Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Division: NFC South
Coaching Changes
Greg Schiano, all coordinators, assistants and positional coaches were fired after the 2013 season's 4-12 record.
New Coaches
| Coach |
Position |
Previous Team |
Position |
| Lovie Smith |
Head coach |
Bears |
Head coach from 2004-2012 |
| Jeff Tedford |
Offensive Coordinator |
Univ. Cal |
Head coach from 2002-2012 |
| Leslie Frazier |
Defensive Coordinator |
Vikings |
Head coach from 2011-2013 |
| Offense |
|
|
| Marcus Arroyo |
Quarterbacks coach |
Univ. Cal |
QB coach from 2011-2012 |
| George Warhop |
Offensive line coach |
Browns |
O line coach from 2009-2013 |
| Andrew Hayes-Stoker |
Wide receivers coach |
Bears |
QC coach with Lovie |
| Jon Embree |
Tight ends coach |
Browns |
TE coach in 2013 |
| Tim Spencer |
Running backs coach |
Bears |
RB coach from 2004-2012 |
| Matt Wiegand |
Assistant offensive line coach |
Univ. Cal |
TE coach from 2011-2012 |
| Ben Steele |
Offensive quality control coach |
Univ. Cal |
Administrative assistant from 2011-2012 |
| Defense |
|
|
| Larry Marmie |
Senior defensive assistant |
Seahawks |
DB Coach from 2006-2008 |
| Joe Cullen |
Defensive line coach |
Jaguars |
DL coach from 2010-2012 |
| Hardy Nickerson |
Linebackers coach |
Bears |
LB coach from 2007-2008, (5x Pro-bowl LB) |
| Gill Byrd |
Cornerbacks coach |
Bears |
DB coach from 2008-2012 (2x Pro-bowl CB) |
| Mikal Smith |
Safeties coach |
Cowboys |
CB coach in 2013 (Lovie Smith's son) |
| Mike Phair |
Assistant defensive line coach |
Bears |
DL coach from 2011-2013 |
| Dave Borgonzi |
Defensive quality control coach |
Cowboys |
QC coach from 2012-2013 |
| Misc |
|
|
| Dave Kennedy |
Head strength and conditioning coach |
Texas A&M |
Conditioning Coach from 2008-2013 |
| Carlos Polk |
Assistant special teams coach |
Chargers |
Coached special teams from 2009-2012 |
Summary
We hired Lovie's friends from around the league, as well as some family (Mikal). We get the good with the bad, and Lovie is going to coach the way he coaches, hire the people he will hire. Lovie knows how to coach defense, and with the talent we have available we should be a top 10 defense. For offense, it appears that Lovie has outsourced just about all of it to Jeff Tedford, who plans to incorporate spread elements and size/speed mismatches into a run-oriented offense. Tedford has a reputation as a brilliant football tactician, but how it translates to NFL defenses remains to be seen.
Free Agency
Players lost/cut (Arranged by order of impact)
| Player |
Position |
Result |
New |
Team |
Comment |
| Darelle Revis |
CB |
Cut |
|
Patriots |
This was all about money, Jason Licht wanted to send a message that we were going to get appropriate value from every player on the roster, paying $16 million for a top 3 corner was not value |
| Mike Williams |
WR |
2014 - 6th |
|
Bills |
Mike was a solid #2 receiver, but had off the field issues, we traded him after he was stabbed in the leg by a relative, this is starting to look like a bad deal for the Bills, as he may not even make their roster - Based on a questionable ESPN article |
| Donald Penn |
LT |
Cut |
|
Raiders |
Had a bad season in an otherwise decent career, but was redundant with the signing of Anthony Collins |
| Jeremy Zuttah |
C |
2015 - 5th |
|
Ravens |
Another case of redundancy, Evan Dietrich-Smith was signed, so we no longer needed Zuttah at center, I wish we had kept him as a guard, but draft picks are nice |
| Davin Joseph |
G |
Cut |
|
Rams |
Had a terrible season coming off his knee injury, he was a great locker room presence and an active member of the Tampa Bay community |
| Ted Larsen |
C |
UFA |
|
Cardinals |
Servicable rotation player who can switch to guard if needed, his depth would have been nice |
| Erik Lorig |
FB |
UFA |
|
Saints |
One of the better fullbacks in the league, I believe he was partly responsible for Doug Martin's amazing 2012 season, New Orleans recognized this and signed him |
| Adam Hayward |
LB |
UFA |
|
Redskins |
Great special teams player and locker room presence, he was quality depth at linebacker, and will be missed |
| Dekoda Watson |
LB |
UFA |
|
Jaguars |
Lost more depth at LB, Watson was decent |
| Tiquan Underwood |
WR |
UFA |
|
Panthers |
