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Tampa Bay Buccaneers Offense Preview
By now we all know that the Buccaneers fell short in the Super Bowl to Tom Brady and the Patriots. Despite that loss, last season was the first one in quite some time that Bucs fans could be excited about as the team looks to be poised for a bright future under this new ownership. Now that the offseason and preseason has come to a close lets take a look at how the Buccaneers will shape up this season.
Quarterbacks
Last year Famous Jameis didn't put up numbers quite like he did in his rookie season as the run game really carried the offense but Winston was still a solid quarterback. Completed 66% of his passes for 2,895 yards and 17 touchdowns and had a QBR of 100.2 on the season. Winston will head into this year looking to put up some more impressive yardage and touchdown numbers with a few new toys to work with as we'll get into a little later. Tampa has some new faces backing up Winston this year as last year there was Mike Glennon and T.J. Yates. Both of them walked and tested free agency so the Bucs needed some new quarterbacks. The #2 entering the season will be former Georgia Bulldog Aaron Murray. He was signed to a 1 year contract in free agency and had a solid preseason so head coach Dirk Koetter named him the #2 to Jameis. However Murray does have some competition for that spot as the Bucs drafted Mitch Leidner in the 6th round this offseason. The rookie Golden Gopher has the potential to be a solid backup for Winston but after his showing in the preseason it's pretty evident it's going to take some time. Leidner doesn't have the strongest arm and had quite a few under-throws to open receivers. He also seemed to have some accuracy issues as well. There were a few throws over the middle where he'd throw 5 feet in front of the receiver giving him no chance to catch the ball and even missed a few targets standing still on curl routes. It wasn't a pretty performance for Leidner hence why Murray enters the year as the #2 QB on the depth chart.
Half Backs
The two-headed attack of Doug Martin and Charles Sims III returns for another season to lead the Buccaneers backfield. Last season they carried the offense as Martin racked up 1,227 yards and 12 touchdowns while Sims put up 585 yards with 3 touchdowns. The days of an offense giving the ball to one guy for 35 carries a game are gone and this Buccaneers backfield reflects that. Martin and Sims are both very solid backs and Tampa added a third back to throw in the mix as well. Lance Dunbar, the former Dallas Cowboy, was signed to a 2 year contract in the offseason and will definitely give the Bucs three solid options in the backfield. Sims is also on the last year of his contract and the Tampa front office isn't sure if he'll be coming back next season so Dunbar has a chance to be #2 to Martin next season.
Wide Receivers
Vincent Jackson signed an extension mid-season last year so he'll be back for another season with the Bucs to pair up with Mike Evans as the 1-2 punch to this Tampa Bay passing attack. Evans and Jackson both put up similar numbers last season as Evans had 717 yards and 4 touchdowns on 45 receptions and Jackson had 755 yards with 5 touchdowns on 46 receptions. Neither of them put up incredible numbers, as like we've mentioned the offense was carried by the run game last season, but the Bucs are expecting their receiving core to be much improved this year. Brian Hartline, last year's slot receiver, tested free agency and they re-tooled their depth at the position as in the offseason they picked up second year receiver DeMarcus Robinson in free agency and also drafted Dede Westbrook out of Oklahoma in the 2nd round. Westbrook will miss the first couple regular season games with a dislocated elbow he suffered in the preseason but once he comes back he'll be slotted right into the slot receiver spot. While he's gone DeMarcus Robinson and speedster Kenny Bell will be getting some more touches. Bell returned kicks and punts last season but after a few solid performances in the preseason he impressed the coaching staff enough to give him some time at receiver this year while also still handling the returning duties.
Tight Ends
Austin Seferian-Jenkins returns as the starting tight end and the third member of "The Dunkaneers" but the front office gave Winston some more targets at the position as well. The veteran Vernon Davis was signed to a 1 year contract and he'll be the #2 tight end while the former Rutgers Scarlet Knight Tim Wright returns for his second stint as he signed a 2 year deal with the team. Even though Davis is getting up there in years he's still a serviceable, arguably even solid, option at the position and he'll add an interesting dynamic when him and Seferian-Jenkins are on the field together. Wright was a receiver in college who converted to tight end in the pros so he's strictly a receiving tight end. His blocking is sub par but the Bucs are confident he can provide another threat in the passing attack.
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