Bucs Training Camp 2024: Day 10 Practice Notes
August 6th, 2024
A sparse crowd attended the second-last Bucs practice in Tampa to be held in public view, albeit a special interest group. Tomorrow will be Military Day and that will mark the end of Bucs practices open to the public until next summer.
It was almost comfortable out there. The region is still feeling the effects of Tropical Storm Little Debby. As a result, it was very windy with a good chunk of practice under the clouds.
* Did the wind prevent quarterbacks from having sharp throws? Did the wind make a center snap in a shotgun formation sail over a quarterback’s head? Probably not, but it was so windy, Joe would believe it had that excuse been used.
* Baker Mayfield on a play-action hits Mike Evans to the right. The crowd loves how 11-on-11s begin.
* Mayfield tries to connect with Cade Otton at the left hashmark but Jamel Dean has other ideas and knocks the pass away.
* Mayfield pitches left for Rachaad White and he runs for a nice gain.
* Mayfield steps up in the pocket and hits Trey Palmer over the middle between three defenders. Had this been real football it looked like Calijah Kancey would have drilled Mayfield.
* Mayfield dances in the pocket and dumps the ball off to Bucky Irving who immediately gets popped by Zyon McCollum. Joe loves the sound of pads popping early in the morning. It sounds like… victory!
* Yes, the Bucs are in full pads today.
* Stay focused!: Mayfield tries for Jalen McMillan deep over the middle and UDFA Marcus Banks (Mississippi State) picks the ball off as the pass was a tad short. Instead of wheeling and trying to tackle Banks, McMillan was visibly frustrated with how the play developed and looked like he gave up on the play. That’s not right.
* Sean Tucker with a big run up the middle.
* Bucs go back to the same well again and this time Tucker runs off left tackle for a nice gain.
* Undrafted free agent rookie running back D.J. Williams muscles his way off left tackle for a few.
* Payne Durham hauls in a Mayfield pass short and to the right.
* Mayfield throws to White short and to the right.
* Irving tries to run up the middle and got nothing.
* Mayfield steps up in the pocket and hits Chris Godwin down the left side.
* Mayfield rifles a pass to McMillan down the left seam for about 15 yards.
* Tucker with a big gain up the middle for a big gain.
* Kyle Trask throws incomplete and that was more of a money decision than anything. Christian Izien blitzed on the play and would have nailed Trask if he wasn’t wearing a creamsicle don’t-touch-me jersey.
* Trask to the left sideline for Rakim Jarrett who made a crazy catch with his back turned to Mayfield while falling out of bounds, getting both feet down.
* What’s wrong with you, Bryce Hall? You’ve been around the block a few times in this league. There isn’t a football league in America that would let you hold Jarrett’s jersey at the shoulder pad like that from the moment he began his route all the way down the field. What were you trying to prove? How about practicing legal coverage? Even fans in the stands were hollering “holding!” before Jarrett made his cut upfield. C’mon, man. That was about as blatant as holding gets.
* No, there were no referees today.
* Evans and Mayfield connect on a medium pitch-and-catch down the right side. UDFA Chris McDonald (Toledo) looked to have decent coverage.
* White catches a short Mayfield pass to the right.
* Otton catches a Mayfield pass over the middle but the play should have been blown dead. Chris Braswell got in on Mayfield and got close enough to make Mayfield stumble over him before he let loose the pass.
* Mayfield hits Godwin to the right but Joe thinks in normal football outside lineabacker José Ramirez might have had a sack.
* Yes, the pass rush hasn’t thrown in the towel because YaYa Diaby is hurt.
* Diaby was on the sidelines today on floppy hat patrol.
* Joe Tryon-Shoyinka was back on the field today after sitting out practice on Tuesday with a bum shoulder.
* Mayfield rifles a pass to Otton on the left side.
