Early Tells
December 27th, 2021
Demoted Tyler Johnson
Joe loves 1 o’clock Bucs games because they afford Joe extra time to re-watch the game.
The greatest gift to mankind outside of Big Storm beer has to be NFL Game Pass and games condensed to 40 viewing minutes or less.
For example, last night Joe turned off the Cowboys blowout of the Washington Heinickes at halftime and watched the Jaguars-Jets game. What a glorious world we live in! It was fun seeing former Bucs Lost Decade running back Dare Ogunbowale knife through the Jets defense for a strong, 17-carry day and a touchdown.
Yes, the Bucs game was far more interesting.
Joe found it very telling that receiver Cyril Grayson got the start ahead of Tyler Johnson in the Chris Godwin role. And it wasn’t like Grayson only played a few snaps.
He was out there communicating with Antonio Brown and racking up 79 percent of the plays. Joe could tell Grayson was savoring his shot and playing — and blocking — with his hair on fire. What an unsung move by the Bucs’ coaching staff and what a downer for Johnson and his fans.
Joe did not mention it yesterday or write about it last week, but it came up on the second Ira Kaufman Podcast of last week. Bucco Bruce Arians was very harsh Tuesday on punter Bradley Pinion on Arians’ team-sponsored radio show.
Pinion has a hip issue but Arians shared how down he was about Pinion’s production and said he would assess practice last week. Arians’ tone, however, was much more about performance than injury. Sure enough, the Bucs rolled with Sterling Hofrichter at punter, a 2020 draft pick of the Falcons. It was his NFL debut and he looked strong.
Things change quickly in the NFL. It was two years ago that Arians called Pinion his most important offseason signing.
Joe will also note that while the Bucs defense again kept its opponent out of the end zone, that was more due to the Panthers’ sloppiness than great defense.
On that opening Carolina drive, the Bucs defense was carved up but running back Ameer Abdullah fell while wide open to the end zone on a short pass by Cam Newton. On the same play, a busted Bucs coverage left tight end Tommy Tremble wide open in the end zone but Newton didn’t see him.
Yeah, Joe’s nitpicking the defense. Why? Because Joe wants it to be legendary at all times en route to another Super Bowl.
December 27th, 2021 at 10:16 am
Cyril Grayson is hungry for a spot and Tyler Johnson has gotten lazy. Last two games Johnson looks like he is just lost on the field poor blocking bad route running just lost. Which is very surprising because last year he saved TB as with that catch. I guess he thought that was enough for him to secure a spot. NOT!
December 27th, 2021 at 10:18 am
Those breakdowns on defense and drops by Carolina WRs are cause for concern! We have 2 weeks to pad stats, Win column, get young guys reps, and get HEALTHY for a run!
December 27th, 2021 at 10:18 am
We left a lot of points on the field too by taking all of those field goals. We were having our way with them. Shoulda gone for it on 4th a few times I think.
December 27th, 2021 at 10:19 am
“Nothing is as good or as bad as it seems.”
-Earle Bruce, Tampa U, Iowa State & Ohio State
I’m happy for the win, but it needs to be put into context. The O sputtered often, left many points on the field, and the Kitties had horrific QB play. Murray, Prescott, Rogers, Stafford & Garropolo’s names should not be in the same sentence with Darnold & Newton.
December 27th, 2021 at 10:20 am
I think Johnson fell out of coaching grace with his abysmal performance, especially blocking, against the Saints.
AND his motion mistake at the goal line could have cost the Bucs a tuddie yesterday.
December 27th, 2021 at 10:23 am
I wasn’t aware of the injury at punter so was surprised by the new addition. Also of note is that two of our recent kickers, Anger and Gay, are in the pro bowl this year with new teams. Interesting.
December 27th, 2021 at 10:25 am
Johnson looked completely uninspired blocking yesterday. And of course his motion error was there for all to see. Even the announcers pounced on the mistake and the correction by Brady. Not a good look.
December 27th, 2021 at 10:49 am
Grayson was an absolute beast yesterday – his speed is better than Godwin’s so he adds a new layer. His blocking was phenomenal.
I’m not sure we have a wide receiver who can go over the middle like Godwin could, but we have tons of guys who can play out on the outside and we have 3 very solid tight ends to make up for what Godwin could do over the middle.
December 27th, 2021 at 10:50 am
There were two mistakes yesterday that angered me because they were fundamental football plays of one player wanting it more than the other.
Johnson had a play with a responsibility of simply clearing an area for AB. Johnson let the DB manhandle him so badly he was forced back into AB breaking up an easy completion.
