May 15, 2012; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Vincent Jackson (83) works out during organized team activities at One Buc. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

This year things are looking to be a lot different, starting with the line and the run game, and extending into the receiving corps where the addition of Vincent Jackson and the growth of Preston Parker look to give Tampa as deep a rotation at receiver as its had in years.

We’ll have plenty of time to dissect the Bucs run-game, which will likely be the offense’s bread and butter while the passing game meshes, but the true high-end potential on the Bucs offense now lies with the receivers. Last year Tampa had a group of developing guys, likely more number-two receivers, trying to make a go of it. Whereas that worked two years ago, in 2011 that approach caught up with the Bucs.

It’s not that Mike Williams and the rest of the group digressed last season. Statistically, they were right on pace with what they did in 2010. The trends just adjusted, they weren’t as lucky in 2011. Williams for instance caught the same percentage of his targets as he did as a rookie, he was no worse with drops or misses, he was right in line with the year before, the ball just bounced differently for him.

It was like that across the board, you saw a Buccaneers team, specifically on offense, that got away with a ton of mistakes in 2010 (face it, they got a lot of breaks), didn’t have the benefit of off-season coaching, and frankly just didn’t learn from the mistakes they made the year before.

Josh Freeman was throwing into triple coverage in 2010 when he had 25 TD’s to 6 picks. He did it all year, and miraculously it almost never bit him in the rear end. In 2011 he made the same kinds of decisions he had made when he played so well the year before, and why wouldn’t he? He had no reason to learn from plays that didn’t end up being mistakes. Last season though, the football gods held him accountable.

There wasn’t a drop-off, there just was no progression.

And with the rest of the league having had a year to scout them, teams caught up in 2011 and took advantage of an overmatched receiving corps and a very green offense.

This year, the off-season work should correct some of the mistakes of the two years past and help get the offense moving in the right direction in terms of progression, but it’s the additions of Vincent Jackson and Dallas Clark that will arguably help the most.

May 15, 2012; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Williams (19) works out during organized team activities at One Buc. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

You see, now in Tampa things fit. You aren’t pressing developing guys into service before they’re ready. Mike Williams is immensely talented, but the average NFL receiver doesn’t really start to blossom until year three and Williams was facing double teams regularly as a second year guy who left college early.

Ideally, right now where he’s at in the course of his development, Mike Williams is a number two receiver. Last year as a one, he was often overmatched and over the course of a long season that can begin to corrode a player’s psyche.

This season, with Vincent Jackson lining up as the Buccaneers’ alpha receiver and forcing defenses to account for him you’ll get to see Mike Williams put in a situation where he’ll get to flourish. One-on-one with a team’s second corner, for instance, is a good place for Williams to find himself, and he’ll have a lot more success with that than drawing the kind of coverage he faced last year.

Of course that’s provided Williams wins the job as the team’s number two.

With the assumption that Preston Parker will be the slot guy, there are three extremely viable candidates for the two-role. Williams, Dezmon Briscoe and Arrelious Benn. And the Bucs will have the luxury of picking the best of the bunch.

May 15, 2012; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Preston Parker (87) works out during organized team activities at One Buc. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Parker is quickly rooting himself in Tampa with solid special teams work and rapid improvement in his work at receiver. As we’ve discussed before, this really shouldn’t be shocking about PP. Originally a stand-out at Florida State, Parker was the lone bright spot on some truly bad Jeff Bowden offenses before getting kicked off the team for repeated off-the-field infractions.

Had he not been booted, he’d have worked with Jimbo Fisher (who was previously the OC at LSU) his senior season and likely would have been taken in the first few rounds of the draft. He’s got potential, the question was just whether he’d put it all together which, to his credit, he seems to have done.

With Jackson as your alpha and Parker in the slot, you’ve got the three guys vying for the number two role.

I’ve said before I love what Briscoe brings to the table and entering 2012 with a level playing field he’s the wild card of the bunch. Arrelious Benn and Mike Williams had the benefit of being drafted and starting with Tampa from day one. Dezmon Briscoe was poached off the waiver wire in Cincy when they tried to stash him on the practice squad and has been playing catch-up ever since.

With a new coaching regime in place, Briscoe gains the most because there’s now a clean slate.

Arrelious Benn needs to prove he can stay healthy before he sees his career take that next step. He’s got speed and plenty of potential, but injuries and some inconsistency have limited him so far in his first two years.

Odds are it’s between Briscoe and Williams with 19 taking a slight edge. Either way, the Bucs win. Competition is healthy, it’s good for the offense.

An improved receiving corps, also featuring the seasoned Dallas Clark and second-year Luke Stocker at tight end should actually warrant other defense’s attention this season. There is speed to stretch the field, toughness to go over the middle and quickness in the flats and in space. This is a unit that should pressure defenses, loosen the box for the run-game and give the Bucs the kind of balance that teams need to win in the NFL.

The Buccaneers receiving corps is shaping up.

Jan. 1, 2012; Jacksonville FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars safety Dawan Landry (26) tackles Indianapolis Colts tight end Dallas Clark (44) during the second half at EverBank Field. Jacksonville defeated Indianapolis 19-13. Mandatory Credit: Matt Stamey-US PRESSWIRE

Last season, the Buccaneers passing game was dreadful due to subpar pass protection and a huge down year from Josh Freeman. The receivers weren’t any better either, as Winslow digressed from a huge 2010 season and Mike Williams’s regression was even more steep and impactful than Winslow’s. Preston Parker was the only receiver who took a step forward last season, as the expected breakout year from Arrelious Benn did not materialize in year two.

The Buccaneers attempted 588 passes between Josh Freeman and Josh Johnson last year, and LeGarrette Blount and Co. combined for a total of 346 rushes. That leads to a 63%-37% ratio of passing plays to rushing plays.

Under Schiano, expect that number to change in favor of rushing plays to something between 55% and 60% of passing plays. I want to bring up an interesting fact from last season, and that is that Buccaneers opponents ran the ball more (498 times) than they passed it (481 times). The pass-run splits are due to play-calling and the team being down more and having to pass more, but one should still expect a 60-40 pass-to-run ratio at the very least with Doug Martin in the fold.

Below is how the targets were spread among each player (4 WR, 2 TE).

Mike Williams: 124, 21.4%

Kellen Winslow Jr.: 121, 20.9%

Preston Parker: 64, 11%

Dezmon Briscoe: 51, 8.8%

Arrelious Benn: 51, 8.8%

Luke Stocker: 17, 2.9%

Notice how the Buccaneers utilized Briscoe and Benn equally, but it seems like they have confidence in Benn in the always-crucial third year. Parker was the No. 2 receiver by virtue of targets, but Freeman was clearly targeting Winslow and Williams the most. Targeting Williams in his down year that heavily did not help. He averaged just 6.2 yards per attempt in an awful year after a terrific rookie campaign, but he will bounce back in year three.

The reason being is that Williams might be too inconsistent to be a No. 1 wideout at this point, but the Buccaneers made the right move and didn’t waste time trying to find a solid No. 2 or 3 wideout. Instead, they went right after a big fish and inked Vincent Jackson to a huge deal.

V-Jax gives Freeman his first legitimate No. 1 receiver, as Jackson was one of the best WRs in the league a few years ago. He will likely receive 130 targets. Williams will get around 90, while Parker will be set to get 50 and Benn 50 (depending on how they feel about him. The other receivers will likely get 50 “vulture” targets.

If the Bucs target their WRs/TEs 450 times next season, that leaves 80 targets for the tight ends. Thus, the tight end will be limited by 58 targets. In those 80 targets, 20 will likely go to Luke Stocker, who will primarily be used as a blocker in this platoon. Meanwhile, Dallas Clark will probably get 60 targets, which would have placed him 26th among tight ends last season.

That could change if Clark takes targets from Jackson or the vulture targets, but I doubt he receives 80 targets and will probably get 60-75 targets  this season. Thus, the Buccaneers are limiting the tight end’s role in the passing game, and they seem content with doing that. It seems like a better policy with a revamped receiving corps due to the addition of a bona fide threat in Jackson.

Even so, the Bucs could give Clark more targets if he is impressive enough, as I doubt they wouldn’t give him more opportunities if he plays well enough. That may not happen with his age and injury history, and there are question marks surrounding him. If he gets 65 targets and catches 65% of them, then he finishes the year with 42 receptions and the Bucs will be content with that production.

Remember, these are only estimates of what will happen based on data from last season, but there is a new coaching staff, new players, and a new method. I tried to take that into account with the above projections, but they are rough. Even so, they give a good estimation of the break down of targets for the wideouts and tight ends involved in the Buccaneers passing game.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.

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May 15, 2012; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Preston Parker (87) works out during organized team activities at One Buc. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Preston Parker was given a one-year extension worth $1 million, with $50,000 of that coming in guaranteed money. He signed a one-year deal worth $540,000 in April, and the Bucs were able to buy out Parker’s RFA year in 2013 with this extension. $1 million is cheaper than what the Bucs would have paid him if he became a restricted free agent, so this make sense for the Bucs.

Parker had a breakout year for the team with 40 catches for 554 yards and three touchdowns last year. He was the most consistent receiver on the team, in a season that saw too much inconsistency from the position. While he wasn’t great, Parker didn’t make mistakes and was a solid WR for the team.

He hauled in 62.5% of the passes thrown at him for a total of 8.7 yards per target while operating on short and medium passing routes. It was a quality year for him, and he will slot in comfortably into a reduced role as the team’s No. 4 receiver. In fact, he is one of the better No. 4 wideouts in the league.

Wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe reported for the second week of OTAs after missing the first week, and he will need to be at his best in order to receive a roster spot. Briscoe is the team’s No. 5 WR, but he enjoyed a decent 2011 campaign. He caught six touchdown passes and hauled in 68.6% of the passes thrown at him for an average of 7.6 yards per target. Briscoe should be able to at least get a roster spot, but he is fighting for targets at this point.

Undrafted FIU receiver Greg Ellingson played for the Jacksonville Jaguars as a rookie in 2011, and he was recently waived by the Jags before recently signing with the Bucs. He is a practice squad guy and could be cut after training camp. Ellingson was added after former Boise State star and current undrafted rookie Tyler Shoemaker was “waived/left squad”.

In tight end news, Luke Stocker was unsurprisingly named the starting and “every-down” tight end by Mark Dominik. The Buccaneers traded Kellen Winslow Jr. and then promptly picked up former Indianapolis Colts star tight end Dallas Clark. He is injury-prone and getting up there in age, but Clark is still a great pass-catcher and a difference-maker in that regard, despite being a poor blocker. Stocker, on the other hand, is a quality blocker and deserved to be the every-down guy, with Clark getting the targets as the No. 2 TE.

Expect Clark to get more targets than the Bucs, as the team will likely utilize his talents as the primary pass-catcher. Last season, Stocker was targeted just 17 times and finished with 12 catches for 92 yards.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.

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