Power Rankings: Top Post-Draft Offenses (16-20)

Nov 17, 2013; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Vincent Jackson (83) catches a touchdown in front of Atlanta Falcons cornerback Desmond Trufant (21) in the third quarter as Tampa Bay beats Atlanta 41-28 at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Manning-USA TODAY Sports

Tampa Bay 4-12
Last Season’s Rankings: #32 Overall Offense (277 total yards per game) #32 Passing Offense (176.3 passing yards per game) #22 Rushing Offense (100.8 rushing yards per game)
Last Season
The Tampa Bay debacle is one almost to the same extent as the one in Cleveland. The only difference between the two is that the Bucs ranked worse, yet had less starting RBs/QBs than the Browns did. In 2013 the Bucs had the league’s worst overall and passing offense, averaging 277 total and just 176.3 passing yards per game last season. Tampa also ranked second to last in rushing touchdowns (six), 30th in completion percentage (56.6%), 25th in yards per carry (3.8), sixth in sacks (47 sacks) and 30th in points per game (18 ppg). The implosion of QB Josh Freeman and the injury of Doug Martin cost the Buccaneers severely. Rookie Mike Glennon tried his hardest, however his 59.4% completion and 176.5 yards per game just could not get the job done without Martin.

Run Offense
Doug Martin burst onto the scene in 2012 during a game against the Oakland Raiders in which Martin ended up tallying 251 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns as well as 21 yards on four receptions. In the end, Martin finished 2012 with 1,454 yards and 11 touchdowns rushing along with 49 receptions for 472 yards and a touchdown receiving. Coming into 2013, Martin was supposed to be the guy in Tampa. For six games Martin was the guy, rushing for 76 yards per game before he injured his shoulder. The rest of the 2013 saw the likes of Bobby Rainey (532 yards and five touchdowns), Mike James (295 yards on 60 carries for an effective 4.9 yards per carry), and Brian Leonard (182 yards on 47 carries for 3.9 yards per carry). This season I see the Bucs running game improving ten fold over last season. Martin will be back healthy and will have a much more improved offensive line. In this off-season, the Bucs drafted and acquired a lot of offensive talent. For instance, they signed Center Evan Dietrich-Smith and LT Anthony Collins out of Green Bay and Cincinnati, respectively.  Not to mention, the Bucs drafted OG Kadeem Edwards out of Tennessee State, OT Kevin Pamphile from Purdue and RB Charles Sims from West Virginia who was able to rush for 1,095 yards and 11 touchdowns on 208 carries in 2013 (5.26 yards per carry). I think that this year the running offense of the Bucs should pick up right where it left off with Martin. The Muscle Hamster may have injured his shoulder, however he’s back and better than ever in 2014.

Pass Offense
The one thing about this offense is that they will catch you deep with guys you didn’t even know existed. With the rookie additions of TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Robert Herron and Mike Evans, the Bucs have a young, but talented receiving corps. Out of Wyoming, Herron caught 72 passes for 937 yards and nine touchdowns, while Seferian-Jenkins ended up averaging 613 yards, seven touchdowns and 48.6 receptions per season at the University of Washington. And even though those numbers may seem significant, Mike Evans’ stats blow those stats right out of the water.

As part of Johnny Manziel’s high octane offense at Texas A&M University, Mike Evans and his elite receiving ability helped Manziel win the Heisman Memorial Trophy in his freshman season and helped A&M to go to and win two bowl games (41-13 win over Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl and a miraculous 52-48 win over Duke in the Chick-fil-A Bowl). In Evans two seasons as in College Station, the Aggies attained an overall record of 20-6 in A&M’s first two seasons in the newly organized Southeastern Conference (SEC). Out of Galveston, Texas, Evans was an elite athlete in both basketball (he averaged 18.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game) and football (catching 25 passes for 648 yards and 7 touchdowns), showing himself to be a perfect example of a growing trend of basketball players turned football players. After playing receiver in his senior year at Ball High School in Galveston, Evans continued his dominance his freshman season as he set freshman records for A&M, catching 82 Manziel passes for 1,105 yards and 5 touchdowns, including his best game against Louisiana Tech where he went on to catch 4 passes for a monstrous 137 yards and one touchdown in a wild 59-57 win over the Bulldogs. In his sophomore season, Evans played even better, recording 69 receptions to go along with his 1,394 yards and 12 touchdowns. In 2013 Evans showed his big play potential especially against tough competition such as Alabama, Auburn and Vanderbilt, where Evans caught 7 catches for 279 yards and one touchdown, 11 catches 287 yards and an unheard of 4 touchdowns and 5 catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns, respectively. Along with being named to the First-Team All-SEC 2013, Evans was also in consideration for the Biletnikoff Award which is given out every year to the best receiver in the nation.

