This was more in regards to Todd Bowles in-game decision making. Not knowing when to go for it, settling for FG's, not maximizing time left at the end of halves etc...The talent is there to be top 5 in the conference. The in-game coaching though will cost us games and probably be a 9 win team.
Coen is gone now. Give Grizzard a chance before you assume he'll make the same mistakes as Coen.
Any human with a decent IQ should have this offense top 5. The talent and OL is elite so his job is not that hard. Bowles on the other hand faces an uphill battle of unknowns at linebacker, edge and cornerback. Godspeed
With the Bucs the past few off seasons you can not tell how this team goes until draft day arrives. But this draft for the Bucs added players that can help year 1 and the future. But really Egbuka is going to be the ignition to have Grizzard's new wrinkles on offense take off and be a key contributor on third down.
Alex Hoegler, of Total Pro Sports, has us as the 7th ranked NFC team post draft, behind the Eagles, Lions, Commanders, Packers, Vikings, and Rams. Ouch!
with comments like “the Bucs feel like nothing more than the best NFL team in a bad division.” We still don’t get the national respect. Is that on them or us?
Being 7th ranked isn't bad because that is still playoff worthy. Keep in mind that most media outside of Tampa do not understand that the impact players the Bucs pick up often is from the draft and not free agency. This has been true for the Bucs in the past two drafts and this third draft is no different.
Sure Reddick could be a home run but in reality if he gives the team at least 8 sacks that is a win even if he fails to hit double digits. The overall goal is to improve the young guys like Diaby, Braswell, Roberts, and Walker.
But adding Egbuka means the Bucs are in business now on offense to do a lot of things that they wanted to do with Kameron Johnson as a rookie (eg jet sweeps, attacking the flats, out routes). The added bonus with Egbuka isn't just his use as a utility in the short and intermediate areas but also his ability to attack downfield via the slot post and go routes. Grizzard is going to add vertical elements to this offense to really forced teams to think twice letting Ebuka roam downfield 1 v 1.
Also you can do cluster formation with Godwin, Evans and Egbuka to really take the running game to the next level for Irving. Or clear out one side for wheel routes for White.
It's us. We still beat the bad teams and struggled against the good teams. We went on a losing streak and then beat a bunch of bad teams to get our heads above water. Early quality wins got erased by the losing streak. Swept by the Falcons. No big signings except Reddick.Alex Hoegler, of Total Pro Sports, has us as the 7th ranked NFC team post draft, behind the Eagles, Lions, Commanders, Packers, Vikings, and Rams. Ouch!
with comments like “the Bucs feel like nothing more than the best NFL team in a bad division.” We still don’t get the national respect. Is that on them or us?
We don't deserve for the national media to be hyping us up. We didn't buy any tickets to the hype train based on last year's performance. Which right now is just as well, because the last time the hype train came to town, we went 8-9 in Brady's final year.
NFL.com has the Bucs as the seventh best team overall.
4th in the NFC behind the Eagles, Lions, and Commanders. All three of which we beat last season. We are in the window by anyone's estimation.
We are in the window for sure and the 2025 team seems better on paper than the 2024 team BUT we LOST to the Commanders when it mattered. A lot of that relates to injury, so I am not knocking the Bucs or the claim that we are in the window, just saying that a lot has to go right to go further in 2025.
I could see the Lions and that Eagles taking a step back, but not sure about the Commanders. So tough to say though.
i dont know, wouldn't say we lost to Commanders due to injury. Yes - Godwin could have helped...but in reality the defense lacked talent and the offense had 2 braindead plays in the 4th quarter which really did us in.
Bucs added some talent on defense, still not sure if it was enough but definetly feel better about our pass rush and secondary in 2025 then i did in 2024.
adding Edbuka, should only help the offense as well
so we definitely improved with the one huge question mark being is can Josh Grizzard be an effective play caller
@catherder I agree. We’re Bucs fans… so of course there’s going to be excitement and hope with every move made. I saw nfl.com picked the 20 best value picks in the draft. We didn’t have one. This is just my warning to maybe pump the brakes a little. There’s always a pretty good reason why the national media doesn’t rank as high as some of the real contenders.
Personally I'd rather the Bucs sneak up on some teams instead of being favored as media darlings. I like them being underestimated.
i dont know, wouldn't say we lost to Commanders due to injury
Well, the reason I would say injury played a pretty big part is that the defense was pretty beat up and SPECIFICALLY Dean held McLaurin in check and then got injured and they immediately throw a TD to McLaurin with Hayes covering him. Huge drop off.
Also, the critical play in the last drive is a zone blitz THEY CLEARLY SAW COMING. That blitz rate is a function of the lack of pass rush, but also lack of faith in the backend.
if you compare the defensive performances in our loss to the Lions defense in their loss our defense did pretty well, but those plays stand out.
@catherder I cant find the orginal thread. but credit to you for suggesting the Godwin's injury was maybe still an issue
Licht denies the connection, but . .
