The Point After - Grading out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Offense

by Buc Wild on Aug 17, 2009 10:00 AM EDT in News

Saturday night proved to be the baptism by fire for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Fielding so many new players and coaches, the only way to evaluate what we have, and see how they hold up is to have live game action. Though the final score didn't total in our favor, the game did feature some bright spots. In this edition of The Point After, let's take a look at how the offense performed and grade them out.

Grades are indicative of the players performance in this game only.

Quarterbacks

Luke McCown -Was the starter of the first preseason game. Had a very underwhelming performance behind a very poor offensive line. Went 4 of 8 for 19 yards. Made some nice plays with his legs, but was not sharp in his delivery. A dropped pass may have hurt his numbers, but he was by no means stellar. Was bailed out of a terrible fumble and bad sack by a facemask penalty. Grade: D

Byron Leftwich - Second QB in. His slow wind up was evident, but delivered the only passing touchdown of the game. When had time, was able to throw strikes and showed fairly good decision making skills. Dumped ball off when needed to. No speed and once touched by a defensive player, the play is dead. Final numbers: 6 for 14, 61 yards, 1TD. Grade: B-

Josh Freeman - First live action in NFL. Displayed good poise in the pocket generally, though he did scramble right into a sack. Telegraphed passes which lead to an interception. Maintained the short throws. Showed a live arm and above average accuracy. Bounced back from interception well. Successful first attempt on the field. Final numbers: 5/9 for 52 yards, 1 INT Grade: C

Josh Johnson - Last of the 4 QB's in. Showed a nice zip on his passes, good decision making, and accurate throws. Scrambled well in a 43 yard TD run. Competition was weak, but didn't show a glaring weakness. Good effort to build on. Final Numbers: 3 for 5 for 15 yards. 1 Rushing TD. Grade: B

Running Backs

Earnest Graham - Poor first showing in 2009. Though the OL did him no favors, did not show any burst or good read abilities. Didn't make anyone miss. Had chances to fall forward or make defense miss and made no progress. Got a pass out of backfield and fumbled it away. Final Numbers: 4 carries, 1 yard, 1 catch for 1 yard and a fumble Grade: D

Derrick Ward -First run was best of bunch, for 7 yards. Again, OL provided no support, but was able to manufacture a few yards. Showed good burst and tenacity when hit. Moving forward all the time. Final Numbers: 4 carries for 9 yards, 1 catch for 7 yards. Grade: C+

Clifton Smith - Showed good ball security, a change from last year. Made several players miss with good jukes and agility. Showed good receiving skills out of the backfield. Was able to find holes and make most of time with ball. Only question could be durability or ability to handle blitz pick up assignments. Final Numbers: 5 carries for 27 yards, 1 catch for 7 yards. Grade: B

Kareem Huggins - Showed good receiving skills, good burst with ball, and ability to hit hole and rack up yards. Not much hesitation, good for a young player. Did not go down without a fight. Final Numbers: 9 carries for 43 yards and 3 catches for 14 yards. Grade: B+

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Bryan Clark - Was the recipient of the only Bucs TD pass. Made an nice adjustment to haul it in. Had a drop, also caused a holding penalty resulting in safety. Not spectacular but made the play when it mattered. Final numbers: 2 catches for 29 yards and a TD. Grade: B

Maurice Stovall - Not hard to see why he isn't a force in regular season. Disappeared for most of the game. 1 catch for 8 yards. Will need to rebound to factor into future plans. Grade: D

Cortez Hankton -Will end up simulating other teams on practice squad. Several drops on balls that should have been caught. Not impressive in the least. Grade: PS as in get to the practice squad

Sammy Stroughter -Good debut for the rookie. Looked shaky on a kick return early on, but rebounded well. Displayed good hands and ability to run with ball in hand. Looked comfortable at every level on the field. Final numbers: 3 catches for 42 yards. Grade: B

Kellen Winslow -Didn't play much. As a blocking tight end was just average, if that. Didn't get many opportunities in passing game. 1 catch for 5 yards. Grade: Incomplete

The rest of the bunch - The remaining receivers didn't do much to stand out. As a group they were below average and will struggle to make an impact. Truly shows the lack of depth at WR. Pray that AB or Clayton don't get hurt (again). Grade: C-

Offensive Line

The Big Guys - First string had a terrible performance. Didn't open any holes in the running game. Penn was overmatched at points. Provided little to no time for quarterbacks. Running game was a non-factor. This zone scheme is either very complicated to pick up, tough to master, or we might be in over our heads. Not ready to jump ship after 15 plays, but didn't give me much confidence. Grade: D