Where Evans game is so dominating is in his size and his ability to control his body with his full range of motion. What’s amazing about Evan’s play is that despite being 6’5″, 225 pounds, he can still leap, run and have complete control of his body and hangs throughout the process of a catch. He’s long and lanky which doesn’t necessarily make him a speed demon, however when he gets up to top speed, all he needs is a nicely thrown ball and he can easily make a play. His size and strength is unmatched among the draft picks this year which makes him one of the best WR draft choices in 2014. What he has yet to prove though is if he can use his size to his advantage against the experienced corners of the NFL. Where he could prove deadly would be in red zone situations and on fade routes (hopefully not against Richard Sherman) seeing as though he is so tall, he can easily jump over the corners in the NFL and pull down some key catches.

I’m going to say something now that will probably anger some NC State fans, but I don’t think Glennon is the future of the franchise. This season he averaged only 176.5 yards per game (among lowest in the league) and threw nine interceptions and fumbled the ball seven times. He wasn’t necessarily terrible, but at the same time he wasn’t even average either. With Doug Martin most likely coming back healthy next season and assuredly every other part of this Tampa Bay offense being back, the Bucs (and their new Head Coach) can now get down to business on the passing game. This off-season the Bucs went out and got Bear’s back-up Josh McCown. McCown in six games with the Bears played amazing football, throwing for 291.2 passing yards per game started along with 12 touchdowns and only one interception. I believe that even though McCown is old and hasn’t been accustomed to the starting role, 2014 could be the season of his career. After a brilliant three week stretch where McCown went for 351.6 yards, 2.6 touchdowns and a 71.8 completion percentage, the Bucs took a chance on McCown, signing him for two year-$10 million contract.

In 2014 I see McCown emerging as the sure-fire starter not only because of his pure playing ability on the field, but for leadership ability on-the-field and in the locker room. McCown nearly saved the Bears’ 2013 season had their pass defense not blown it in the last second against the Green Bay Packers. The pieces are there in Tampa, it is just a matter of how hard Glennon and McCown are going to work to be the starting quarterbacks of this ball club. I think that McCown will be the starter week one, week two, week three and so on, until the the Bucs make it to the playoffs. If their offensive line can protect and if Doug Martin doesn’t get injured again, we could be seeing January football in the Bucs’ future. I think that they most definitely have the receiving talent to do it, it is just a matter of a solid starting QB. Vincent Jackson can burn you deep (five 1,000-yard seasons in the past six years, including five seasons with seven or more touchdown receptions) and if he is not open, TEs Timothy Wright (571 yards and five touchdowns) and Brandon Myers (806 yards and four touchdowns on 79 receptions in 2012) will be right there to catch passes from McCown. Their receivers behind Evans and Jackson may be a little bit lacking, however I think if they can integrate two-TE sets than the Bucs will be golden. I’ll admit they did have some concerns on their offensive line (they allowed 47 sacks this season, 6th most in the NFL), however I don’t think they are there anymore. As long as McCown has receivers running routes, I think it should be smooth sailing from here on out.

In The End
While many can blame bad coaching for the Buccaneers’ offensive woes last season, I think that bad luck and poor play by Mike Glennon was what doomed Tampa. I firmly believe in the talents of mystery man Josh McCown and that with all of these new rookie receivers and added offensive line talent, the Buccaneers will see huge progress. Dougie Martin will be carving up defenses and McCown will be slinging touchdowns. If not, I’ll write every reader a hand written apology.