Describing The Retooling Of the Bucs
May 9th, 2023
Strategy.
Perhaps Joe finally found the term to describe what the Bucs are doing to prepare for the 2023 season.
Bucs coach Todd Bowles has been pretty straightforward that the Bucs are not rebuilding. He said they are reloading. Um, that’s hard to swallow when looking at the offense. If Bowles is correct, that a funny way of reloading.
So no, Joe doesn’t believe one could say the Bucs are reloading. But leave it to wordsmith Mike Tanier of Football Outsiders to come up with a perfect phrase.
Tanier referred to it as a “soft reboot,” and he overall praised Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht for a sneaky good draft.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Improved Roster: B+
Used Resources Well: B
Met Needs: C
FINAL PPA: BAs promised/threatened, the Buccaneers did nothing at quarterback. This is Kyle Trask and Baker Mayfield’s team to crash into the Shoals of Tankeria now, for better or worse.
Calijah Kancey and YaYa Diaby are athletic tough-guys who can help with the soft reboot on defense. Cody Mauch fills Jason Licht’s never-satiated craving for gap-toothed small-program offensive linemen. I love Payne Durham as a block-first tight end with a little juice and Trey Palmer as a fast-fast-fast receiver/returner who can bounce right up after he takes a licking.
The “C” grade for “met needs” may be harsh; the Bucs have needs that they could not have possibly met on draft weekend. But they could have done something inspired like trade out of the first round (an extra first-rounder in 2024 could help them achieve their goals), stockpile more picks, liberate Mike Evans, etc.
Hmm, then maybe they should be dinged for “Used Resources Well.” Whatever. Enjoy the concert by the Mayfield Trask Blues Band.
With the exception of tight end Payne Durham and guard Cody Mauch, the Bucs got a bunch of superior athletes who can play football. Joe loves that.
It also feels like Licht got a bunch of athletes to hand to Bucs assistant coaches and say, “OK boys, earn your money. Coach ’em up.”
May 9th, 2023 at 9:26 am
We gambled for a Super Bowl won one and lost the other in the Championship round. Not sure why it’s doom and gloom for so many people. Our favorite players have gotten older and some are past their prime. Time to rebuild the best they can. There is no way to pick up every single piece in one year. Let’s play at least one regular-season game before proclaiming a last-place finish.
May 9th, 2023 at 9:31 am
Buccos will be better than last year at 10-7. Schedule comes out tomorrow….
May 9th, 2023 at 9:33 am
Licht following through will what he said months ago. Bucs will play on the inexpensive this year. Payoff the Superbowl. Payoff Bradys hit. Resign our own if worthy. Sign no aged free agents. Work on the trenches this year. Bring in a cheap veteran to compete with Trask. Be ready to be a major player in 2024’s QB sweepstakes. Good plan and so far sticking to it. Stay the course Licht.
May 9th, 2023 at 9:33 am
It could go either way. D-line upgrade is huge! I agree that the offense is the BIG question. We are about to find out if the problem was Byron’s in ability to make adjustments and call plays…….. was the reason for the collapse or just no talent. I don’t see how the Bucs offense can be worse this year.
Chris Simms rated Sean Tucker as his fourth RB in the draft (prior to the heart diagnosis). The Bucs think that Tucker will be fully cleared and available for training camp (probably not before).
There is still some hope:
Both Trey Palmer and Sean Tucker were the focus for defenses last year…and they still played well.
Payne Durham is a touch down (red-zone) weapon and he can block a bit.
The O-line will hopefully be better. Tristan Wirfs, Ryan Jensen, Matt Feiler, Luke Goedeke, Cody Mauch, and Brandon Walton (RT Feiler, Goedeke, or Walton)
How quickly can Canales install his offense???
May 9th, 2023 at 9:33 am
Last paragraph says it all. If the Bowel Movement has learned anything from his failures, now is he time to show it (yes I know he is not an assistant but sink or swim applies to him as well). I am betting he won’t. Still can’t make up my mind. Will it be 3 wins or 4?
May 9th, 2023 at 9:38 am
Actually, Mauch has been lauded by most for his athleticism. I don’t think he’s jumping out of a pool anytime soon but he went to school as a receiving TE, played LT, and is now considered a real athlete at guard.
May 9th, 2023 at 9:42 am
Why cant the bucs be a organization that is always in the chase as opposed to the one it is; where licht will guide the team to 6-11 records followed by maybe a boom
May 9th, 2023 at 9:44 am
Rebuilding? Not quite, it’s more like we’re renovating the roster as you don’t necessarily have to tear a house all the way down to the foundation to build it back up. We’ve got pillars on both sides of the ball, we’ve replaced some older acquistions with younger, unproven talent, but that doesn’t automatically mean we’re destined to be a horrible team. We just don’t know where & who is going to take on certain roles that’ll dictate how well we can match or improve on our production from 2022 in all 3 phases.
It’s May, we’re not done adding talent, and we’re still days away from rookie camp. Let’s just see how this things works itself out, and what those in charge do to take figure out what this team will be moving forward.
May 9th, 2023 at 9:45 am
Yes ,I think Licht is a bad gm.. He hired the Bucs coach who does not give fans much confidence while having no left tackle and ? at qb.
May 9th, 2023 at 9:49 am
4-13 here we come.
