The Bucs’ Offseason
June 16th, 2019
Banking on hope?
The Bucs are sure putting a lot of stock into guys that have yet to prove anything in the NFL.
They’re rookies and green-as-grass young defenders who have, at best, struggled on the field of play, to suggesting the Bucs have the running backs necessary to produce a ground game.
Joe sure hopes the coaching staff can develop the rookies and turn other players around. But it is this dependence on guys suddenly transforming themselves into good players that makes Ryan Wilson of CBS Sports take pause.
Wilson graded the Bucs’ offseason a “C” despite hiring the respected Bucco Bruce Arians. And Wilson used a quote from Arians that jumped out at him.
Arians also understands that Winston can’t do it alone.
“Give [Jameis Winston] a running game,” the coach said at the time. “Give him a defense and see how good he can be. I think we can limit (turnovers). Never get rid of them. There’s nobody that ever does it. But you can limit turnovers. And you talk about it. You talk a bunch about it on the practice field. That’s when it gets ugly. ‘What the (expletive) was that?'”
Give Jameis a run game? Unless you count pulling 30-year old Andrew Ellington out of mothballs, the Bucs did no such thing this offseason. Now Arians swears he has the running backs already on the roster to produce. Yet Peyton Barber and Ronald Jones were likely the worst one-two punch in the NFL last year.
Look, Joe loves how hard Barber works. But that doesn’t mean a hill of beans. Joe can find plumbers and landscapers that would try like hell to run and “work hard.” It’s all about production. Former Bucs coach Dirk Koetter said it best. The NFL is “a production league.”
Though nobody at One Buc Palace will say the following on the record, you don’t have to be Maxwell Smart to figure out this organization believes the previous coaching staff failed on several levels, from developing young talent to putting players in the right spots to succeed.
June 16th, 2019 at 12:09 am
Considering that those who are drafted to the NFL are the cream of the crop of the college players…….
My bet is on the coaching staffs of our recent past have sucked
The proof will come early in the season IMHO
June 16th, 2019 at 12:40 am
Let’s not forget there could be a trade or 2 happening, but we should be able to sucker punch our way to a 3-3 record to start. Also with other teams not knowing what these rooks are capable of gives us that short term advantage. So yes we could see a disaster again but we’re expecting it as usual. You can never fix a mess this huge with one draft I’m more concerned with injuries at this point than anything else so far not that big of a deal. When the hitting starts though…?
June 16th, 2019 at 2:45 am
Trade Brate to the Pats for Rex Burkhead straight up
June 16th, 2019 at 5:09 am
“… this organization believes the previous coaching staff failed on several levels from developing young talent to putting players in the right spots to succeed”.
It’s really insignificant if they do or don’t think they failed … the last organization is gone & all that’s important is where we are NOW and where you’re GOING. BA & TB didn’t start off with a plethora of talent on defense (thus the large turnover?) but there was enough there to build on (LVD, Vea, Allen, Nassib, Gholston, Davis, VHIII, Whitehead, Evans, and yes, Ryan Smith & a couple others like Bond, Spence & hopefully JPP). Add in Ndamukong Suh & some other FAs like Barrett, Bucannon, Brice plus the infusion of talent we got in the 2019 draft and this defense has reasonable POTENTIAL. Now it’s up to THIS coaching staff to develop the young players AND the veterans so that they fit what TB is trying to evolve to for a defensive scheme. They may or may not gel right out of the barrel when the bullets start flying, but this team strikes me as a being a bunch of fast learners.
I’m admittedly less concerned about the defense than I am about the offense. But it’s not the RB stable that concerns me, it’s the OLine. Still don’t feel comfortable with our starting RG situation, nor with our OLine depth. But I’m holding out HOPE that we’ll add a veteran OLineman before season starts (as well as a veteran RB). With those two additions, we’ll be OK.
June 16th, 2019 at 5:25 am
#veaforfullback
June 16th, 2019 at 6:45 am
In watching some of the recent turnovers, Benonoch either knocked the ball out of Jameis’s hands or bumped his arm when Jameis was trying to throw. He doesn’t seem to be getting in the way of the right people. Hope the right side of the line gets addressed. The health and longevity of Dotson also needs a more proactive approach, IMO.
June 16th, 2019 at 6:58 am
Joe’s first sentence, “The Bucs are sure putting a lot of stock into guys that have yet to prove anything in the NFL” pretty much says it all. Due to lack of cap space, Arians has no other choice but to do what he has and say he likes the guys on the roster. Stills song, “Love the One You’re With” applies. Out of 40 plus seasons I’ve been a Bucs fan, they are usually irrelevent by Thanksgiving Day. And in a long string of coaches to go with unproven players, we have seen some like Sam Wyche and Lovie Smith who had taken their teams to the Super Bowl fare worse than those who had never been HC for a down in the NFL (e.g, Raheem and Schiano). There is usually nothing wrong with “hope” in a tough situation, but Arians is waaaayyyyyy too quickly being annointed as the guy who saved the Bucs, when he hasn’t even held a practice with the Bucs in shells yet, much less a single down in an NFL game. Slooooooowwww down.
