Dirk Koetter Talks About Throwing For 5K

July 27th, 2017

Slingin’ it?

Last year, only one NFL team threw for more than 5,000 yards.

In 2015, there were none.

It was Drew Brees who busted 5K in 2016. That prowess helped him crush the Bucs’ playoff chances on Christmas Eve but Brees won just seven games. Matt Ryan was second with 4,944 yards and that sent him to the Super Bowl.

In 2015, nobody threw for 5,000 yards.

Brees and Ben Roethlisberger were close in 2014. Brees went 7-9 again; Roethlisberger won his division with an 11-5 record.

Peyton Manning led the NFL with a whopping 5,477 yards in 2013, and that got him and Denver to the Super Bowl.

On today’s Ira Kaufman Podcast, you’ll hear Dirk Koetter talking about the Bucs throwing for 5,000 yards this season. No problem at all, says Koetter, but he doesn’t think that necessarily would help.

“So I think the next step [for Jameis], if you really ask Jameis, I mean, sure, he’d like to be higher on the NFL top-100. I’m sure he’d love to be the MVP some day,” Koetter said. “But Jameis, Jameis wants to get us in the playoffs and win the Super Bowl first and foremost. That makes it easier for me because I know he’s motivated by that. I mean, if we wanted to go out and throw for 5,000 yards, I’m confident we could throw for 5,000 yards, but I can’t guarantee you we’d win any more games.”

Forget about the love for Jameis’ drive to win there, Joe is pleased that Koetter believes he has the firepower to throw for 5,000 yards. That’s encouraging.

Frankly, Joe thinks the Bucs should throw for that much, and Joe thinks they’d be damn successful doing that. Teams very rarely hit that mark, and those who do don’t lose a ton of games slinging the rock like that.

Matthew Stafford was in the playoffs with a 5,000-yard season in 2010. Tom Brady went wild through the air and landed in the Super Bowl in 2011.

18 Responses to “Dirk Koetter Talks About Throwing For 5K”

  1. Chris@Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa Says:

    The 100,000.00 Question, will be the offensive line this year.
    If they protect Jameis well, and pick up the many blitz packages we are sure to see this year, then we go to the playoffs.
    Go Bucs!

  2. Pickgrin Says:

    A balanced attack is obviously coach K’s preference.

    Gotta keep the defense guessing which leads to wrong guesses which leads to mismatches which leads to explosive plays.

    Coach likes explosive plays therefore – gotta keep em guessing thus – need a balanced attack.

  3. German Buc Says:

    I’ve got a feeling he can’t avoid throwing for 5,000 yds even with the balanced attack, the coach prefers.

    It only takes 600 attempts, 400 completions and 12,5 yds per – sound not too far for me.

  4. NFLNut Says:

    SLING IT … USE THE PASS TO SET UP THE RUN … WE HAVE THE BEST RECEIVING CORPS IN THE NFL AND ONE OF THE WORST RB CORPS (albeit a deep one and one of the better ones IF Dougie is physically and emotionally healthy) … SLING THE ROCK!

  5. Bucsfanman Says:

    I agree with Coach. Throwing for 5K doesn’t necessarily translate into wins. Can we do it? Sure. But are you gassing your defense? Are you balanced enough to keep teams honest? Are you properly managing the clock?

    I agree with Pickgrin in that balance is key.

  6. Dewey Selmon Says:

    If Jameis throws for 5,000 yds it will mean we either a) we are behind and playing catch up, or b)in a shootout. Which means the defense is horrible. I don’t see this happening. 4300 yds 33tds 13 ints. 2 rush tds. And a bunch of 2nd half leads so GMC can get some 4th quarter sacks.

  7. Defense Rules Says:

    Fun discussion, but it won’t happen. Like Pickgrin says, Dirk Koetter prefers a balanced attack. If the defenses aren’t scared of the run, they’ll tee off on Jameis every time. Why hold back & worry about protecting your run lanes? The run keeps them honest, and that’s important. Our present OLine should be considerably better at run-blocking than they are at pass-blocking IMO. Also think however that we will use the pass to set up the run this year much more often than in years past. Scoring a lot of points is obviously great, but there has to be a degree of time management associated with that.

    And German Buc, 400 completions in 600 attempts sounds really nice, but that’s a 67% completion rate. Would love to see Jameis hit that this year, but that’d a big advance on his first 2 yrs. Higher completion % like that also seem to come about from throwing a lot of short passes. Personally prefer that, but that hasn’t been Jameis’ usual modus-operandi from what I’ve seen. Tend to think that with a good year throwing, Jameis will be more in the 4,500 – 4,800 yd area, depending on how successful our run game is this year.

  8. 813bucboi Says:

    gotta be balanced….we saw what happened to the falcons when they continued to “sling the rock”…..GO BUCS!!!!

  9. Maze Says:

    But what happened in 2015?

