FAB 5. SR’s Buc Shots

• I’d like to thank you for helping PewterReport.com post record web traffic in 2017. As always, we have a big offseason planned for you Buccaneers fans and PewterReport.com readers beginning with our 2017 Bucs Player Awards on Saturday as well as our first 2018 Bucs’ 7-Round Mock Draft, which hits the website Monday morning.

In two weeks the PewterReport.com staff will be covering the East-West Shrine Game practices in St. Petersburg, Fla. and then will be traveling to Mobile, Ala. for the Senior Bowl. We will have our second 2018 Bucs’ 7-Round Mock Draft published in late January after the Senior Bowl.

Bucs GM Jason Licht – Photo by: Trevor Sikkema/PR

In February, it’s off to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Ind. where we will report live from Jason Licht and Dirk Koetter’s press conferences and have a host of interviews from some of the top NFL Draft prospects. In March, it’s all free agency and Bucs draft previews. When it comes to offseason Bucs coverage, you know there’s one place to turn – PewterReport.com.

• If you think I’m wrong to state that the Bucs were a little crazy to bring back the entire 2017 coaching staff this year, take a look at Green Bay where the Packers had been to eight straight playoff games under head coach Mike McCarthy, including winning a Super Bowl in 2010, before this year. The reason the Packers finished 7-9 and didn’t make the playoffs in 2017 primarily due to quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ broken collarbone, which kept him out of action for nearly 10 games this season. Rodgers was injured in the first quarter of Green Bay’s 23-10 loss at Minnesota back in October and finished his season 4-3 as a starter. The Packers were 3-6 without Rodgers at the helm.

Yet McCarthy didn’t let Rodgers’ injury become an excuse and fired offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett and defensive coordinator Dom Capers. That’s accountability.

Having a team full of great players can make any coach look smart. Real coaching shines through when injuries hit or a team isn’t as talented, yet still finds a way to win. Having great talent like double-digit sackers like Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice made former defensive line coach Rod Marinelli look smart.

There’s no doubt that Marinelli played a big role in Sapp and Rice’s greatness, but there are other examples of Marinelli’s own greatness, such as Chidi Ahanotu’s 10 sacks in 1997, Brad Culpepper’s career-high nine sacks that led the team in 1998 and Marcus Jones’ career-best 13 sacks in 2000. Marinelli brought out the best in his defensive linemen and the proof of that wasn’t just what he was able to do with legends like Sapp and Rice. It was getting the best out of players like Ahanotu, Culpepper and Jones, too.

Bucs LB coach Mark Duffner – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

I saw a Marinelli-like coaching job from linebackers coach Mark Duffner this year, and I think tight ends coach Ben Steele and wide receivers coach Todd Monken did admirable jobs, as well. But I didn’t see much else from the Bucs coaching staff in 2017 that translated to on-field success in other units.

• There were expected to be as many as a dozen head coach vacancies in the first week of January, but that number was cut in half when many NFL teams realized that there weren’t many quality candidates available this year. That’s why the New York Jets kept Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay kept Dirk Koetter and even Marvin Lewis was re-signed for two more years in Cincinnati.

But two of the hottest candidates this offseason are New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, and both are expected to become head coaches in the league after the Patriots exit the playoffs or win yet another Super Bowl. I featured both in a previous SR’s Fab 5 column back in November and it will be interesting to see how they fare and if the Bucs made a mistake in keeping Koetter and not hiring either Patricia or McDaniels.

I’m not implying that Koetter is a devil or evil in anyway, but there is a popular saying that suggests that the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t. I think that’s what happened in Tampa Bay. Koetter is the devil the Bucs know. McDaniels had a failed two-year head coaching stint in Denver several years ago, and Patricia has never been a head coach. The Glazers thought firing Koetter and bringing on McDaniels or Patricia was a riskier move than keeping Koetter. Time will tell if that thinking is correct.

• Tampa Bay Times columnist Tom Jones had an interesting column about a possible Bucs vs. Saints rivalry based upon Tampa Bay’s Week 17 upset and the awkward end-of-game hand shake between Dirk Koetter and Sean Payton. It’s a very good read, so give it a click.

If the Bucs had performed better in 2017 and there wasn’t so much apathy towards Koetter from fans, that handshake incident could have been a rallying point for fans to circle the wagons around the Bucs’ embattled head coach and said, “Back off my head coach!” But after a disappointing 5-11 record I think the Stick Carriers are even lukewarm on their leader right now. We’ll see if Koetter can turn it all around in 2018.

Georgia RB Sony Michel – Photo by: Getty Images

• Did you see what Georgia running back Sony Michel was able to do against Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl? Michel had an amazing 181 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries (16.5 avg.) in addition to four catches for 41 yards and another score against the Sooners, upstaging Nick Chubb, Georgia’s second all-time leading rusher, who had 145 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries (10.4 avg.).

Michel had a critical fumble in the fourth quarter that was returned for a touchdown by Oklahoma to help send the game to double overtime. But Michel had the last laugh as he raced for the game-winning touchdown out of the “WildDawg” formation. Michel has some Alvin Kamara-like ability and I think he’ll be a higher draft prospect than Chubb due to Michel’s ability to play on all three downs with his receiving ability. I wrote about Michel back on December 1 and how he would be a great fit in Tampa Bay. You can read that article right here.

• And finally, we’ll have a new Pewter Nation Podcast for you next week. In the meantime, please keep our own Mark Cook in your thoughts and prayers as he grieves the passing of his mother on Thursday night. God bless you and your family, Mark.