Tampa Bay Buccaneers

First Quarter Grades for the Buccaneers

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Oct 2, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (3) talks with Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter during the second half against the Denver Broncos at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

We go round the table to post first quarter grades for the Buccaneers thus far in 2016.

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The Buccaneers have played one quarter of the season, sporting a 1-3 record. We have seen some great potential out of this team, as the Bucs continued the hold they have over the Falcons in week one. We have also seen the problems in this team, along with a whole rash of injuries that we are dealing with right now.

But how have the players performed by position? Well, the first quarter of the season is a great place to stop and answer that question.

For many of you who follow the website, you know we do a roundtable discussion once per week. This week, instead of a question, we decided to grade the team. Each writer took one, a couple took two, and we gave each position group a letter grade. So we present it to you now, one slide per position. The writer credit will be at the end of their page, with a link to follow them on Twitter.

We start at the top.

Oct 2, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (3) throws the ball against the Denver Broncos during the first half at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Quarterback: C-

Jameis Winston, to me, is the epitome of up and down. When he is good, oh wow he is good. Jameis has been terrific against Atlanta for his career, and he continued that in week one of 2016. That day he threw for four touchdowns and completed over 70% of his passes. Winston has been just sensational when the Falcons are on the other side of the line of scrimmage.

The problem is that against the rest of the league, he hasn’t been good. Winston has a problem with being accurate on a consistent basis. We looked at this problem this week in the report from the “Eye in the Sky“, and it is preventing Winston from taking that next step. Take out the Falcons game and he has thrown four touchdowns versus seven interceptions.

Not good, simply not good.

–Alan Schechter

Sep 18, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin (22) runs with the ball against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals won 40-7. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Running Backs: D

The Bucs’ running back situation has been very disappointing through four games in 2016. I wrote in the offseason that the backfield would be a strength for Tampa Bay, but early on, it’s been a big weakness. Doug Martin, fresh off of signing a new contract, went down with a hamstring injury early in week two, which left Charles Sims and Jacquizz Rodgers as the team’s top options at the position. As a group, the trio has averaged just 82.5 rushing yards per game.

The primary disappointment for the backfield has been Sims’ inability to step up. Sure, at times he has been a threat as a receiver, but as a running back, he hasn’t been able to find any space. He is averaging 2.8 yards per carry this season over 41 touches, and has developed a turnover problem in the last few weeks. Twice has he seen a pass go off of his hands for an interception and once has he lost a fumble.

The backfield as a whole hasn’t been reliable this year, which has left the passing game to overcompensate. Jameis Winston has had to throw the ball far too many times this year (177), and that’s largely due to the incompetence of the Bucs’ ground game.

–Bailey Adams

Sep 25, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans (13) catches the ball for a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Wide Receivers: B-

Mike Evans has been everything he wasn’t last season. He’s reliable, a playmaker, and is now making a name for himself in this league in a positive manner. In fact, he and Antonio Brown are the only receivers in the top ten in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. Outside of Evans is a different story.

Adam Humphries has been solid, but it doesn’t appear he’s garnering the number of targets he should at this point. Despite setting career highs in yards and receptions over the last two weeks, Humphries had only one catch against Denver despite all the attention being on Evans. Humphries has shown playmaking abilities when given the chance, but needs to be utilized more.

Vincent Jackson is the guy bringing this corps down. His inexcusable lack of interest, running wrong routes, and taking plays off is not what we’ve come to expect from a team captain. On the What The Buc? Podcast, Mark Cook of PewterReport.com said there were times during run plays Jackson made absolutely no attempt to block his guy almost as if he was avoiding contact.

With Cecil Shorts and Louis Murphy still out with injuries, the Buccaneers are relying on Russell Shepard and now Jeremy Butler to fill the gaps.

Jameis is doing the best he can with the offense they have right now, but this receiving corps needs to step up and help out Evans and Humphries.

–James Yarcho

Sep 25, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Cameron Brate (84) catches the ball for a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Tight Ends: C+

Going into the 2016 season, the Tampa Bay Bucs’ tight end group seemed to be quite solid. Its 2015 cast all returned and were focused on building onto what was created last season. Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Cameron Brate, Luke Stocker, and Brandon Myers were your tight end group going into week one. Against the Atlanta Falcons, this position group was able to excel. Three of the group had catches (ASJ, Brate, Myers), two of them had touchdowns (ASJ, Myers), and one of them (Stocker) proved to us all that without him, there is no run game.

