Bucs’ run game is nonexistent. The passing game is, to put it mildly, mediocre and most definitely not good enough to offset a poor rushing game.
This offseason, a number of Bucs players are due to receive their salaries. The Bucs must hold onto some. After weighing all of these considerations and realizing that the Bucs need a franchise quarterback, the historically underachieving Billy Barnwell of BSPN essentially declared that it was time to let Old Yeller go.
The Bucs should be stocking up on draft picks and Barnwell-type players today and selling spare components.
October 31st is the NFL trading deadline. Today, at 4 p.m., the clock strikes midnight instead.
For Tampa Bay, which began the season 3-1 before dropping three games in a row following its week off, the three weeks following the bye have not been good. During that three-game losing run, Baker Mayfield ranked 26th in QBR; the 2018 No. 1 overall choice completed just 58.7% of his passes for an average of 5.9 yards per attempt.
The Bucs may hold out hope that Baker Mayfield gets better or trade him in for Kyle Trask, but it may be more prudent to concede that neither guy is likely to win a Super Bowl. If things go better, Tampa Bay could be able to contend for a division title, but its line is not very good and it struggles to run the ball. Mayfield can appear fine after he receives the ball out quickly and isn’t stuck in obvious dropback situations, but I’m not sure this is a very good offensive line.
Barnwell goes on to write that Bucs general manager Jason Licht, who has a soft spot for AC/DC, must choose this morning which of the team’s top free agents—Mike Evans, Antoine Winfield, Lavonte David, and/or Devin White—he wants to retain and which ones he wants to let go.
Licht should trade away the players he doesn’t want to bring back in exchange for draft picks.
Joe can’t fight this reasoning, but really, the team is only one win away from the top spot. Who knows when the Bucs may find themselves in this situation once more? Is anyone unaware of the terrible playoff drought the team endured during the “Lost Decade”?
Perhaps Barnwell is correct? Perhaps the Bucs should quit convincing themselves that they can win the Super Bowl.
Yet Joe is attractive Todd Bowles, the Bucs’ coach, definitely does not want this.