* Play of Training Camp: Mayfield tries to connect with Godwin down the middle deep. The ball seemed short and veteran corner Tavierre Thomas got the pick. But as he turned around to try to house the ball, Godwin alertly ripped the ball out of Thomas’ arms and Godwin races downfield for six. Excellent heads-up play by Godwin.
* Tucker runs right for a good gain.
* Trask hooks up with Palmer on the left side and Palmer is run over. Joe couldn’t get the number of that truck, eeerrr, defender.
Goal line
* Pick! Mayfield tries for Mike Evans at the goal line to the right side and Zyon McCollum was playing to Evans’ inside and was in perfect position for the pick. This McCollum seems to get better and better each practice.
* At the exact same spot Evans was at the goal line in the previous play, this time it was Payne Durham. McCollum comes in a hair too late and Mayfield and Durham get the touchdown. Then, true to his No. 87, Durham punctuates the play with a Gronk Spike.
* Finally! White weaves through traffic — inside! White is so good at weaving through traffic and running to where the defense ain’t on the outside. But finally, Joe witnessed him doing this on an inside run. Finally!
* Mayfield throws an out pass to McMillan on the left side. The pass was a bit too high but McMillan got it.
* McMillan runs left — yes, McMillan — and scores. Per Bucs training camp reporting protocol, Joe’s not allowed to detail any more of the play other than McMillan ran for a short touchdown.
* Mayfield tries to throw the ball through three defenders for Evans at the goal line. Good thing it wasn’t picked.
* Mayfield throws a quick out to Otton on the right sideline.
* Mayfield again tries to throw through three defenders but this time he is successful and Otton is the beneficiary for a score.
* Trask tries to connect with rookie tight end Devin Culp down the left sideline and Culp fights with UDFA outside linebacker Daniel Grzesiak (Cincinnati) all the way down the field. Pass incomplete.
* Trask rolls right and hits Ryan Miller for a nice gain down the right sideline. Aesthetically, this is a painful-looking play. Trask should not be used on rollouts. Please no. Let him do what he does best and sling from the pocket.
* The next play seemed like the offense took too much time. They backed out and started to huddle again. Joe heard Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen holler, “Let’s go! Huddle up! Get in the huddle!”
* Williams up the middle for nothing.
11-on-11
* White off left tackle.
* Mayfield to Otton down the left side.
‘* Mayfield down the right hashmark and the ball is just off of Godwin’s hands.
* Irving stutter-steps up the middle for maybe a couple.
* Mayfield on a play-action tries to hit Palmer deep over the middle and the pass is way overthrown.
* Mayfield hits Irving down the right sideline.
* Tucker tries to run right. As he was about to turn the corner, Ramirez brings Tucker down.
* Braswell nearly sacks Trask.
* Trask tries for Jarrett on the left side and they cannot connect.
* Mayfield hits Ryan Miller deep over the middle.
* White looks to run to the left of Graham Barton and he slips and hits the turf for about a two-yard loss. Joe is guessing White slipped trying to cut inside because Kancey was right there to rock him. White wanted no part of that noise.
* Miller catches a quick out from Mayfield on the left sideline.
* White runs up the middle for maybe two. Dave Canales smiles.
* White catches a pass from Mayfield short and over the middle.
* Mayfield and McMillan make a nice connection on a deep ball down the left hashmark.
* Tucker runs for a nice gain off right tackle. With authority.
* Mayfield runs right and dumps the ball off to Otton on the right side.
* White with a big run off left tackle.
* Irving catches a pass from Trask on the right side.
* Irving tries to squeeze through traffic up the middle.
Goal line
* Mayfield tries to hit Evans in the end zone down the left sideline and second-year cornerback Josh Hayes had excellent coverage to Evans’ inside. Hayes looked like he had a pick but couldn’t hold on.
* Ugly: Mayfield throws off balance and tries to get the ball to Godwin on the right side but throws into a crowd. Incomplete.
