July 30, 2011; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy (93) during training camp at One Buc Place. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Then McCoy hit the NFL where the baseline talent level is much higher than in college and suddenly that lack of technique caught up with McCoy. That’s not to say he hasn’t been good in his first two seasons, actually in spite of lacking polish McCoy has still rounded into a very good defensive tackle and was vital to the Bucs 4-2 start (as well as a big part of their 0-10 finish when he got hurt).

I have a feeling year three is going to be a lot different for #93 thanks largely in part to his new coach.

“We do a tackling circuit before every practice, and I’ve never done anything like that before,” McCoy said of Greg Schiano’s weekend minicamp. “I realize now that, before, I was just playing football. Now, I’m really learning how to tackle and I think it’s going to help me a lot.”

It’s OK if your first inclination is to laugh at that. I did. I mean, Bob Stoops must have read that and cringed. The most famous tackling drill in existence is actually called the Oklahoma drill, McCoy was an All-American at the University of Oklahoma and he claims he just learned how to tackle over the weekend…

But once you get past the fact Gerald McCoy basically just admitted he phoned it in during two-a-days at OU, this is exactly what a player like McCoy needed.

The talent and potential are there, that’s been obvious since before the Bucs drafted McCoy, he has the part of the game that you can’t teach. So it’s probably good that the Buccaneers have finally gotten around to teaching him the rest of it. He’s going to learn the rest now though, the Bucs have hired a guy who will make sure of it.

Greg Schiano, as Ronde Barber puts it, hammers home fundamentals.

Good.

May 4, 2012; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik and head coach Greg Schiano talk during rookie mini camp at One Buc. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

This was a team last year that squandered potential on sloppy play and mental mistakes. I think we’re gaining a keen insight into why Mark Dominik wanted Greg Schiano. Dominik believes in the work he’s done on the personnel side of things, he’s brought in several talented draft classes and added free agents from the waiver wire and now (this offseason) from the top of the heap.

He just needed someone to actually coach them.

Raheem Morris, a player’s coach, wasn’t that guy. Being a player’s coach works on a veteran team. When the Giants talk about what’s worked with Tom Coughlin lately, it’s a subtle move towards a more player-friendly approach. Coughlin is never going to be laid back, but he relaxed a little and gave the team some room to breathe, it paid off. The difference is that was a veteran bunch with a lot of experience under their belt. You can afford to do that with an older group.

This group in Tampa needs a guy to stay on them. They need that direction and discipline. This group hasn’t earned a player’s coach yet.

That’s why Kellen Winslow’s comments were so absurd. Of course K2 liked Morris, not only did Raheem traded for him and pay him handsomely, he also didn’t make Kellen Winslow practice for three years. Winslow didn’t want to go because he felt Morris was slighted or Schiano was a bad guy. Hell, K2 knows Schiano from college and his time in Cleveland should have taught him this league is a business.

No truth be told after coasting for three years and only turning it on during gamedays, the idea of suiting up and getting back to fundamentals didn’t appeal to Winslow.

But that’s what this Bucs team needs, it’s what Gerald McCoy needs and it’s going to pay off sooner rather than later.

Greg Schiano is going to turn this group into professionals.

Dec, 24, 2011; Charlotte, NC, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Kellen Winslow (82) runs as Carolina Panthers free safety Sherrod Martin (23) defends in the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-US PRESSWIRE

Winslow was targeted an astounding 121 times for a completion percentage of 62 (or 64, depending on if you use ESPN or Advanced NFL Stats) and an average of 6.5 yards per attempt. The completion percentage was down from his sky-high total of 78% the previous year, but it was still average, and Freeman was just as accurate throwing it to him as he was to anyone else. The QB averaged 6.5 yards per attempt as well, which is as many yards per attempt as he averaged while passing it to Winslow.

The rise of the interceptions were meteoric, as Freeman was only picked off once the year before whilst throwing it in the TE’s direction.

The problem with looking at interceptions and saying that it is Winslow’s fault is misleading, since it is rarely the receiver’s fault that a pass was picked off. This is especially true when the rate statistics (Y/A and Cmp%) match up and the INT ratios are way off.

Sample size is a major issue, because 120 or so targets does little to show how the player affects a quarterback’s interception rate directly. However, there are indirect effects that are worth mentioning and can explain this.

First off, Freeman was poor last season and threw 22 interceptions. He threw about 40% of his picks to Winslow, but struggling young quarterbacks often times throw to their tight end. Freeman’s protection from the line was subpar last season, so he was often rushed into decisions and had to throw an inaccurate pass to Winslow, which led to rash decisions and interceptions thrown to the tight end.

It is extremely unlikely for a player to have an incredible season one year and then fall flat the next year, but that is exactly what happened to both Freeman and Winslow. However, most of it falls on Freeman, because it starts from the quarterback. While Winslow was visibly worse last season, so was Freeman and a receiver cannot dictate what type of pass he gets from the QB. Winslow should have done a better job and had a poor year, but he wasn’t that bad and certainly didn’t hurt the team as a pass-catcher, contrary to popular belief.

Some people are going as far as saying that the Bucs would have been better getting rid of Winslow, which is true in that he is a poor blocker and is getting old, but they are also saying that he is a poor pass catcher due to these numbers. That simply isn’t true, because they are twisting the stats.

Numbers can only tell you what you want them to tell you, because, without doing due diligence, you can come up to vastly wrong conclusions. The Bucs are better off without Kellen Winslow Jr. due to factors such as poor blocking and decreasing morale, but those who are criticizing him due to these stats are basically saying that they would rather have a replacement-level TE (like Jeff King) than Winslow. That’s crazy talk, because Winslow is still one of the best pass-catching TEs in the NFL. The Bucs are better off platooning Luke Stocker and Dallas Clark, but it isn’t like Winslow is to blame for Freeman’s struggles. After all, Freeman was just as innaccurate an inefficient while throwing to Winslow as he was while throwing it to everyone else.

Again, young QBs love throwing it to tight ends, especially when they are in doubt. He was facing double teams as a result, because teams knew that Freeman would target him. The quarterback was under stress in the pocket and had to make a quick decision to the TE on a medium or short route, but it wasn’t always the right one.

Even so, it must be said that Kellen Winslow had a poor year and needed to go; it’s just that his fortunes went as Freeman’s did which is south. The stats do show that Winslow was bad, but he wasn’t the main reason for Freeman’s struggles and he is much better than a replacement level TE. I would rather have him than Clark or Stocker alone, but I would rather have both Clark and Stocker sharing snaps and platooning to take advantage of Clark’s pass-catching and Stocker’s run blocking (Clark can’t block and Stocker can’t catch well). There is also the matter of him falling out of favor with the fans and new regime, and that is warranted. However, Winslow is still one of the better pass-catching TEs in the league.

He honestly did a decent job as a pass catcher, but Nathan Jahnke of PFF noted that he was much worse at breaking tackles. Winslow was poor overall despite above-average pass-catching, because he was a poor blocker and didn’t do the “little things”. He had a down year as a pass-catcher especially when comparing it to his amazing 2010 season, but he was undoubtedly more decent than poor.

So yes, Winslow is partially to blame for last season’s poor performance and Freeman’s negative statistics, but most of it falls on Freeman’s struggles and Winslow being the not-so-safe safety net. It isn’t completely Freeman’s fault either, and the statistics show that (the ones that aren’t privy to SSS like Y/A) it didn’t matter who Freeman was throwing to; he still had a below-average year.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.

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