Improvement Needed
February 1st, 2020
Needs help in backfield.
The Bucs are a sorry team when it comes to running the ball.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The offensive line. Everybody blames the offensive line. Somehow, folks haven’t been able to pin the rotten running on Jameis — but give them time.
All Joe knows is three of last season’s starting five offensive linemen started for the Bucs the last time the team had a 1,000-yard rusher in 2015. Two of those three were also rookies that year.
(And no, Joe doesn’t buy the offensive line getting pinned with everything wrong from a Red Chinese coronavirus to an African locust plague.)
The Bucs were last in the NFL this season in yards-per-carry. Last! And their leading rusher, Ronald Jones, had a meager 724 yards rushing, which is nothing.
And you wonder why Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians had Jameis launch the ball so much?
Jenna Laine of ESPN decided to take a look at this woeful group of Bucs running backs.
Running back Peyton Barber is an unrestricted free agent. Ronald Jones wound up overtaking him for the starting job midway through the season; Jones averaged 4.21 yards per carry compared with Barber’s 3.05. But Jones is still a liability in blitz pickup. Dare Ogunbowale, the Buccaneers’ third-down back, also surrendered 5.0 sacks. This is a group that needs some improvement.
“Some?” It needs a massive upgrade.
Joe is OK with Jones. One of the last Bucs running backs to hit 1,000-yards is a big fan of Jones. Maybe he just needs to be fed more?
If Joe were calling the shots at One Buc Palace, Joe would sign a free agent back and draft one (J.K. Dobbins in the second round?).
There is no question running back is the weakest element of this team. Upgrading this position very well could be the difference to deliver meaningful January football, or Bucs players heading to the Bahamas the first week of January 2021.
February 1st, 2020 at 9:04 am
Bechton in the first, Dobbins in the 2nd, an defensive tackle in the 3rd.
February 1st, 2020 at 9:05 am
Watch and listen to the OLs announced as the SB starts… the OL needs to be addressed in the draft and I am talking early and often… we are reaping what Jason Lite has sowed in his time here “building “the roster
February 1st, 2020 at 9:08 am
Dobbins in 3rd no earlier than that. We have to many holes to plug on defense and the oline. 1rd aj espinoza 2nd isaiah wilson 3rd. Bpa
February 1st, 2020 at 9:09 am
Espinosa is gone then kinslaw in the first
February 1st, 2020 at 9:17 am
Kindles would be awesome!!!!
February 1st, 2020 at 9:55 am
Joe is wrong!!!!!! The “Weakest element of this team” is the front office!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The gm is going into his 7th offseason and how many years have we read the same exact article!!!!!!!!!!!! The “real” question is why are the local media scared to up the subject of GM??????????????
Go bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 1st, 2020 at 9:58 am
10 minutes of actual highlights is actually pretty significant. He reminds me of a smaller version of Elliot.
February 1st, 2020 at 10:00 am
IMO Taysom Hill has potential to be a Lamar Jackson type QB.
He is a restricted FA. If Bucs offer him a decent contract, Saints will have to choose between Hill and Bridgewater, assuming Brees stays.
Bucs could then draft a QB and have lots of cap room to re-sign the D , maybe a FA OLineman or RB and possibly Perriman.
February 1st, 2020 at 10:02 am
Still a fan of Delpit in the first, but would be happy with any of the top tackles, or Kinlaw depending on what free agency brings. 2nd round is where Licht and Arians have no option in my mind, get Dobbins if he is still on the board, end of story. Personally I would rather have see Etienne, but that’s not an option. CEH22 would be a great 3 down back if Dobbins is gone by our second pick, but if he’s there, Dobbins needs to be made a Bud.
February 1st, 2020 at 10:05 am
Leveon bell and jets have mutual interest to part ways
February 1st, 2020 at 10:13 am
“Bechton in the first, Dobbins in the 2nd, an defensive tackle in the 3rd.”
That would be great.
Dobbins is explosive. He outplayed Etiene vs Clemson.
He is a real baller, I wish he was a little taller
If he had a girl, he could call her.
February 1st, 2020 at 10:22 am
Need more help than the draft alone can provide… trade for Trent Williams. Open competition in camp and best one gets LT spot. With Williams for Dot and Cappa another year wiser… our running game picks up even with the same RBs… even better if you find an upgrade to play with Rojo.
