2nd Best Quarterback; 4th Best Running Backs?
June 18th, 2023
Running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn
It’s a safe bet the Bucs hierarchy would have the team in full rebuild mode if not for the weaksauce NFC South.
Joe is not saying the Bucs are bad or will be bad, but strapped by the salary cap following the exit of Tom Brady is a combination that would have most franchises looking to rebuild. The Bucs, however, aren’t battling a 12-win beast of a team in the division or a rival with an elite quarterback.
In fact, the Bucs probably have at least the second-best 2023 starting quarterback (Baker Mayfield) in the division and a roster bursting with talent as well as question marks.
So general manager Jason Licht and Team Glazer are playing to win.
And that’s what has Joe a little flummoxed by the Bucs dumping their most productive running back and not replacing him — in a divsion loaded with running backs talent and during a draft-class year that was oozing talent at the position.
Rachaad White, Ke’Shawn Vaughn and Chase Edmonds may be primed for a breakout season with a retooled line and a playcaller who understands scheming the run, but it still feels to Joe like the Bucs might be asking for a minor miracle.
Former Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik seems to feel the same way.
Joe is a big Dominik fan because Dominik remains a big Bucs fan ten years after getting fired from the team that employed him for about 20 years.
Dominik, now the SiriusXM NFL Radio draft guru and co-host, was on the air last week breaking down teams’ running back groupings.
“Sadly,” Dominik said, he has to rank Bucs backs as the worst in the NFC South. Dominik talked about how he likes Rachaad White, who he said answered the bell in the passing game. But Dominik said he just can’t put the Bucs ahead of another team. Joe can’t argue.
Joe is a Chuba Hubbard admirer in Carolina (4.9 yards per carry, 12.2 yards per catch), and the Panthers added Pro Bowl/Super Bowl champ Miles Sanders.
Atlanta is loaded at running back. Heck, beastly Corarrelle Patterson has become an afterthought weapon out of the backfield since the Falcons drafted Bijan Robinson in Round 1 to complement 1,000-yard rusher Tyler Allgeier.
In New Orleans, the Saints pushed all-in with the signing of Jamaal Williams in free agency. He broke Barry Sanders’ Lions record with 17 touchdowns last year. Oh, and they still have Alvin Kamara and drafted a quality running back.
Joe is pulling for White and Vaughn to shock the NFL. A good start would be shocking the division.
June 18th, 2023 at 10:25 pm
Draft guru? We have all seen Dominik”s draft, and he is no guru.
June 18th, 2023 at 10:34 pm
I may be brain dead but can’t find any info on the internet. Has Fournette signed with another team after being released by the Bucs? If the inability to run the ball last year was the lack of scheming and play calling by Leftwich, perhaps the new o-line and improved offensive plan under Canales would argue for bringing Fournette back into the fold. Is that a possibility?
June 18th, 2023 at 10:44 pm
Fournette has always been overrated and jt seems Bucs fans will be the last to know…
Dominik is the last person that I trust on player evaluation. Cmon, Clayborn drafted over Cam Jordan? Resigning Clayton? All in on Bowers and let Bennett walk. Signing Derrick Ward? His opinion on football is worthless. He’s a used car salesman. Talks a good game but his product is garbage. He’s proven himself to not be knowledgeable. Mark Barron over Luke Keuchly?
June 18th, 2023 at 10:59 pm
How about best QB and third RB. Mayfield has won a playoff game and Carr hasn’t and Carr has been in the league longer. I will take our RB’s over Carolina without McCaffery
June 18th, 2023 at 11:46 pm
Damn Knuckle heads talking about a rebuild on a team full of young talent because a 45 year old quarterback retired, I mean how long can he be the goat? Ask Michael Jordan, age catches up to everybody. Anyway White is better than Lenny which ain’t saying much and he is last in the division until he otherwise, everyone else is proven. baker we’ll have to wait and see.
Every fan base is optimistic at this time of year. Off-season fans think white and bakers will be probowl worthy lol I’m not wrong yet
June 19th, 2023 at 12:36 am
Sometimes I truly wonder how in the world people in and around the NFL landscape get in or stay in any position to be called guru.
Dominik is at the top of that list. He was largely a dismal failure during his tenure here and “fan” or not most of the stuff quoted here from him just reeks of the same inane ideas he had when he was GM here.
But nobody in there right mind would say the Bucs have the best running backs in the division. Drafting a running back anywhere in this years draft would have been problematic. Of our draft pics (hindsight) where would we have gone running back instead of the player we got?
1 (19) DL Calijah Kancey BPA and 1st round RB? Not
2 (48) G Cody Mauch Line is/was a problem
3 (82) OLB YaYa Diaby JTS?
5 (153) ILB SirVocea Dennis Replace White/LVD
Simply priorities and Fournette stunk it up last year running the ball on a big contract.
Go Bucs!
June 19th, 2023 at 1:14 am
We just need to be respectable in the run game. If we can usually make a single yard or two when we really need it, I would consider that sufficient.
June 19th, 2023 at 6:39 am
No name, and rookie backs break on to the scene all the time. There’s a reason Cook, Lenny, Zeke, are all unemployed right now. The running back positon has been down graded through the years. Now Dom is saying we need a big name back? No wonder he never got another GM job.
June 19th, 2023 at 1:29 pm
Blaming our RBs last year with that makeshift o-line, predictable play calling and vanilla schemes is like blaming a QB when a receiver drops a pass. Lenny is dependable, doesn’t fumble and is a great outlet receiver. He, White and Sneak were a solid group. Mayne not All Pro, but solid. Why hasn’t Lenny been signed elsewhere? Simple. Teams don’t want to pay RBs big money unless they’re under 25 and Lenny wants to get paid.
As for Carr and those slimy fellas down in N.O., they not only have 2 solid backs but don’t sleep on Taysom Hill being a difference maker. I think Carr and Mayfield are about even but adding a change-up with Hill gives them another dimension. With their defense, it pains me to say it but I think they’re the team to beat in our division. The good news is I think we can.
June 19th, 2023 at 9:07 pm
Hill in NO is gonna be used more as a receiver this year they said.
I’m not scared of Kamara and he might get suspended anyway.
Bijon still has to prove it in the NFL.
Jamal Williams?
Really?
I’m not scared of any of these rushing attacks.
Carolina would be my #1 and after that it’s up in the air.