It hasn’t taken long for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to put together another fantastic free agent class. Over the first few days of the legal tampering period, the Bucs re-signed key players like Chris Godwin, Ben Bredeson, and Anthony Nelson while also adding Haason Reddick to help address the pass rush.
Reddick wasn’t that only potentially impactful free agent the Buccaneers brought in.
Tampa Bay jumped back into things on Tuesday by signing punter Riley Dixon from the Denver Broncos. He was a Top 10 player at his position last year, and his arrival in Tampa Bay could end up being one of the best the team makes all offseason.
Riley Dixon is exactly who the Buccaneers have been looking for to replace Jake Camarda
It might seem unassuming, but the addition of Dixon is a big one. Last year the Bucs struggled to find consistency with punting, an unfortunate situation that was brought on by the fall from grace by Jake Camarda.
Once among the most important players on the team, Camarda cratered hard in the preseason and never recovered. He was benched for most of the first quarter of the season before eventually being released in October.
It was a rather stunning end to his tenure, mostly because it all happened so quickly and unexpectedly. The Bucs cycled through two more punters the rest of the season but never managed to find one that worked. Neither Trenton Gill or Jake Browning were able to fill Camarda’s shoes, but there’s a lot to suggest Dixon can.
Here’s how his year stacks up against everything the Bucs did at punter last season:
Dixon | Buccaneers | |
|---|---|---|
Average | 46.7 yards | 43.7 yards |
Net Average | 42.0 yards | 37.4 yards |
On roughly 50 punts, that’s over 300 yards of difference which is a significant upgrade. It wasn’t just because of the advantage of punting in altitude either, as Dixon’s home/away splits were identical when it came to his net average and only two yards more on his average.
What made Camarda essential to the Bucs’ success was his ability to flip the field when the defense held its own. His failure to do that — as well as the failure of Browning and Gill — is a big reason why some games turned out the way they did last year.
Dixon was elite for the Broncos and helped a team that not many thought would do much turn into a playoff contender by aiding what ended up being a tremendous defensive effort. That’s what the Bucs are getting, as this is more than just about replacing Camarda and could have an impact on helping the defense find better footing.
Tampa Bay has already made a ton of great moves this offseason, but the addition of Dixon has the chance to be the best.
More Tampa Bay Buccaneers news and rumors