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About the Author: Joshua Queipo

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Josh Queipo joined the Pewter Report team in 2022, specializing in salary cap analysis and film study. In addition to his official role with the website and podcast, he has an unofficial role as the Pewter Report team’s beaming light of positivity and jokes. A staunch proponent of the forward pass, he is a father to two amazing children and loves sushi, brisket, steak and bacon, though the order changes depending on the day. He graduated from the University of South Florida in 2008 with a degree in finance.
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As my esteemed colleague Scott Reynolds recently asserted, the Bucs starters are ready for Week 1. Their brief, but impressive showing against the Miami Dolphins was a glimpse into the readiness level head coach Todd Bowles and his staff have the team operating at.

Yes, the Bucs were playing mostly backups. But you can account for that in your expectation levels. If you have starters facing backups the starters had better dominate. So, did the Bucs starters dominate on offense? Since it was just seven reps, I thought we could break it down play-by-play.

In the absence of EPA/play data for the preseason I will use a more anecdotal model of defining success for each play. Each down should have a minimum level of expectation related to the distance needed to get a new first down or a touchdown. These are my benchmarks.

First Down – 50% of yards needed for new first or touchdown

Second Down – 75% of yards needed

Third/Fourth Down – 100%

Bucs Offense – Play 1 – First-and-10, TB 30

Bucs Rb Rachaad White

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: Cliff Welch P/R

The Bucs start the drive off with a fly mid zone cap backside slide run. A few things jump out that you should see best from the end zone angle. First, I have to think the Bucs thought Miami would come out in man coverage. If they had this would have gone for a much bigger gain as the boundary corner would have followed Jalen McMillan’s fly motion and not been in position to cover Rachaad White’s cut back.

Next, Chris Godwin on the kick-out block taking on the backside safety is a thing of beauty. One of the most difficult parts of playing the “F” in a Sean McVay style system is that the system asks you to block like a tight end. The responsibility of the slot receiver is often to act as a second tight end in the running game. Godwin executes his assignment perfectly and seals the backside for the eventual cutback.

Two other players I want to note here are left guard Ben Bredeson and tight end Cade Otton. Both players do a great job of getting out in front on their blocks and staying on top of their defender to wash through and set up the cut back lane for Rachaad White. White, to his credit, feels the lane and hits up field for a four-yard gain.

The great thing about a mid-zone like this is the opportunity for the back to find a way to win. The initial design of this run is to get to the front side B-gap. But Miami’s first-round pick, outside linebacker Chop Robinson, is able to initially seal the edge which forces White to find a new avenue – the backside cut – for space. As a final aside, while Robinson executes his assignment initially, please continue to watch him vs. Luke Goedeke.

Let’s just say you can tell Goedeke has had some pent-up frustration not being able to play in the preseason up to this point and he takes it out on Robinson, who gets driven nine yards down the field.

Yards Needed For “Success” – five. Yards gained – four.

Drive Success Rate: 0%

Bucs Offense – Play 2 – Second-and 6, TB 34

Bucs Qb Baker Mayfield And Rb Rachaad White

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and RB Rachaad White – Photo by: USA Today

This is a more classic version of mid zone with less window dressing. White reads the front side of the play well seeing that the weakside backer, defensive end and nose tackle all maintain outside leverage on their blocks and he once again needs to bend the run back behind the center.

The right side of the line does an outstanding job executing their assignments with Otton cutting off Robinson and Cody Mauch and Goedeke perfectly timing their double team. Speaking of Mauch, this block is a great example of the progress he has made this preseason versus last year at coming off the double team and covering up second-level linebackers.

The lone note I have on this rep is for White. As compared to most people who are hyper-focused on the Bucs, I am pretty down on him. Not that I think he is a bad back, but I don’t see the upside as a runner that others project. This run would be an example of him leaving meat on the bone.

After his initial cutback he shadows Goedeke and Mauch trying to decide if he wants to continue to bounce back to the right or make another cut back to the left. Ultimately, he makes the right decision (to cut back to the left), but in the split second he hesitates in making the decision he loses his opportunity to leave the scrum altogether and break a big gain. It’s those fractions of a second that separate the great from the good.

Yards Needed For “Success” – five. Yards gained – five.

Drive Success Rate: 50%

Bucs Offense – Play 3 – Third-and-1, TB 39

The Bucs needed a single yard to keep the drive going and they opt for a power run to gain the yard. The biggest stand out here is the difference in the play strength of the interior offensive line. Mauch teams up with Goedeke to drive the three-technique defensive tackle backwards and the Bucs trust Graham Barton to single up the nose tackle.