Mentioned this first or second day of training camp. Never saw this in special teams drills before this year. pic.twitter.com/VIWifEgxuf
— JoeBucsFan (@JoeBucsFan) August 6, 2024
August 6th, 2024 at 1:27 pm
all for ring around the rosie
August 6th, 2024 at 1:37 pm
Did I get the ban hammer?
August 6th, 2024 at 2:03 pm
Thank you for the notes, Joe! It feels almost like being there. Good hearing about McCollem. Evans guidance is helping him. Coen likes the hurry up. That is great too.
Agree with BucsFan55, special teams ring around the rosie.
August 6th, 2024 at 2:13 pm
Seems like Tucker is making some plays. I hope he can catch kicks as I like him as a kick returner.
Ramirez is making plays but no mention of Watts, watts up with Watts? Who is Ramirez beating on the OL- any starters?
August 6th, 2024 at 2:21 pm
Sounds like Tucker had a good day.
August 6th, 2024 at 2:30 pm
@Jimbobbuc – it has been reported that Watts beat Wirfs for a sack today.
August 6th, 2024 at 2:40 pm
3 picks for Baker, 2 on deep balls. Seems like he’s been struggling on the deep balls.
August 6th, 2024 at 2:43 pm
It would be so great if Tucker actually shows a spark and produces. I would happily add crow in his name to my buffet.
August 6th, 2024 at 2:46 pm
I’d say these are substantially comprehensive mental notes from Joe….are you sure you didn’t write some of these down? amazing!!!
August 6th, 2024 at 2:50 pm
@ Marcus Nerone
I was saying the same thing.
August 6th, 2024 at 2:52 pm
Good stuff as always. Thank you and Go Bucs!!!
August 6th, 2024 at 2:59 pm
@Marcus Nerone – Baker has been struggling with his deep ball accuracy. Last season he only completed 29% of his deep ball passes which was 31st in the league and he had the most attempts.
August 6th, 2024 at 3:09 pm
Super great notes! TyVm. It sounds like we just may have a pass rush!
August 6th, 2024 at 4:34 pm
Wrote them all down. No way Joe could memorize all of that.
August 6th, 2024 at 4:44 pm
Oh @A Bucs Fan
Be careful, pointing out the flaws in Mayfields game will get you labeled a hater here for whatever reason, the BakerBois don’t like that they’re guy may be a few tarts short of a Bakers’ dozen.
August 6th, 2024 at 4:48 pm
Thanks for the report Joe. Sean Tucker sounded like he had a fabulous day. Can he pass block?
August 6th, 2024 at 5:02 pm
@ A Bucs Fan
Thanks for the stats, I didn’t know that. How can you be 31st on deep balls with arguably the best receiving duo in the NFL? Something ain’t right.
August 6th, 2024 at 5:11 pm
Mayfield seems to be regressing. Probably complacency knowing that he has the starting job. It’s a good thing that the running game is going to take over this season
August 6th, 2024 at 5:19 pm
A Bucs Fan … ‘Baker has been struggling with his deep ball accuracy. Last season he only completed 29% of his deep ball passes which was 31st in the league and he had the most attempts.’
I found those stats to be incredulous, so checked them out, game-by-game (I get curious when I see horrible numbers like that). Baker was actually better than that, but not by a huge amount. Here’s what I found using Pro-Football-Reference’s game logs …
o Baker threw deep 113 times on the season (not counting penalty no-plays). He completed 47 of those … 41.6% completions. Still, quite a bit higher than the 29% (every little bit helps).
o Of the 47 completions, 9 went for TDs (32% of our total 28 TDs on the season).
o Of the 66 incompletions, 4 were interceptions.
o Of the non-plays, Bucs’ receivers drew 5 DPIs which helped keep drives alive.
