There was plenty of sunshine during Friday’s Bucs practice, but according to head coach Dirk Koetter, the offense’s performance overall was anything but clear skies and sunshine.
“It was not a sharp day for the offense in general,” Koetter said. “We say training camp is 50/50, but today it was 10/90 for the defense. It was just not a good day for the offense today.”
Yikes…
WB Jameis Winston with a poor throw picked off by CB Ryan Smith pic.twitter.com/Ea72fVdeZO
— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 3, 2018
Plays like the one above might have been one of a few that came to mind when Koetter made his quote above. During the 1-minute drill and the red zone drill, the Bucs offense struggled to get the ball where it needed to go to make points happen. This is now a camp trend and something that has to be remedied.
However, later in Koetter’s presser he actually praised the health and progression of quarterback Jameis Winston’s shoulder from last year.
“Just strictly as far as throwing the football, Jameis is really throwing the football well,” Koetter said. “If you watch Jameis in the individual periods his arm and his shoulder are the best they’ve been in quite a while. He’s really finishing his throws. His balls are turning over and when that nose comes over and the ball doesn’t kind of flutter at the end and accelerates to the targets, that’s as good as I’ve seen.”
Even though Koetter wasn’t pleased with the offense overall, that didn’t mean there weren’t some gem plays throughout the practice.
CB vs. WR
Javien Elliott vs. Adam Humphries
Humphries putting on a clinic pic.twitter.com/oNyIXbKZx9
— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 3, 2018
One of the eye-popping plays came from the one-on-ones where wide receiver Adam Humphries (seen above) got the better of cornerback Javien Elliott with some quick feet. Humphries’ skillset has a tendency to get overlooked and undervalued, but it’s in plays like the one above that you remember why he’s on this team.
Winning in small space matters.
#Bucs first-team offense starts the 1-minute drill with a nice throw over the middle from Fitzpatrick to Howard: pic.twitter.com/gw0Fu0950M
— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 3, 2018
Even though the offense had a down day, two players really stood out.
The first is tight end O.J. Howard. Howard had a couple of very nice plays during Friday’s practice, and those were just a continuation of a strong camp that he’s been having over the last week.
Woah, Howard with a nice one handed grab. pic.twitter.com/7D2U4rOYm7
— Evan Wanish (@EvanNFL) August 3, 2018
The Bucs have been using Howard a lot on the first and second team offenses, making sure he gets as many snaps as he can. We wouldn’t say that’s taken over for fellow tight end Cameron Brate, but there is no shortage of plays and packages with Howard as the go-to guy so far.
The second player who really impressed on Friday is wide receiver Bobo Wilson.
Heck of a catch from WR Bobo Wilson pic.twitter.com/MB4ML4HrEH
— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 3, 2018
Wilson is a very interesting case for this Buccaneers roster, because even though there are players on the depth chart who might be more consistent than him with experience, Wilson’s athleticism and overall mindset aren’t found much elsewhere outside of DeSean Jackson.
Big day for WR Bobo Wilson. Some very nice catches, including this one in the corner for a touchdown pic.twitter.com/CckgXjeobh
— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 3, 2018
If Wilson plays up to his ability, limits his drops and develops good chemistry with his quarterbacks, he’s on the fast track to make this roster as the fifth wide receiver.
🚨BUCS KICKER UPDATE🚨
Chandler Catanzaro: 4-For-4
Trevor Moore: 4-For-5
— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 3, 2018
Finally, we have another kicker update for you.
Chandler Catanzaro was once again perfect on the day, which means it’s been over a week of zero missed field goals from him here in the first week of camp.
We’ll see if that continues and if the rest of the offense can pick it up Saturday for the Bucs next practice, which is open to the public.