The Bucs finished their season at 5-11 for the second consecutive year and PewterReport.com offers up our postseason grades and analysis. Take a look at the report card after the 2018 season and see if you agree.

QUARTERBACKS
The 2018 season saw the Bucs begin their season without their starting Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick put on a show, leading the team to wins in two of their first three games while becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to complete three consecutive games of 400+ passing yards. He carried 11 touchdowns and four interceptions through three weeks and was then named the starter for Week 4.

In the Bucs’ Week 4 matchup against the Bears, en route to a 48-10 blowout, Fitzpatrick was pulled for Winston. Winston finished the Bears game and was renamed the starter going into the Bucs’ Week 5 bye.

In his next three starts Winston compiled just five touchdowns while throwing eight interceptions before being officially benched – for the first time in his life – and Fitzpatrick took over as the starter again. Fitzpatrick remained the starter for four more games before again – yes, again – being benched for Winston against the Giants in Week 11.

Winston kept the starting role for the rest of the season and although didn’t play the position perfectly, improved significantly from his early-season form. In his last seven games of the season Winston threw 13 touchdowns with just four interceptions and earned the opportunity to stay in Tampa for at least one more year as Tampa announced they would be keeping him through his option in 2019.

Bucs QB Jameis Winston – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

It was one of the more bizarre quarterback situations the league has seen in previous years and it never truly felt like the position was a sure thing as both QB’s finished in the league’s top-10 for interceptions, despite neither playing the full season.

Even though the Buccaneers had a somewhat rotating approach at quarterback for much of the year, with a losing record, the team became just the seventh team in NFL history to pass 5,000 net passing yards in a single season, as reported by Bucs beat reporter Scott Smith.

Here are the duo’s stats at the end of 2018:

Winston: 19 TD’s, 14 INT’s, 2992 passing yards with a completion percentage of 64.6 percent.

Fitzpatrick: 17 TD’s, 12 INT’s, 2366 passing yards with a completion percentage of 66.7 percent.

Combined: 36 TD’s, 26 INT’s, 5,358 passing yards with a completion percentage of 65.4 percent.
GRADE: C+
BEST OF THE BUNCH: Jameis Winston

RUNNING BACKS
The Bucs’ run game finished the season much like it started the season – not great.

The Buccaneers finished the season ranked 29th in the league at 95.2 yards per game on an atrocious 3.9 yards per carry, a number only slightly above the league-worst Cardinals at 3.8.

Not all of those stats are fully indicative of the play of by the Bucs’ running backs though, as the offensive line allowed the team’s backs to be stuffed – a stat by Football Outsiders that indicates how often a running back is tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage – on 24.7 percent of their carries, good for 30th in the NFL.

Bucs RB Peyton Barber – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Peyton Barber was largely ineffective, along with the rest of the Bucs’ committee, but was clearly the best option at only 3.7 yards per carry. For comparison, the team’s second round pick in 2018, Ronald Jones II, amassed 23 carries for 44 yards (1.9 yards per carry) over the six games in which he registered a rushing attempt.

Barber had 234 carries for 871 yards and five rushing touchdowns, in addition to catching 20 passes on 29 targets for 92 yards.

Jacquizz Rodgers resumed his usual role as the Bucs’ third down back in 2018 and did a  serviceable job at it, even though Barber was left on the field for many passing downs on account of his improved ability in pass protection.

Rodgers had 33 carries for 106 yards (3.2 yards per carry) and hauled in 33 receptions on 48 targets for another 304 yards from scrimmage.
GRADE: D
BEST OF THE BUNCH: Peyton Barber

RECEIVERS
The Bucs staffed a receiving unit in 2018 that could stand toe to toe with any corps of pass-catchers in the NFL.

The Bucs receivers were catalysts for the 5,000-yard passing offense that we mentioned earlier, led by superstar wideout Mike Evans.

