3 nightmare scenarios for Buccaneers in 2023
By Josh Hill
Dave Canales and Skip Peete can’t fix the run game
Last year the Buccaneers had the league’s worst rushing attack, something that was so bad that it set back an offense that was being led by Tom Brady.
There were other things that went wrong for the Bucs on offense, but the run game struggles and the utter lack of production certainly didn’t help. Drives couldn’t get going, the rare trips to the red zone were a disaster, and by the middle of the season the offense was as predictable as it gets.
Everything seems to be lined up for a bounce back season, though. New offensive coordinator Dave Canales comes from a system in Seattle where running backs were collected like rare coins but deployed with great success. One of his first hires was Skip Peete, who comes to the Bucs from Dallas where he helped turn Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard into one of the best running back duos in the entire league.
Perhaps that’s what is in store for Rachaad White and Ke’Shawn Vaughn?
Moves were made this offseason to set the running game up to vastly improve, but it won’t just magically happen. White is a first-time starter and Vaughn has been with the Bucs for three seasons without making much of a notable impact.
There’s also the need for the run game to improve a lot over what it was last season. Marginal improvement probably won’t be enough to turn the offense around, especially since it’s likely that Canales new system will rely heavily on it as a central piece.
Other areas of the offense need to step up, but if the run game struggles to turn things around then Bucs fans might be subjected to more of the same — or worse.