Running Game Still Sad
August 19th, 2023
“Hey Sean, you might start.”
Joe has been harping on this since February. And it is glaringly clear now.
The Bucs cannot run the ball. At least, they cannot run the ball unless Sean Tucker or Ronnie Brown is carrying the rock. And they are undrafted rookies.
(Brown is the only Bucs running back who seems to get yards after contact. Tucker just seems to get better and better after being off a football field for some seven months after being detected with a heart-related issue in December.)
Bucs coach Todd Bowles wants the Bucs to be a running team in a passing league. Hey, if you have the horses, that’s great. Right now, it seems the only two guys who can run are projected backups (maybe they shouldn’t be backups?).
If you are like so many who habitually, immediately blame the offensive line, well, continue to howl at the moon. Does Atlanta have five blocks of granite on their line? New Orleans? Joe could go on.
The NFL still allows running backs to dodge would-be tacklers, run over defenders and generally dodge dudes wearing a different color uniform. Yes, shocking, Joe knows.
If Bowles wants to run the ball, he and his offensive staff better get s(p)it together damn quick because there is only one more worthless preseason game left.
August 19th, 2023 at 10:44 pm
My take away on this game is if Baker falters the Bucs have a talented replacement. Trask looked dam good tonight. Some sweet throws!
August 19th, 2023 at 10:44 pm
hopefully, the starters get the run going, it wasn’t pretty.
August 19th, 2023 at 10:44 pm
I mean we’re missing our best lineman and our starting center. Had our guard as our center today . Our left side is a rookie and 2nd year guy. Wtf do you expect??
August 19th, 2023 at 10:45 pm
This is a BIG problem.
Bucs defense may play good but if the run game doesn’t rev up this season is going no where.
August 19th, 2023 at 10:47 pm
Fortunately the starting leftside of the OL has yet to play in a pre season game.
But the problem is that Hainsey/Leverett have underwhelmed in the interior the last two pre season games.
Too many tackles for loss against Bucs RBs this pre season. Not acceptable.
August 19th, 2023 at 10:47 pm
A. We haven’t seen White
B. We haven’t seen the left side of the OL
C. We haven’t seen the actual offense
D. Vaughn was never the guy. Tucker will be 2nd string
August 19th, 2023 at 10:48 pm
Bowles will start the wrong players,
August 19th, 2023 at 10:49 pm
The Bucs might take a hard look at the players the Jets cut at RB and D-line, two deep positions on that team. The Bucs now have some valuable inside intel on those players.
August 19th, 2023 at 10:49 pm
I agree with BF1988. Vaugh looked too slow getting started. Bucs have some young guys with good speed and good hands. If the o line can block for either Baker or Trask the Bucs may have an exciting offense. I don’t care which qb starts. We have two decent qbs. Bucs may need to replace the 3rd qb.
August 19th, 2023 at 10:49 pm
I don’t want them to run the ball anyway. Hopefully they are hiding something or else this team will be as boring to watch as last year
August 19th, 2023 at 10:49 pm
ATL’s OL wasn’t getting blown up like Bucs tonight. They actually opened up running lanes for their backs to run thru. The Jets were living in our backfield.
August 19th, 2023 at 10:54 pm
Wait, you mean to tell me it wasnt all Leftwhiches fault? Shocking….
August 19th, 2023 at 10:55 pm
Can’t judge the run game yet. Hope we see all the first team starters at every position next week.
August 19th, 2023 at 10:57 pm
Yea run game is still sad so we’re all these backup lineman. No starters on the field so can’t say that yet. Tucker didn’t look like he struggled to get yards like sneak Vaughn. 4 roster spots, Vaughn is gonna end up last on the depth chart. I don’t see how you could keep Tucker on the bench all year he has to get some Carries
August 19th, 2023 at 10:58 pm
It’s not some crazy howling at the moon. It’s a simple, objective claim that the offensive line doesn’t block well enough to allow the run game to be successful. It’s nice if the RBs can make people miss, and I actually think the Bucs RBs are just ok, but proper blocking (or at least ok blocking) is the main factor. If the OL is consistently getting blown up, the running game won’t be successful. Idk why this is so controversial to the Joes
August 19th, 2023 at 10:59 pm
If we use Sean Tucker as our bellcow and use White and Edmonds as compliments, we can/will have an effective/dynamic running game.