The second string and beyond provided some good time for Leftwich and other QB's. Running game got going as first stringers left game. Still tough to gauge depth on team as running plays routinely had defense in backfield. Grade: C+

Overall

The offense looked lost. It's tough to determine how things are going after one preseason game, particularly after a game where the opponent has one more game than you and was one of the better defenses in 2008. All the hype surrounding the new offense, the new scheme, and the addition of Ward and Winslow left in a hurry. While those two players were not the main culprit in the futile efforts of the offense, the offense as a whole failed (first string). Other squads (the backups and beyond) looked decent, though competition was not of the same level and I don't count on those guys to make an impact during the year. I won't be surprised if the Leftwich/McCown loser is cut if Johnson keeps this up. There is alot to work on going into Jacksonville. Final Numbers: 17 first downs, 5/15 on 3rd downs (33%), 138 yards rushing, 118 yards passing (256 total). 2 TD's and 2 Turnovers. Overall Grade: C-

How did you grade out the Bucs offense on Saturday night? Hit the comments section below and let us know.

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Comments

C

Its hard to say how the first team truly looked without Bryant and Clayton in there. The running game was horrible and the line gave Luke no time to do anything. Leftwich looked solid, although he took such a beating that I can’t see him lasting. Freeman looked pretty poised for his first NFL game. Bryan Clark made some nice plays and Josh Johnson was on fire. Lets get him in the backfield with Graham/Ward and Smith for a Buc’s version of the wildcat. Call it ‘The Tampa 3’.

by louieyak on Aug 17, 2009 11:13 AM EDT reply actions

This

If Johnson can’t stay as a qb, we can have him as a backup RB/FB/WR if we need him to. Hopefully, he can learn and play the same way as he is.

WHOO, LUKE! LUKE! LUKE!

by 4QB on Aug 17, 2009 12:29 PM EDT up reply actions

He doesn't sound like he is interested.....

He may not be intersted in playing any other possition than QB.

http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/sports/comments/josh-johnson-not-interested-in-wildcat-offense/

It sounds to me that he doesn’t want to get bang up by the defense.

by Tye on Aug 17, 2009 1:26 PM EDT up reply actions

I like this line...

Johnson was at the line of scrimmage calling the plays when the ball was surprisingly snapped to him. Instead of panicking – see Vince Young in the same game – Johnson let his instincts take over.

by Tetris on Aug 17, 2009 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Vince Young looked really good, but his play in that situation was...I'll say un-advised.

by Tetris on Aug 17, 2009 1:49 PM EDT up reply actions

..

ill-advised :). But I do agree

by miracles83 on Aug 17, 2009 4:44 PM EDT up reply actions

I don't know why everyone was so high on Leftwich

He was 6-14 for an astounding 43% completion percentage (I know this was just one preseason game) and was not very accurate with his completions anyway…granted there were drops cough Hankton and Urrieta. He left a couple passes high and got very lucky with Clark’s TD catch…Clark deserves the credit for that one. That coupled with his scary long release doesn’t have me thrilled…also that sack play (-17 yds!)…uggg.

by Tetris on Aug 17, 2009 12:14 PM EDT reply actions

I couldn't agree more....

I know to each his own and everyone has their own opinions but if I were asked by a team to scout him my report back would be to pass on him. He is way to much of a risk and don’t forget what little he did do was against the 2nd defense. If he were in when Luke was it would just have likely been multiple sacks or strips. 1st pass deflected and probably would have been intercepted if this were in the regular season. 2nd Was slow delivery and behind the receiver which could have been intercepted. Several times Leftwich’s arm was extended behind him to throw with a defender close enough to slap the ball out if the player realized it or was 1st like they are trained. He may have a strong arm but that is not what makes a good QB. He has poor technique, delivery, takes to many hits and struggled to know when to just throw the ball away or just go down (once he fought to get free so long that he lost 20 yards or so).

Luke was not great by any stretch of the imagination but he did hit his receivers with good throws (that they dropped), had minimual risks with his throws at being intercepted (while mostly on the run), and did not play near the length of time that Leftwich got (which I still don’t get that).

Freeman did look solid as far as mechanics and awareness but also showed his inexperience.

Johnson did look real good with his mechanics, awareness and delivery but you have to take into account that he was against their weakest defense.

Out of the 4 QBs, personally, In my opinion taking everything into consideration and just judging their QB displayed abilities, Leftwich had the worst showing.

by Tye on Aug 17, 2009 1:14 PM EDT up reply actions

He did it to a second team defense with a second team offense

surrounding him. I think Leftwich did goog. If you want to look at that td pass to Clark, Tetris, it was actually a very veteran decision. He threw the pass back towards the sideline because he realized the defender was over pursuing and there was a S in the middle. He wanted Clark to have the best opp at a TD. The play was in no danger of being thrown too far behind Clark, nor was it in danger of being batted down or Intercepted. I am interested to see McCown get those kind of reps.

