The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ season is over which means it’s time for the coaches to look to the off-season and what they can do to improve their team. To coach Dirk Koetter, that means adding speed to the offense.
It’s that time of year when every fan whose team didn’t make the playoffs turns their attention to pending free agents and the draft. For Buccaneers fans, it appears that the off-season will bring some dynamic playmakers. That is, if Dirk Koetter has his way.
Koetter has already been extremely vocal in his desire to add weapons on offense that have speed – something this team has sorely lacked longer than we care to remember. In his Monday press conference, he made that point abundantly clear;
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"“We need more speed and when we say playmakers, playmakers and explosive plays are one in the same. Guys that can make explosives, guys that can catch a 10-yard pass, break one tackle and turn it into a 30-yard gain. Our run after the catch is not where it needs to be. And again, anything that we’re saying here is not an indictment on the guys we have because the guys you have are the guys you have and you’ve got to coach the heck out of them. Once again, it goes back to the thing I said in the beginning, I think this team did a good job of playing as close to their talent level. That’s a hard thing to judge, it’s not an exact thing. In my opinion, we played close to our talent level.”"
In a special, season end edition of Buccaneers Total Access, Dirk Koetter took his usual Monday time slot and the show was dedicated to fans calling in and tweeting questions, comments, criticisms, and compliments. Koetter used around half the hour long show to continuously bring up the need for speed on this team. He mentioned it nine times.
Seems like it’s pretty high on the priority list, no?
Good news is, there is plenty of speed to be found in free agency or the draft, both if they so choose. Washington’s standout receiver John Ross is already a popular choice among Bucs fans, as is the dominant receiver Corey Davis out of Western Michigan. Both players posses speed and a threat opposite Mike Evans.
As for free agency, there are players like Ted Ginn Jr., Terrelle Pryor, DeSean Jackson, Kenny Britt, and Alshon Jeffery. All posses more speed than the offense currently has, but aren’t necessarily the best fit or will be the right price. Just know, that speed is out there and the Buccaneers are going to do their best to make it happen.
Dirk Koetter had a pretty darn good rookie year as a head coach, but this roster isn’t complete. As Koetter eluded to on Total Access, you can’t fix every problem in one off-season. It’s time for the Bucs to continue to build as they take their next step towards playoff contention.