This Must End
July 11th, 2024
Doomed by coach?
Look, Joe is not about to sit here and say Rachaad White is a good running back. Nothing other than blind allegiance to the pewter and red would allow for someone to make such an empty if not misleading statement.
If you think White’s baseball card numbers are bad, boy, you ought to see his advanced stats. We’re talkin’ Rosie O’Donnell at Paradise Lakes bad.
(As a receiver, he’s just the opposite.)
But you know what? Former Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales did White no favors.
Just based on his confession yesterday on local sports radio, White’s still irked he fell 10 yards shy of hitting 1,000 yards rushing last season. If White had just about any other offensive coordinator, he may have had that 1,000 yards rushing that he wants so badly.
(To be fair to Canales, as much as he called for White to run the ball, White likely wouldn’t have flirted with 1,000 yards with anyone else.)
Now Joe gets why Canales wanted to run the ball up the middle so much. Canales said last training camp that a consistently good running attack must run up the middle and the only way to get better at it is to keep pounding.
Once that running attack gets going, Canales said, it sucks the life and heart out of a defense. Great theory! Problem was, Canales no longer had Marshawn Lynch to work with and Mike Alstott wasn’t coming out of retirement.
Joe knew Canales liked to run up the middle. But it didn’t dawn on Joe just how much Canales ran up the middle until Joe saw the breakdown of Bucs runs in the Sharp Football Analysis 2024 Football Preview.
Canales’ fetish for running up the middle bordered on obscene. As you can see in the graphic below from Sharp Football Analysis, Canales called for runs up the middle three times more (136) than his next favorite run: running behind Cody Mauch (45). That’s just nuts!
Further, which is much more aggravating (yet it shouldn’t shock any Bucs fan), the most success the Bucs had running the ball was running to the left side. Gee, guess who plays on the left side? Some guy named “Tristan Wirfs.” Real shock, right?
Yet Canales called fewer run plays to the left than any part of the field, despite having more success running left. Madness!
Again, Joe gets it you want to run up the middle. But at some point, don’t you have to be responsible and realize that maybe, just maybe, that play isn’t working and do more of what works better?
The NFL isn’t a measuring stick contest of trying to show who has the biggest pair. It’s about scoring points. You only have X-amount of snaps in a game. Constantly slamming it up the middle for nothing is so irresponsible on so many levels.
Joe’s old man often said, “It’s one thing to be stubborn. It’s another thing to be stubborn and dumb.” Running constantly up the middle for next to nothing is stubborn. Knowing you have better success running somewhere else and not doing so is stubborn and dumb.
Please, new Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen, don’t be this stubborn (and dumb).
Graphic courtesy of Sharp Football Analysis.
July 11th, 2024 at 7:09 am
And Canales is presumed by all the expert talking heads as some sort of an offensive genius. I don’t think so
July 11th, 2024 at 7:09 am
It’s rerun season.
July 11th, 2024 at 7:11 am
That is horrifying.
July 11th, 2024 at 7:18 am
hpoefully new OC will change that
July 11th, 2024 at 7:19 am
“Yet Canales called fewer run plays to the left than any part of the field, despite having more success running left. Madness!”
I remember us discussing this very thing last season
July 11th, 2024 at 7:50 am
“Rosie O’Donnell at Paradise Lakes bad.” Lol!! Good one Joe!
July 11th, 2024 at 7:55 am
Canales was a mediocre OC…..didn’t take advantage of running behind Wirfs, didn’t utilize Godwin in the slot where he was excellent, run game was statistically predictable…..hard to understand his approach. I think he was primarily brought in to rehabilitate Mayfield, which he succeeded at. He’s a great QB coach but his play calling was awful.
July 11th, 2024 at 8:14 am
Interesting analysis Joe, except none of his terms in that ‘RB Rushing Efficiency By Direction’ chart are defined. How is he defining ‘Success Rate’? Or ‘Early Down Success %”? Or ‘Rushing Elusiveness’? (that one was my favorite BTW).