Unfortunately, this group was unable to carry their momentum over. Against the Arizona Cardinals they four combined for a measly 30 yards through the air. After that game, it all began to unravel. Seferian-Jenkins was released from the team due to a DUI and Stocker was diagnosed with a sprained ankle. Neither have played in a game since.

With the promotion of rookie Alan Cross, the Bucs strived to recreate the impact that they had week one. Brate decided to take the bull by the horns, and has now become arguably the Bucs’ number two receiver. Since week two Brate has put together a total of 10 catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Due to the fact that right now, he is the only tight end making any sort of waves… my grade for the Bucs’ tight end group for the first quarter of the season would have to be a C+.

–Zach Sauers

Sep 11, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (3) looks to pass the ball as tackle Demar Dotson (69) blocks Atlanta Falcons linebacker Vic Beasley (44) in the first quarter at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Offensive Line: D

The Bucs have a shiny new face of the franchise named Jameis Winston and if the team can’t keep him off the turf then he’s not going to be shiny or new for very much longer.

Winston has been hit a league high 40 times this season and has been sacked 10 times. Last season he was hit the fourth most in the NFL with 109 blows to his rookie frame, but showed his ability to fire under pressure getting sacked just 27 times.

A lot of us gave the offensive line credit for being better than expected in 2015, especially after they seemingly paved the way for Doug Martin to rack up the second most rushing yards in the NFL despite sharing some snaps with Charles Sims.

This is a different year, and a different line. Missing Logan Mankins has been huge this year, and missing out on his expected replacement J.R. Sweezy hasn’t made things better. Right tackle Demar Dotson’s return to being healthy was overly hyped and if we’re being honest he’s a backup on most NFL squads right now.

This year’s front is on pace to get their quarterback hit 160 times this year, and have fronted the league’s fifth worst rushing game averaging just 3.4 yards per carry and just over 80 yards per game, even with some of those yards coming from Winston himself as he scrambles from a collapsed pocket.

True, head coach Dirk Koetter hasn’t exactly been fully exploiting his offensive weapons’ skill sets with his play-calling, and yes the receivers have had a hard time getting open themselves. The Bucs have even faced the NFL’s two top defenses when it comes to sacks (Denver and Arizona); both of which also happen to be Top-12 against the run.

Even with all of these going against them to begin with, this offensive line is getting paid a lot of money to protect their quarterback and carve lanes for the running game. The test may be hard at times, but wins don’t come on a curve, you either solve the equation and get the “W” or you don’t.

–David Harrison

Sep 25, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Robert Ayers (91) prior to the game at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Defensive Line: C

After an off-season in which the Bucs added veteran defensive end Robert Ayers and rookie defensive end Noah Spence, expectations for the teams’ defensive line were extremely high. Yet as we sit here a quarter of the way through the season it’s difficult to describe the Buccaneer defensive line as anything but disappointing. Through four games the Buccaneer defense has accounted for nine total sacks (12th in the NFL), and six of those came from defensive linemen.Early season injuries to Robert Ayers and Jacquies Smith robbed the Bucs of their pass rush in the blink of an eye. It’s hard to overstate just how big these losses have been. Smith was an ascending 3rd year player with real potential to surpass the elusive 10 sack benchmark. Ayers was a versatile veteran that could get after quarterbacks and stop the run as well. While Smith is out for the season the Bucs are fortunate that Ayers will be back soon.The defensive line isn’t totally without positives, however. They’ve done an alright job of stopping the run, allowing the 12th fewest yards per game in the NFL (though that figure is certainly helped by their superb linebackers). For the short amount of time that Robert Ayers has been on the field he’s looked impressive and well-worth the investment that they made in him.Clinton McDonald and Will Gholston both surged against the Denver Broncos and the defensive line as a whole perhaps would have had their best game of the season had McCoy and Spence not gotten hurt.If McCoy, Ayers and Spence can get and remain healthy there is reason for optimism heading into quarter-two of the season, but as of now they’ve been average at best.–Michael Horan Next: Linebackers

Sep 25, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers middle linebacker Kwon Alexander (58) rushes against the Los Angeles Rams during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Linebackers: A-

Now it’s time for the quarterly grade for the linebackers. The Bucs’ defense as a whole has looked bad but most of the blame could be on the secondary.

