“We’re Just Going To Wait And See When The Offensive Guys Fall In Love With Him”
June 21st, 2022
Head coach Todd Bowles
Love is a funny thing.
Whatever it is, it seems like it’s not love at first sight for everyone at One Buc Palace when it comes to new head coach Todd Bowles.
That’s understandable. He’s replacing a legend, the architect of the Bucs offense and the former culture-changer-in-chief, Bucco Bruce Arians.
Bowles has the blessing and devotion of his defensive players, but the offensive guys got a late start and Lavonte David told SiriusXM NFL Radio last week that his defensive teammates are keeping an eye on when Bowles will capture the heart of the offense.
“Defensive guys already love [Bowles], and then we’re just going to wait and see when the offensive guys fall in love with him,” David said.
Bowles wasn’t hired until late March and then veteran attendance at spring practices was limited. So it’s understandable that a lot of offensive players really don’t know the head coach well yet.
David also emphasized that Bowles is going to be involved on both sides of the ball. On the surface, that scares Joe a bit. But it’s certainly a great thing for Bowles to dive into the offense during the week; it will help him build better relationships with offensive players and coaches.
It’s rare these days to hear public love for Arians, but that was on David’s mind. He gave a “big shout out to B.A.” for handing his job over job to Bowles.
June 21st, 2022 at 12:40 pm
Bowles has big shoes to fill but it’s not like he’s starting from scratch. Like any change of leadership, I expect there to be tweaks. That said, I think Bowles is smart enough to know that if ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
June 21st, 2022 at 12:43 pm
Todd….don’t fix what isn’t broken…….you can run a bit more if you like….but make sure our defense is stout……our offense doesn’t need much improvement but needs to be at least as good.
And…..you can mess with ST all you like, if you get bored and are looking for something to do.
June 21st, 2022 at 12:46 pm
Can’t knock Koetter for being hands off on defense and then say Bowles should be hands off on offense.
He should be somewhat involved. He is accountable for it regardless.
June 21st, 2022 at 1:23 pm
“Involved” and “aware with some limited input” are not the same.
I suspect the latter will apply, in the same way Arians was “aware with some limited input” on Bowles D.
I would not read too much into these kinds of statements.
June 21st, 2022 at 1:32 pm
I’d like to see more imagination in the run game, and longer scoring drives. Mason is one of the best pulling guards in the league. They’d be foolish not to exploit that. Nothing demoralizes defenses more than 12 play 7 minute drives. It also helps out the defense by minimizing opportunities for opposing offenses and forces them to play near mistake free football. I don’t expect Brady to have 700 pass attempts. I don’t think they have the horses for it.
Bowles needs to work on being more gameplan specific on defense. He also needs to blitz less often, especially against top QBs.
June 21st, 2022 at 2:12 pm
When the winning starts and the offense has it’s way. ie Keeping Tom happy.
June 21st, 2022 at 2:15 pm
We’ve got a couple of guys who can get open over the top. Run and short pass till they scrunch up then go over the top.
June 21st, 2022 at 4:55 pm
I agree Mason will help in the run game.
He probably will be our quickest lineman getting off the snap.
When I looked at some film of Mason from last year, you could see him noticeably faster than other New England lineman. In one play, he shoots out off the snap so quickly that he actually had to slow down to ensure that he was able to cover up and seal off the linebacker.
He will just improve our run game just because of his skill set.
June 21st, 2022 at 4:59 pm
By the way, Mason’s skill set does not seem to be scheme dependent. Looks like that his quick acceleration/explosion off the ball will work whether we pull him or just let him fire into one of the gaps.
He is not going to drive anyone into the ground, he just understands his job to create space.
June 23rd, 2022 at 12:42 am
Why does everyone have the best answer for what they think is best for the Bucs ? Why don’t we hold off judging Bowels until the season is in full swing. I doubt very little that he’s going to “MESS” with any of the great chemistry that Brady and Leftwich have going on for the last few years ! . Go Bucs.
I DO agree that we should have a new S.T. coach though. I don’t even know who his name is but he’s been terrible for the last two seasons.