And that’s not to mention that his numbers don’t add up. Bucs were credited with running the ball 439 times last year. Sharp’s numbers for rushes only add up to 365, leaving 74 runs (about 20%) unaccounted for. Since his analysis covered the complete field from Left End to Right End, I’m kinda curious now what part of the field he left out (runs in the 3rd dimension maybe?).
Regardless, we all saw that Canales ran too much over the middle. When I hear folks talk about ‘running over the middle’ though, I always assume that it’s between the Guards (it’s hard to run exactly over the Center, especially since there’s usually a monster NT waiting with help from the MLB). And since that mid-section was the weakest link(s) on our OLine last year, but our Tackles were the strongest, ‘running over the middle’ makes even less sense.
July 11th, 2024 at 8:26 am
Canales was a wide-receiver coach and QB coach. He only had one year as an Offensive Coordinator. Analysts act as if he is Jesus and the end all of football. I liked the guy, but it did seem as though it was endless running up the middle. I would read articles and comments on here and everyone felt the same too. Other teams knew exactly what was going to happen. We sure did.
I think Coen will have a much better and different plan.
July 11th, 2024 at 8:27 am
If White would have needed 1000 to get Incentive Money Canales may have fed him the ball in the final game. Although when you are only putting up field Goals and not many in the final he may not had that luxury.
2023 Bucs Passed Attempts 568
2023 Bucs Rushing Attempts 439
White’s Rushes 272 for 990 yards. His Rushes Alone were 27% of the total plays and was 18% of the Offensive Team Total.
Had he fought for and extra foot on 30 Runs he would have hit 1000
Had he fought for 6 inches on 60 Rushes he would have hit 1000.
White not hitting 1000 is on him and the Guys leading the way. Not the OC.
What is comes down to is White like many other Men are found wanting of what could have been with an extra six inches 60 times a year.
July 11th, 2024 at 8:30 am
Not sure this proves White is a bad back, but it sure proves Cannales was a bad OC.
July 11th, 2024 at 8:35 am
That first paragraph, in various forms, has probably been used 10 times in the last 3 days.
July 11th, 2024 at 9:00 am
Only reason Cannales looked like a formable Offensive Coordinator was because he replaced Byron Leftwich who might have been the worst OC in NFL history.
July 11th, 2024 at 9:11 am
Let’s be thankful Canales is in Carolina. Coen can’t be this dumb.
July 11th, 2024 at 9:20 am
Part of that is White has been the only thing to write about recently.
What is Joe supposed to do, lie and write that White is a Pro Bowl running back playing for Carolina?
July 11th, 2024 at 9:23 am
It’s beginning to look like the Panthers did us a favor by signing Canales.
July 11th, 2024 at 9:23 am
It didn’t help when everyone knew on first down it was a run up the middle. Byron tried it and it didn’t work, Dave tried it and it didn’t work. Now if Cohen tries it, it still isn’t gonna work. This stable of backs can’t run up the middle, even if there is room to run they refuse to hit the hole. I get it if you run up the middle you can really soften the defense, but this team just doesn’t have that guy on the roster. Someone please get creative calling run plays, and for crying out loud someone just hit the hole hard and stop dancing and promise White you will have 1000 yard season. 4 yards a carry and you would have had a good season. If you don’t, next up please, this should kinda be his last shot at being a feature back.
July 11th, 2024 at 9:27 am
Getting 1000 was a great achievement when the season was 12 games. With a 17 game season now – if a rb can’t get 1000, they are a joke!!!
July 11th, 2024 at 9:27 am
Absolutely. Again, Joe didn’t realize how bad it was until he read Sharp’s breakdown. Todd Bowles shouldn’t be left off the hook either. If he didn’t approve it it, he could have stopped it. He’s the head coach after all.
July 11th, 2024 at 9:29 am
I think Leftwich was doing okay until Bruce left. He and Canales are not that far apart with their stats either.
Agree with Beejezus and others, everyone knew they were going to run down the middle. I liked both Leftwich and Canales, but think Coen will do much better.
July 11th, 2024 at 9:30 am
‘Rosie O’Donnell at Paradise Lakes bad’!…. Thanks Joe! I just shot coffee out my eyes! How do I unsee that?
