“You Reevaluate Everything”
January 16th, 2025
Evaluations coming.
This may be a surprise to some — it is to Joe only because Joe is like, “Damn, that soon?”
In six weeks, Joe will be freezing his tail off in the heart of the Midwest for a week at the combine in downtown Indianapolis, which is basically the NFL’s winter festival.
Anybody who is anyone is there. Owners (some), general managers, most head coaches, both NFL and college, scouts up the ying-yang, agents all over the place and, of course, college players who are entering the draft.
By the time the combine arrives, most NFL teams will already have a good idea of their priorities in free agency and the draft.
And at the combine, team representatives (cough, cough) and agents start to mold the general frameworks of offers, even though technically that’s supposed to be a no-no.
So what will the Bucs be looking at?
Bucs coach Todd Bowles was asked specifically this week if he would reevaluate his training and practice regimen in the wake of so many key player injuries this season.
Bowles replied that nothing about the team is spared from evaluations.
“Offseason, you reevaluate everything,” Bowles said. “There’s nothing that goes unturned in the offseason.
“Again, it’s too early to say everything that we’re going to evaluate, but we’re going to evaluate everything.”
Well, Joe doesn’t pull seven figures like an NFL coach. And Joe does not have 24/7 access to One Buc Palace or the players on a daily basis. But even Joe can tell what element of the team needs a laser-focused examination.
What exactly is wrong with this pass defense and how can the Bucs fix it?
Do the Bucs just need new players? Do they need new coaches? Do they need to run different formations other than a 34 defense? Do they blitz too much?
Is it all of the above or some of each?
(Don’t get Joe started on an edge rush. Joe feels like a dog that has barked at the moon each night for two months straight and has finally run out of gas. Right now Joe is in a depressed, exhausted state thinking a proven edge rusher simply will not happen. If it was going to happen, it would have happened by now. It’s like pining daily for Kate Upton and then after two years of constant wooing, stretching the boundaries of stalking, you realize it ain’t gonna happen. Yeah Bucs, you wore Joe out. #WhiteFlagRaised)
It’s been two years running that the Bucs have had a horrid pass defense. And the Bucs added talent in the secondary last year and struck some gold with Zyon McCollum. So Joe isn’t fully convinced it’s just personnel that is dragging the defense down.
As Joe informed readers this week, in 2023. the five teams that finished with the bottom-five passing yards allowed per game have since either had new head coaches and/or new defensive coordinators.
All but the Bucs.
And those four teams finished no worse than 20th in passing yards allowed per game in 2024. The Bucs, like in 2023, finished 28th in that category in 2024.
Something ain’t right with this pass defense. That is what the Bucs need to study with a microscope.
January 16th, 2025 at 12:08 am
“Just gotta get better” – The Mensa candidate
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
January 16th, 2025 at 12:14 am
For years now, Carlton Davis was hurt way to much, Dean also has missed a ton of games over the years, this year Winfield was out most of the time, and many others banged up. Yes you always need a decent pass rush, but a secondary that would not be living on the bench with injuries, seems to be a MASSIVE PRIORITY.
GO BUCS!!!
January 16th, 2025 at 12:25 am
“Again, it’s too early to say everything that we’re going to evaluate, but we’re going to evaluate everything.” What does this mean?
January 16th, 2025 at 12:32 am
^ Sounds like Coach Bowles has been been working with VP Harris.
January 16th, 2025 at 1:18 am
Bowles needs to make some tough decisions about some of his defensive coaches, what they have been doing the past 2 seasons has not been working, the soft zone was a problem even with no injuries and all hands-on deck. I personally think the Bucs need to move on from Todd if he does not make these key adjustments, particularly if he is given an ultimatum from OBP.
January 16th, 2025 at 1:21 am
What’s not write is todd bowles has yes men around him and he doesn’t have the balls to fire them. Which should mean Bowles should be fired as well, it’s his scheme that sucks.
January 16th, 2025 at 1:56 am
Just keep dropping Big V and Braswell into coverage…Diaby too….who needs pass rush, right?