June 16th, 2019 at 7:01 am
@Bob in Valrico…good point, and not making fun of your observation, but I have to laugh. With all of the excuses others make for why Jameis isn’t cutting it, you just added another one as fodder for them to throw out: “Other players knock the ball out of his hand.”
June 16th, 2019 at 7:09 am
Maga,
Getting Licht to address team needs with players that fit the scheme is a step in the right direction,IMO.
June 16th, 2019 at 7:13 am
The power of positive thinking should not be underestimated. If you believe you can, I know you can. This team after many moons is finally cancer free. Let that sink in for a minute, ladies.
June 16th, 2019 at 7:16 am
I’m not sure they can displace the Saints quite yet, but I think they’ll stomp Atlanta and Carolina. Bet
June 16th, 2019 at 7:18 am
Maga ,
You are right ,also saw Charles Sims do the same. As for Jameis, I heard on the radio of 11 recent games we lost by 7 points or less, Jameis also had one or more turnovers in 7 of those games. Fixing the turnover ratio will produce more wins.
June 16th, 2019 at 7:31 am
#MSGA
Make Sunday’s Great Again
I hate Sundays without football even more than I hate politics. It almost pains me to say that I’m watching golf to mask the pain.
June 16th, 2019 at 7:32 am
@Bob, agreed. Numerous areas needing improvement (turnovers by QB is but one) kill us in many games but often by just a few points.
June 16th, 2019 at 7:34 am
So glad Sims is gone. They held onto him for far too long. When I watched Sims and it me long for Doug Martin, that was the clue.
June 16th, 2019 at 7:59 am
Never been a fan of the bell cow approach to The running ,even less so with a 208 lb back. Every year Martin surpassed 300 carries his next season was injury plagued. Used properly, could have been effective in the screen game. Either the players didn’t execute blocks well enough or the blocking scheme wasn’t good enough.
Always wondered why we ran so many wide receiver screens and few screens to the backs. Sure it was effective, but motion in the backfield adds a wrinkle that defenses need to account for.
June 16th, 2019 at 8:10 am
Defense–
Usually agree with your comments. You are often the voice of reason in a range of chaotic opinions, including mine. My shortcoming is that I cannot seem to conquer my disdain for haters.
With that, I have a different opinion from your earlier post …
“It’s really insignificant if they do or don’t think they (the Koetter group) failed … ”
If Arians and his staff thought the Koetter regime had managed with indubitable excellence, they wouldn’t have taken the job and the Bucs would now be in the midst of another coaching experiment.
Currently, many of us (not all) express hope for a bright future. If Arians had passed on the job offer, that hope for success would have been dimmed into the dubious metaphor of a flickering light bulb.
#verysignificent!
June 16th, 2019 at 8:54 am
There are potential 1000 yard rushers walking the streets. Finding the right RB is not the hard part. You don’t HAVE to be special to be able to run the ball. List average 62.5 yards per game, that’s all. Rookie free agents come in and rush for 1000 yards, 4th rounders outplay RBs on the franchise tag, and guys come off the waiver wire to lead teams in the postseason. You don’t need to have a special RB to run the ball effectively.
June 16th, 2019 at 9:22 am
The worst one-two-three punch last year was Tim Spencer, George Warhop and Dirk Koetter
June 16th, 2019 at 9:39 am
I keep hearing a trade could be on the way. But you got to have something worth trading. Most teams are not going to make a trade for someones garbage players.
June 16th, 2019 at 10:31 am
I have been saying for the last 3 years our biggest problem has been coaching, we have repeatedly addressed areas of need with many different avenues via draft and FA, the big issue I believe was there was a miscommunication between our coaches and litch. He drafted what who he wanted and our coaches tried to force then to play the scheme and style they wanted. While you can blame this entirely on our GM, but with out a clear defined game plan or scheme from the head coach the GM would be left to fill the team with what he perceives as best talent. The question I have is if the FA, and drafting was directed by BA to fill his team scheme, or if he was just handed players and told to here use these guys and I don’t care if they are what you need, it’s what you get.
June 16th, 2019 at 10:49 am
“the previous coaching staff failed on several levels, from developing young talent”
They showed the Falcons camp on NFL Network.