July 11th, 2024 at 9:31 am
We drafted a C who can move people
We drafted a RB who can run up the middle
We hired an OC who knows what needs to be done
We were the worst running team in the league last year
We have addressed the issue as much as is possible
I’m more concerned about ILB
Hopefully we can address that concern in final cuts
July 11th, 2024 at 9:31 am
🙂
July 11th, 2024 at 9:42 am
Well, if anyone knows about fetishes, its Canales
July 11th, 2024 at 9:43 am
The real comedy is your reading comprehension. Joe is not anti-stats whatsoever. Joe is very much anti-PFF *grades*. Joe has been very clear for years on this. If the tribe use stats, Joe will reference them.
The PFF grades are one of the greatest cons in the 21st century business marketing. You know who else thinks they are a total joke? NFL suits and coaches, including a coach who has eight rings to his name (from two teams) and 266 NFL wins to his resume.
July 11th, 2024 at 9:54 am
Eh, ILB might be a strength. But depth at ILB is certainly a concern. The starters are fine.
Joe would hope a decent player gets unexpectedly cut sometime in August the Bucs could pounce on.
July 11th, 2024 at 10:02 am
Had to run up the Middle.
Our Guards and center last year were so bad, that they couldnt pull or sweep to the edges.
If you cant get a guard or Center to move from his position, and run to the outside of the tackle- then you have NO BLOCKING.
You are effectively running a naked, or unblocked run. If you cant get someone to block the outside linebacker- then you are set up for a big loss every attempt.
As always, an offense is limited by the ability of the players.
Why do you think I complain about how bad the O line was?
“ Football is a game of blocking and Tackling” Vince Lombardi
July 11th, 2024 at 10:03 am
Paradise Lakes?! Back in my paramedic days, I was sent to the VA hospital to take a veteran home to Paradise Lakes. My partner at the time was from Boston. She had no idea what Paradise Lakes was. I said nothing, anticipating hilarity.
It was her day to ride in the back so she had very limited visibility as we arrived.
Her visibility wasn’t limited when we were leaving though. We dropped the patient off and were leaving the park. We rounded a curve and came face to face with 3 fat, naked old men. I thought my partner was going to have a stroke as she screamed in horror. It was hilarious. I laughed so hard, I couldn’t breathe. I had to stop driving. That provided time for more nudity, more hilarity……..and less breathing.
July 11th, 2024 at 10:37 am
That place is residential??? LOL
July 11th, 2024 at 10:44 am
Goody goody gumdrops, another RW article, LOL
July 11th, 2024 at 10:49 am
Oh, boy. Another person whining because Joe has stories, fresh Bucs content, when others are on vacation
Curious what interesting (keyword: “interesting”) story you want Joe to write about.
White made rounds on various media platforms this week. Joe’s not going to ignore those.
Warren Sharp came out with his 2024 preview this week. Joe’s not going to ignore that.
Was Joe supposed to embargo this information? That’s not smart business practice.
You are aware it’s the NFL dead period, no? Lesser sites have nothing. Joe doesn’t believe in copying the practices of failed/failing businesses and shutting down this site until training camp.
July 11th, 2024 at 10:56 am
You could write about the rumor (confirm or deny) that the Joes & Ira went up to Paradise Lakes to ‘sneak a peak’ 🙂
July 11th, 2024 at 11:00 am
That’s Ira’s demographic. 🙂
July 11th, 2024 at 11:06 am
LOL
July 11th, 2024 at 11:44 am
You know what else did White no favors? Hainsey, Stinnie/Feiler, and Mauch.
July 11th, 2024 at 11:58 am
In the first Carolina game:
2:00 left in the game
3rd and 1 on the Carolina 48
White ran the ball to the 17 and went down in bounds to keep the clock running and force Carolina into using their last timeout
He pulled up at around the 30 and kinda coasted to the 17
He easily could have had 10 more yards on that play……
July 11th, 2024 at 12:07 pm
In the Green Bay game:
2:00 left in the game
2nd and 5 on the Green Bay 33
White ran the ball to the 10 and went down in bounds to keep the clock
running
He easily could have had 10 more yards and a touchdown on that play……
He had 1000 yards rushing if not for giving himself up for the team on those two plays….
