Read-Option: Making The Change – And Who Makes It?

This week we’ve gone over some of the offensive deficiencies plaguing the Buccaneers this season.

First we talked about the slow starts. We talked about how the Bucs are, statistically, getting away form good first down production, which puts them in poor situations on third down, which they don’t seem to handle well anyways. We talked about the offense getting too greedy to the sidelines and maybe going for the home run ball before they set up the little drives that get them there. And finally we went over some of the ways team around the NFL are moving the ball, and how the Bucs can adapt to some of what they’re doing.

Tampa Bay actually has the fourth-ranked offense in the league in terms of total yards (382 yards per game) and the second-best passing ranking in the NFL (299.6 yards per game), but that’s mostly because the Bucs have trailed in the fourth quarter of each of their last four games and needed to play catch-up. As a result, Tampa Bay has the 30th-ranked rushing attack, averaging just 82.4 yards per game. That’s not the kind of balance Koetter is aiming for when he says he wants a 50-50 mix between rushing production and passing production. That’s why the play design and play calls are so critical.

More importantly, the Bucs are tied for 18th in points scored, averaging just 23.6 points per game, which is in the bottom half of the league. Points – not yards – win football games.

So, the question this week isn’t whether or not you think things needs to change with the play calls; that part is obvious. My question to you this week is who do you think should be doing the changing?

Do you think Dirk Koetter should continue to call the plays, or is it time for offensive coordinator Todd Monken to get his shot?

Here is a little Monken history for those of you that may be unfamiliar with him.

Bucs OC and WRs coach Todd Monken – Photo courtesy of the Buccaneers

Monken was the wide receivers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2007-2010 where he worked under Koetter, who was the offensive coordinator. In 2011, Monken took a job with Oklahoma State to be its offensive coordinator and to be its play caller. During his first season, with players like quarterback Brandon Weeden and receiver Justin Blackmon, Monken presided over the No. 2 offensive in the country. The following year, without Weeden or Blackmon, he still called the No. 3 offense in the nation.

That got Monken a head coaching gig at South Mississippi. During his first two seasons there, his offenses finished near the bottom (in the 100s) in the nation, scoring about 13-15 points per game. But, these weren’t really with his players to run what he wanted to. In his third year, with his recruits now in his system, Monken’s offense went from 107th to 13th in the nation, scoring nearly 40 points per game.

Monken has the experience, and he has the success (in college), so should he get his shot with the Buccaneers? Koetter wondered aloud about whether or not he should hand over the play-calling to another coach – likely Monken – in his final press conference of the 2016 season. Ultimately, he stuck with it.

I don’t think Koetter is a bad play caller, but when you’re a head coach, there are so many other things you have to worry about and manage with a football team during the week and during the game, including clock management, when to use timeouts, when to punt, kick a field goal or go for it on fourth down, etc. If you’re an offensive coordinator, you job is just offense.

Handing the reins to Monken could do Koetter some good, and take some stress of his plate. Even if we know Monken and Koetter come up with the game plan together, to quote David Harrison of the Pewter Plank, if you tell some one exactly what you see in a picture, to every last detail and tell them to paint it, it’s still going to come out different than if you did it yourself.

Is it time for Monken to do it himself?