How did Freeman look solid with his awareness? His mechanics were fine…but that’s not really a knock on him. He missed blitzes and if you look at that INT it was not only late but also a TERRIBLE throw. On a hitch route like that you never throw it back towards the field. If you can’t put it at the WR you put it towards the sideline where the defender has no chance of getting it or the WR can use the sideline to his advantage. Even if it was a smart decision, which it wasn’t, he was about a full second late on it as his receiver stood there. There is no awareness in staring down your reciever like that and not having a clue what the DB is about to do.

“Leftwich had the worst showing”?? He took several hits on long plays….which is natural. Any quarterback, unless they have a stellar offensive line, who is waiting for a play to develop downfeild is going to take a shot. This happened to him at least twice. He was able to move through his progressions unlike Freeman or McCown and had several nice checkdowns. As you pointed out Hankton dropped 3 balls, and Urrita dropped I think two.

To say Leftwich had the “worst” day is ignorant.

"I have come that you may have life, and life to the max"

by MNeilson on Aug 17, 2009 1:29 PM EDT up reply actions

I do think Clark needs to be battling for the 2nd WR position though.

He is solid.

"I have come that you may have life, and life to the max"

by MNeilson on Aug 17, 2009 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions

I dont think Leftwich had the worst day

but I think it wasn’t great. Also tough to evaluate based on everyone playing with different personnel against different personnel. I thought McCown looked bad, but you can attribute some of that to the dismal performance of the OL.

Leftwich was OK for what he was. If our OL is going to break down, I dont want him in there. That 17 yard sack is good evidence (i was laughing during that play since it was so bad). I think

I graded Freeman fairly. Rookie mistakes, but I expect those. I was actually pretty happy with how he did. I dont think he’s a world beater yet, but he didnt look like a bust (yet)

www.bucem.com - SBNation's source for all things Buccaneer

by Buc Wild on Aug 17, 2009 3:04 PM EDT up reply actions

If its close..

I think Leftwich has still a long road to be called the starter. I still believe that if it is a close race then they are going to go with McCown basically because they can cut Leftwich and not lose a dime. He might’ve played slightly better than McCown on Saturday, but slightly better doesn’t equal millions of dollars.

by miracles83 on Aug 17, 2009 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions

If we cut Leftwich we will be left with 5 career starts (I think)

I think Leftwich would be a great backup, even next year when Freeman takes over. I think McCown is auditioning for a job with a different team next year. I wonder if we could put JJ on our practice squad or would someone else pick him up.

by exxtremm on Aug 17, 2009 4:59 PM EDT up reply actions

DID YOU EXEPCT TO RUN THE BALL WELL AGAINST JOVAN HAYE?

Follow Me on Twitter @FreeZorilla

by FreeZorilla on Aug 17, 2009 1:27 PM EDT reply actions

Haha.

"I have come that you may have life, and life to the max"

by MNeilson on Aug 17, 2009 1:29 PM EDT up reply actions

D

I’m inclined to blame Mahan for a lot of the difficulties, since the Titans’ DTs were absolutely manhandling the Bucs’ interior O-line. I’m hoping that things will look better this week with Faine back in the lineup. McCown and Leftwich both looked pretty bad (though Leftwich did look better than McCown, still not a stellar performance) in large part due to the constant pressure Tennessee’s front four was able to generate.

The fact that Leftwich looked better with poor pass protection, though, doesn’t bode well for McCown. Given more time, Leftwich is a better pocket passer. McCown’s a much better athlete, but that won’t matter at all if he doesn’t have to extend plays with his feet. As much as I wanted to see McCown succeed, things are looking kinda bleak for him. He’s going to have to play lights out next week if he wants to win the job.

by OfficerRodFarva on Aug 17, 2009 1:40 PM EDT reply actions

The center is crucial

with the zone-blocking. He typically teams up with one of the guards to block a zone. If the production drops here, the production drops on the entire offensive line. So I would agree that Mahan didn’t help much. I am glad he is a backup, but let’s hope Faine stays healthy and he remains as that.

"I have come that you may have life, and life to the max"

by MNeilson on Aug 18, 2009 1:25 PM EDT up reply actions

My assestment

I have watched the tape over and over (on dvr of coarse). I am going to start with the line. The offensive line did a below average job but they didn’t do a bad job pass blocking.

