The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are far from a finished product, but the way the offense is coming together has Dirk Koetter rather optimistic heading into the season.
When you’re a first time head coach in the NFL, it doesn’t hurt to have a franchise quarterback, a top-five running back, and a wide receiver that could be one of the elite in the league. That’s what Dirk Koetter has going for him now. It’s just a matter of getting the pieces of the puzzle to line up correctly in order to see the big picture.
And that is exactly what Koetter is doing.
Now, this offense, despite the franchise records they set in 2015, has a long way to go if they are going to keep up with the cream of the crop across the league. Koetter understands that the foundation is there and this team may, finally, be on the cusp of contention. When speaking with the media Monday, Koetter spoke about Jameis Winston‘s leadership,
"“Jameis every day asserts himself more and more as a leader. He still has plenty of things he needs to work on as the quarterback, but I love what he is doing leadership wise.”"
Doug Martin‘s evolution as a complete back,
"“Yeah, he’s working at it. I think you find the best players in this league work on their weaknesses and Doug did not have the reputation coming out of college as a great ball catcher. You watch him in between drills, he’ll go over there on the other field with the quarterbacks and he’s always getting extra catching in. We have a real good catching back in Chuck in Charles Sims. Doug sees that he doesn’t want to be getting subbed for on screens and that sort of thing, so he’s worked at it and he’s definitely improved at it.”"
And the offense becoming a pass first team rather than sticking with the run first mentality,
"“I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s the case. Don’t read too much into that, you know how it goes in preseason. Preseason is not the season and it’s not game planning. We’re going to be a run-first football team. You’ve got to run the ball and stop the run to win in this league. We’re not going to change from that.”"
There is a reason fans seem more optimistic and excited about this season than any season since 2011. See, 2010 was that 10-6 season with Josh Freeman at the helm and Buccaneers fans thought that season, where the playoffs were a botched offensive pass interference call away, was only the beginning. That the sky was the limit for Freeman, Mike Williams, LeGarrette Blount, and the re-emergence of Cadillac Williams. But we know how that story ends.
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This team just feels different. The offense has top five potential, the defense has tons of skill and a corrdinator competent enough to use it correctly. We’re witnessing this team evolve before our very eyes.