Freeman Changing The Mold Up Front

When Josh Freeman was drafted with the 18th pick in 2009 there were a lot of questions.  Those questions were answered in 2010 when Freeman put up, arguably, a Pro Bowl caliber year and demonstrated all the characteristics of a top-flight NFL quarterback.  In short, Josh is a franchise quarterback.

What do you do when you have a franchise quarterback?  You build the offense around him.

And Tampa Bay has done so, with a follow-up draft in 2010 which brought Rookie of the Year candidate Mike Williams, as well as nine-game starter Arrelious Benn.  This builds on the emergence of Sammie Stroughter from the 2009 draft.  Throw in exciting young players like Micheal Spurlock, Preston Parker, and Dezmon Briscoe and you have a fleet of young wide receivers for Freeman to grow with.

Then add some young runners like LeGarrette Blount and Kregg Lumpkin and you give Freeman more options and more room to grow.

A more subtle and slow change, however, has been going on up front on the offensive line.  The physical tools of Freeman have started to impact what the Buccaneers appear to be looking for in offensive linemen.  Freeman is a tall man even by NFL quarterback standards.  At 6'6" he is one of the six tallest men on the roster.  It's the other five tallest Buccaneers where the changes are brewing.

Since 2009, Tampa Bay has added Demar Dotson (6'9"), Will Barker (6'7"), Derek Hardman (6'6"), and Brandon Carter (6'6") to the platoon of offensive linemen on the current roster (the fifth tall man on the roster, 6'8" Jeremy Trueblood, has been starting at left tackle for several seasons).  Dotson and Barker are offensive tackles;  Hardman and Carter are offensive Guards.  These men are not just tall, they are big -- Carter, Barker, and Dotson are all over 315 pounds.  Hardman is currently listed at an even 300 pounds.  Even Donald Penn, the entrenched starter at right tackle, is a big man:  6'5" and 305 pounds.

When a quarterback drops back after taking a snap (or even starts from the shotgun), he must be able to see downfield to make various decisions about which and when receivers will be open.  Taller offensive linemen (that is, above 6'3") have mostly been utilized only at the edges of the offensive line as tackles.  Having a tall tackle does not generally obstruct the downfield view of the quarterback as they protect the outside on passing plays.  And tackles with long arms mean it's harder for defensive ends to get a clean path to the quarterback.

The Buccaneers may be on the way toward a different philosophy.  With a 6'6" quarterback standing tall in the pocket, and knowing offensive linemen play with bended knees to lower their center of gravity, GM Mark Dominik and Head Coach Raheem Morris' coaching staff appear to be targeting giant men all across the offensive line.

Tampa Bay appears to be finding NFL caliber players who fit the bill.  Dotson, the tallest man on the team according to the current roster, played substantial minutes at left tackle in 2009 as an undrafted free agent.  He showed enough promise to be held on IR for all of 2010.  Hardman and Barker were signed to the practice squad after roster cuts last season (Dominik's Second Draft of 2010); Carter was also on the practice squad once the dust settled.  By the time the Buccaneers closed the 2010 season at New Orleans, all three men were on the active roster and Hardman was starting at right guard.

This is no fluke.  These men were sought out by the Buccaneers and have been promoted into the mix rapidly.  There could be quite a battle up front on offense at the next training camp and it appears to be by design.  If the youngsters make progress, Tampa Bay could have one of the largest offensive line groups in the NFL in the near future.  In addition, I would not be at all surprised to see this trend show up in the Tampa Bay 2011 NFL Draft.

Only in the NFL could Josh Freeman dream of one day playing behind an offensive line where each man is physically larger than he is.  If the trend continues, that day may not be far away.

Why Defensive End?

Seems as soon as the final whistle blew in the Superdome to close the 2010 season, everyone was confident the Buccaneers would select a defensive end in the first round of the 2011 draft.

Most articles found on the topic dwell on the low number of sacks produced by the Buccaneers the past two seasons.  My question is:  So What??

