5 reasons why the Buccaneers shouldn’t draft Jonathan Taylor
By Rob Leeds
Running the football has been the most important part of most football offenses for the vast majority of NFL history. Despite this, the sun is setting on this notion as the modern NFL is based far more on the pass than the run.
The idea of running on first down is one that has diminished in popularity heavily over the last few seasons and teams that often subscribe to that game plan see their first play fail to meet expectations in most instances.
The Buccaneers had this problem for a majority of the last two seasons where the first play from scrimmage was often a two-yard rush from Peyton Barber right up the middle.
As analytics are quickly gaining a following in the NFL, teams are opting to pass more in early situations rather than essentially wasting the time to set up the run.
It is also true for the Buccaneers that the opposite is the case. For a team that deals with turnovers as often as the Bucs do, running the ball often just takes time away from the offense when what is actually needed is to pass the ball to get back into the game.
The Buccaneers are currently a pass-first team and that seems unlikely to change any time soon. Premium picks in the draft would be better spent maintaining the pass rather than trying to revive the run.