February 1st, 2020 at 10:53 am
Dobbins is one of three top players in this draft on my wish list, the other two Young and Burrows will be long gone. Being an OSU alum I followed him closely. He is better than Zeke, more deceptive than Taylor, and one of only a few that can make an O-line look good. He may very well be within reach at 14 and Buc fans would be thrilled to have him in their backfield. Would take a big load off Winston or whoever lines up under center.
February 1st, 2020 at 11:27 am
Cam Akers in the third is wayyyyy better value than Dobbins. And he’s a better overall back anyway lol
February 1st, 2020 at 11:32 am
I agree with Joe that our running game is not the fault of our OL!!!
I also agree we need another RB..to replace Barber. We need a larger more effective smash guy RB to complement ROJO.
But this statement Joe is just WRONG!
“Ronald Jones, had a meager 724 yards rushing, which is nothing.”
It’s not nothing it’s the result of BL’s play calling and game planning and it ignores ROJO’s true value to this team.
ROJO rushed for 724 yards on JUST 172 carries for a 4.2 yard average…along with 6 TD’s and a 49 yarder . BTW he added another 309 yards receiving including a 42 yarder..he AVERAGED 10 yards per catch!!! He had a total of over 1000 yards total offense.
To put that into perspective lets look at Zeke Elliott’s stat lines. He gets 300 carries a year. Totally different back but if ROJO got 249 carries last year he would have ended up with over 1000 yards.
I’m not throwing BL totally under the bus…if we compare ROJO to the back whose style he is expected to replicate…Kamara…averaged about 180 carries. Probably a good number for ROJO. Where BL did mess up was in passing!
Kamara has 81 catches in each of his first three years. After exploding as a rookie his average per catch is dropping..from 10.2 to 8.8 to 6.6.
AGAIN…ROJO averaged 10 yards per catch last year. Oh but what about hands? Surely Kamara’s are better…uhhh..not really. Kamara catches 80% of the balls thrown his way while ROJO catches 77.6% of his opportunities..a virtual wash.
So disagree with Joe completely about ROJO…But I do agree the OL is not the problem..we do need a great mauling RT to improve…and a beast mode back to replace Barber. I like Peyton but he’s a tweener…he’s not explosive and he’s not a mauler…kind of a mediocre hybrid.
We are just two players away from a very respectable running game. We need a beast to make 3 and a yard or less automatic.
February 1st, 2020 at 12:13 pm
I remember the days when 724 yards was pretty good. Yikes!
February 1st, 2020 at 12:31 pm
Kalind
You not allowed to think an FSU player is good on here without being accused as a homer. Don’t you know the rules?
February 1st, 2020 at 12:44 pm
How many 10 + uns got called back because of calls (phantom), how many time said the offensive line re-establish the lone of scrimmage. How many times did we just force the run right up the middle, did we ever run off tackle, not only that, us watching the game knew when we would run the ball, if we knew, I am sure the defense knew and if your offensive line can’t re-establish the los, then that run will generally result in a short gain or RB getting hit in the backfield.
February 1st, 2020 at 12:50 pm
This kid is a work-a-holic, mentally tough and strives for greatness he called his over 1000 yard sophomore season a failure. This is the kind of mentality the Bucs need. If we drafted him # 14, I wouldn’t complain, he’s the kind of player that makes the guys around him better.
February 1st, 2020 at 1:23 pm
We need a big slamming back who can always pick up 1-2 yards on 3rd down. Day 3 Patrick Taylor, Jr. He missed the first half of 2019 due to injury, but look at his 2018 numbers.
February 1st, 2020 at 3:31 pm
AJ or kinlaw in the 1st
OLine in the 2nd
perine, dobbins, akers in the 3rd
safety in the 4th
GO BUCS!!!!!!
February 1st, 2020 at 3:41 pm
“There is no question running back is the weakest element of this team. ”
blah , look at o-line
February 1st, 2020 at 4:11 pm
RoJo avg. 10.8 carries a game, doesn’t matter who we get or draft, if they only run 10 carries a game, we will still be at the bottom of the barrel
February 2nd, 2020 at 12:01 pm
Kalind:
You get what you pay for. Let’s see Florida State finished where in the rankings? Ohio State pumps out top running backs every year. Florida State gave us Jameis Winston. Dobbins runs circles around Ackers in any venue.