10 Big Bucs Questions As Opening Week Kicks Off — And Before Waiver Claims This Afternoon
September 2nd, 2018
There’s a real Bucs football game in seven days. SEVEN!
With that in mind, Joe is pondering 10 thoughts this morning before the Bucs roster changes again.
*Vita Vea hasn’t practiced since July. Please don’t try to tell Joe the Bucs weren’t expecting a significant impact this season from the No. 12 overall pick. When will it come? Beau Allen is only used to part-time snaps, So the Bucs’ depth will be tested.
*Newcomer free agent DE Mitch Unrein is in concussion protocol, per Dirk Koetter’s latest update. When will he be cleared for duty? D-line coach Brentson Buckner was very impressed by the guy.
*If Vernon Hargreaves starts at cornerback and moves to nickel when appropriate, then who is the next cornerback up? Ryan Smith? One of the rookies?
*Donovan Smith’s injured knee is more than just one guy who could miss a start in seven days. His absence could change the entire game plan, as well as the offensive line alignment. Regardless, Koetter would have to account for Smith’s absence with more multi-tight-end sets and running back help.
*Keith Tandy and Josh Robinson, a couple of very key cogs on special teams, were cut. Robinson was the special teams captain last year. Who picks up the slack? Joe is unnerved at the thought of Chris Godwin getting banged up playing a ton of special teams. He’s very good at it.
*Will Dirk Koetter reveal who will call the offensive plays in New Orleans next week? Surely he knows by now.
*Will Ronald Jones be among the active players on opening day? Joe’s just saying the numbers game might not favor him for that one game. He isn’t much of a special teams player.
*Would anyone bet against Gerald McCoy, Vinny Curry and Jason Pierre-Paul each playing 80 percent or more of the snaps in New Orleans? It feels like the Bucs’ desired defensive line rotation will — and should — go out the window in Week 1.
*Will DeSean Jackson get the primarily load of work as the No. 1 punt returner this week in practice?
*Bucs players are likely to vote on their captains tomorrow. The outcome has no bearing on anything, but Joe is curious to see if the players’ vote reflects any kind of culture change or leadership shift.
September 2nd, 2018 at 10:42 am
Joe…off Bucs question. With the patriots and all their glory and cheating ways. Do you think if Brady was to be cut at this time in his career that a team would pick him up and said team would make the playoffs..(kind of like the Lebron James effect)
September 2nd, 2018 at 10:43 am
Your scaring me Joe. Sure is a lot of unanswered questions one week from opening game.
September 2nd, 2018 at 10:47 am
“The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have selected Will Grier from the University of West Virginia”. It’s coming
September 2nd, 2018 at 10:51 am
Our o-line will be our nemesis….too much shuffling, no chemistry, etc….One more injury and that thing unravels regardless of who is in at QB, RB, etc.
Bucs will need the defense to play lights out…..If we dont see a noticeable difference in the pressure to the point its obvious…we’re screwed. Fitzpatrick cant be expected to get in a shoot out with Brees when he’s playing behind a make shift line. I expect the Saints to put constant pressure of Fitzpatrick and make him beat us….
September 2nd, 2018 at 10:56 am
I was and always am optimistic about opening day but reading this thread scares the hell out of me!
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:04 am
The OL line uncertainties are a huge worry. As Joe and others have said. Hope they can get their act together in time.
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:05 am
Joe…special teams? Joe Dirt, if he comes back, and Cichy, and some more of those hard hitting and fast rookies.
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:06 am
There’s nothing wrong with having some question marks at the start of the season.
We usually go into the season full of blind optimism, and we all know how well that’s worked out around here lately.
The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Hopefully we can get off to a decent start to the season. If we can accomplish that given the circumstances, the future looks bright!
Go Bucs!
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:07 am
Cichy and a couple of the rookies will pick up the special teams slack. Don’t think we will see Godwin out there.
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:10 am
It is good to see that the Bucs Organization is taking the build and develop approach mostly!!!!!! They could have easily panicked like the local media wanted and gone with all old veterans and rejects from other rosters!!!!! What the “real” fans are looking for this year is development!!!!!!!
#trust the coaches!!!!!!! Fix the “real” problem, the roster!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:30 am
JOE, can you or anyone else here please explain why you care so much about who is calling plays on Sunday? Ultimately its Dirks responsibility either way.
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:32 am
I keep reading about the loss of certain players hurting our ST coverage. Really?
If those guys were all that good then they were stuck with some dismal teammates or perhaps Kascor is a horrid ST Coach.
Bottom line: Tampa Bay was the only team in the NFL — joining the 2015 Bears as the only teams in the last four years — to give up two kickoff-return touchdowns in the same season. The entire league had seven total in 2017, over 256 games. And these two returns at the end of the season were both over 100 yards.
Kascor himself has identified this as a major need for improvement. Perhaps some fresh faces…perhaps hungrier…will help…but I have to confess ST’s are something we rarely discuss that truly frightens me and I’m one of the optimists here…not about ST’s though.
At least Anger is one of the best punters in the league which gives us hope there.
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:38 am
Look at it this way. The team’s only going to get stronger with each passing day/week as the injuries heal (provided there’s no rash of new injuries). Hell, we weren’t projected to win the first 3 games anyway.
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:38 am
All very good questions.
*Vita Vea hasn’t practiced since July. Please don’t try to tell Joe the Bucs weren’t expecting a significant impact this season from the No. 12 overall pick.
I’m of the belief that Vita Vea will be declared either active for Game 1 or Questionable (and still play, at least limited snaps).
Vea isn’t even the starter, so I don’t know why this means so much. Even if he missed 1-2 games, it is not like he is absolutely needed. I mean, having him would be a very good thing, but our DT is competent.
*Joe is unnerved at the thought of Chris Godwin getting banged up playing a ton of special teams. He’s very good at it.
Godwin isn’t even the forth WR on the depth chart at this point. He better play special teams, unless Jackson or Evans goes down.
*Will DeSean Jackson get the primarily load of work as the No. 1 punt returner this week in practice?
Probably not. I suspect all the talk of him returning punts was just that. We might see him do one or two in the season, but I do not expect much more than that. He is the #2 WR. They simply cannot risk injury very often.
Godeep66 Says
Your scaring me Joe. Sure is a lot of unanswered questions one week from opening game.
It is “You’re”. As in “You are”. “Your” is possessive. Sorry, writer here…I do the same thing to my wife. Drives her crazy.
As to your statement, I do not see why the questions scare you. There are always questions for every team going into the season. I could probably come up with fifty for every team if I knew anything about them all.
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:40 am
The Bucs should look to bring in Robison and Cooper for depth. These guys can help both lines in the rotation.
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:41 am
I think this team will shut up the naysayers this year. I expect to make it to the NFC Championship Game at least.
I also expect a winning streak after Jameis returns.
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:42 am
Well, we know the Bucs will at least bring in a long snapper.
September 2nd, 2018 at 12:06 pm
Great list of unanswered questions Joe. You have now succeeded in moving me from being ‘cautiously OPTIMISTIC’ to being CAUTIOUSLY optimistic’. Rats.
We already had 1 big question mark to start the season IMO: How effectively will this ‘new’ defense perform to start the season? For us to have any realistic chance of beating the Saints, Eagles & Steelers, we need this defense firing on all 11 cylinders. I had figured that the DLine & LB position groups would be functioning great right out of the gate, but with Vea & Unrein & Beckwith not being available for awhile & with Spence & Gholston ‘underwhelming’, I’m not nearly as optimistic as I was. Not to mention that the Secondary is pretty close to the same as what we started last year, and we all know how that turned out IF the DLine doesn’t improve substantially.
As they say, “Other than that, how was the play Mrs Lincoln?”
September 2nd, 2018 at 12:18 pm
Bonzai Says:
“Godwin isn’t even the forth WR on the depth chart at this point”
Aside from the misspelling of “fourth”, ironically in the same comment you chastised the troll for his grammatical mistake… WTF are you talking about???
Godwin is our 3rd WR – and in reality is our #2b receiver. Coach Monken already said he’s got starting talent and is considered a “starter” by the coaching staff.
September 2nd, 2018 at 12:26 pm
Curious to see who they sign to plug any holes over the next week. We have questions. The coaches have their options. There is a plan and I expect the Bucs will, at the very least, be a contender in December. We will see a vast improvement and Jameis will lead the way. Go Bucs.
September 2nd, 2018 at 12:40 pm
@bonzai: I do apologize for my grammatical errors. I use Siri and she will, at times, get sideways on me.
September 2nd, 2018 at 12:53 pm
The only thing that baffles me is cutting Josh Robinson. He was the ST captain. Too 1-dimensional? Godwin is too valuable to play on ST. He should be the #2 receiver. He’s better than Jackson. Same with Hump on punt returns tho that TD in preseason was fun to watch. We have 4 very talented tight ends now. They will be giving the OLine a lot of help and hopefully drive Sean Payton-UGH-crazy!
