Power Push On The Way
January 20th, 2023
Bucs kicker Ryan Succop.
Fun fact: former Bucs kickers Matt Gay, Cairo Santos and Nick Folk combined to convert 15-of-18 field goal attempts between 50 and 59 yards this season.
That’s stunning success from long range.
Buccaneers kicker Ryan Succop? Well, he doesn’t have that kind of power. Succop was 2-of-7 from 50-plus yards.
Among 32 full-time NFL kickers (20 or more field goal attempts), Succop was one of only six kickers to convert less than 50 percent of kicks from that long distance.
But Succop has never been a big-leg guy. Through the 2020 and 2021 seasons with Tampa Bay, Succop was a combined 1-for-3 from long range. He wasn’t asked to kick beyond his comfort zone in those seasons. But this year was a different story with the sputtering Bucs offense desperate for three points too often. He was great from under 50 yards, making 29-of-31 kicks.
Bowels called Succop “efficient” this week on the Buccaneers Radio Network but said “we’ve got to be able to kick longer field goals than we’ve kicked.”
Joe did the research. Through four seasons as Jets head coach, Bowles had four kickers that combined to convert 12-of-16 attempts from 50-plus yards. So Bowles’ Jets averaged only four long-range field goal tries a year.
Joe is all in favor of having a beastly Pro Bowl kicker, but kicking was not the Bucs’ problem this season. Joe is happy to take reliability from less than 50 yards like Succop has versus a less consistent dude with a giant leg.
Of course, if Bowles and Jason Licht want to find a Pro Bowl kicker this winter on the cheap like Bowles did with Jason Myers in 2018, Joe is all for it.
January 20th, 2023 at 10:01 am
He’s not worth 4 mil cap .. see ya
January 20th, 2023 at 10:08 am
This makes sense in the fact Bowles’s cowardly coaching style rather go for FGs than TDs every time so having a kicker that can make long kicks more consistently would be a priority.
January 20th, 2023 at 10:08 am
If the offence could move the ball, we wouldn’t need a kicker to hit from 50+. I would rather Bowles worries about converting 3rd downs than blaming a kicker for not hitting the long ball!
January 20th, 2023 at 10:20 am
what happened to Jose Borregales? Does Tampa still own his rights as I see he is playing in XFL…
January 20th, 2023 at 10:24 am
Agree with BucsFan! Move the ball closer. With the roster the Bucs have, the kicker should only be kicking extra points, not carrying the offense.
January 20th, 2023 at 10:24 am
Succop was money inside 50 while Matt Gay would jake a 31 yarder to lose to the Giants one Sunday and Nick Folk would have 1 for 3 days which would indirectly cause the Bucs to lose some close games as well (that night game vs NE comes to mind). It seems to me that BFInWales has a good point in that Bowels needs to worry about converting 3rd downs, firing Wrongwich should help in that. Anyhow, chances are if the Bucs cut Succop loose they will get a vet or draft yet another kicker and he will more likely than not get the yips and cost the Bucs a few games in 2023. Its a Bucs life. Only Bowels would prioritize someone who can hit 55 yarders over figuring out a way to get back to scoring more than 18 points a game……
January 20th, 2023 at 10:27 am
Succop isn’t worth the money. CUT!
January 20th, 2023 at 10:28 am
Trot Camarda out there for 50+. At least he has the range.
January 20th, 2023 at 10:30 am
EVERY YEAR rookie kickers come in and light up the league.
Time to find one.
January 20th, 2023 at 10:37 am
Lets make a bid for the Dallas kicker,,, i heard he is available for cheap…… whats the harm of adding another lousy player in our roster
January 20th, 2023 at 10:48 am
If you’re going to coach as conservatively as Bowles does, you need a kicker than can make long-range FGs.
January 20th, 2023 at 10:49 am
At least with Succop we know what we have. How many kickers have the Bucs had that looked good in preseason only to fail in the regular season. Be very careful….
January 20th, 2023 at 10:53 am
I think this is a pretty clear indication that Todd Bowles has no idea what this team’s actual problems are.
January 20th, 2023 at 10:54 am
When Dumbestnik got rid of Matt Bryant, the Bucs paid the price for years, where the best we had was Connor Barth and then……disaster and mayhem.
Succup makes the ones you need. I’m down with keeping an accurate sure thing dude from inside 50.
January 20th, 2023 at 10:56 am
@Daniel, agreed we need a kicker that can make FGs in the 80 yard range with Bowles as head coach…. Lol.
