The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will need to change their preseason approach if they want to have healthy players for the start of the 2022 season.
The preseason is a time for NFL teams to see what players have to offer, specifically players that don’t already have a spot on the team that is well established. The games allow coaches the opportunity to see if players that have performed well in camp can actually accomplish the same things under the lights playing against real competition.
However, what the preseason is certainly not for is giving lots of reps to players who are already starting and are not fighting for a spot. Having starters play a lot of reps is just asking for a needless injury in a game that doesn’t matter.
Similarly, using the games simply for more reps for every player on the team is a poor usage of the games as well.
So, that begs the question; what are the Buccaneers coaches doing with their offensive play calling?
Running back Leonard Fournette played in far more reps than he needed to as if he were fighting for a starting position. Fournette doesn’t even need to play in these games. He should be avoiding injury at all costs given his value to the team. It’s not like the other offensive starters were playing.
Why put in a guy like Fournette when he plays at a position with the highest injury rate and you also have three depth players that need reps?
Additionally, the Bucs biggest weakness is their lack of proven depth at the QB position, and they need to figure out if Kyle Trask is up to the task of replacing Brady next season or if the team needs to use this year to look elsewhere for a replacement QB.
Instead, the team ran the ball far more than they should have, ultimately taking away reps from Trask and upsetting his rhythm.
The play-calling of the Bucs in the game against the Titans was baffling for all these reasons and more.
It seemed that the coaches had no focused plan and just used the preseason game to get more reps in for everyone, which can be done in practice with far less risk, instead of actually diagnosing problems and potential solutions for the team that needed to be addressed.
The next game has to be better.
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