July 11th, 2024 at 12:22 pm
Bobby M. Says:
Canales was a mediocre OC…
????????????????????
Mediocre would be somewhere around middle/average. 32nd in the run. 21st in scoring is not mediocre.
Canales was nice to the media and to the players. Nice and competent are two different things. Canales SUCKED.
I LOVE THAT JOE finally had his Canales breakthrough. He was Lovie Smith/Mike Smith level of bad.
July 11th, 2024 at 1:19 pm
Joe said: “Todd Bowles shouldn’t be left off the hook either. If he didn’t approve it it, he could have stopped it. He’s the head coach after all.”
Thank you, Joe. There are several who seem to give Todd a free pass for the woeful offense. The past two seasons, Todd was really just the same as Dirk Koetter, only on the other side of the ball.
Fortunately, Todd recognizes that scoring points is more important than controlling clock. 2024 will be different.
#AsToddEvolves
July 11th, 2024 at 1:49 pm
Joe cannot fully kill Canales, which seems to be popular these days. Too many guys had career years or damn good years under him. Too many to be a coincidence.
July 11th, 2024 at 2:09 pm
“Please, new Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen, don’t be this stubborn (and dumb).”
Lets all remember that Canales came out and said he had to keep in mind that he needed to run the ball more – meaning Bowles was telling him to stop all those fancy early season playaction passes and just waste downs running it up the middle.
Maybe this year with a more powerful, natural center in place perhaps the Bucs get 0.7ypa on 1st and 10 up the middle instead of 0.5ypa – but I think that’s a best case scenario.
July 11th, 2024 at 4:30 pm
I will bet you a dollar he does NOT do that in Carolina. That will tell you that’s it’s Bowles.
July 11th, 2024 at 5:06 pm
Okay I must be living in a bubble because before today I never heard of Paradise Lakes. I am even afraid to look it up now. Joe noting it and all the comments told me enough. The Joe’s writing and comments sometimes give me the biggest laughs. Thank you for that!
July 11th, 2024 at 8:03 pm
Canales got a hc gig off of his season. I’d say he did ok. And let’s not pretend a certain defensive minded someone didn’t give him a run play quota. Bowles best defender is the game clock. He’s not afraid to tell you if you listen
July 11th, 2024 at 9:23 pm
Greg Says:
July 11th, 2024 at 4:30 pm
I will bet you a dollar he does NOT do that in Carolina. That will tell you that’s it’s Bowles.
——–
Correct.
Also Canales did a really good job, in particular when you account for the fact he had Bowles looking over his shoulder. For all the crybaby whining stuff, he wasn’t nearly as predictable as Leftwich, actually used the playaction pass, and mixed things up. If Baker wasn’t so wildly inaccurate, they’d have put a ton more points than they did. He got a HC gig for a reason, and I think he might do pretty well in Carolina – if they give him some time, since they’ll need a lot more talent on offense. I think this is going to be a very big loss to Bowles as I fear he’s going to use Copper Top as his puppet, and we’re going to see what Bowles really wants to do, and that is run on 1st down, run on 2nd down, then run on 3rd down, then punt.
July 11th, 2024 at 11:41 pm
The Panthers’ owner sux and is dumber than dirt. Canales sucked the life out of the Bucs offense all season long. He was basically a Stubborn Byron Leftwich. I’m so glad he’s gone. He will fall flat in Carolina and I give him 10 games before the owner pulls the plug and sends him to BestBuy.
July 12th, 2024 at 1:20 pm
Uh, some of us were screaming about this every single week last season, all season long.
And repeatedly running up the middle with no results would suggest the middle of the offensive line wasn’t good enough to run block. But that type of thinking is blasphemy for the Joes for some reason…
July 13th, 2024 at 10:30 am
Not buying what stat boy Sharp is selling. At all. Period.
Go Bucs!