McCown:
It was discusting to watch. I thought I was watching a bigger version on jeff garcia. This guy should be released before the 3rd preseason game. He is athletic but he doesn’t have any awareness in the pocket. He just thinks dumpdown first and then run.

by tbbuc4 on Aug 17, 2009 3:27 PM EDT reply actions

C-

It seemed to me we passed the ball too much to start the game. I was excited to see our running backs have a productive day. I agree with OfficerRodFarva, that Faine was a major reason to our O-lines faliures. Plus this new running scheme will take time to develop and everyone has to be on the same page. Its hard to judge McCown and Leftwich with our top receivers out. Leftwich’s mobility scared me, that sack was unacceptable.

Not sure if you are going to do an article on grading out the coaches or if you are just doing the players. Personally, I thought the coaches on both sides of the ball did a great job. Only a few penalties but I think there was one illegal procedure called.

Also I was wondering if anyone had heard anything new on Sears.

by exxtremm on Aug 17, 2009 4:55 PM EDT reply actions

I remember when..

Carolina implemented the zone scheme last year. all of the talking heads said it would take about midseason for them to gel and work it correctly, and they seemed to be right. By mid to late season they were running over guys.

I think the same should be said for our line. It might be horrendous to look at for awhile, but will look beautiful by season end. This is why I think next year will be the breakout year for our OL.

by miracles83 on Aug 17, 2009 4:56 PM EDT reply actions

It may be ancient history...

but the offense was marginal in the first few games of 2002, remember? Wait until the first couple of games before getting disgusted.

by Danny180 on Aug 17, 2009 11:30 PM EDT reply actions

tired of the OL being blamed for McCown inability.

I have watched the game about 4 times and I don’t blame it on the OL. They gave him time, he just needed to get some pocket awareness and learn to step up or to the right or left. That is part of blocking, the OL job is to create a pocket, sometime the pocket isnt going to be created perfectly everytime but you need to adjust. There was often a pocket but like people say, he got happy feet. He dropped back and looked at the first and second receiver and then just took off. That is the problem garcia often had when he struggled. They failed to step up to right or left when it was there. Leftwich showed good pocket awareness.

He had the same line or a worse line than McCown had. Plus , guys are going to perform for who they want and who ever the leader is. Leftwich commanded the huddle better and the OL responded by blocking better. The OL knows who the best QB on the team is and who should be the starter. All of this also plays into blocking, if the OL knows that McCown is going to run, they will just block for 2 seconds. They know leftwich is going to stand back there so they try to block for as long as they can. THey know if they give leftwich time, he is going to make some big plays.

The leader of the huddle is going to command respect and blocking, it is clear who commanded that. Leftwich was able to move the ball because he loosened up the defense first , his passing attempts gave the line confidence that if they do their job , Leftwich will do his. McCown didn’t give the line any confidence because he made them look bad by just running everytime he could. The OL takes pride in protecting the QB but if the QB doesn’t want protection , they aren’t going to give it to him. You could clearly see who the team wanted to run the offense. I look forward to a explosive offense with Leftwich at the QB and it would be nice to see JJ get some reps as the wildcat QB.

by tbbuc4 on Aug 18, 2009 10:59 PM EDT reply actions

I agree with you to a large extent

on finding the pocket. This is part of a quarterback responsibility. However, the O-line had some clear misassignments which led to pressure. Also, you are right about the QB commanding respect and hard work out of a OL, but the guys largely were playing against a 2nd string dline (which isn’t very deep for Tenn) and had different guys filling in on the OLine. Like BucWild has consistently said, it’s hard to compare the two on the same standard. We’ll get a better idea after this weeks game.

"I have come that you may have life, and life to the max"

by MNeilson on Aug 18, 2009 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions

this is true and i can't wait to see the game this week.

The comparison is very simple to me. One guy has proven he can do it and another has proven he can be very unsuccessful. I see leftwich having a good game vs his old team and taking the starting job. McCown has never done it so i don’t expect him to wow bucs fans in one quarter. He got his chance as a starter and proved that he isn’t a starter, maybe he will do good vs jags but he doesn’t have much of an arguement because he will be going against 2nd teamers. If leftwich puts up simular numbers, i would be surprised . I see him doing better than 5 for 9 for 19 yards and 0 pts in the quarter. Those stats are not hard to beat. McCown also got bailed out on a fumble by a facemask call. Not impressive.

I don’t even know if mcCown has a good deep ball because I have never seen it, it is hard to just change your whole game over a week. McCown is a west coast qb , while Leftwich is a gun slinger. The bucs are looking for a gun slinger because they plan on having a powerful run game and need to stretch the defense by being able to complete the deep ball. Leftwich has shown over his career that he can throw the deep ball. This is a easy decision in my opinion.

by tbbuc4 on Aug 19, 2009 3:16 AM EDT up reply actions