The prototype defensive end in most Tampa Bay fan's minds is either Simeon Rice or Lee Roy Selmon.  Rice twice posted 15 sack seasons (2002, 2003) and produced five straight seasons with 10+ sacks.  Selmon, playing in a different era, also recorded double-digit sacks in a single (shorter) season, racking up 78 total over his nine year Hall of Fame career.

During the 2009 season and a 3-13 record, the Buccaneers as a team recorded 28.0 sacks.  In 2010, while posting a 10-6 record, the Buccaneers recorded 26.0 sacks.  Wait . . . huh?  Two fewer sacks but 7 more wins??

Eleven teams recorded more than 39 sacks in 2010. Of those 11, only three (Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, and Green Bay Packers) made it to the playoffs.  

Ten teams recorded more than 39 sacks in 2009.  Of those 10, five made the playoffs.

The New England Patriots, one of the most consistently successful teams of the last decade, has only finished in the top 10 in team sacks four times.  The Indianapolis Colts?  Just three times.

Sack count is not an indicator of a playoff team.  We already know the Buccaneers have a playoff caliber defense.  But apparently this is the one statistic many have latched onto as "the thing to fix" this offseason.

It's another symptom of "Fantasy Haze", that state of mind when Fantasy Football statistics become "real" in the minds of NFL Fans (and those covering the NFL) too much.

For reference, search for "Brandon Marshall Buccaneers 2010".  By the way, Marshall scored 3 TDs this season, while Buccaneers Rookie Mike Williams scored 11 TDs.  Good news:  GM Mark Dominik is a lot smarter than the average Fantasy GM.

So don't get too married to the idea of a Defensive End in the first round in 2011 for Tampa Bay.  It's not as big a need as some may believe.

Disrespected: Dominik Passed Over For Exec Of The Year

The biggest turnaround in team history.  The first team -- ever -- to win 10 games and start 10 rookies.  A Top 10 defense.  A Top 10 running game.  All this one season after going 3-13 as a rookie General Manager.  But you are *not* the Executive of the Year -- huh?

Buccaneers GM Mark Dominik has got to be asking himself, "What do you have to do to get some respect in this league?"

Well, I can answer that.  You need to start your career in the Northeast, preferably as close to ESPN or NBC headquarters as possible.  You need to be an assistant in a multiple-ring winning organization and "share" responsibilities with the Head Coach on personnel decisions.  Then you need to become GM of a franchise which (as of today) has not won a playoff game in 15 years.

Or, at least, these seem to be the things that mattered more, making Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott Pioli the NFL Executive of the Year for 2010.

Turning Around A Franchise Is . . . Not Important??

Among things which apparently do not matter:  Winning.  The Chiefs went 4-12 in 2009 and turned it around with a 10-6 campaign in 2010 (+6 in the win column, impressive).  A six game turnaround is a feat matches by only one other team in 2010: the Saint Louis Rams (1-15 to 7-9).

Yet there was one team which did better:  the Buccaneers, who went 3-13 in 2009 and also hit 10-6 in 2010 for a +7 in the win column.  Even more impressive.

But wait, that means Pioli has a 14-18 record, while Dominik has a 13-19 record, so winning really does matter, right?

Winning Against Playoff Teams While Rebuilding . . . Not Important??

In 2009, the Chiefs beat Washington (4-12), Oakland (5-11), Pittsburgh (9-7), and Denver (8-8).  Kansas City limped into the 2010 offseason winning 1 of their last 6 games.

That same season, the Buccaneers beat Seattle (5-11), Green Bay (11-5, playoffs), and the 2009 World Champion New Orleans Saints (13-3).   That's a combined "beaten opponents" win record for 2009 of 26-38 for Pioli, 29-19 for Dominik.  Tampa Bay went into the offseason posting two of their 3 wins in 2009 in their last 6 games (the final two games of the season).

Add in the fact of Dominik being in the NFC South, one of the strongest divisions in the NFL, while  Pioli is in the AFC West, one of the weakest divisions in the NFL, and which 10-win season is more impressive?