January 20th, 2023 at 10:56 am
Well we got rid of Matt Gay because of all the whining fans. Sometimes patience pays off. All these fans think they know football because they watch replays on youtube.
January 20th, 2023 at 10:57 am
Bowles is a moron. The least of the problems is Succop. He needs to shut his stupid mouth.
January 20th, 2023 at 10:59 am
You can’t blame Succop though. The Bucs were always very well aware of his limitations on range and they were OK with that as long as he was near perfect on the short kicks. That’s not like it was hidden detail or something. If it was 4th down in that 50-55 yard gray area, Arians with Tom Brady and these receivers likely would have went for it. No risk it, no biscuit. But Bowles style is to try the field goal in that situation. And our offensive production went way down. And that’s why Succup’s limitations seemed to be a much bigger issue this year.
January 20th, 2023 at 10:59 am
Drafting kickers is a thing for Licht-so draft Jake Moody the Groza award winner and AP All American.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:04 am
The Thing that would not leave is still here.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:05 am
Goatfarmer Says:
January 20th, 2023 at 10:28 am
Trot Camarda out there for 50+. At least he has the range.
_______
Maybe not a bad idea.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:10 am
Kicking a 50 yard FG would mean you would be at the opponent’s 33 yard line.
So, at worst you would be at the 37 yard line…
Todd, you chicken $hit……..go for it instead of kicking the long FGs…….
We need a reliable kicker inside 50 yards….
January 20th, 2023 at 11:28 am
I don’t trust Licht finding a kicker….Succop was serviceable but we’ve had a revolving door of failures. The grass isn’t always greener, particularly with our GMs history.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:31 am
Hopefully Licht won’t use our second round pick for a kicker again. Plus the two kickers he draft didn’t work out but Gay did work out for the Rams.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:33 am
My first inclination was to say keep Succop for his reliability inside the 50, but to the point about his $4 million salary, I have to think that there are A LOT more average kickers out there that are capable of kicking reliably inside the 50, and for a lot less money.
So I would be comfortable saving the money on a kicker and using it to upgrade our offensive line.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:47 am
“Joe is happy to take reliability from less than 50 yards like Succop has versus a less consistent dude with a giant leg.”
—
Exactly. Those three long leg kickers you mentioned were all on teams that didn’t make the playoffs.
The analytics would tell but if you can’t get within 50 yards for a field goal, you might come out ahead going for it, or punting and downing it within the opponent 10 yard line, even with one of those kickers with a long range.
I’m comfortable with having to get the ball to the opponent 33 yard line but then once you are there being almost guaranteed the 3 points.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:51 am
Here there’s a Jose Boregalas kid who was pretty damn good in college. I think he also knows our special teams playbook. Time to revisit him.
January 20th, 2023 at 11:52 am
They better get a big legged kicker of Brady is gone.
They had one at or fi the beginning of the year and let the kid go just because of a couple bad kicks in preseason.
January 20th, 2023 at 1:40 pm
Joseph had a good year for the Viking too.
January 20th, 2023 at 2:24 pm
The laughing of continuous missed Cowboy extra points is probably what kept me in the game.
January 20th, 2023 at 2:55 pm
Licht better not draft a freaking kicker again
January 20th, 2023 at 4:07 pm
For the love of God, we’ve been granted a reprieve from the Matt Bryant curse and now there’s speculation Bowles may want a new kicker who can make the occasional kick from over 50 yards. We need to keep Mr. Reliable or risk the Ryan Succop curse for the next 10 years.
January 20th, 2023 at 6:33 pm
How about firing Mr.Licht, he is the one that has the Buc’s in cap hell
January 20th, 2023 at 7:09 pm
Wow. I have watched the Bucs since they started and we rarely EVER had a kicker we could count on. Succop cured my PTSD that I got every time in YEARS when it was a kicker’s turn. Maybe Camarda could try the long ones? Or do we end up getting rid of an almost perfect kicker under 50 yards? If you think we should get rid of Succop you have not watched the Bucs as long as I have. That is for certain.
January 21st, 2023 at 2:25 am
For whatever reason, Borregales was waived after the last two preseasons, despite doing well enough to earn the job from the more expensive Succop. If this is house cleaning time, bye Succop, hello new kicker.
January 21st, 2023 at 7:39 pm
How can fans say he’s not worth the money when he was the only one scoring points consistently. Forget about hitting the long fields goals and focus on scoring touchdowns.
January 24th, 2023 at 8:45 pm
What’s wrong with succup. Guy is money on 40 or less. Kicker is the least of our problems