The play was almost a loss because Otton is unable to seal off Robinson crashing down. Credit to Otton for quickly going to plan B and trying to wash him past the gap before White gets to the hole. Credit to White as well as this is where his patience pays off. The extra second to allow the wash helps him jump back inside to pick up the first down.

Yards Needed For “Success” – one. Yards gained – three.

Drive Success Rate: 67%

Bucs Offense – Play 4 – First-and-10, TB 42

The Bucs first pass play of the series is a quick tunnel screen to Chris Godwin. This is a staple of his game because of his secure hands and ability to continually move forward through contact not unlike a running back. This was a good job by Godwin to recognize Tristan Wirfs’ momentum was going to cross the safety and provide a natural screen for him to press forward after the safety beat Wirfs to his spot. Kudos to Ryan Miller for staying on his block.

Yards Needed For “Success” – five. Yards gained – nine.

Drive Success Rate: 75%

Bucs Offense – Play 5 – Second-and-1, MIA 49

Bucs Rg Cody Mauch And C Graham Barton

Bucs RG Cody Mauch and C Graham Barton – Photo by: Cliff Welch P/R

This play is probably the first really creative look that Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen has shown thus far in his short tenure with the team. Pre-snap he goes from an empty shotgun look to under center with a running back. The formation change draws the defense in to the line of scrimmage. Post-snap he throws a play action that effectively sucks the linebackers and safeties in before they see that Baker Mayfield still has the ball and are left scrambling to get back to their landmarks.

The next part of the play is true craftsmanship from the offensive line. Before we get to their space blocks, I want to note how difficult a task it is for them to have to stay close to the line of scrimmage as they filter to the perimeter. To try and not draw an illegal man downfield penalty off of a play action screen is no easy task.

Once Mayfield gets the ball out to White the clinic is on with Wirfs sealing the perimeter, Barton displaying his athleticism to reach the corner and continue to rotate through his block and Mauch to steamroll the backside safety to the ground.

Rachaad White has a good rep here with little wasted movement getting up field and finishing strong with a stiff arm as he falls forward. An underrated portion of White’s game is his ability to always fall forward. Last year, despite the issues with the line play in front of him he was one of the best backs in the league at not taking tackles for a loss.

Yards Needed For “Success” – one. Yards gained – 18.

Drive Success Rate: 80%

Bucs Offense – Play 6 – First-and-10, MIA 31

Bucs Qb Baker Mayfield

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch P/R

On first-and-10, Coen dials up a possible shot play for Baker to look for. The Bucs get a cover-one look that isolates McMillan on the perimeter with a good chance that Godwin would be open underneath on the swirl if he decides to not pull the trigger on the fade. Baker likes the look figuring McMillan will get enough separation on the double move that he uncorks a hell of a throw to McMillan’s back shoulder. It was the definition of a “big-time throw.”

McMillan makes an acrobatic catch displaying fantastic ball tracking, hands and high-pointing skills. He didn’t create the room you’d ideally like to see on a double move but he more than made up for it with the finish. The pass protection on this play is fantastic as Baker has plenty of time to make the throw.

I’ll focus on the right side of the line as Mauch does a good job of finishing Robinson off after he gets an initial punch on Goedeke. Goedeke for his part has a quick initial set and drops anchor to stop Robinson’s progress before Mauch delivers the knockdown blow.

Yards Needed For “Success” – five. Yards gained – 27. *Explosive Play*

Drive Success Rate: 83%

Bucs Offense – Play 7 – First-and-Goal, MIA 4

Bucs finish off the drive with inside zone. Look at those doubles! There seems to be a real coaching change in how the line is being asked to run doubles. Last year the inside linemen were often throwing shoulder “bumps” for a quick initial impact. This year they are firing off the line with full drive to get the defensive lineman on the move before getting a clean climb to the second level. Goedeke embodies this perfectly as he carries the linebacker (No. 41) into the end zone.

The rest of the line gives great effort and Otton once again lays a solid block of his own. If he can maintain this consistency of blocking in 2024 the arrow is way up for him.

Yards Needed For “Success” – four. Yards gained – four.

Drive Success Rate: 86%

The starters averaged 10 yards per play, 18.0 yards per pass attempt, 4.0 yards/carry, converted 100% of their third downs and succeeded on 86% of their plays overall. The line created displacement in the run game, found linebackers easily on climbs and asserted their physical presence. The playmakers made plays.

Mayfield pushed the offense down the field and took calculated risks. Otton showed critical improvements as a blocker. Mauch looks to have leveled up. Bredeson held his own shoulder-to-shoulder next to impressive play from Wirfs and Goedeke. Barton is just damn impressive.

The future is bright for this version of the offense.

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