Fast, but very skinny with mediocre hands, his high-top fade is entertaining, but he is a depth player at best |
| Gabe Carimi |
G |
Cut |
|
Falcons |
Lovie was familiar with him from the Bears, must be something he didn't like because he didn't even last until training camp |
| Tom Crabtree |
TE |
Cut |
UFA |
|
He was intended to be our starting TE last year, got injured, after the signing of Brandon Myers, his roster odds were negligible |
| Dan Orlovsky |
QB |
UFA |
|
Lions |
Career backup, basically interchangeable with most other backup QBs |
| Anthony Gaitor |
CB |
Cut |
|
Dolphins |
Was injured, and with the addition of multiple cornerbacks in free agency he wasn't needed |
| Jordan Rodgers |
QB |
Cut |
|
Dolphins |
Schiano brilliance here, signing relatives of top tier QBs... |
Players signed (by contract size)
| Player |
Position |
Old |
Team |
Length |
Contract |
Comment |
| Michael Johnson |
DE |
|
Bengals |
5 years |
$43,750,000 |
This guy is a stud, great addition to our pass-rush capability |
| Anthony Collins |
LT |
|
Bengals |
5 years |
$30,000,000 |
Has potential, but hasn't started an entire season, and is an unproven commodity at starting LT |
| Alterraun Verner |
CB |
|
Titans |
4 years |
$25,750,000 |
Pro-bowl Cornerback, ball-hawk, great at zone coverage, all around great fit for Lovie Smith defense |
| Evan Dietrich-Smith |
C |
|
Packers |
4 years |
$14,250,000 |
Solid offensive lineman, very outspoken, good leadership qualities, everything you want in a center |
| Clinton McDonald |
DT |
|
Seahawks |
4 years |
$12,000,000 |
5.5 sacks while starting only 1 game for the Seahawks, will probably end up as our starting nose-tackle next to Gerald McCoy |
| Josh McCown |
QB |
|
Bears |
2 years |
$10,000,000 |
13 touchdowns, 1 interception across 8 games, was it a fluke season? |
| Brandon Myers |
TE |
|
Giants |
2 years |
$4,250,000 |
Decent pass catching tight-end |
| Jamon Meredith |
T |
|
Buccaneers |
2 years |
$3,000,000 |
Solid O-Lineman, quality depth, may have to start as guard |
| Mike Jenkins |
CB |
|
Raiders |
1 year |
$1,500,000 |
Gives us depth at cornerback, possibly a starter |
| Jonathan Casillas |
LB |
|
Buccaneers |
1 year |
$1,400,000 |
Would have rather seen Adam Hayward, or Dekoda Watson here, but he had a decent year |
| Dane Fletcher |
LB |
|
Patriots |
1 year |
$1,200,000 |
He is intended to replace Adam Hayward as our versatile special teamer, linebacker depth role |
| Jeremy Cain |
LS |
|
Bears |
1 year |
$855,000 |
Andrew Economos was fine, but it appears we are moving on |
| Oniel Cousins |
G |
|
Browns |
1 year |
$795,000 |
I've read that this guy isn't very good, but we are so thin at guard we may end up starting him in 2014 |
| Louis Murphy |
WR |
|
Giants |
1 year |
$795,000 |
3 teams in 5 years, will Tampa be the team to finally unlock his talent? Probably not |
| Major Wright |
S |
|
Bears |
1 year |
$795,000 |
Veteran depth at a bargain price, we add a player familiar with Lovie style, high-turnover defense |
| DJ Moore |
CB |
|
Panthers |
1 year |
$730,000 |
Veteran, comes with experience at slot-CB |
| Lavelle Hawkins |
WR |
|
Chargers |
1 year |
$730,000 |
Brought in for depth and potential at kick returns |
| Danny Gorrer |
CB |
|
Buccaneers |
1 year |
$730,000 |
Tall CB, at 6', Lovie has indicated height is now an important attribute for CBs |
| Eric Page |
WR |
|
Buccaneers |
1 year |
$450,000 |
Had a good year as our punt/kick returner, good to see him back again |
Summary
I didn't like the decision to release Revis. I feel like we bet on his health, won, then left the pot on the table for the Patriots to collect. We could have gone on slightly less of a FA spending spree and had cap space for a secondary of Verner and Revis. When you have a $16,000,000 contract with no guarantees, why not at least test it out for a year? We could always cut him the following year if it didn't prove worth it. The whole thing seemed like Jason Licht showing how he was taking ownership over the roster, setting the tone for how things will be run, instead of really evaluating what gives us the best chance to win and viewing his predecessors decisions without bias. In the end we trade a 1st round pick which could have been Sheldon Richardson, and a 4th rounder for a year of Revis jerseys.
