into account the most impactful parts of special teams. As much as the league had marginalized the unit, it’s still important.
January 20th, 2023 at 2:03 pm
Jack Clark Says:
January 20th, 2023 at 1:55 pm
@Joe
Enough with the “failed” offensive coordinator when you’re describing Byron Leftwich, he won us a Super Bowl as our offensive coordinator. Leftwich had one bad year as our offensive coordinator and you choose to remember his legacy as a “failure” because you are hateful and malicious
^^^^^^^^^^^
Did you watch any of the Bucs games this year? 🤔
January 20th, 2023 at 2:07 pm
Jack, they won the superbowl and made the divisional round because they were Uber talented. It had nothing to do with BL. It’s an archaic system. You or I could’ve called plays. The system is reliant on winning matchups. That’s easy to do with players that can get open
January 20th, 2023 at 2:08 pm
Unbelievable
Once Brady had no where else to go.. Licht’s part was much, much smaller.
January 20th, 2023 at 2:10 pm
Jack Clark is Leftfoot’s Mom. Has to be.
January 20th, 2023 at 2:15 pm
Exactly Jmark. Tampa was by no means Brady’s preferred choice
January 20th, 2023 at 2:28 pm
Joe in Michigan,
I like the new and improved jaded version of yourself….. it’s quite refreshing.
January 20th, 2023 at 2:48 pm
Joe in Michigan is the shiz. One of the more rational voices in this insane asylum.
January 20th, 2023 at 2:48 pm
here’s Bowles in his special teams meeting. OK guys when you catch the kickoff or the punt, run directlly to the sideline. Left or right . doesn’t matter
January 20th, 2023 at 2:50 pm
Horrendous special teams all year except for Jake Camarda.
January 20th, 2023 at 3:06 pm
Jack Clark
Saying Byron Lefwich had one bad year is like saying Bryan Kho!berg had one bad night.
January 20th, 2023 at 3:09 pm
Armstrong sucks and should have been fired and arrested for stealing money from us. Hard to have confidence in Bowles when he can’t see this. Fire this guy now.
January 20th, 2023 at 3:35 pm
Joe in Michigan Says:
January 20th, 2023 at 2:03 pm
Did you watch any of the Bucs games this year? 🤔
Did you not see where I said “Leftwhich had one bad year are our offensive coordinator”? 🤔
Redeemer Says:
January 20th, 2023 at 2:07 pm
Jack, they won the superbowl and made the divisional round because they were Uber talented. It had nothing to do with BL. It’s an archaic system. You or I could’ve called plays. The system is reliant on winning matchups. That’s easy to do with players that can get open
Meanwhile people call Bill Belichick the greatest coach of all time because he had an uber talented Tom Brady 🥱
Jmarkbuc Says:
January 20th, 2023 at 2:10 pm
Jack Clark is Leftfoot’s Mom. Has to be.
I want Joe’s momma to tell him “If you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all”
Tampabaybucfan Says:
January 20th, 2023 at 3:06 pm
Jack Clark Saying Byron Lefwich had one bad year is like saying Bryan Kho!berg had one bad night.
So the year he won the Super Bowl as our offensive coordinator was a bad year too? Be honest
January 20th, 2023 at 3:59 pm
As far as Armstrong goes, let us not forget that failed fake punt where Giovani Bernard, the up blocker and main guy in the play, didn’t even know it was happening!!!!! How doesn’t Armstrong talk to him right before that play??????????
January 20th, 2023 at 4:34 pm
Ha, next season is already a joke. Wait until they get rid of Succop, true disaster will make special teams even worse. But yeah let’s keep Armstrong.
January 20th, 2023 at 5:02 pm
Did you guys see the polls.on how the Fans UNANIMOUSLY felt strongly that Leftwich HAD TO GO!? I believe it was in the range of a WHOPPING AND UNDISPUTED 95%! The second was not sure at 4% . Lastly Jack there and the rest of Leftwich’s family was in the lowly 1% Choosing no.
