Bank On A Rebound
August 24th, 2018
Big prediction.
It is puzzling trying to figure out why DeSean Jackson had one of the worst seasons of his borderline Hall of Fame career.
Now 31, Jackson still has the wheels to make defenses cry, as we saw last Saturday night at Tennesee. And despite having an awful 2017, X’s and O’s guy Andy Benoit of theMMQB.com foresees a big time bounce-back year for Jackson in 2018.
DeSean Jackson had just 10 catches over 20 yards last season, which ranked 37th in the NFL. That’s unacceptable for a player with his skill set in a system built on deep corner, post and dig routes. Jackson is 31 but can still run. And as long as he’s across from superstar Mike Evans, he’ll see no more than the second most challenging aspect of every defense’s coverage. Jackson should be at least an 800-1,000-yard receiver in 2018.
Seeing that 54-yard pitch-and-catch between America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, and Jackson sure looked like Jackson is back. And that’s not counting a few times Joe has seen Jameis hit Jackson for bombs in practice.
If Jackson is on track, this offense could be lethal.
August 24th, 2018 at 12:30 am
Yes Joe, it could be lethal ! But would you want to see more forced balls like we did so many times last year? Even if they are completed half the time they are forced , would it be worth it to you? I say no! Take what the defense gives and spread the ball to the open man…lets hope they connect when it’s there and not just on 3rd and 15…also, do you feel by watching up close everyday Joe that we can run it for a first down on 3rd and short with consistency or are we going to still see alot of these weird play calls to pass all the time? I only ask cause I can not be there up close like you can and I respect your opinion and hope I can get a response on this which I probably won’t as you normally only respond to posters on jbf when you feel you need to defend yourself
August 24th, 2018 at 12:35 am
Also Joe, Mike Evans said there is not much of a drop off from Jameis to Fitz as far as the pass catchers are concerned. What do you see with your eyes? Mike feels that way but does it pass the eye test everyday for you? Or is Mike just being a good teammate?
August 24th, 2018 at 12:43 am
@BucBall I think it’s defintely just ME being a great teammate. Not to say that Fitz can’t connect with Wvans, he definitely can, but I don’t see any of Fitz’s passes having the kind of zip that Jameis has.
Last game was all you need to see, O struggles with Fitz but soon as Jameis took the field it was like a well oiled machine.
Expecting big things this year from my QB!!!
August 24th, 2018 at 12:44 am
See Jameis being more accurate in practices than he has before. Asked another Bucs beat guy last week if he was seeing the same thing Joe was. He completely agreed.
August 24th, 2018 at 1:49 am
Howard thinks Winston is pissed and wants to be vindicated as a franchise QB.
Howard feels like a fool for believing anything positive about the Bucs……but……maybe Winston will go on a passing rampage when he gets back?
August 24th, 2018 at 3:53 am
For me Idc too much about Jackson . He was good enough for me last year , I just wish we quit forcing throws to him because we were upset he wasn’t the guy we all wanted him to be . He was way good enough for us. I wanna see more big lightning plays for tds sure. The thing is that’s just not reality . Have a good average with 13,14,15+ and just run your routes catch the ball. Nothing else matters . If he only gets 55 targets on 80 throws whatever . We have plenty of guys who deserve big time targets . This goes for Evans too. Too many weapons to be focused on just 1-2 guys . Mov the ball around more!!!!!
August 24th, 2018 at 4:23 am
I get taking what the defense gives you and moving the chains.
But if Barber/ROJO and our OL can cobble together even an average running game…just enough to keep defenses honest the defense will be giving us open bombs to DJAX…not every play but frequently.
Talk about pick your poison as a DC facing the Bucs…obviously ME13 will get the lion’s share of attention…but now we have Godwin who is a borderline if not a genuine #1 WR. He’s going to demand attention and coverage.
But for the DC’s it’s far worse than worrying about just our WR’s…we have arguably the best TE tandem in the league…who is going to cover Brate and OJ?
We haven’t gotten to Hump or Watson yet.
There will be people open on virtually every play which puts the onus on our OL to provide just enough time for #3 to find them and on #3 to make the right choice.
How could we not be impressed with #3 so far? He not only seems to have improved his accuracy as Joe pointed out…but it’s as if somebody finally slipped him a desperately needed “chill pill”. I think his head has improved as much as his arm this off season. It’s the old silver lining in the dark cloud.
There is every possibility that the last “incident” and the suspension have finally gotten #3’s attention. Remember #3 could do no wrong since middle school when it was clear he would be a professional athlete…and a very good one at minimum whether it was baseball or football. He has the golden arm.
This is the first time that #3 has actually been truly disciplined and had to pay a genuine price for his behavior and this three game suspension and all the bad PR seem to have finally gotten his attention.
If the OL performs adequately #3 and DJAX will both have big years!
It’s all good….IF we can cobble together an effective OL.
August 24th, 2018 at 4:27 am
@JOE
This is OT but I thought you might enjoy the info. I spend three months at a very remote cottage on Lake Superior.
My only internet connection is Hughes net satellite. As a city slicker used to great internet connection and speeds this has been a real challenge. Hughes is better than nothing…but barely.
So this year I’ve struggled mightily to get online…frequently GMAIL won’t even load and other sites like the Washington Post have difficulty as well.
For some reason I NEVER have a problem getting to JBF. For whatever technical reasons your site seems to load every time.
Just thought you’d enjoy some excellent technical news
August 24th, 2018 at 4:47 am
@Mike in LOL … “Last game was all you need to see, O struggles with Fitz but soon as Jameis took the field it was like a well oiled machine.” Don’t get down on Fitz too quickly Mike (he’s who we’ve got for at least the 1st 3 games for starters). I thought he looked quite good in the 1st preseason game, and that’s playing against the 1’s with the 1’s. And it sounds from Joe’s daily write-ups (and others) that Fitz has been doing reasonably well in preseason practices.