Bucs WR Adam Humphries – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Now at the end of his fifth season, Evans has topped multiple marks in the Bucs’ record book. With 1,524 receiving yards this season – second in the league behind only Julio Jones – and eight receiving touchdowns, Evans now leads the Buccaneers in all-time and single-season receiving yards, single-season receiving touchdowns and sits second in all-time and single-season receptions.

Behind Mike Evans were three other 750-yard receivers in Desean Jackson, Adam Humphries and Chris Godwin and this Bucs team – as reported by The Athletic’s Greg Auman – became only the fifth team in NFL history to have four separate receivers reach the 750-yard mark.

Godwin finished with 842 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, Adam Humphries finished with 816 receiving yards and five touchdowns and Desean Jackson finished with 774 receiving yards with four touchdowns.
GRADE: A
BEST OF THE BUNCH: Mike Evans

TIGHT ENDS
Between the team’s two starters, O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate, the tight end group was another elite unit for the Bucs.

Howard has consistently been a threatening presence do to his blocking ability allowing him to stay on the field in nearly every situation in addition to his obvious threat as a pass-catcher. Howard was actually on his way to being a fifth 750-yard receiver for the Bucs as he totaled 565 yards – 14th in the league for tight ends – in just 10 games before ending the season on the injured reserve with an ankle injury.

Bucs TE OJ Howard – Photo by: Mary Holt/PR

Brate had a slow start, with no receptions on two targets in the season’s first two games, but was able to slide back into form and grab three touchdowns on seven receptions over the next three.

Once Winston returned Brate looked more comfortable and like his same, reliable self even with the explosion of Howard cutting deeply into Brate’s usage. All things considered, Brate was able to finish the year with 289 yards and six touchdowns on 30 receptions.

The injury to Howard also allowed second-year tight end Antony Auclair to find the field more often, primarily in blocking situations. Auclair wasn’t a standout in the pass game but hauled in seven receptions for 48 yards. Auclair’s biggest issues though came from penalties. Over the course of the season Auclair managed seven penalties – ranking him tied for second-most on the team – by way of two false starts, three holding penalties and three unnecessary roughness penalties for 54 total yards.
GRADE: B
BEST OF THE BUNCH: O.J. Howard

OFFENSIVE LINE
If not for the Bucs’ secondary, their offensive line would have been the team’s most disappointing unit in 2018.

In pass protection they were the epitome of average, allowing 41 sacks on the year which puts the unit tied for 14th-worst in the league. Granted, the Bucs passed the ball more often than all but three teams, they also played in front of two relatively mobile quarterbacks in Fitzpatrick and Winston.

Bucs C Ryan Jensen and LG Ali Marpet – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

In the run game however, they weren’t very good. They struggled in zone blocking, repeatedly failing to get any push at the line of scrimmage and often left their running backs scrapping for yards as opposed to looking for holes because they just plain weren’t there more often than not. As stated before, the Bucs’ backs were hit at or behind the line of scrimmage on 24.7 percent of their carries which ranked 30th in the NFL.

At the tackle positions left tackle Donovan Smith limited his penalties this season – being charged with six for 50 yards – and showed period of playing at a pretty high level. Unfortunately for Smith, he also allowed a career-high 6.5 sacks in 2018 and you could almost count on his lapses in protection and effort on a weekly basis like clockwork. Demar Dotson on the other side played well at the right tackle position. Dotson was flagged 11 penalties on the year, but was only charged with seven for 50 yards, and only allowed 1.5 sacks on the year, his lowest such number since 2015.

Except for Ali Marpet, the interior starters on the Bucs’ offensive line. Center Ryan Jensen was expected to be better and tackle-turned-guard Caleb Benenoch struggled mightily. On the season, Jensen allowed just one sack but was flagged for a team-high 11 penalties, including four unnecessary roughness calls, for 120 yards. Benenoch on the other hand allowed an astounding 9.5 sacks and drew seven penalties for 60 yards.
GRADE: D+
BEST OF THE BUNCH: Ali Marpet