They showed Dirk and he was actually going over stuff with WR’s I think….looked like he was “developing” to me. Hmmm
June 16th, 2019 at 11:10 am
Many of you posting today make a point that replacing the HC with BA will cure all ills. I don’t see it that way. The HC and the GM should, and usually are, joined at the hip. The last two years of dumpster fires are not to be piled solely on Koetter’s plate. We still need a strong and capable GM.
Myself, I lay more blame on Licht than Koetter.
June 16th, 2019 at 11:18 am
Oregon–
If the new HC renders Licht’s draft day/FA decisions as nonexistent, then I disagree, especially with BA at the helm.
As for your take on Licht-Koetter–almost totally agree, but still blame Koetter for his motivational shortcomings.
June 16th, 2019 at 11:41 am
Fire Licht today- total incompetence. King of blame, politicking, and selling.
Glazers are buffoons
June 16th, 2019 at 11:42 am
Con Job
June 16th, 2019 at 12:43 pm
Have they addressed the offensive line at all?
Not sure how you expect the run game to improve without doing that.
Guess we’ll just stick our heads in the sand and pretend…
June 16th, 2019 at 1:48 pm
Still not drinking the..Fruit-punch kool-aid just yet. Remember Buc fans we go thru this hope BS every year. So..I temper mine..always.Still want to see if our O line has improved and..If we are gonna miraculously pull another hidden DE out of some teams A.. Yes our secondary seems to be improved. But who carries the loss weight of JPP?
June 16th, 2019 at 3:17 pm
2018 NFL attendance the Bucs were 30th out of 32. All the talk is just to try to boost ticket sales. Nobody including the coaches really know what’s going to happen until the opening game with the 49ers. They will have an idea what’s going to happen, but the young players it just wait and see. Hopefully they will respond in a positive way and in the 2020 draft we can get help in other areas besides secondary and kicking game. As far as Jameis I could see a little improvement but it is what it is. Tough decision coming in January 2020.
June 16th, 2019 at 5:19 pm
Allcup, I’m not sure what is going to happen this year. However, at this time I predict the 49rs by 10 in Sept.
June 16th, 2019 at 6:37 pm
They will never amid it because they’re trying to be a classy organization for the most part, the oil spill is embarrassing but Jameis is great. I really hope he stays healthy and has his breakout year. We deserve it…
June 16th, 2019 at 10:32 pm
Yes we will have four of our former starters on our OL but no longer do we have Clueless Warhop screwing them up. BA also has had all of them with his Strength Team which will have them stronger and less likely to be injured this year. Our former best OL is Dotson who now is healthy again and ready to play. The two BA OL Coaches have been developing all of them including their backups to play their power game scheme. The biggest failure of our OL last year was Warhop trying to force them to play zone blocking which fails if just one player can’t do it and they never mastered it all year last year. BA also knows the advantage of using blocking TEs in his Offense and he know he has two good ones in both Howard and Auclair and he will use them with his OL just like the Patriots used blocking TEs as part of their devastating power blocking scheme in just steam rolling the excellent Ram’s defense in the Super Bowl! BA will be watching his OL carefully in pads in training camp as they have to take on Suh, Vea, and a stronger, heavier Gholston who has always been a run stopper, with four excellent LBs behind them and then BA will know if he needs to grab a Veteran OLineman to integrate in. He will also know if Cappa is the answer at RT after his development this year. During Preseason he will see if he has sufficient backup OLineman too. I predict with all his development of the full 90 man roster that other teams don’t have all playing with real reps during training that we should win all our Preseason Games and set the table for our coming season even using vanilla plays on Offense and Defense in Preseason. The 49ers are much improved thanks to their former Buc turned GM and they have two great DEs and an All Pro DT in their front four and they would easily defeat last year’s team under Koetter if they had to face them in their first game but I predict BA will beat them and we will be off to the races!
June 17th, 2019 at 12:39 am
BAFan,
They ran both power and zone last year. Zone was a complete mismatch for Rojo and you’re dead on frequently the line allowed a defender to slide right thru without touching him, Barber did much better in the zone scheme but how much better is not worth getting too excited about.
Overall, you got to question the GM who assembled one of the most expensive offensive lines in the league and one of worst at run blocking.
June 17th, 2019 at 4:46 am
It’s not a marvel or anything that we sucked at the run game.
It’s takes serious reps to get good at anything and the reps all went to the vertical passing scheme in practice.
Even when Doug was here, Jameis threw it too high
Looked like a JV team running the screen.
BA will habe EVERY F_€$ing guy moving in sync with a run blocking SCHEME.
Pay attention to the details and ROJO runs free against SF game #1
June 17th, 2019 at 3:26 pm
Get used to the rookie dilemma especially after we sign Winston to a mega million dollar contract where his salary will eat up 20% of the cap space. The only players we will be able to really afford will be 1 – 4th year players. Most won’t see second contracts and veterans will be to expensive.