Buccaneers Are Built For An Identity Switch

0

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in a position that they should be used to over the last few years. This is a time when they don’t really know the identity of the team going into their week eight game against Atlanta. This is never really somewhere you want to be, but you’d think Todd Bowles and company would be comfortable with that at this point.

After all, Bowles inherited Tom Brady only for the greatest quarterback in NFL history to show significant decline in his final season. Bowles then brought in a new offensive coordinator to help revive the career of Baker Mayfield only to have to replace that coordinator the very next year. That’s a lot of big changes on the offensive side of the ball in his first three years as head coach.

Despite this, the Bucs have been nothing but successful under his leadership. Currently, the Buccaneers are attempting to win their third consecutive division title with Bowles as the head coach. In the face of change and uncertainty on offense, Bowles has steadied the ship and led this team to the playoffs every year.

Now he will have to prove that he can do that again. Star wide receiver Mike Evans injured his hamstring in their Monday night loss to the Ravens and will be out for about the next month. Even worse, their other star wide receiver Chris Godwin dislocated his ankle and will be out the rest of the year.

These injuries are devastating to the Buccaneers offense. The Bucs have found success this year with one of the best offenses in the NFL and it is all built around these two guys specifically. I have no reason to believe that Mayfield can maintain his high level of play this year without Evans and Godwin to lean on.

However, no one is going to feel sorry for this team. And no one should lower the bar of expectation for the season outlook. The Bucs have a very good roster and even with the injuries this team should make the playoffs. If not, then there needs to be a conversation about the leadership on this team. 

Bowles and the Bucs must adapt to their new situation and figure out how to make it work. Fortunately, they have one resource at their disposal and it just so happens to be one of the best in the league at their position. That is general manager Jason Licht.

Licht has built a talented and deep roster over his time with the Bucs. Specifically, he has done a great job retooling this roster following the Buccaneers run at back to back Super Bowl championships. This is a very different team that they were in the high flying Tom Brady days.

It is because of Licht’s ability to retool the roster that the Bucs are in a position to shift their identity. It’s something that we have seen this year as a compliment to what they are doing and now it has to become the focal point. It is time for the Bucs to become a smash mouth, ground and pound football team.

Of course, this is easier said than done. But make no mistake, the Bucs have been working on this for years now. Since 2020 they have invested two first round picks (Tristian Wirfs and Graham Barton) and two second round picks (Cody Mauch and Luke Goedeke) into their offensive line. This unit is who must now be the driving force of the Buccaneers offense. 

So far, we have seen success with that this year despite having the full starting offensive line healthy for just two games. Going into this week, the Bucs rank 8th in rushing yards per game at 135.1 and 5th in average rushing yards per attempt with 5.1 yards per carry. It’s not something we’ve been used to in recent years, but the Bucs have one of the better rushing attacks in the NFL this year.

The most exciting part about the Bucs running game is that it should only continue to improve. As I said before, the Bucs have selected offensive linemen in the first or second round four times in the last five years. That is to say that they have four of their starting five linemen on rookie contracts.

Now at this point you could really call both Wirfs and Goedeke veterans in the NFL. Both have established themselves as two of the best offensive tackles in the NFL with an argument to be made that Wirfs is the best in the game today. On top of that, both played offensive tackle in college, so they are playing their natural positions.

The same cannot be said of Mauch and Barton. Both played left tackle in college and are still adjusting to and learning the finer points of playing on the interior of the offensive line. There have been growing pains, but both seem to be learning from their mistakes and continue to look better and better.

Now more weight and expectation will be placed upon their shoulders. It’s one thing to run the ball when defenses have to respect a top tier passing offense, but another when they know you want to run the ball and you still have to impose your will on the defense. With no Evans and no Godwin, that is exactly the situation they will face. 

This is also something that Licht and the front offense considered. Guys like Barton, Mauch and Goedeke were all known for two things specifically coming out of college: excellent athletic ability and a nasty, physical run blocking mentality. These three specifically excel in run blocking and some have even begun to be known as agitators in the NFL. They want to pop opponents in the mouth and drive them into the ground.

This mentality should help in this identity switch. There is something to be said about having a few schoolyard bullies in the trenches. Players who are not only very good at what they do, but are tough and gritty and flat out mean. When this group straps on the pads and lines up from their opponents that’s exactly what they become.

I can’t tell you how that will translate in terms of wins or losses or even how good their offense will be in this month-long stretch. All I know for sure is that the Bucs have been building up to win games this way for several years now. They have the coaching staff who has handled change like this in the past and they have the talent in the trenches. Now they just have to go out and play the game that they were designed to play.

For more from J.T. click here, then make sure to follow him on Twitter.

Follow, Like and Subscribe to Bucs Report

BucsReport.com

BucsReport.com

For more on this and everything Buccaneers check back here hourly at BucsReport.com

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail