We begin our review of Buccaneers free agents with running back Jacquizz Rodgers.
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Right now the playoffs are unfolding, but behind the scenes, Buccaneers is already thinking about the 2017 season. It’s a time of looking back, seeing what went right to build on, and what went wrong that needs to be fixed.
As the season was a roller coaster ride, Dirk Koetter, Jason Licht and company will have a lot to talk about on both sides of that fence.
There is the Combine to prepare for, and the eventual NFL draft. There is also the free agency period, where the best available talent in the league goes to the highest bidder. But, before all of that, teams must evaluate their own rosters and decide which of their own free agents to keep and which to let go.
So we are going to help Jason Licht with these decisions, starting now.
According to Spotrac, the Bucs have 17 unrestricted free agents. We are going to take a look at why to keep them, why not to keep them, and come up with a decision.
We start today with Jacquizz Rodgers.
The Pros
When Rodgers was signed on September 13th, after the season had already started, nobody really knew what to expect. The guy wasn’t in any camp, literally signed off the streets. Was he going to add anything more than depth? Admittedly, it was hard to tell.
Well, he was called on to provide more than depth and he responded, leading the Bucs with 560 yards rushing. Let’s look at the numbers a little bit more in depth by going game by game.
| Rushing | Receiving | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Week | Tm | Opp | Result | Rush | Yds | Y/A | TD | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Ctch% | Y/Tgt | TD | |
| 2016-09-18 | 2 | TAM | @ | ARI | L 7-40 | 2 | 29 | 14.50 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | 0.00 | 0 | |
| 2016-09-25 | 3 | TAM | LAR | L 32-37 | 5 | 15 | 3.00 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8.00 | 0 | 100.0% | 8.00 | 0 | |
| 2016-10-02 | 4 | TAM | DEN | L 7-27 | 6 | 25 | 4.17 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4.00 | 0 | 50.0% | 2.00 | 0 | |
| 2016-10-10 | 5 | TAM | @ | CAR | W 17-14 | 30 | 101 | 3.37 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 28 | 5.60 | 0 | 83.3% | 4.67 | 0 |
| 2016-10-23 | 7 | TAM | @ | SFO | W 34-17 | 26 | 154 | 5.92 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 9.00 | 0 | 100.0% | 9.00 | 0 |
| 2016-10-30 | 8 | TAM | OAK | L 24-30 | 19 | 69 | 3.63 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 9.00 | 0 | 100.0% | 9.00 | 1 | |
| 2016-12-04 | 13 | TAM | @ | SDG | W 28-21 | 7 | 29 | 4.14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 21.00 | 0 | 100.0% | 21.00 | 0 |
| 2016-12-11 | 14 | TAM | NOR | W 16-11 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | |||
| 2016-12-24 | 16 | TAM | @ | NOR | L 24-31 | 15 | 63 | 4.20 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 7.50 | 0 | 100.0% | 7.50 | 1 |
| 2017-01-01 | 17 | TAM | CAR | W 17-16 | 17 | 75 | 4.41 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4.00 | 0 | 100.0% | 4.00 | 0 |
The back to back 100 yard performances jump out, but it’s more than that. In the five games when Rodgers carried the football at least 15 times, he averaged 92.4 yards per game. Project that over 16 games and it becomes 1,478 rushing yards. As he was given the football he got better.
He would be far from the first running back that got better the more he got the rock.
Rodgers was the best running back on the team in 2016. Doesn’t that earn him at least one more year?
The Cons
Players play to their career numbers. It’s true in almost every case throughout sports. Players are what their numbers say they are. Take Ryan Fitzpatrick up in New York for a prime example. He set franchise records in 2015, and became a turnover machine in 2016. The trouble is Fitzpatrick has always been an up and down quarterback. That’s why he has travelled between so many teams over the years.
He is what is numbers say he is.
Let’s look at Jacquizz Rodgers for his career:
Rushing & Receiving
| Games | Rushing | Receiving | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Tm | Pos | No. | G | GS | Rush | Yds | TD | Lng | Y/A | Y/G | A/G | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Lng | R/G | Y/G | Ctch% | YScm | RRTD | Fmb | AV |
| 2011 | 21 | ATL | 22 | 16 | 0 | 57 | 205 | 1 | 13 | 3.6 | 12.8 | 3.6 | 27 | 21 | 188 | 9.0 | 1 | 31 | 1.3 | 11.8 | 77.8% | 393 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 2012 | 22 | ATL | 32 | 16 | 0 | 94 | 362 | 1 | 43 | 3.9 | 22.6 | 5.9 | 59 | 53 | 402 | 7.6 | 1 | 32 | 3.3 | 25.1 | 89.8% | 764 | 2 | 0 | 7 | |
| 2013 | 23 | ATL | rb | 32 | 15 | 4 | 96 | 332 | 2 | 19 | 3.5 | 22.1 | 6.4 | 63 | 52 | 341 | 6.6 | 2 | 22 | 3.5 | 22.7 | 82.5% | 673 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 2014 | 24 | ATL | rb | 32 | 16 | 1 | 58 | 217 | 1 | 17 | 3.7 | 13.6 | 3.6 | 40 | 29 | 173 | 6.0 | 1 | 14 | 1.8 | 10.8 | 72.5% | 390 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 2015 | 25 | CHI | 35 | 5 | 0 | 14 | 41 | 0 | 5 | 2.9 | 8.2 | 2.8 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | 10 | 0.2 | 2.0 | 33.3% | 51 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 26 | TAM | rb | 32 | 10 | 5 | 129 | 560 | 2 | 45 | 4.3 | 56.0 | 12.9 | 16 | 13 | 98 | 7.5 | 0 | 21 | 1.3 | 9.8 | 81.3% | 658 | 2 | 0 | |
| Career | 78 | 10 | 448 | 1717 | 7 | 45 | 3.8 | 22.0 | 5.7 | 208 | 169 | 1212 | 7.2 | 5 | 32 | 2.2 | 15.5 | 2929 | 12 | 3 | 18 | |||||
| 4 yrs | ATL | 63 | 5 | 305 | 1116 | 5 | 43 | 3.7 | 17.7 | 4.8 | 189 | 155 | 1104 | 7.1 | 5 | 32 | 2.5 | 17.5 | 2220 | 10 | 3 | 18 | ||||
| 1 yr | CHI | 5 | 0 | 14 | 41 | 0 | 5 | 2.9 | 8.2 | 2.8 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | 10 | 0.2 | 2.0 | 51 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 1 yr | TAM | 10 | 5 | 129 | 560 | 2 | 45 | 4.3 | 56.0 | 12.9 | 16 | 13 | 98 | 7.5 | 0 | 21 | 1.3 | 9.8 | 658 | 2 | 0 |
His best year on the ground was 2016 by a wide margin. The argument could be made that, based on his career numbers, maybe we get more in the receiving game but not much as a runner.
Isn’t that Charles Sims’ job?
The Verdict
This one was a pretty easy decision.
According to Spotrac, Rodgers made $760,000 last season. He was exactly what the Bucs needed. He was the best running back on the field in 2016 by a wide margin. Don’t forget how tenuous the Bucs running back situation is. We don’t know if Doug Martin will be retained and how he will look coming back from suspension if he is. Charles Sims, like Martin, has had difficulty staying on the field.
With just 560 yards Rodgers won’t command a huge raise, so this one is a no-brainer.
Next: Free Agents the Bucs Should Avoid
VERDICT: BRING BACK JACQUIZZ RODGERS
Does everyone agree? Anyone disagree? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section, and reach out to us via social media.