One of the things that struck me was Baker’s deep ball accuracy throughout the season in relation to our won-loss record.
o In the first 4 games, Bucs went 3-1. Baker threw deep 24 times total, and completed 12 of those (50%) with 2 TDs & 1 INT.
o In the next 4 games, Bucs went 0-4. Baker threw deep 30 times total, but completed only 9 of those (30%) with 2 TDs but no INTs.
o In the next 4 games, Bucs went 2-2. Baker threw deep 27 times total, and completed 11 of those (40%) with 2 TDs & 2 INTs.
o In our last 5 games, Bucs went 4-1. Baker threw deep 32 times total, and completed 15 of those (47%) with 3 TDs against only 1 INT.
One of the things that stands out is that he targeted Evans deep A BUNCH (49 times in those 113 passes). Mike caught 24 of those for 7 TDs (out of Baker’s 9 total deep TDs). So ME13 caught basically 50% of his deep targets, meaning that the rest of our receivers caught only 36% of their deep targets. Thompkins was especially bad … 5 deep targets, 5 incompletions with one of those being an INT. Jarrett didn’t fare any better (0-for-2 deep).
My basic takeaway was that Baker literally had a handful of good ‘deep’ games during the season (Games 2, 4, 11, 14, 15 & 16) where he threw for over a 50% completion rate. Bucs went 4-2 in those games. Unfortunately he had 11 games where he threw for 50% or less (sometimes much less), and the Bucs went 5-6 in those games. Still, he finished the season strong (well, except for the last game against the Panthers where he went 0-for-4 deep & we won 9-0 thanks to our defense). HOPEFULLY he starts out strong this year, and gets even stronger as the season progresses. Danged, there’s that word HOPE again Joe.
August 6th, 2024 at 5:33 pm
@DR- I often enjoy your commentary and I appreciate you doing your own deep dive on the topic. However, in this case, there must be a difference in how our respective sources define terms when recording metrics. My resource was Player Profiler which gives many metrics that pro football does not record. Yet I find tons of value in PFR and often cross reference them both. Thank you again for adding to the conversation and providing your own insight. It is good stuff!
August 6th, 2024 at 5:48 pm
Bojim Says:
Sounds like Tucker had a good day.
^^^^^^^^^
JOE-It’s time to get a story in on Tucker. The man was mad-as-hell at himself in the off season. This after his medical eval robbed him of a probably a 4th round draft status. He had a come to Jesus meeting with himself (probably after his coaches told him what the NFL stands for). He dedicated himself to hard work to drastically improve in all aspects of the game. His workout videos were crazy! It’s paying off. He’s had a great camp. He’s this year’s Zyon McCollum.
We’d love to hear what Coen/Bowles/Licht think of the new Tucker. We’d love to hear what his teammates think of him. We’d love to hear how he thinks camp is going and what his goals are.
August 6th, 2024 at 5:50 pm
Love how Joe said Trask morphed into Mayfield after he threw a pass to Jarrett. Fanbois were so confused screaming “no don’t complete it! Wait yes complete it! Yeah Baker!” Didn’t know who to root against. That’s a pretty good Wonder Twins power activate if I ever saw one
August 6th, 2024 at 7:08 pm
A Bucs Fan … I’ve often noticed the exact same thing (stats’ differences among different sources). In the case of deep throws, some seem to use 20 yards as their baseline, while many others (like PFR) appear to use 15 yards as the minimum for the deep throw. That would certainly impact any analysis of deep ball accuracy.
In any event, I try to focus on the big picture, but sometimes that’s hard to do. In Baker’s case however, the ‘big picture’ tells me that deep throws aren’t his forte (despite what some try to claim). Mike Evans made him look good last year by catching about 50% of the deep ball thrown to him (he’d make any QB look good IMO). The rest of the receivers only caught about one-third of the deep tosses (and that included Godwin & Palmer). Baker’s strength is as a game manager focusing on the short & intermediate passing game with a strong running game & strong defense to support him. And it looks like that’s what the Bucs are trying to build.
August 6th, 2024 at 7:19 pm
Listening to 620…Hainsey is 1st string C
If that pick can’t be a starter that changes our whole o line.