Jack if that’s how you feel then you certainly have your right to do so but your statements concerning Licht are simply wrong. I have a feeling you already know that.
‘Step One” Licht brought in Arians by working hard and talked him out of retirement.
“Step Two” Arians stepped into the “spot light” and confessed (when asked by reporters if there was ANYBODY IN PARTICULAR). Arians BOLDLY announced that “Tom Brady” would be The Guy before all others here in Tampa and at the time it Shocked the sports world much less the entire NFL! And most at the time thought it was nothing more than a sweet dream. “ARIANS” threw our hat in the ring and started the courtship with Tom.
“Step Three” Bruce Arians and Jason Licht joined forces and pulled off the sales campaign of the century with STUNNING SUCCESS! In fact it was so shocking that it took months before most people couldn’t even sort of believe it. Resulting in turning the fortunes of the franchise that went LITERALLY from zero to HERO! You may not like it Jack but that just really too damn bad for you but around here that makes them LEGENDS!
“Step Four” Legendary results due to Jason Licht and Bruce Arians with multiple titles and a Brand New and Shiny Super Bowl Trophy at One Buc Palace.
So eat that Jack. Or is it T MAXX?
Apologies for my lousy write up. I’m sick and not feeling to good today BUT I couldn’t help but to make the point whether sloppy or not because the ridiculous was enough!
GO BUCS!
January 20th, 2023 at 5:24 pm
Jack
I think you just proved my point..
Next you’ll be showing us his middle school trophies.
January 20th, 2023 at 5:56 pm
Jack, you misunderstood my argument. Belichick is regarded as the goat of coaching for his ability to do more with less. Yes he had the best QB of all time, but he also was a defensive mastermind. Go ask Peyton Manning. He also drafted a bunch of hall of famers.
As for BL, go ask the experts. You can’t ask a 45 year old to win games. The offense was a mess because he can’t scheme. It’s all predicated on recievers winning individual matchups. The line was bad, but a good coordinator could’ve done much more with what they had. Your initial point about him being a Superbowl coordinator rings hollow. Someone was always wide open not because of his skills, but because of the massive talent advantage. Gronk, healthy Godwin, AB and Evans combined with a very good line is easy to win with.
January 20th, 2023 at 6:24 pm
Jmarkbuc Says:
January 20th, 2023 at 5:24 pm
Jack I think you just proved my point.. Next you’ll be showing us his middle school trophies.
Since when was winning a Super Bowl a middle school trophie?
Redeemer Says:
January 20th, 2023 at 5:56 pm
Jack, you misunderstood my argument.
Bill Belichick has a losing record without Tom Brady on his team. I didn’t misunderstand your argument because it wasn’t based on equal bias because you are no better than the rest of the hateful
January 20th, 2023 at 6:34 pm
Jack Clark: You honestly think the Bucs should keep a subpar assistant coach around because they won the Super Bowl a few years ago? You really would want Leftwich back for another year as OC?
January 20th, 2023 at 6:49 pm
These Darden stats make me disbelieve that stats show players’ abilities, now. When Darden got snatched up by another team the first day he was waived, it made me laugh. We all saw him. Stats aside, it seemed to me he had one good return the whole season. There was not one person on here who thought he was good enough for any NFL team.
It also seems to me that rookie players with very little experience go on special teams first, so I don’t really know what Armstrong had to scheme with. As for Licht, he picks them and doesn’t train them. I think he has done an admirable job. There is great promise for Camarda, Otton, White, and Ko, IMO. McCollum may be good, too. I would never vote for Licht to be fired.
January 20th, 2023 at 6:58 pm
Joe in Michigan Says:
January 20th, 2023 at 6:34 pm
Jack Clark: You honestly think the Bucs should keep a subpar assistant coach around because they won the Super Bowl a few years ago? You really would want Leftwich back for another year as OC?