In 2010, the Chiefs beat one team with a winning record.  That was the Chargers (9-7 in 2010) in Week #1, 21-14.  Fourteen weeks later, the Chiefs lost at the Chargers 31-0 (Week #14).

In 2010, the Buccaneers also beat only one team with a winning record during the regular season:  the Defending World Champion Saints (11-5 in 2010; Dominik has yet to lose at the SuperDome) 23-13 in Week 17, on the road, avenging a 31-6 loss in Week #6.  Tampa Bay went into the offseason posting two of their 3 wins in 2009 in their last 6 games (the final two games of the season).

Perhaps somebody would argue winning is only about coaching?  Let's make a bad assumption and go with that theory -- even though it has been proven time and again talent plus coaching is what wins in the NFL.  So, for now, let's put the winning aside and look at talent.

A GM Should Be Able To Assemble A Solid Coaching Staff

Pioli has had one head coach, Todd Haley.  Pioli has also hired three offensive coordinators (and the position is currently vacant again) and two defensive coordinators.  After the 4-12 record of 2009, Pioli hired a former head coach in Romeo Crenell for defensive coordinator and a former Notre Dame head coach in Charlie Weis for offensive coordinator (Haley was offensive coordinator in 2009).  These additions played some part in generating the turnaround year of 2010, but are now in flux again.

Dominik has had one head coach as well, Raheem Morris.  Dominik has had two offensive coordinators (the first fired before the 2009 season even started) and two defensive coordinators (Morris took over as defensive coordinator midway through the 2009 season).  These changes carried over to create the turnaround year of 2010 and appear to be staying in place.

A GM Should Be Able To Recognize Talent -- Wherever It Can Be Found

Pioli signed Matt Cassel in 2009 from New England to build his team around.  Matt Cassel finished 2010 with a passer rating of 93.0, 27 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions.  Pioli went with a player he knew from his time in New England.

Dominik drafted Josh Freeman with his very first pick in the NFL Draft as GM.  Freeman finished 2010 with a passer rating of 95.9, 25 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions.  Dominik rolled the dice with a young man whom his rookie Head Coach had known from previous work.

Pioli has made 15 draft choices, of which 12 are still on his roster.

Dominik has made 13 draft choices, of which 11 are still on his roster.  One player of interest here is DE Alex Magee, Pioli's 2nd ever draft choice (3rd Round 2009) whom Dominik traded for in 2010.  In addition to Magee, Dominik snared an additional 6th round pick from Kansas City in the 2011 NFL Draft (KC also received a draft choice in the trade, but it's value is undisclosed).  Magee saw limited time this season as he transitioned from the Kansas City 3-4 to the Tampa Bay 4-3 defensive system so the value of this swap is hard to grade at this time.

Finally, how does the Eye for Talent of these men compare when picking from the same talent pool?  Through the time at training camp, teams trim their rosters from 80 players to 53, producing a hugh pool of available talent which creates a feeding frenzy just before the season begins.  How did these men handle the flood this season?

After training camp roster cuts in 2010, Pioli assembled the following practice squad:

• Ricky Price, promoted to regular roster, appeared in 7 games
• Tyler Palko, promoted to regular roster, appeared in 2 games
• Quinten Lawrence (2009 Draft Pick), promoted to regular roster, no stats
• Verran Tucker, promoted to regular roster, no stats
• Robert Greenwood, on practice squad for the season, now on a Chiefs futures contract
• Pierre Walters, on practice squad for the season, now on a Chiefs futures contract
• Darryl Harris, on practice squad for the season, now on a Chiefs futures contract
• Dion Gales, cut during the 2010 season

Pioli also signed the following waived players:

• Anthony Toribio, who appeared in 5 games

That's a total of 5 Regular Roster players generating 14 game appearances (no starts) and three futures contracts for additional development for Pioli's 10-win team.  Not bad at all.

