Buccaneers Talk: Draft season begins, Koetter’s game-planning

2018 still feels new, but the newness of your Walking the Plank hosts is wearing off, isn’t it? Regardless, we’re back for some more Buccaneers talk as the offseason officially gets going.

So, how did everyone deal with the first Buccaneers-less weekend since September? Everyone make it? The NFL playoffs got underway over the weekend, but Tampa Bay has shifted focus to the offseason. In Walking the Plank’s 41st episode, Zach and I give our thoughts on the upcoming few months and what lies ahead for the franchise. We hope your new year is off to a fantastic start and we hope you’ll continue to tune in for some Bucs talk throughout the dog days of the offseason!

To kick off this week’s show, Zach and I look at Pro Football Focus’ ridiculousness. Those guys had O.J. Howard as the worst-graded rookie taken in the first round of last year’s draft. Yeah, the same O.J. Howard that had the seventh-most touchdowns for a tight end and the highest yards per catch average of any starting tight end in the NFL… Anyway, after going over that, we look back at our playoff picks for the first round and quickly recap what went down over the weekend. How’d we do? Well, not great, but not terrible either. It’s probably a good thing we didn’t put any money down on our picks, I guess.

We then dive into our Bucs talk by looking at the team’s seventh overall pick. What should they do with it? We talk about our ideal choices, then get into some hypothetical backup plans. Continuing with the official start of draft season for Tampa Bay, we look at Pewter Report’s first mock draft of 2018 and discuss our pick-by-pick thoughts. Which needs are most pressing for the Bucs? Can they do enough in free agency to eliminate some of those needs before the draft arrives?

Related Story: Buccaneers: Jason Licht will have plenty of room to work with

After the draft talk, Zach and I go through a recent article from Joe Bucs Fan that takes a look at play-calling in the fourth quarter and how it relates to the game plan for the rest of the game. Is Dirk Koetter over-complicating things? How does the lack of a consistent ground game contribute to Tampa Bay’s strategy? Yes, we once again talk about the pitiful 2017 backfield and hope that the 2018 group looks a little better. Save us, Sony Michel or Nick Chubb or Rashaad Penny OR ANYONE.

To wrap up this week’s episode, we give our playoff picks for the second round.

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Feel free to send us your reactions, questions and any other thoughts to walkingtheplankpodcast@gmail.com.

Who are your top choices for the Bucs to take with the seventh pick? Is Koetter trying too hard with his game plan? Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook with your thoughts and predictions.

Thanks for listening!