No, but I do think Joe should stop remembering Byron Leftwich as a “failed” offensive coordinator instead of our “Super Bowl” winning offensive coordinator. Why is that too difficult for you to accept?
January 20th, 2023 at 9:14 pm
A real OC would come up with his own offense, not just the cheap version of someone else’s
January 20th, 2023 at 9:45 pm
Jack, if you want equal footing, let’s see where a Superbowl winning coordinator ends up. I guarantee you BL won’t get another job. Forget head coach, he’d be lucky to be an OC for a D3 school next season. In a way I feel bad for lefty. Its partly the offense they ran.. When asked to match wits, he came empty handed.
January 20th, 2023 at 10:05 pm
Redeemer Says:
January 20th, 2023 at 9:45 pm
Jack, if you want equal footing, let’s see where a Superbowl winning coordinator ends up. I guarantee you BL won’t get another job.
You are not my target my friend. Even though your weak arguments are easy to defeat.
Please send me all the smoke
January 20th, 2023 at 10:34 pm
A lot of special teams results are dependent on talent…STers are your 2nd and 3rd string guys. Poor special teams reflects a lack of talent. That is not uncommon in salary cap era. You’re paying your starters, not backups.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:14 pm
armstrong is awful
January 21st, 2023 at 1:49 am
very very bad coach with bad coaches working for him
January 21st, 2023 at 8:11 am
I hope Tom retires, the greatest Q.B. ever….instead of being stuck in the mud with our Buc team with Bowles at the helm….it would be terrible if Tom ended his career like Willie Mays and Mohammad Ali.
January 21st, 2023 at 10:09 am
Worst I’ve in a 3 yr a stretch. Camarda is the real deal though.
January 21st, 2023 at 1:53 pm
I rate the Bucs ST as pretty average. #30 out of 32? Don’t know what metrics this guy uses but ok.
Fans have been (and still are) all over Darden’s arse. The way the rules have changed in the kicking game (including blocking and lining up) it’s tough. Sure, Darden didn’t have “take it to the house” ability but out of the thousands of kick returns this year, how many were returned for TDs? 5 or so? And how many big returns get called back for penalties?
The number one thing you need for a return man is sure hands / ball security. A fumble deep in your territory is a huge negative swing in a game. Far more impactful than a 30 yard return is a positive, and they are rare. Darden NEVER fumbled and I’ll call that successful enough.
“Fans” want pro-bowlers at every position or “the bum has to go”.
Bucs get low points compared to other teams for FGs made over 50 yards but that’s more on Bowles making the decision to kick when he knows Succup can’t make them.
Everything else was average but there were games where they were exceptional and the only bright spot. Of all the problems the Bucs faced this season, special teams doesn’t make my list of “must fixes”. Sure, it could be better and you always want to improve, but the Bucs need to concentrate at the top first (HC and coordinators) instead of the 2nd stringers and practice squad grads on ST. Our ST coaches aren’t the best, but not the worst or #32 in the league. They’re average
January 21st, 2023 at 6:06 pm
Ive been requesting this guy be fired for the past 2 years.
January 21st, 2023 at 7:29 pm
Other teams changed-up their punt returners. Darren was relentlessly, always there. Look at the total number of times Daren was there returning punts compared to other teams.
They don’t keep the stat: “Ran For the Sidelines Percentage,” because most players don’t something so ridiculous and, if the did, the coach would quickly remove that player.
And that’s the point: Darren got away with this for two years.
How can a punt returner ever “break-out” a return if they run straight for the sidelines?
And that’s the other point.
The punt returner must “go-for-it” every time to take aadvantage of the fortunate block that can’t be anticipated untill it all of a sudden happens right in front of him.
These cherry-picked, gobblygoop stats defending Darden are meaningless.
We all saw Darden’s sorry performance, and it was an insult to the fans, and another example of the horrible coaching we’ve had to put-up with.