  10. Bucsfanman Says:

    GREAT point 813! If Atlanta runs the ball and milks the clock, it’s Matt Ryan hoisting the Lombardi! It all sounds nice,”slinging it”, but it can also be the team’s undoing.

  11. '74 Bucs fan Says:

    Throw for 4000 yards, be up by 14 points at halftime each game, score 28 a game, go 11-5 and get a first round bye. 5000 yards probably means slinging the rock to play catch-up or in shoot-outs as already stated. I’d rather not do that.

  12. stpetebucsfan Says:

    I get and support all of those calling for more protection and share some obvious concerns.

    We’ll know a lot more after preseason. I do not worry about the Marpet move…may take awhile for him to hit his stride but that’s just a matter of time.
    Pamphile and D. Smith are continuing to grow.

    The big questions of course are Sweezy’s back and RT.

    As for overall protection I think we should continue to remember that as great a receiver as we expect OJ to become he has an incredibly strong reputation as a blocker…this is going to pay big dividends in our run game and protection.

    Went back to look at the draftniks analysis of McNichols…they could have been describing Doug Martin…all the strengths but the same weakness of no second gear to get to the house. He is far better than Doug as a receiver but sadly I read one report that claims he needs work in pass protection.

    Do we have ANY backs on this team that can block for #3? Serious question.

    I guess with all his TE’s Dirk can turn one of them into a FB if they are able to block…Stocker?

  13. Rod Munch Says:

    813bucboi – If Ryan wasn’t an overrated dolt and didn’t a sack then the Falcons win the SB. I mean if you’re an OC how do you not put the ball in the hands of your MVP QB… you know unless your MVP QB is a choke artist who reminded everyone he’s a choke artist in the biggest moment of his career.

  14. Rod Munch Says:

    stpetebucsfan – Doug Martin is the only 1st team All-Pro runningback in team history. Ever! Not Warrick Dunn, not James Wilder, not Rickey Bell not even Bo Jackson – nope just Doug Martin… Yet you think a 5th round rookie is clearly superior in every way. LOL!

  15. Pickgrin Says:

    spbf – “…analysis of McNichols… I read one report that claims he needs work in pass protection”

    Jeremy McNichols was rated as the 2nd best college RB in the nation at pass protection – just behind Mixon. Protecting his QB when asked to is a strength of JMac coming into the NFL – not a weakness. He’s the perfect 3rd down back on paper and if it turns out that he can run as effectively vs NFL defenses as he did in college – he’ll be a 3 down back. Dude had over 3000 yards and FORTY THREE TDs rushing in 25 games – Plus 10 TDs with almost 1000 yards receiving. 53 TDs and 4000 combined yards in 25 games. And here I thought Cook was the ultimate TD scoring machine with 40 in the last 2 years….

  16. NFLNut Says:

    Again, SLING THE ROCK … the reason Bellichick is the GOAT coach is because he plays his team’s strength against the opposing team’s weakness … and our strength against every team will ALWAYS be the passing game!

    There is not a single team in the league we could gash running as well as we could gash passing … not even the Patriots with their two stud CB’s (Gilmore and Butler).

    Evans/Jackson/Howard/Brate/Godwin/Humphries is deadly!

    McNichols/Simms/Quizz/Barber … and sometimes Doug is “average”

    SLING THE ROCK!

  17. German Buc Says:

    @Defense: Jameis loves throwing to TEs. And with our two weapons at this position I expect more intermediate passes, which are high %, too. Add ‘normal’ production by Mike and Hump and some long bombs taken to the house by DJax and we are there.
    I’m all in on #3 (OK, I was before ;-). And btw his college percentage was 66.

  18. Peter P. Says:

    ->Pickgrin: “…Dude had over 3000 yards and FORTY THREE TDs rushing in 25 games – Plus 10 TDs with almost 1000 yards receiving…. And here I thought Cook was the ultimate TD scoring machine with 40 in the last 2 years.”

    And here you thought you were being oh so smart. WRONG!

    You’re comparing Dalvin Cook, a Power 5 running back who played against seven of the top 25 defenses in Power 5 conferences on a team having the 6th toughest schedule of the 2016-17 season, to a Mountain West Conference player on a team whose schedule ranked 72nd toughest that included a total of TWO Power 5 schools only one of which they defeated (a 4-8 Oregon State team)?

    You also short-changed Mr. McNichols.

    In 25 games, McNichols gained 3,980 yards from scrimmage @ 6.2 yards per touch, albeit, against very weak opponents in the MWC.

    In 25 games, Cook gained 4,188 yards from scrimmage @ 7.3 yards per touch
    against very strong opponents in the ACC, SEC and Big-Ten.

    Besides playing injured for most of the past two years, FSU’s O-line last season was mediocre, at best, yet Cook still managed to rack up 2,253 yards from scrimmage @ 7.0 yards per touch and score 20 TD’s (which was still higher than McNichols totals of 2,183 @ 6.2 yards per touch).

    How many TD’s do you think Cook would have scored against Boise State’s opponents?

    Next time, try not to compare apples to hand grenades.