OJ did the same thing later in a failure to clear out for Gronk.
OJ and Johnson have talent but they haven’t shown it. At what point does the team cut their losses?
December 27th, 2021 at 10:51 am
Grayson is coming on stronger than Jenna Lame trying to make a name for herself at a post game press conference.
The fact that Grayson didn’t even play college football is astounding. I remember last season a long pass clanging off his face mask. He’s come a long way…and is easy to root for.
He reminds me of the all speed/no hands receivers from football movies ( Necessary Roughness, The Replacements ) who redeem themselves after all.
December 27th, 2021 at 10:54 am
Tyler Johnson has gotten plenty of chances to prove himself and he has shown that he’s not up to the challenge. His blocking is sloppy, as if he’s not trying, and the guy just can’t run. Numerous times, especially in the Saints game he get caught from behind.
December 27th, 2021 at 10:54 am
2 articles with significant Cyril Grayson commentary. 2 of them! I hope that kid becomes special. He could be a true diamond in the rough. Carving out a #3 role or even a #4 on this team would be amazing. Love everything he has to say and the effort I saw yesterday. I loved both that Vaughn didn’t just go out of bounds on that long TD run and instead tried to get some more. The next thing you know here comes Grayson to get in the way of the tackle and Vaughn takes it the rest of the way. That’s the kind of stuff we are hoping to see when we have our horses go down. This is a chance to open eyes and get a future role locked up. Sad to see Tyler Johnson demoted but if you want the truth, he’s not fast enough and he’s not exactly breaking off Davante Adams routes. I still hope for the best but not feeling it.
December 27th, 2021 at 10:56 am
Winnie… Willie Gault… Bob Hayes… sometimes it does work, making that transition. But more often, not.
December 27th, 2021 at 10:57 am
Punting was okay, but too many short kickoffs for the new guy.
December 27th, 2021 at 11:00 am
Johnson got pushed back into AB And at first we did not have first down but that changed. Not sure what is up with him. But not giving up on him
Shoot. Look at vaughn making that big play of game when he was after thought up to that point.
December 27th, 2021 at 11:02 am
It just comes down to Tyler Johnson being too slow
December 27th, 2021 at 11:03 am
Mark, I was thinking of Willy Gault too. And from back in the day, Renaldo Nehemiah of the niners.
December 27th, 2021 at 11:42 am
“unsung move” is a good description. He may be a very useful WR down the stretch.
December 27th, 2021 at 12:16 pm
I’m never gonna forget what Tyler Johnson and Scotty Miller looked like in that cursed Saints game. Never. Ever.
December 27th, 2021 at 12:43 pm
surprising to see johnson get so phased out after he is seemingly the best fit to pencil into the godwin role…
defintiely reason to worry about his development and spot in the receiver stack moving forward…
scotty too…he hasn’t had much of a season at all…
remember before antonio brown arrived he had about 500 yards last year and was on pace at that time for 1,000…
how things change fast in the not for long league…
grayson looked good…real good
December 27th, 2021 at 12:45 pm
Its next man up Baby! Grayson is determined to carve himself out a spot with these injuries. Who else is ready? We need at least 3 more guys to step up in the..Flash and shine opportunity. Key man down on Defense Yesterday. Step up and in Opp for somebody. Ruck up Bucs! Get her done.
December 27th, 2021 at 1:45 pm
So was that mainly a tryout for Grayson moving forward or more about Johnson’s play? I thought Johnson has been just fine
December 27th, 2021 at 2:03 pm
Tyler always had trouble in college creating separation… He doesn’t create much separation and I think that has also been why you haven’t seen Evans get as many passes his way as we were used to… Evans doesn’t usually get a lot of separation, he just goes up and out bodies you!! Brady doesn’t like taking those chances… But Tyler just doesn’t have the speed or route running to consistently get open!! He’s got great hands but Brady doesn’t throw to you if you have a defender glued to your side!!
December 27th, 2021 at 2:30 pm
Grayson gained Brady’s trust in that 1st game with the slimys –when he scored that long ball TD.
He’s hungry, unlike Johnson who thinks he the chosen one ,the big draft pick..Thats why BL & BA wanted to keep trying Johnson
Now , with yesterday’s performance–I expect we’ll see a lot more Grayson–a guy with HEART–who dosen’t see himself as the “annointed one “
December 28th, 2021 at 8:48 am
Tyler’s Johnson was a 5th round pick. Not exactly a big draft pick. Not really anointed at all.