If we don’t use that strategy and the above mentioned roles, our running game will prob be stagnant.
August 19th, 2023 at 10:59 pm
I wonder if 3.5 per attempt Lenny is regretting his decision to leave the Nucs granted no team wants him based on his cruddy film from last year.
August 19th, 2023 at 11:00 pm
Good point Mr Editor, hopefully Licht is already got his targets set.
August 19th, 2023 at 11:01 pm
To be clear, this is just about the RBs being able to get to the 2nd level, to get in space. Once the RBs can get past the mess at the line of scrimmage, it’s on them to be shifty and fast enough. But the OL needs to get them started, the clear a path.
August 19th, 2023 at 11:01 pm
As Slypilot says, we still don’t know enough to call them sad.
The O-line has not been whole yet
The receiving corps have not been whole
The Play calling also has not been whole
Because of that and the poor hurt of Wolford, Trask pulled this game out of his a##.
August 19th, 2023 at 11:02 pm
The point I have made before is that we have a team that was designed around the passing game. You can’t just flip a switch and turn the team into running juggernauts. We don’t have the backs for it. Nor do we have the line for it though Joe’s point about the rest of the league not having a perfect O-line is pretty on target. I have high hopes for the line, though I think without Jensen we are screwed if the roster stays the same. That said, LIcht always finds treasure in another man’s trash. There will be roster casualties that we could make use of on the line.
Either way, Bowles’ tendency to try and fit square pegs into round holes doesn’t leave me with any optimism for this season. Who knows? Maybe the impending implosion of his career will make him bend for once.
August 19th, 2023 at 11:04 pm
Sean Tucker makes guys who evade our poor interior blocking miss and still gets quality yards. That’s what we need in a RB in order to have a successful running game this year because our blocking will prob be subpar most of the time, unfortunately.
August 19th, 2023 at 11:05 pm
Man we got some young speed at receiver and they showed good hands too! Cuts will be tough decisions but speed kills! Matching up with Godwin and Mike we got some burners with good hands and foot speed. FG kicker had too many misses hitting the uprights. Looks like he has good distance but just missed too many.
August 19th, 2023 at 11:11 pm
Overall, I saw lots of reasons to be hopeful.
I’m too tired to do a recap, but I was pleasantly pleased. We will win our division.
August 19th, 2023 at 11:13 pm
Wild Bill, that was Blankenship missing from up close. The other guy didn’t play. Damned if I can remember his name. LOL.
August 19th, 2023 at 11:18 pm
Any word on Wolford? I honestly had no choice but to use the bathroom just then.
August 19th, 2023 at 11:24 pm
It was the offensive line, and it is the offensive line.
August 19th, 2023 at 11:25 pm
Going to agree with you Joes. Running game looks depressing overall after 2 games. Hopefully, that’s because the team is purposely displaying a vanilla offense during preseason. The running game is dependent on offensive line. From the 2 games we have seen with very little of Tristan Wirfs. Looks like the o-line is going to be an issue for at least the first half of this season. I think it will be solid by second half of of season though. Jason Licht and John Spytek and the rest of the talent identifying personal of Bucs management through there 10 years now have shown that one of there strengths is having a solid o-line. Disregard last season though but overall Licht and Spytek and the rest of that management team regularly keep the Bucs having the players necessary to have solid o-lines most seasons.
August 19th, 2023 at 11:36 pm
Sean Tucker actually looked really good in my opinion. Vaughn not so much..
August 19th, 2023 at 11:40 pm
Leverret should be moved back to guard, he kept getting blown off the line which led to negative runs.