May 9th, 2023 at 10:01 am
QB John Wolford to the Bucs as our 3rd QB
May 9th, 2023 at 10:15 am
They are giving the Bowles Clunker a Palm Beach Paint Job. Putting Lucas fix in the tranny.
May 9th, 2023 at 10:40 am
They reloaded,,,,,,, with BLANKS.
May 9th, 2023 at 10:41 am
WHAT PEOPLE AREN’T FACTORING …
The team has a better defense (that could be terrifying by EOY), a better OL, and a better OC (you can’t be worse).
If the Bucs get 2018-2020 Baker Mayfield, they’ll win the division (how does he not with Evans and Godwin). People forget he had the Browns just 2 minutes from playing the Bucs in the SB.
May 9th, 2023 at 10:47 am
He lost me at “liberate Mike Evans.”
May 9th, 2023 at 10:59 am
Now the Bucs only need to sign Antonio Brown to be the locker room cancer that we all know he can be
May 9th, 2023 at 11:11 am
The word reloading is scary when the man holding the gun is blind
May 9th, 2023 at 11:15 am
Antonio Brown & Jackson Mahomes go walking into a bar together. Watch the place clear out.
May 9th, 2023 at 11:26 am
Focus on the trenches was the right move. Now the Bucs can grade correctly and see if the skill players are good enough moving forward or need to be augmented/replaced.
Now we will see the QB battle play out, how good the WR depth truly is, which RBs emerge and which pass rushers also break out, if any.
May 9th, 2023 at 11:33 am
Liberate ME13 for draft picks?
That is a thinking man right there.
May 9th, 2023 at 12:39 pm
What if Trask is good? What if!
May 9th, 2023 at 12:41 pm
Avast! Those Shoals of Tankeria have hidden Caleb booty
May 9th, 2023 at 1:03 pm
Ye gods! Nobody cares what label is given to what the Bucs are doing this season. What matters is the quality of the team that we field in September. We’ll have quite a few faces added to the roster are starting players are not yet determined at several positions.
Stop it with the labels, which is just useless yakking.
May 9th, 2023 at 1:06 pm
For whatever reason, the Bucs always spend decades with bad Quarterbacks. Looks like Jason is headed in that direction again. Two unknowns at QB, an unknown kicker, no OT, and a poor HC. What could possibly go wrong? Preseason optimism followed by disappointment when the bullets start flying. Rebuild or Reload, call it what you want, but my guess is that the Bucs organization knows how bad this team is going to be.
May 9th, 2023 at 1:51 pm
Joe – Cody Mauch IS a “superior athlete” for an OLine player.
His speed and agility are in the highest range – “Elite”!
Mauch’s overall RAS score was 89th best out of 1,294 Tackles drafted since 1987.
That’s TACKLES – not Guards… Mauch will be one of the more athletic Guards in the NFL if what Licht said about moving him inside is true.
Here’s what NDSU offensive coordinator Tyler Roehl had to say about his star Lineman – “Cody is a freak athlete. He’s so athletic and I think that’s why he’s in the position that he is. … I think Cody is still on the rise and trending upwards.”
May 9th, 2023 at 3:03 pm
Why are some of you even fans?! It’s gotta suck to be absolutely miserable every day.
May 9th, 2023 at 3:40 pm
If 2023 has a top 5 defense, which is possible, you ignore the record and keep Bowles.
Someone good will want the offense which only needs qb, lt,and rb.
And then in 2 years it’s sb time again. Get rid of Bowles in 2027
May 9th, 2023 at 9:06 pm
The cry baby’s are out tonight.
May 9th, 2023 at 11:38 pm
As has been stated by many long serving, astute Bucs fans who know football…
The current headcoich could take the Super Bowl winning 1985 Bears and coich them to a 6-10 record.
Licht is retooling for his own offload, and then reload. Starting with proper coaches.
May 10th, 2023 at 12:35 am
“I love Payne Durham as a block-first tight end”
———–
Where are they getting that from? From what I read, he’s not a good blocker. However, as I brought up after we drafted him, watching his tape, his plays are all over the place. In some tape he looks like a fast undersized pass catching TE, and in others he looks like a lumbering tall slow as molasses stiff. My theory, which I have no idea if it’s correct or not, is that he had a growth spurt before his last year of ball – because he physically looks like he’s 2 or 3 inches taller in some of the clips. Of course I’m going off TV angles, so who knows, maybe I’m full of it.
May 10th, 2023 at 3:07 am
Soft reboot?
I believe I read somewher that we have 9 of 22 starters left from the Superbowl roster.
Bowles excuse number 57 being set up me thinks.
May 10th, 2023 at 3:51 am
Rod you sir are not seeing things.
Needs work on blocking.
Fast and agile on one play slow and lumbering on the next. I noticed the same things. Two things however were consistent. He catches the ball well and he doesn’t go down easy after contact.
May 10th, 2023 at 7:59 am
How about we all just wait and see how the season plays out all this negative talk don’t mean nothing . You can find something negative on every team in the NFL. All this Todd Bowles bashing ain’t going to change the nothing at this point. Either you’ll bucs fan or not I’m guessing a lot of y’all are going to hope we lose this year ..
May 10th, 2023 at 12:36 pm
Joe:
I don’t know if you have watched any of the video of Mauch, but if you classified him as not athletic you should go and watch it and if you have and concluded he is not athletic then you need to see an optometrist.