September 2nd, 2018 at 12:58 pm
I want to see at least 9 WINS this season. Anything less is unacceptable. 8 wins keeps Koetter employed though. Plug in whomever. Scour the waiver wires. Get her done. NO EXCUSES.
September 2nd, 2018 at 12:59 pm
The optimist says this. Jameis will play against the Saints 12/09 in a very important game that could decide playoff positionin in the NFC South. Jameis will play against the Eagles in a playoff game and Jameis will play against the Steelers in the Super Bowl. Beating all three teams of the games he missed.
September 2nd, 2018 at 1:01 pm
Why keep Martino and Ryan Smith and not Robinson and Tandy? Whatever! It’s not a vote by fans. Another question that has been asked before in another article: how does Spence stand with the coaches? I would like to see him used at the SAM spot every once in a while, just to see what he can do.
September 2nd, 2018 at 1:18 pm
Agree completely with your first question, Dr. Stroud! Tandy is l, at the very least, a serviceable safety and has shown to be more than that when given the opportunity. I was befuddled by the fact he wasn’t starting after arguably being TD defensive MVP of the team in 2016, and I’m absolutely stunned that the team cut him lose given his role on special teams. As for Robinson, i sure hope the team has an eye on a replacement. That guys came up big almost every week on special teams. Those guys aren’t easy to replace and mean more to the team that their paycheck would indicate.
The team is in rough shape if Martino and Smith are expected to contribute. Why not keep the guys that already play significant ST roles?
September 2nd, 2018 at 1:18 pm
Are you serious???
To quote Dirk Koetter, “What do you think?@
September 2nd, 2018 at 1:42 pm
Godeep66 Says:
September 2nd, 2018 at 10:43 am
Your scaring me Joe. Sure is a lot of unanswered questions one week from opening game.
As if you care, you are rooting for us to lose.
September 2nd, 2018 at 1:52 pm
Speaking of special teams… is Kappa good at long snapping?
Without a few weeks to develop chemistry with a long snapper, how can we expect our kicking game to go off without a hitch? That is what scares me. I don’t want to end up losing games by 3 points because of a missed field goal…
September 2nd, 2018 at 1:59 pm
Both…
T – David Sharpe
T/G – Spencer Drango
Would solid additions to this offensive line.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:00 pm
*Would be
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:12 pm
Joe, any chance the Bucs would bring back Clinton McDonald for the first few games of the season while our DLine heals up?
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:21 pm
I imagine we will resign or long snapper after any roster adjustments on waivers. Cutting the long snapper opens a roster spot and give Licht room to mage under the 53 man rule. Once a player is signed, whoever he is replacing can be cut and or long snapper resigned.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:36 pm
They will be moving Unrein to IR/designated to return as soon as Monday and then they will resign a long snapper. According to NFL rules the player moved to IR and designated to return has to be on the opening day roster.
Saints cut their #3,4,5th round 2018 draft picks. Also cut former 2nd round DE from 2016 last year cut their 2014 2nd round pick. Seems Jason L. Isn’t the only GM in the league to not have all his 2nd rounders make it.
Who will help Kamara our at Rb the 1st 4 games while Mark I. serves his suspicion with Rb Joe Williams cut? Saints could be pass happy the 1st quarter.
September 2nd, 2018 at 2:38 pm
*Suspension
Edit button request.
September 2nd, 2018 at 3:27 pm
All I know is whoever it taking Robinson’s spot on special teams better be fast as hell. Him and Ryan Smith were excellent and downing punts within the 5 yard line.
Maybe this year our defense will actually be able to take advantage of that once in a while.
September 2nd, 2018 at 6:18 pm
Joe Says:
September 2nd, 2018 at 1:18 pm
Do you think if Brady was to be cut at this time in his career that a team would pick him up and said team would make the playoffs
Are you serious???
To quote Dirk Koetter, “What do you think?@
——————————————-
Hey Joe(s):
Why was Josh Robinson cut? We have a kicker now. This guy led the ST. Could you guys please find out thru the grapevine? That’s why I c and p yer comment. Talented ST players/team captains are important. STs are part of the offense. This was a mistake. Appreciate it.
September 2nd, 2018 at 6:18 pm
Ndog
I agree.
September 2nd, 2018 at 6:22 pm
Joes: why was Josh Robinson cut? He was the ST captain. ST is now stabilized cos we have a kicker. ST is part of the O. This was a mistake.
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:12 pm
My optimism for this season has already faded…