August 19th, 2023 at 11:49 pm
I know this isn’t the popular opinion. But overall I like what I saw from Trask during tonight’s game. Since Ira already reported Baker is going to be starter. I hope to see mostly Trask playing most of next weekend’s final preseason game. Trask didn’t have Evans, Godwin and R.White and many other starters in there tonight. And he still looked confident and in control of that offense. And here is the best stat Kyle Trask had all game. Ready for it…he didn’t turn the ball over at all. I want to see more Trask during final preseason game. Look I think the qb that starts the first half of this season is going to have it harder than the whichever one is starting during second half or season. Those reasons are as follows. The o-line without Jensen and with Wirfs playing a new position and with rookie Mauch and etc.. the o-line is going to take probably about the first half of season to find there way to being a solid unit. Second reason is, Baker, and other players are in a new offense and regardless of how much prep they put in during offseason abs camp there going to be growing pains, ups and downs for entire Bucs offense during first half of season. And my biggest reason is OC Dave Canales has never called plays for a pro football team during a regular season ever. He is going to have ups and downs and growing pains. So he his effectiveness as a a playcaller will be rough for probably first half of season. He will be atleast much better by end of season. I suspect he will be an effective OC and play caller by end game of season. Overall I think our beloved Bucs are in for a struggle for first half of season. As with any sports team and nfl team injuries will determine a team’s success. Least injured teams usually have the better records by end of season. So far Bucs injury list is not giving hope to the season. Lastly, us losing Gage is not a loss. We hardly had him playing let alone being impactful in games last season. I’m sorry to Gage, nothing personal but with any team, business or job or whatever goal that requires people to do it. The best ability is always availability and Gage has rarely been available since he joined our Bucs. Anyway, Go Bucs!!
August 20th, 2023 at 12:18 am
IDK what he’s showing in practice, but based on the 2 preseason games so far, I don’t think Vaughn makes the team. He looks slow, with poor vision.
August 20th, 2023 at 12:34 am
@Mr.Editor, bingo, I was thinking the same thing. Especially if we can nab a saftey they cut. But their D line is fierce too.
August 20th, 2023 at 12:42 am
Wolford has a neck injury….the feed I was watching were focused on the Jets all game and thats what they updated. Probably pulled a few ligaments but I think he’ll be ok, just need some time to repair He wasnt doing too bad before his injury….good for a 3rd.
But we better get another 3rd in quick, Mr Licht!!!!
August 20th, 2023 at 2:06 am
Does the highly disappointing Sneak Vaughn even make the team or are the RBs White, Edmunds, Tucker and Brown?
August 20th, 2023 at 2:53 am
Ronnie Brown looked great.
I wish they’d give him more carries earlier in the game, but obviously they have him targeted for the practice squad and they’re not wanting him to be on anyone’s radar. But, mark my words, he’ll be this years Thompkins. I’m sure he’ll get a call up at some point, and if he gets a chance to play, he’ll stick on the roster.
August 20th, 2023 at 6:19 am
The running game looks like it’s gonna be the best it has been in the last decade and Sean Tucker is the real deal.I know it’s hard for people to see it but he will end up being the best we have.The Bucs are gonna be hard to stop and hard to score on
August 20th, 2023 at 7:22 am
Someone mentioned Jet players who might be cut. Maybe that’s why the Jets didn’t want a second practice. They didn’t want us to see the players they may try to sneak on the P.S. in a couple of weeks.
August 20th, 2023 at 7:49 am
Joe I think maybe you saw a diferent game than I watched.
Geez!
Go Bucs!
August 20th, 2023 at 8:08 am
Well, I got my wish to see Leverett at Center. I will not be wishing for that again. Looks like Hainsey is the guy.
August 20th, 2023 at 9:08 am
As much as I like Sneak…if Tucker balls play him.
August 20th, 2023 at 9:58 am
Sean Tucker player comparison for me is Priest Holmes, laugh all b you want, time will show this
August 20th, 2023 at 10:31 am
This is easy … cut Vaughn and Laird. Keep Tucker and Brown.
August 20th, 2023 at 12:23 pm
I would take a look at that RB Abanikanda . He injured his leg and likely won’t make the team given less room on the depth chart signing cook and breece hall and knight ahead of him. If the injury isn’t too serious, he had some juice.
August 21st, 2023 at 12:23 am
Fred, if you think we are a shoo-in for the Division, you haven’t been watching the very scary Saints.