Sizing Up Where The Bucs Can Win
July 21st, 2023
Plan to revitalize running game?
The Bucs have very solid ares and are only missing a few pieces.
Yeah, people can mock Kyler Traskfield. And the offensive line — it is always their fault, you know? (Whatever “it” is, people will always blame the offensive line.) And of course, can somebody, anybody, get the Bucs an edge rusher? Please?
Frank Schwab of Yahoo! is not a believer But he typed he can understand how people can study the roster and make a playoff case.
You can talk yourself into the Buccaneers being pretty good. They should have an elite secondary with a few top players still in the front seven. On offense, Chris Godwin and Mike Evans help any quarterback and maybe a scheme change in the run game helps the Bucs vastly improve in that area. It’s still a team that won a division title last season, and it’s not like the rest of the NFC South got dramatically better this offseason. If the Buccaneers get reasonable quarterback play, it’s possible they win another division title. That wouldn’t be a bad outcome in their first season after Tom Brady.
Joe fully agrees with Schwab. And maybe, just maybe, the scheme change is exactly why Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht did not address running back despite a draft filled with stud backs for the league’s worst running game.
Perhaps Licht knew enough about what first-year Bucs coordinator Dave Canales plans to do with that running attack? Perhaps Licht knew how horrendous SpongeBob Leftwich was in (not) developing a run game?
“This Joe” is sure if Baker Mayfield throws for 35 attempts or more a week, then this team is toast. So why then didn’t Licht go get a running back?
Maybe the answer is staring fans right in the face.
July 21st, 2023 at 12:27 am
Still plenty of good backs in FA as well so if the 1st 2 games we don’t run well, I can see us signing someone like Hunt or maybe even bring playoff Lenny back.
July 21st, 2023 at 2:30 am
I can’t wait until Sean Tucker gets cleared to play so we can stop hearing about how they didn’t draft a running back in the draft. Maybe they like most teams had a 2-3rd round grade on Tucker and thought the chances were good his heart condition would clear up. The last I heard he was expected to be cleared to practice by camp.
Vaughn could excel in this new system and I’m excited to see how Ronnie Brown, Chase Edmonds, and Patrick Laird do too. Rb is the easiest position to plug in late in the process and get production early on. I could see some good backs getting let go in the final cuts and the Bucs snagging them if their backs aren’t impressive or injuries happen.
July 21st, 2023 at 4:09 am
Right now we don’t have the cap to sign a good FA back anyway. The process has started with the guys we got, we’re going to see where it goes.
July 21st, 2023 at 4:50 am
Stud backs in the draft? Yes…But…
I believe the Bucs think that what they have will be serviceable if not great. I will say this again. Being that we had other priorities like O-line, edge rush, D tackle, we could/should not have taken a RB until the 5th round without trading up, I don’t think we had a huge supply of “stud” backs in the 5th round. Dennis was the better value considering our ILB situation. 6th round? Deuce Vaughn or Jose Ramirez. Its a toss up to me. We got two edge rushers instead. I’m OK with that.
Go Bucs!
July 21st, 2023 at 5:02 am
Fogot to mention Payne Durham. Can you say red zone target? Still no on the RB there.
Go Bucs!
July 21st, 2023 at 7:32 am
Why does the OL thing have to be such a joke? Maybe fans were too hard on the OL in the past, but in 2020 and 2021 the OL was amazing, and in 2022 they were bad. That seems like a reasonable take. Anyway, I think the Joe’s know the OL was bad but just like messing with the readers a little bit.
July 21st, 2023 at 7:37 am
Read somewhere that Kareem Hunt wants about 7-8 million. Doesn’t sound unreasonable for what he brings to the table.
July 21st, 2023 at 8:49 am
“Read somewhere that Kareem Hunt wants about 7-8 million. Doesn’t sound unreasonable for what he brings to the table.”
It’s too much considering he’s coming off one the least productive seasons’ of his career and signed a 1 year deals for $3.2M last season. Carriage drawn by more than 1 horse will get you further faster
July 21st, 2023 at 11:58 am
I’d easily pick the BUCS to win their division if based solely on their starting lineup. Unfortunately, injuries are a major part of the game and the Bucs are mighty slim at every position on both sides of the ball when it comes to backups.
July 21st, 2023 at 9:20 pm
Scotty Mack great point. We have legit starters mostly across every position but we don’t really have much depth. We are really going to need the injury bug to stay clear of 1 buc palace this year for a chance to repeat as div champs