Josh Grizzard And The Bucs Defense
February 20th, 2025
Rookie Bucs OC Josh McDaniel.
Rookie Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard wants something that might not soothe Bucs fans.
Grizzard wants shorter drives after the Bucs ranked third in the NFL last season in time of possession at 31:41 per game.
The Super Bowl champion Eagles ranked No. 1 and the explosive Lions were No. 2.
Scoring faster sounds great, and theoretically it cuts the chances for drive-killing mistakes, but it’s not ideal when your defense is soft like the Bucs’ was in 2024.
“We do want push the ball down the field a little bit more. That can create a little bit shorter drives,” Grizzard told The JoeBucsFan Show on WDAE radio on Saturday. “You’re not necessarily going through 12-play drives, 11-play drives all the time. And that’s going to be dependent upon the personnel, so it’s something to look forward to doing this spring and getting rolling for the season.”
Indeed it will depend a lot on personnel.
The Bucs should be more explosive if a healthy Chris Godwin returns and takes pressure off second-year receiver Jalen McMillan. And Joe would love to see growth from tight ends Devin Culp and Payne Durham, who have flashed a lot of potential behind Cade Otton. Speedy Trey Palmer had 39 catches as a rookie and nearly was invisible last season, so there’s potential there. Palmer is 23 years old.
Joe also is intrigued to see how much of Mike McDaniel’s Dolphins offense shows up in Tampa.
Grizzard told The Drive on WDAE that without two years under McDaniel he wouldn’t have been qualified to interview to work for the Bucs a year ago.
Grizzard stressed that years with McDaniel taught him “manipulation of defenses through motion and the utilization of tape.”
If Grizzard does shorten drives, that would represent another reason to pray the Bucs defense tightens up.
February 20th, 2025 at 10:46 am
A perfect storm may be brewing for the Bucs. Scoring often & quickly while Garrett pins his ears back is a solid recipe. That’s the same dish they served the Chiefs in SB LV. Make it happen JL!
February 20th, 2025 at 10:53 am
Yes to what Smashsquatch said. I like Grizzard’s thinking on this. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to drive the ball farther down field with the weapons at Mayfield’s disposal. Pair that with a better pass rush and we be Bakin’.
February 20th, 2025 at 10:54 am
Palmer is the new Darden. Plays scared and a dead snook is more physical.
February 20th, 2025 at 11:01 am
With the opposing Defenses concentrating on taking Evans out of the game it made it more difficult to throw downfield. Everyone else on offense who could actually catch were short to intermediate WR’s & TE’s. Sounds good in theory, but we may need another down field threat to make this a reality. A Tyrek Hill type of player!
February 20th, 2025 at 11:05 am
No risk it no biscuit! Go Bowles!
February 20th, 2025 at 11:24 am
Palmer will be lucky if he’s not cut at some point.
February 20th, 2025 at 11:39 am
@PSL Bob
A Tyrek Hill type of player would be nice — provided that player doesn’t bring the locker room cancer aspect of Tyreek Hill along with him.
In short, *like* Tyreek Hill, but *NOT* Tyreek Hill.
February 20th, 2025 at 11:42 am
We can’t trade for Garrett and fulfill our needs at different positions on defense. Anyone that thinks we can do all of that and pay him a QB salary is delusional. He wants to break the banks AND play for a contender.
February 20th, 2025 at 11:46 am
LMAO. If we don’t get our Defense fixed, we are gonna have to score a lot more often. Because the opposition is going to be putting up mega pts just like us.
February 20th, 2025 at 11:59 am
If they score, I don’t care if the drive is 2 plays or 12. Burning the clock only matters when you don’t score.
February 20th, 2025 at 12:14 pm
I agree with Grizzard on shorter drive times. We have the answer in house. Better usage of Devin Culp’s 4.47 speed and size 6’4″. If Chris is here or not, he Delvin Culp can provide deep down field targets and YAC that will play into OC short drives plan. now go get a FA Edge Rusher and LB and Corner in draft to go with Dennis V and T Smith to make the D better. Let Do this. Go Bucs
February 20th, 2025 at 2:15 pm
Scoring quickly means the defense doesn’t have as much time to rest.
If, on the other hand, the defense can get a few stops early, while the offense scores on every possession, the oppositions offense tends to become one dimensional, playing from behind. That can make things easier for the defense, but depth will still be a factor.
As long as there are more points on our side of the board when the clock gets to 00, I’m okay with that.
February 20th, 2025 at 2:20 pm
Griz needs to show the D coaches in practice how pathetic the soft philosophy is, then behind closed doors, tell the 50% head coach, 50% defensive coordinator what time it is.
February 20th, 2025 at 2:39 pm
What we should be caring about is Time of Possession (TOP) in the game, not worrying about how long each drive takes. We can shorten each drive AND concurrently have MORE drives (and score MORE points) and still produce the same TOP.
Last season the Bucs had the 3rd biggest TOP at 31:41 per game average. Our TOP was over 2 minutes LESS in 2023 at 29:35, ranking us #17 that year. Bucs scored 502 points in 1094 total plays in 2024, but only 348 points in 1047 total plays in 2023.
IOW our offense was vastly more productive in 2024 than it was in 2023. Our offense was on the field MORE in 2024, and our defense was on the field LESS. Ironically, our defense gave up significantly MORE points (385) in 2024 than it did in 2023 (325), even though it averaged over 2 minutes per game LESS on the field.
Bottom line IMO is … FIX THE DEFENSE. I want our offense to be as productive as possible (ie, score max points) and our defense to be as stingy as possible (allow minimal points). They each have to stand on their own merit.
February 20th, 2025 at 2:45 pm
Zzzzzzzzzzz……….
February 20th, 2025 at 4:02 pm
Aqualung … That’s the most I’ve seen you contribute to the conversation on JBF in the years you’ve been coming here (under many different handles obviously).
Good to see that your spell checker still works.
February 20th, 2025 at 5:08 pm
i think he’s right. we weren’t stopping anyone either way, so give us more possessions. ours or prolly TDs, lots of opponents are FGs
February 20th, 2025 at 8:28 pm
Wow, Grizzard using common sense. Trey palmer might get utilized.
February 20th, 2025 at 8:36 pm
Here’s some insight you won’t believe. In the comments section, we read that
– time of possession matters
– complementary football is important
– winning the turnover battle improves your chance of winning
Never would have thought about it. Jeremy’s Crusts. How lucky we are .
February 21st, 2025 at 12:50 am
Huh? He wants a more explosive offense when his defense cant stop anybody?
Cool theyll just get rolled faster tban they already did.
February 21st, 2025 at 7:11 am
lol … if its and buts where candy and nuts it would be Christmas every morning