Arians just proved that coaching matters so far this season With the win over the Lions the Bucs are now guaranteed to finish 7-9, 8-8 or even 9-7. Bruce Arians took Koetter's 5-11 roster that was poorly constructed by Licht from 2018, and a bunch of green 2019 rookies, but led them to more wins in 2019. That is a textbook example of how coaching matters in the NFL to maximize talent. And HC Arians and his staff did this while having limited cap space as well. I was wrong about Pinion and Perriman as they both have proven to provide what was expected from the coaching staff. And Shaq has been a phenom that parallels the pickup of Simeon Rice which did transform the franchise for a period of time. When you have a player like Shaq and decent NFL defensive coverage that is a recipe for a chance at NFL average defense. NFL average defense is often enough to win NFL games in this era which this franchise sorely needs.
Did this collective effort by Arians and his staff save Licht? Probably, but it doesn't change how Licht doesn't understand how to construct an NFL roster so far as a newbie GM. But what it does show is that Arians and his staff are now in the driver seat in picking up talent for this team and evaluating the talent on the roster. The 2019 rookie class was unfairly bashed like the 2018 rookie class early in the season. But right now those two draft classes are forming the backbone of probably a decent team in the forseable near future. And that is what makes the future exciting, because you have a core of players that have bought into what the staff is teaching.
Watching how the far more talented teams like the Chargers and Falcons that have failed to cobble together their respective seasons puts in perspective how competitve the Bucs have been. A tough schedule and a middling +/-.500 roster is quite impressive if you take a step back to compare the Bucs to other NFL teams. Arians deserves credit for holding together a relatively inexperienced team (2nd youngest in the NFL) while also navigating a front loaded unfavorable schedule which is rare in NFL history and will probably not happen again. It will not happen again because even the NFl recognizes the absurdity of how the Bucs 2019 schedule was constructed.
With that said Bucs fans agreed in the off season that the Bucs have a talent level of .500 ball club, give or take, with some major flaws regarding the tackle situation. And also not enough investment in other parts of the trenches for depth, compeition and long term salary cap savings. That take seems very accurate as the Bucs tackle play this season has limited the upper potential of this offense at RB, WR, and QB, and addressing trenches should be priority #1 in the off season through free agency and the draft.
The 2019 Bucs are going to finish about where most had them before the start of the season during pre season. If that is true then why has there been so much angst about how they have played throughout this season? Young NFL players tend to have up and down perfomances which is what we have seen from this squad this season. We quickly forget that this team is the second youngest overall in the league and has the potential to be even younger by next off season if the Bucs are smart with the draft and free agency for 2020.
We as Bucs fans can sit here and pick apart how Licht has poorly constructed the team, and how he doesn't understand the importance of value through the draft. I will probably cover the incorrect structuring of the team by Licht in another post for another time. But for now what I do know is that the team has enough talent to be competitive and they have been competitive for 2019 season as Arians and his staff have shown.
Let me quickly state that all NFL teams have roster holes but the Bucs roster holes were not insurmountable in the grand scheme of things. I remember not too long ago people calling RB, K and RG as major holes, but now that doesn't look to be the case. Players like Cappa, RoJo, Vea and Whitehead are all good examples of players being given more opportunity to showcase their NFL upside in year 2. The NFL can change drastically from week to week so it is best we as Bucs fans be patient and see how this all plays out over the many seasons to come.
In closing Bucs HC Arians showed that he could cobble together a competitive roster with many factors working against him. Inconsistent QB play, a LT with poor feet, a right side of the Ol with up/down play, TE blocking that was inconsistent. Inexperienced defensive secondary that was playing soft or unsure at times. Return specialists that were ho hum and a rookie kicker that took a while to find his footing. And don't forget a schedule that should have never been allowed to leave the league office with the way it was handed to the TB Bucs in 2019.
Looking forward the Bucs have big decisons to make with free agents but now those decisions actually are toward building something instead of hoping for something to materialize.
Based on how Arians and Bowles put an emphasis on the roster I can see the Bucs trying to resign the majority of the players that have gained experience in these respective systems these coaches are teaching. Also, the Bucs should add a vet CB, vet guard and vet OT to compete and stabilize the inconsistency at tackle, guard and CB play we witnessed this season.
For the draft the Bucs primary emphasis should be upgrading trenches but I have a feeling the Bucs go pass rusher/DL tweener in round 1 IMVHO.
Even if the Bucs don't use a first round pick on OL it is still important to keep drafting OTs and Gs to build depth and push the current starters as there are long term salary cap savings to be found if the Bucs keep at it while maintaining a decent Ol unit.
LB depth and WR depth are also important to look at in the mid rounds of the draft as LB and WR are very important for the current offensive and defensive schemes that Arians and Bowles run. Also drafting a developmental QB with a quick release is a must with how the NFL game has evolved. A LT with proper feet can help Winston due to his slow release and slow release time. But if the Bucs are smart they start to develop a QB for the new NFL. The new QB's in the NFL have quick release times and it is a must with how the degradation of OL play has been leaguewide.