Need some magic
August 6th, 2024 at 7:35 pm
@DR Yes! I find it interesting that if we split the difference between both sources it’s 35% which is very close to your analysis for all completions not named Evans. That would also affirm your statement that Evans made him look better than he was. I think you’re spot on with his limitations and strengths. Hopefully he can manage them over the hump this season for a 3rd championship.
August 6th, 2024 at 7:44 pm
A Bucs Fan … Hey I viewed Brad Johnson as a game manager also, and he got us a championship. Took an amazing defense to pull it off, but hey, whatever it takes. Personally I think we’re still a couple pieces short at this point of winning another Super Bowl, but you never know how players are gonna develop during the course of the season.
August 6th, 2024 at 7:51 pm
Baker will do good if the O-Line can buy him some time. We need the O line to step up this year! If that happens then the run game improves as well as the passing game!
August 6th, 2024 at 7:56 pm
Barton is getting most of the reps with the first team.
August 6th, 2024 at 7:56 pm
I wonder if Baker’s struggles with the long ball are due at least in part to his shorter stature?
August 6th, 2024 at 8:13 pm
Thank you Joes
I lost power as the neighborhood flooded. Fortunately for us only streets. Sorry for others whose homes flooded.
With no power and nowhere to go I ran my phone battery down catching up on JBF.com
So Thank you Joes
August 6th, 2024 at 8:14 pm
I really don’t know what people want out of these sessions, I mean I DO – but if the quarterbakcs hit every throw in 11-11 as the offense waltzes down the field like the 98 Vikings, then people will be up in arms and spazzing over the defense. If the defense stops everything then people will be tripping over their d’s to talk about mayfield and freak out over the offense. Between this and seeing just how stupid/useless/worthless people are now at lowes and best buy this afternoon, i realize now mroe than ever that i love my dog far more than any person other than my wife
August 6th, 2024 at 8:20 pm
Defense rules post about bakers long ball was outstanding. Hopefully Joe can add to his february article on the same topic which was more optimistic.
Trask has his flaws but long ball isn’t on the scouting list, sample size too small at the nfl level.
Deep ball issues may affect running game and may be tge ceiling for baker leaving us a question as to what to do with the 20 million cap space ling term. Short run edge is priority, a matter of the right situation
In Jason we trust. He didn’t overpay for baker. Maybe trask can look better or else we might be drafting qb next year.
August 6th, 2024 at 9:57 pm
Enjoy these Practice Notes. What stands out is that our offense will be far different from last year’s. For the better. We’ll be more varied and less predictable. That’s what stands out. If our offense is better than last year’s – we’re going to win baby!
August 6th, 2024 at 10:41 pm
Hahahaha! Thank you for the kind words. Glad to hear your house is dry.
August 7th, 2024 at 2:42 am
Special teams takes on a whole new meaning with that…whatever that is. Can you say redonkulous?
Out of the last 8 plays on 11s (at least those reported by Joe) Coen involved a RB on 6 of them. Two up the gut runs for little gain.
Hmm…This is… as they say here “same same but different”. LOL
Hope everyone survived the hurricane ok.
Go Bucs!
August 7th, 2024 at 2:53 am
SlyPirate Says:
August 6th, 2024 at 5:48 pm
Bojim Says:
Sounds like Tucker had a good day.
I Loved the pick last year and I am in complete agreement with all of your post. Just from reading Joes excellent reports, it seems to me that he is having on heck of a camp!
Go Bucs!
August 7th, 2024 at 4:31 pm
Are we really trying to mimic what KC did last year or the year before hopefully we can come up with our OWN inventive trick plays that actually work in an in game situation.
im excited this year if we can be an electric offensive scoring machine close to what we where in the 2020 and 2021 seasons I know that’s a lot to ask for without TB, Gronk, and a #3 wr that gives defenses a problem but I have a very good feeling about this year but being a Buccaneers fan for so many years I always have high expectations if we can just win the games we are supposed to win and not hand any team victories this year we may have a deep run this year GO Bucs