Back during my time in grade school, I remember getting a progress report from my teachers based on my performance in classes. They would usually come every quarter of the school year so parents could assess their child’s grades and where they need to improve.

During this week at the AdventHealth Training Center, Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales did something similar in giving out his own progress report of his offense just over a quarter of the way into the season.

Bucs OC Dave Canales Shares His Grade Of Bucs’ Offense

Let’s just say there is plenty of room for the Bucs’ offense to grow and turn the offense from what Dave Canales currently sees as a unit in the C-D range into an A or B.

“I think just in general – you guys ask me week-to-week to grade our offense – I’d say out of 10, we’re still in that 6.5-to-7 in terms of our fundamental play and execution,” Canales said. “I include myself in that, too – being able to adjust in the run game while they’re giving us these different pressures and fronts. What is the best thing to go to in those situations? That’s where I can get better, and of course, all of us across the board, continuing to improve.”

Bucs OC Dave Canales – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

There have been bright spots for the offense, with the Bears and Saints games standing out in particular. If those can become a more common occurrence, the offense will have a report card worth putting on the refrigerator.

For now, it’s a work in progress.

Canales’ lesson plans for now are teaching and coaching up the group into having a layered attack later in the year.

“We have a good variety in what we’re doing,” Canales added. “That puts a strain on our guys – that puts a strain on us as coaches, that puts a strain on our guys. What are we preparing for? We’re preparing to win the division, so as you come down the stretch, a defense can’t just line up and say, ‘It’s this run and that run, and that’s it.’

“I think we’re preparing ourselves and building an offense that’s not going to allow defenses to just say, ‘Hey, just take this away and they’ve got nothing.’ We’re really working towards that.”

He further added: “If we put the strain on ourselves now – early in the season – by the time we hit midseason and as we go, the guys get familiar and accustomed to having all the different variety, having the different types of runs, the different types of passes, the fly motions, the shifts, the different things that we’re working on. That does take time. It’s kind of like I don’t want to sacrifice where we’re heading for right now. At the same time, we’ve got to find a way to make yards.”

All things considered, the Bucs’ offense has a better plan in place to reach its goals than last year. The results and further promise will evidently need to be shown sooner rather than later, but the grand scheme is to win the division. There were always going to be rough patches with so many moving parts, but a long season remains.

Bucs RT Luke Goedeke: “Getting More Big Chunk Runs Would Be Nice”

Bucs RT Luke Goedeke, OL Robert Hainsey and LT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

In the spirit of handing out grades, Pewter Report talked with right tackle Luke Goedeke following Dave Canales’ press conference.

When asked about how he would assess the offense, Goedeke said, “I’d be right there as well with coach Canales – probably that 6.5-7 range. I mean, just more consistency, and definitely would like to get some explosive runs and get that run game going a lot more, open up the passing game and everything. Make it easier for the quarterback, wide receivers, and tight ends.

“I think that’s one area if I had to choose, definitely in the run game. Kind of get that going more, getting some more big chunk runs would be nice. You see these teams with all these high averages and everything, at the end of the day you don’t get those high averages without chunk runs.”

Goedeke makes a valid point by bringing up how the offense needs to get that one big run. Not only do they open up the passing game and make the offense less one-dimensional, but they also very quickly prop up the team’s rushing totals and build confidence that it can be done.

A running back can have 10 carries for 20 yards, but all it takes is one being broken for 25 yards to drastically shift an offense’s dynamic and the outlook of the run game’s success. A 2.0-yard average suddenly shifts to a 4.1-yard average with a big dash.

Rachaad White Is Due For A Big Game – Right?

It does not take a professional dissector of the X’s and O’s to realize that the run game has been the weak link in moving the chains for the Bucs, although our film guru Josh Queipo recently did so thoroughly in a recent video.

The biggest rush on the ground has only been for 14 yards by Chase Edmonds against the Bears in Week 2. Otherwise, it has been a clear struggle to get into any sort of rhythm.

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

But that cannot be the case forever, right?

Running back Rachaad White surely has a chip on his shoulder with lackluster results. Coming out of Arizona State, White ran a 4.48 40-yard dash and not only has the speed to break off a big run, but he complements that with enough power to win an angry scepter.

He just needs to put it together to have a big game. Luke Goedeke sees one coming.

“I think he’s definitely due,” Goedeke said. “He’s definitely grown from last year to this year. Just the way he goes about preparation and everything, I see a big difference. His poise in the huddle and everything, I see it. Just him processing things, he’s made a big jump that way.”

For now, it is about continuing to call run plays and expecting one to crack the dam and really get the ground game flowing.

“Keep calling them, keep trusting them, they’re going to start to break,” center Robert Hainsey said recently. “It’s just one of those things where we get everyone on the same page and continue to keep moving forward and improving in the run game. Trust the scheme they’re giving us, trust the plays that [Dave Canales is] calling, and them trusting us to execute. Those big chunk runs, the big games, the explosive runs will follow.”

Hopefully, by the next quarter of the season, Dave Canales won’t have to be such a hard grader as his offense continues to progress.