“[Drafting Egbuka] does allow us to make sure that Chris does do his rehab correctly and we don’t rush him, and all those things,” Licht said. “So that does give us a little comfort with the pick — that we can do that, to make sure that’s he’s not rushed back. But [Egbuka] had nothing to do with where Chris is currently in the rehab.
“We’re still crossing our fingers that he’s ready to go for Week 1 but, you know, if it takes a little bit longer, then that’s fine, too. We signed Chris to a three-year deal; actually, three years in the NFL is long-term. So we’re looking long-term with Chris, as well.”
Personally I'd rather the Bucs sneak up on some teams instead of being favored as media darlings. I like them being underestimated.
100%.
Bucs have flown under the radar the previous two off season because they didn't understand the Bucs draft strategy and it is happening again. Bucs sure are the favorites for another NFCS tittle even with the other three teams improving.
Yes I caught the paradox in that statement "nothing to do with it" and "it gives us comfort"... well then that has something to do with it doesn't it? I also caught TKraz mentioning Jordan Travis and Chris Godwin in the same sentence in hoping they aren't similar. Nobody has indicated that this will be Godwin's fate. Hopefully not. But I do know one thing - Godwin isn't back until he's back. You don't make an apointment on Open Table to return to the field. Nobody knows the future. Not us, not Licht, not Godwin or his doctors. I hope Godwin gets 1000 yards again this year, but that's just hoping which is all anybody is doing right now other than Godwin who is working hard to get back. I will say again that I think Licht was fulfilling a promise to Godwin by signing him to a contract without knowing the future about his injury and IMO should have steered him to the Patriots. I'll be glad if I'm totally wrong about this and he comes back and kicks butt.@catherder I cant find the orginal thread. but credit to you for suggesting the Godwin's injury was maybe still an issue
Licht denies the connection, but . .
“[Drafting Egbuka] does allow us to make sure that Chris does do his rehab correctly and we don’t rush him, and all those things,” Licht said. “So that does give us a little comfort with the pick — that we can do that, to make sure that’s he’s not rushed back. But [Egbuka] had nothing to do with where Chris is currently in the rehab.
“We’re still crossing our fingers that he’s ready to go for Week 1 but, you know, if it takes a little bit longer, then that’s fine, too. We signed Chris to a three-year deal; actually, three years in the NFL is long-term. So we’re looking long-term with Chris, as well.”
According this the Bucs are top ten when it comes to draft value.
What the national media misses is the Glazers and Licht have built an organization that can find value and draft and build a team to compete year in and year out like the Eagles, Chiefs, Ravens and Steelers.
That was a strong desire of the Glazer family for a long time and Licht is delivering that.
It's us. We still beat the bad teams and struggled against the good teams. We went on a losing streak and then beat a bunch of bad teams to get our heads above water. Early quality wins got erased by the losing streak. Swept by the Falcons. No big signings except Reddick.Alex Hoegler, of Total Pro Sports, has us as the 7th ranked NFC team post draft, behind the Eagles, Lions, Commanders, Packers, Vikings, and Rams. Ouch!
with comments like “the Bucs feel like nothing more than the best NFL team in a bad division.” We still don’t get the national respect. Is that on them or us?
We don't deserve for the national media to be hyping us up. We didn't buy any tickets to the hype train based on last year's performance. Which right now is just as well, because the last time the hype train came to town, we went 8-9 in Brady's final year.
Bucs had quality wins against Eagles, Lions and Commanders. Yeah the team hit a slump but they also had injuries at DB again for the third straight year. But the double hit with starting WR's is one freakish and not common and two, it is something that is hard to prepare for.
But it was a good test to see what the Bucs had in the cupboard and the Bucs were able to quickly pivot and add Egbuka this off season as a result.
And if Morrison is healthy, the Bucs ARE better prepared for the issues that bit us hard last season.It's us. We still beat the bad teams and struggled against the good teams. We went on a losing streak and then beat a bunch of bad teams to get our heads above water. Early quality wins got erased by the losing streak. Swept by the Falcons. No big signings except Reddick.Alex Hoegler, of Total Pro Sports, has us as the 7th ranked NFC team post draft, behind the Eagles, Lions, Commanders, Packers, Vikings, and Rams. Ouch!
with comments like “the Bucs feel like nothing more than the best NFL team in a bad division.” We still don’t get the national respect. Is that on them or us?
We don't deserve for the national media to be hyping us up. We didn't buy any tickets to the hype train based on last year's performance. Which right now is just as well, because the last time the hype train came to town, we went 8-9 in Brady's final year.
Bucs had quality wins against Eagles, Lions and Commanders. Yeah the team hit a slump but they also had injuries at DB again for the third straight year. But the double hit with starting WR's is one freakish and not common and two, it is something that is hard to prepare for.
But it was a good test to see what the Bucs had in the cupboard and the Bucs were able to quickly pivot and add Egbuka this off season as a result.
Minimizing the addition of Reddick is hilarious. That’s the one piece we needed that allowed us to select Egbuka in the first. Not many of the Edge’s have NFL experience/performance at an elite level that Reddick has demonstrated. Egbuka’s high floor at the slot will be something to watch.
Feeling really good about this season.