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Seven players played every single snap on offense on Sunday. Four of the five offensive linemen, Josh Freeman, Vincent Jackson and Luke Stocker. You see, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers like to have their tight ends on the field. They like to have them on the field a lot. Unfortunately, they have neglected to actually invest in the tight end position, and they refuse to target them in the passing game.
The result, unsurprisingly, was a two-yard, one-catch effort on behalf of the tight ends on Sunday. That's inexcusably bad, and it starts not with the tight ends themselves, nor with Josh Freeman, nor even with the coaching staff. It starts with Mark Dominik and Greg Schiano, who have failed miserably to provide adequate depth at the position. Sure, Tom Crabtree is injured -- but when your on-the-cheap free agent tight end is the difference between good production and two yards of offense, you have issues.
All of this wouldn't be so bad, if the Bucs had managed to actually create a functional running game against the New York Jets. Of course, they did no such thing. Sure, Carl Nicks is injured and Davin Joseph is returning from injury. Yes, the Jets have a good defensive line. But when you want to run the ball as a foundation of your offense, you have to do better than 2.7 yards per carry. And you have to get better blocking out of your tight ends, too.
Other than that observation, I don't have much to add on this subject. Tim Wright played two snaps and was listed as a receiver, after making the switch to being an undersized tight end earlier this offseason. I don't know if that means anything. Kevin Ogletree managed a whopping 34 snaps, over half of all offensive plays, and still managed to do nothing. Darrelle Revis didn't make it through a full game, and it looks like the defensive line is going to rotate a little more than they did last year. Here's the full list.
| Player | Position | Offense | % | Defense | % | Special Teams | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L Stocker | TE | 61 | 100% | 8 | 26% | ||
| G Carimi | T | 61 | 100% | 3 | 10% | ||
| D Dotson | T | 61 | 100% | 3 | 10% | ||
| D Joseph | G | 61 | 100% | 3 | 10% | ||
| D Penn | T | 61 | 100% | 3 | 10% | ||
| V Jackson | WR | 61 | 100% | 1 | 3% | ||
| J Freeman | QB | 61 | 100% | ||||
| J Zuttah | C | 60 | 98% | ||||
| M Williams | WR | 58 | 95% | ||||
| D Martin | RB | 56 | 92% | 1 | 3% | ||
| K Ogletree | WR | 34 | 56% | 6 | 19% | ||
| N Byham | TE | 24 | 39% | 4 | 13% | ||
| B Leonard | RB | 9 | 15% | 22 | 71% | ||
| T Wright | WR | 2 | 3% | 9 | 29% | ||
| T Larsen | G | 1 | 2% | 3 | 10% | ||
| D Goldson | FS | 75 | 100% | 13 | 42% | ||
| L David | LB | 75 | 100% | 12 | 39% | ||
| M Barron | SS | 75 | 100% | 9 | 29% | ||
| L Johnson | CB | 70 | 93% | 13 | 42% | ||
| M Foster | LB | 63 | 84% | 5 | 16% | ||
| A Clayborn | DE | 62 | 83% | 6 | 19% | ||
| G McCoy | DT | 62 | 83% | 6 | 19% | ||
| J Banks | DB | 54 | 72% | 11 | 35% | ||
| D Revis | CB | 53 | 71% | 6 | 19% | ||
| D Te'o-Nesheim | DE | 53 | 71% | 5 | 16% | ||
| A Spence | DT | 42 | 56% | 4 | 13% | ||
| D Landri | DT | 24 | 32% | 1 | 3% | ||
| D Watson | LB | 20 | 27% | 27 | 87% | ||
| A Black | FS | 20 | 27% | 14 | 45% | ||
| D Bowers | DE | 20 | 27% | 1 | 3% | ||
| T Scott | DE | 15 | 20% | 7 | 23% | ||
| J Casillas | LB | 14 | 19% | 22 | 71% | ||
| M Adams | CB | 14 | 19% | 18 | 58% | ||
| G Gibson | DT | 14 | 19% | 1 | 3% | ||
| A Hayward | LB | 22 | 71% | ||||
| M Koenen | P | 15 | 48% | ||||
| R Shepard | WR | 13 | 42% | ||||
| E Page | WR | 12 | 39% | ||||
| K Tandy | FS | 10 | 32% | ||||
| A Economos | LS | 10 | 32% | ||||
| S Means | DE | 5 | 16% | ||||
| R Lindell | K | 3 | 10% | ||||
| J Meredith | T | 3 | 10% |