After training camp roster cuts in 2010, Dominik assembled the following practice squad:

• Ryan Purvis, promoted to regular roster, appeared in 10 games with 2 starts
• Derek Hardman, promoted to regular roster, appeared in 9 games with 1 start
• Will Barker, promoted to regular roster, appeared in 3 games
• Dezmon Briscoe, promoted to regular roster, appeared in 2 games
• George Johnson, promoted to regular roster, no stats
• Vince Anderson, on practice squad for the season, now on a Buccaneers futures contract
• Brent Bowden (2010 Draft Pick), cut during the 2010 season
• Lee Robinson, cut during the 2010 season

Dominik also signed the following waived players:

• Kregg Lumpkin, who appeared in 11 games
• Ted Larsen, who appeared in 12 games with 11 starts
• LeGarrette Blount, who appeared in 13 games with 7 starts, running for 1,000 yards in 2010

That's a total of 8 Regular Roster players generating 60 game appearances (with 32 starts) and one futures contract for additional development for Dominik's 10-win team.  Incredible.

This has to be the most frustrating part of the equation for Dominik.  You would be hard pressed to find numbers like these for any GM in the past 15 years (a 1,000 yard rusher off the undrafted waiver wire?  Are you kidding?).

It seems the differences between these General Managers is obvious:  Dominik will roll the dice based on his experience; Pioli plays it close to the chest and conservatively.

Of course, Dominik has been in Tampa for more than a decade.  He understands how the Northeast drives the league, and Pioli was tapped into the mainstream Northeast media for years before heading to the middle of the country.

I understand the familiarity.  I just don't understand the blindness.

Buccanners Still A Team Very Much In Flux

The 2010 Season will be remembered for all the young players which stepped up and helped Tampa Bay attain it's first 10-win season since 2005.  Unfortunately, 2010 was also the first season the Buccaneers won 10 or more games but did not get into the NFC playoffs.

Winning 10 games does not necessarily mean the roster is stable, however great the success may feel.  In fact, for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, much less may be settled going into the offseason than is actually settled by the influx of young talent.

The table below shows the opening day and final day starting lineups for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  These are the men selected by their coaches as the players most likely at each position to get the team started quickly on game day.  Tampa Bay uses a heavy rotation of players, so this is not an indicator of playing time necessarily.  But it is still a barometer of what the coaches believe as far as who has the right experience/talent combination for playing time on Sundays.

Players who started both the first and last games of the 2010 season are highlighted in pewter:

	Opening Day (CLE)	Season Ender (@NO)
Offense
QB	Josh Freeman	Josh Freeman
WR	Mike Williams	Mike Williams
WR	Sammie Stroughter	Maurice Stovall
TE	Kellen Winslow	Kellen Winslow
FB	Earnest Graham
TE		John Gilmore
LT	Donald Penn	Donald Penn
LG	Keydrick Vincent ***	Ted Larsen
C	Jeff Faine *	Jeremy Zuttah
RG	Davin Joseph *	Derek Hardman
RT	Jeremy Trueblood	James Lee
RB	Carnell Williams	LeGarrette Blount
Defense
LE	Kyle Moore *	Tim Crowder
DT	Gerald McCoy *	Frank Okam
DT	Roy Miller	Roy Miller
RE	Ryan Sims ***	Micheal Bennett
SLB	Quincy Black *	Adam Hayward
MLB	Barrett Ruud	Barrett Ruud
WLB	Geno Hayes	Geno Hayes
LCB	EJ Biggers	EJ Biggers
RCB	Ronde Barber	Ronde Barber
SS	Sean Jones	Sean Jones
FS	Tanard Jackson **	Cory Lynch
* Finished the Season on Injured Reserve
** Suspended by the NFL
*** No longer with the team

Only 10 players started on the opening day roster and started the final game of the season (Graham and Gilmore probably bump the count to 11 as they are situational and both were healthy for both games).  The fallout is that half the starting lineup changed over the course of the season, with six of those changes due to injury (includes Vincent, who was cut as opposed to heading for IR) and only one player cut when healthy (Ryan Sims, a point-in-time moment for the current incarnation of the Buccaneers franchise).  Also note that EJ Biggers started the first game because Aqib Talib was suspended (Talib finished the season on IR as well).