Thats where the evaluation should start! The mirror!
January 16th, 2025 at 3:08 am
Let the offseason fun begin.
January 16th, 2025 at 3:41 am
The Bucs are getting better at drafting talent. That’s clear. Winfield is a stud… I think he was injured and that was likely caused by the huge contract blues. Whatever. Tykee Smith is going to be a stud. We need ILB and more corners and of course edge rushers. Jesus. We are going to have to pick significant talent through free agency. CB depth for sure. LB depth. Its going to get complicated.
January 16th, 2025 at 4:14 am
Someone else to run the defense (DB’s playing way off doesn’t work, the big guys dropping in coverage didn’t fool anybody) and a time management coach, if he’s going to be honest and actually change things.
January 16th, 2025 at 4:21 am
I’ve been writing this here, @ Joebucsfan all season. Bowles need to move or replace his DL and CB coaches. If things doesn’t get better from there he needs to hire a D coordinator if he’s not fired. We had multiple CBs and DLs that had and showed strong potential only to play well for a season then regress and fade off into the sunset. Also, pro football is a tough and rigorous game but, it’s just to many injuries here. Saying that, I think the Bucs need to take a strong look at the training staff. If not mistaking, I think Arians had a few more people helping on the training staff that Bowles let go when he took over as HC
January 16th, 2025 at 5:47 am
It’s weird to think, what some Bucs fans consider the “Gold Standard” for bad defenses were the Smith Brothers, Mike & Lovie, but both of them had higher winning percentages as NFL Head Coaches than Todd Bowles does.
Mike Smith winning percentage: .589
Lovie Smith winning percentage: .479
Todd Bowles winning percentage: .449
January 16th, 2025 at 7:25 am
This secondary has struggled the entirety of Bowles’s reign as DC/HC. Even with all of our starters healthy. So, yes something is seriouslying wrong. How many times have we heard the “communication” excuse? How many times have we watched opposing teams pick apart our secondary? We don’t get interceptions because we rarely challenge the pass. When you consistently get your a$$ handed to you by rookies, 2nd string & even third string QBs something is seriously wrong. If over the course of the season or season to season you noticed a marked improvement things would be different, but you don’t see that, it’s the same thing game after game. If it weren’t for the outstanding offense this team would be picking in the top 5 in the draft.
January 16th, 2025 at 8:37 am
Day 1-76, I thought the same exact thing. Huh?
January 16th, 2025 at 9:14 am
Shane 247 posting facts about this HC is not going to go over well with some of these posters.
January 16th, 2025 at 9:27 am
All teams, including the Bucs, should look at every part of the organization after a season – this is what Bowles is talking about. Some organizations will take it seriously and will make changes, some will pay it lip service and not do anything.
If you’re very serious, you bring in outsiders to review groups. I would do this with the strength and conditioning group with a focus on hamstring and calf injuries. I have the impression that Coen is a learner and his staff will seriously look back at their season.
I don’t think Bowles is open to outsiders opinion, so he and his staff will review their season. Bowles and his staff have been together too long and I don’t think there will be truly tough discussions necessary to change the defense.
Licht and his scouts have probably already reviewed last years draft and player acquisitions. They have a tough job acquiring defensive talent when you have defensive coaches who are unsuccessful.
January 16th, 2025 at 9:39 am
So basically all those other owners & FO’s understood that what they were doing wasn’t working & were smart enough to make a change… all except the Glazers & Licht. Makes sense.
January 16th, 2025 at 10:02 am
It is hard for me to see a person reevaluating himself objectively enough to fire himself as a DC. I believe Todd loves to do that job too much. Jason Licht will be charged to do a separate evaluation and report to the Glazers.
Wish I could be that fly on the wall and see what is going on behind closed doors.
January 16th, 2025 at 3:03 pm
ALSO… if it weren’t for the outstanding offense we’d be playing again this weekend 🙄
January 16th, 2025 at 3:11 pm
With all due respect those aren’t facts. Those are questions and opinions.
If more people posting here knew the difference maybe we could have more meaningful discussions.