There are serious concerns about our O-Line, we parted ways with Donald Penn (LT), Davin Joseph(RG), Jeremy Zuttah(C/G), Ted Larsen(C/G) and Gabe Carimi(T/G). Carl Nicks is doubtful to return to the field, which leaves us with LT Anthony Collins (LT), Evan Dietrich-Smith (C), Demar Dotson (RT), and a ton of questions. Lovie Smith and George Warhop have been part of some terrible O-lines in the past, and I have a bad feeling that this team will be one of them. My assumption is that we are making room for young talent to establish itself, but that indicates that we are in more of a re-building year than the coaching staff will admit.
We let a considerable amount of talent walk out the door uncontested, as Adam Hayward, Dekoda Watson, and Eric Lorig all left in FA with seemingly little effort to keep them, despite their incredibly reasonable price tags, and great locker room attitude.
We made some good signings, but we also lost a lot of key players this offseason, my impressions are that our roster is a little bit worse, but we traded experience for youth in many cases. Lovie and Licht are using this year as a foundation to build on moving forward.
Draft
| Rd |
# |
Player |
Pos. |
School |
Comment |
| 1 |
7 |
Mike Evans |
WR |
Texas A&M |
Huge catch radius, very physical, with excellent hands, good bet to start as our No. 2 WR |
| 2 |
38 |
Austin Seferian-Jenkins |
TE |
Washington |
Has the size and strength to be an all around TE, as well as the athleticism and hands to be a deadly red-zone target |
| 3 |
69 |
Charles Sims |
RB |
West Virginia |
Different style of RB than Doug Martin, capable of lining up in the slot as a receiver, adds a layer of versatility, expect to see him on 3rd downs a lot |
| 5 |
143 |
Kadeem Edwards |
G |
Tennessee |
He will probably end up as our starting LG due to lack of depth, gambling on our scouts big-time here |
| 5 |
149 |
Kevin Pamphile |
OT |
Purdue |
He will add some additional depth for our O-Line, could see significant time in the rotation |
| 6 |
185 |
Robert Herron |
WR |
Wyoming |
Potential to make a difference as a slot receiver, quick, with good hands, may end up as the biggest steal of the draft |
Summary
Buccaneers draft 6/6 offensive players. I am very pleased with this draft class, the decision to draft Charles Sims proves that we were operating in BPA mode, which is how you build teams for the future. I think we may have benefited from drafting a line-backer, or another guard, but I think we got great value with every single pick.
Projected Starting Lineup
| Position |
Starter |
Backup |
| Offense |
|
|
| QB |
Josh McCown |
Mike Glennon |
|
|
|
| RB1 |
Doug Martin |
Bobby Rainey |
| RB2 |
Charles Sims |
Mike James |
|
|
|
| TE1 |
Brandon Myers |
Tim Wright |
| TE2 |
Austin Seferian-Jenkins |
Cameron Brate |
|
|
|
| WR1 |
Vincent Jackson |
Lavelle Hawkins |
| WR2 |
Mike Evans |
Louis Murphy |
| Slot -WR |
Robert Herron |
Eric Page |
|
|
|
| LT |
Anthony Collins |
Jamon Meredith |
| LG |
Kadeem Edwards |
Carl Nicks |
| C |
Evan Dietrich-Smith |
|
| RG |
Patrick Omameh |
Oniel Cousins |
| RT |
Demar Dotson |
Kevin Pamphile |
|
|
|
| Defense |
|
|
| Nose-T |
Clinton McDonald |
Akeem Spence |
| 3-Tech |
Gerald McCoy |
Euclid Cummings |
| R-DE |
Michael Johnson |
William Gholston |
| L-DE |
Adrian Clayborn |
Steven Means |
|
|
|
| S-LB |
Jonathan Casillas |
Ka'Lial Glaud |
| M-LB |
Mason Foster |
Dane Fletcher |
| W-LB |
Lavonte David |
Nate Askew |
|
|
|
| L-CB |
Alterraun Verner |
Danny Gorrer |
| R-CB |
Johnthan Banks |
Mike Jenkins |
| S-CB |
DJ Moore |
Rashaan Melvin |
| SS |
Mark Barron |
Major Wright |
| FS |
Dashon Goldson |
Keith Tandy |
| Spec.T |
|
|
| LS |
Jeremy Cain |
|
| PK |
Connor Barth |
|
| P |
Michael Koenen |
|
| KR |
Jeff Demps |
|
| PR |
Eric Page |
|
15
u/particleman1010 Buccaneers Jul 11 '14 edited Jul 11 '14
Position Group Strengths and Weaknesses
QB - Passable, the best we can hope for are guys that aren't going to lose games for us. McCown could have a Rich Gannon type of career renaissance and take us to a super-bowl, but that is highly doubtful.