I’m personally excited that Jameis is more ‘focused’ this year & is throwing with better accuracy, and I’m really hopeful that translates into more points scored and more W’s. But to me football is the premier TEAM sport, and it takes everyone pulling together to bring home the bacon. Individual performances are great, but to me it’s more about position groups’ performances and how they mesh together. Right now the position group I’m more concerned about isn’t the QBs or his ‘weapons’; it’s the OLine. That’s the key IMO to the running game & also the key to protecting the QB (whoever is on the field) long enough so that they can methodically dissect the defense.
August 24th, 2018 at 5:52 am
Jackson has to get on track? Man the writing here has really taken a nose dive.
August 24th, 2018 at 6:10 am
Listen guys, playing to the standards of what the defense gives you isn’t gonna cut it or get us to the playoffs.if you have the skills to ball out and be dominant than do it! Playing it safe can only get you so far. This team has a different vibe this year. They aren’t letting the defense dictate what the offense should call every playing because “take what the defense gives you.” BUC THAT BS! They are doing what they want on their own terms!
August 24th, 2018 at 6:55 am
“Pro Bowler”???? One alternate invite gets you labeled as a perennial?
August 24th, 2018 at 7:23 am
@architek: spot on. This clown is no pro bowler. Heck, he got in as an alternate over Kirk cousins that year just so the NFL can be PC. On another point: DJax had a bad year because JW cannot throw an accurate deep ball….never has and never will. A banged up OLine will not help the cause for a QB that cannot go through his progressions
August 24th, 2018 at 7:53 am
It was not “puzzling” at all!!!!! Even Head Coach Koetter said what the problem was!!!!!! DJ11 was open and did his job!!!!! The QB could not throw in the zip code!!!!!!!!! And before some say that DJ11 did not make effort to “fight for the ball” because of another inaccurate throw on a crossing route that would have taken his head off!!!!!!! Look at all the go routes and see where the ball was landing!!!!!
Hopefully accuracy will not be a problem that it was last year!!!!!!!!!
#trust the coaches!!!!!! Fix the “real” problem, the roster!!!!!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!
August 24th, 2018 at 8:54 am
Godeep66 Says
“DJax had a bad year because JW cannot throw an accurate deep ball…”
As I said throughout last season, if Jameis was so inaccurate throwing deep (with an injured shoulder), then why was DJax the only one he had trouble connecting with?
That’s where your point falls a part…especially after stats geeks proved my point last week.
DJax is afraid of taking hits, will not fight for the ball (too busy avoiding contact), is always off timing on his routes, and NEVER takes anything that isn’t thrown perfectly.
That’s why his production was down, even though he had more opportunities than any other WR on the team.
That reckless hail mary Winston threw last week? If DJax had been the target, it would have failed and would likely have been a pick. Because DJax would not have jumped up for the ball, and he would not fight for it.
Which is why DJax will gradually lose more and more opportunities to Godwin this year and be released or traded by next year.
August 24th, 2018 at 8:57 am
Realisto, funny how those Go Routes worked for everyone else.
August 24th, 2018 at 9:25 am
don’t know if jackson is totally to blame. when you cant hit him with a deep pass its not his fault.
August 24th, 2018 at 9:28 am
@Buc Bonzai
There were not many Go routes completed!!!!!! There were curls and comebacks that turned into jump balls!!!!! There was one go that was completed to DJ11 but was called back because DS76 was called for holding!!!!! Amazing after the completion. The other teams secondary played off coverage for a while after that though!!!!!!!!!!
August 24th, 2018 at 12:06 pm
Howard Cosell Says:
August 24th, 2018 at 1:49 am
Howard thinks Winston is pissed and wants to be vindicated as a franchise QB.
Howard feels like a fool for believing anything positive about the Bucs……but……maybe Winston will go on a passing rampage when he gets back?
^^^JW was on a passing rampage last 6 games of the year. Dood was FIRE! He coming into his own now. I don’t care if Fitz is 3 and 0. JW better be starting game 4.
August 24th, 2018 at 12:07 pm
joestang Says:
August 24th, 2018 at 9:25 am
don’t know if jackson is totally to blame. when you cant hit him with a deep pass its not his fault.
Yep!
Buccaneer Bonzai Says:
August 24th, 2018 at 8:57 am
Realisto, funny how those Go Routes worked for everyone else.
Yep!
But some how Joe thinks it’s #11 fault. What a douche!
August 24th, 2018 at 12:09 pm
Architek Says:
August 24th, 2018 at 6:55 am
“Pro Bowler”???? One alternate invite gets you labeled as a perennial?
^^^True but if JW didn’t get hurt last year he would have gotten another alternate invite.
August 24th, 2018 at 1:34 pm
Is it really puzzling? When the ball is 15 yards in front or behind you, that’s not a puzzle, that’s a QB that has no accuracy on the long ball. Hopefully this year will be different, if not, you’ll be able to find a #3 jersey at your local thrift store.
August 24th, 2018 at 4:23 pm
ufour20 Says
“Is it really puzzling? When the ball is 15 yards in front or behind you, that’s not a puzzle, that’s a QB that has no accuracy on the long ball.”
Could be. Or it could be because the WR was not running his route at the same speed they practiced. Or that the WR was supposed to leave the defense behind to get there, but gave up on the play.
Also, keep in mind Jameis overthrows slightly on most passes in order to keep from getting picks. It works, because he only had 11 picks last year, as opposed to the 16 by Cam Newton, or the 12 by Matt Ryan.
And isn’t it amazing how Winston had no problem connecting with Mike Evans deep, or OJ Howard? Or Chris Godwin? Or even the lowly Freddie Martino?