The run defense has been stout allowing only 3.3 yards per carry and that is due to the linebackers. “LaKwonte” started a little slow, especially in the Cardinals game where David didn’t record a stat for the first time in his career. He picked it up in the Rams game. Kwon had a pick six and Lavonte had a forced fumble. Kwon Alexander leads the team in tackles (38) and sacks (2). He has also come into his own as leader of the defense.

Daryl Smith, the third linebacker, who is known for being a tacking machine only has seven tackles this year. This however is due to the Bucs using nickel coverage more and having Hargreaves in the slot. Overall I believe the Linebackers have been the best part of this defense by far and deserve an A- for their performance in the first quarter of the season.

–Brian DeFeo

Sep 18, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Jaron Brown (13) runs past Tampa Bay Buccaneers strong safety Chris Conte (23) en route to a touchdown during the first half at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Secondary: D

This group…

This is, somehow, only the 15th ranked pass defense in the NFL, allowing 258.5 passing yards per game. Chris Conte is a joke of a starting football player, Alterraun Verner has been relegated to the bench again, Bradley McDougald and Keith Tandy still find covering receivers an impossible task, and Brent Grimes has been a massive disappointment.

The only thing exciting about this secondary is the consistent growth we’ve seen out of Vernon Hargreaves III, who seems to be the only one who can cover or tackle. Despite Grimes ability to break up passes here and there, he also finds ways to slip and fall constantly, leading to big plays or he gets worked in the red zone by opposing receivers and gives up a touchdown.

This defense hasn’t put together a complete game yet and yes, some of the secondary’s problems are caused by the defensive line not getting pressure on the quarterback. But let’s not let them off the hook completely. They’ve had plenty of opportunities to make plays and blown it.

This Bucs’ offense may have the most potential we’ve seen in the history of this franchise, but they aren’t built to win shootout after shootout because the secondary gives up five touchdowns a game. They have to be better. Period.

–James Yarcho

Sep 25, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker Roberto Aguayo (19) kicks off the ball against the Los Angeles Rams during the first half at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Special Teams: C-

Through four games this year Roberto Aguayo has done more to add to the question: “Why in the world did the Bucs trade into the second round to draft a kicker?”

Coming out of the first quarter of the season fans, media and while they probably won’t admit it in public, some players have to be questioning the draft strategies of their front office this year.

Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves though. Aguayo is 1-for-3 on field goals this year which isn’t good, but every kick has been from 40+, and remember he is a rookie.

The individual grade is low right now for Aguayo, but the kid’s still a kid, he just needs time.

On the flip-side punter Bryan Anger has been great. In four games the new punter in town has booted 22 offensive possessions to the other team with nine of those ending in the opponents 20 and carrying an average of 47.5 yards each.

He’s Top-10 in pinning offenses back and has the sixth best net yards in the NFL. While his workload has certainly been bigger than anticipated, he’s turned in great game after great game.

Meanwhile, the 2015 Bucs had one of the league’s worst kick return averages in the NFL, and this year’s bunch is more of the same. An impressive 14.5 yards per return average has every special teams coordinator in the league looking to force returns in place of settling for 25-yard touchbacks this season. The longest kick return for Tampa is 19-yards which wouldn’t even get them to last year’s touchback mark on most kicks. Surprising to nobody is the zero return touchdowns, but we can’t knock them for that as no NFL team has one just yet.

Punt returns are looking a bit better and Adam Humphries may be one of the best players on this team if he can shake off a bad performance against Denver. 10.6 yards per return has his team 14th in the NFL for returning punts and his 25-yard longest return may not have produced a touchdown, but it flashed some real potential for the future.

The key to returning kicks and punts though, has to be fumbles, and there are none of those this year. As long as a goose-egg resides in this category then the return team isn’t hurting things, even when they aren’t exactly helping either.

Overall, special teams has been an up-and-down ride, with more downs and the ups coming where you don’t necessarily want to see them.

More points from the rookie and a big return or two would really advance this group which is being carried by the guy who gives the ball away every time he steps on the field.

–David Harrison

We have had our say, what do you think? How would you grade the Bucs over the first four games?

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