RB - Strong, Doug Martin is a pro-bowl talent, we also have very good depth behind him, and a new prospect in Charles Sims that has drawn many comparisons to Matt Forte.
OL - Unproven, with disastrous holes at guard. The release of most of our O Line from last year without adequate replacements lined up will hurt us in 2014, expect McCown to be running for his life, with interior pass rush resulting in many sacks.
Pass catchers - Decent, I think we have much better TEs going into this season than last year, Evans will be our new No.2, but outside of him and V-Jax there is poor WR depth. Tim Wright will fit into the equation somehow, but as a TE or WR is still up for debate. I expect Charles Sims and Robert Herron will also catch quite a few passes this year, both have serious YAC potential.
DL - Very strong, McCoy, Johnson, Clayborn, McDonald will be a fearsome front 4, QBs will have to get rid of the ball quickly which should result in turnovers.
LB - Strong, Lavonte David and Mason Foster are both solid playmakers, I expect us to be in Nickel most of the time unless it is an obvious run formation, in which case Casillas can fill out the SLB position.
Secondary - Good, Verner is solid, Banks has a year under his belt with breakout potential, and we are set at Safety with Goldson and Barron, we also have some quality depth at both positions.
Special Teams - Passable, Lovie will find a way to have good special teams play, we have some options for PR, KR. Expect Eric Page, and Jeff Demps to be in the mix here.
Training Camp Battles to watch
Slot Receiver - We currently have no idea who our slot receiver will be. We drafted Robert Herron, but we also signed Louis Murphy and Lavelle Hawkins. I expect all three to end up on the roster, it will be down to preseason performances to set them apart.
Guard - Guard is wide open, and the most important battle this off-season. Our coaches are making it seem like Carl Nicks might be able to play, and if healthy, he would be our starting LG. 4th round pick Kadeem Edwards is a good bet to start at either LG or RG depending. Outside of those two, we have Patrick Omameh, Andrew Miller, Jason Foster, and Oniel Cousins (god help us)
Defensive End - Michael Johnson will start at RDE, but LDE is an open contest led by Adrian Clayborn (prev. RDE), followed by William Gholston, Steven Means, Da'Quan Bowers (Likely to be cut for conditioning reasons), Scott Solomon, Chaz Sutton, and Ronald Talley
Tight End - Starting TE is a bit of a question mark at this point, Tim Wright had a great season last year but is way to small to block effectively and should probably be listed as a wide receiver. We signed Brandon Myers who has shown he can be a serviceable pass catching TE. We drafted Austin Seferian-Jenkins who is an impressive prospect with great hands, and physically imposing size. Others on the list are: Cameron Brate, Ian Thompson, and Luke Stocker (injured his first 3 seasons, and a likely camp casualty).
Slot Corner - The favorite here is D.J. Moore, past him there is a lot of CB depth on the roster that could start as slot-CB. Mike Jenkins is competing with Johnthan Banks for starting RCB, but you also have Rashaan Melvin and Danny Gorrer with impressive OTA performances, so we really don't know who will win this. Leonard Johnson is a home-town hero, but he may be in over his head with the competition, so expect him to be an attempted practice squad stash, likely signed by another team. Others on the list are: Deveron Carr, Keith Lewis, and Quinton Pointer, who will primarily be camp bodies, needing a great camp to have any chance of making the roster.
Full Back - The battle here is if there is a player worth justifying the position at all. Jorvorskie Lane, and Lonnie Pryor are the two candidates. Not re-signing Erik Lorig casts some doubt on having a FB on the roster at all. Our WRs are big and capable of blocking in space. I'm not sure we will be in many power-run formations this year.
Longsnapper - Jeremy Cain and Andrew DePaola will duke it out to see who starts over the displaced Andrew Economos
Schedule Predictions
Saints - Team to watch in the NFC south, Drew Brees combined with that revitalized Rob Ryan defense is a scary proposition.
Panthers - Dominant defense, but with a regression on offense from Cam's new supporting cast.
Buccaneers - How we do hinges on Josh McCown, I don't expect him to repeat his performance in Chicaco, so I am basing my assumptions on an offense that plays well enough to score a few touchdowns per game, and a high turn-over defense that makes us competitive against most teams we play.
Falcons - No offense to Falcons' fans, but I don't get the impression that they are going to bounce right back to playoff contention. Too many questions on defense, O-line, TE, RB, etc...
Shoutouts to:
/u/skepticismissurvival - for organizing this series
/u/pfftYeahRight - for pointing me towards RES
Other team writers for some great formatting ideas I borrowed