Those 11 spots which went through a change during the season:  does the incumbent earn it back during the offseason?  Does the replacement keep the spot?

Each unhighlighted position is a storyline this offseason.  Those storylines will start to evolve once the rest of the NFL finishes their season, but we won't have our final answer until the next game.

Such a long time to wait!

2011 Offseason Roster Swells To 75 Players

The Buccaneers wasted no time signing the eight men on their end-of-season practice squad and have rapidly closed in on the 80-man offseason roster limit.

The end-of-season roster contained 67 players.  The Buccaneers have since added the 8 men who finished the season on the practice squad:

S Vince Anderson
G Marc Dile
LB JD Folsom
WR Ed Gant
LB Simoni Lawrence
C/G John Malecki
FB Rendrick Taylor
DE EJ Wilson

Vince Anderson started the season on the practice squad as part of the "second draft" put together by GM Mark Dominik after post-training camp roster cuts.  Anderson was activated from the practice squad to the 53-man roster on November 30th when S Cody Grimm was placed on IR.  On December 21st, the Buccaneers cut Anderson from the roster and signed him back to the practice squad two days later on December 23rd.

Marc Dile is a familiar face on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad.  He spent the entire 2009 season on the Buccaneers practice squad as well as the entire offseason on the 80-man roster leading up to the 2010 season, but was cut during the post training camp roster reductions.  Dile then returned to the practice squad on December 16th.  Dile played college football at South Florida.

The other faces are not as familiar:

• Folsom was on the squad from late September until mid October, then returned mid-December.  He is a 6'3", 228 lb linebacker from Weber State.  He was a 7th round selection by the Miami Dolphins in 2009.
• Gant joined the practice squad in late November.  He spent 2009 on the Cardinals practice squad but was suspended for the first four games of 2010 for violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances.  He is a 6'3", 200 lb wide receiver out of North Alabama and played high school ball at Cape Coral High School.  A scouting report from his North Alabama pro day states "This is the kind of player who shows so much athleticism he can be switched to defensive back if it doesn’t work out at wide receiver".  He was undrafted in 2009.
• Lawrence is a 6'1", 232 lb linebacker from the University of Minnesota.  TBO.com projected him as a 4th round selection, but he went undrafted in 2010.  He was picked up by the Eagles and cut, landed with the Bears and reached their 53-man roster before being cut and picked up by the Buccaneers.  His combine workout is available to watch on NFL.com.    He has some experience as Safety from college.
• Malecki is a 6'2", 300 lb offensive linemen from the University of Pittsburgh.  An undrafted in 2010, he was picked up but later cut by the Tennessee Titans.  Tampa Bay signed him to their practice squad on October 26th, but later cut him on November 17th.  The Cleveland Browns picked him up for a couple weeks, then released him, and Tampa Bay brought him back to the practice squad on December 1st.
• Taylor was signed by the Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent just after the 2010 NFL Draft.  He did not make the post-camp roster cuts but did rejoin Tampa Bay on December 8th, 2010.  He is a 6'2", 265 lb fullback out of Clemson University.
• Wilson is a 6'4", 286 lb defensive end from the University of North Carolina.  Wilson was originally drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the 4th round.  This smells exactly like the type of player GM Mark Dominik finds from time to time -- a solid draft talent which did not fit in where he went originally, but had captured the Buccaneers attention and so merits a solid look on the practice squad.  This is the second time in two years the Buccaneers have snatched a drafted defensive end from the Seattle Seahawks (Micheal Bennett, 6th rounder, 2009).

This brings the offseason head count to 75 players.  Tampa Bay has a full set of draft picks in the upcoming 2011 NFL Draft, which would add seven more players, bringing the total headcount to 82 players.  Currently suspended Tanard Jackson does not count against the head count, so there seems to be a one man surplus at this time.

Considering the impact of practice squad players in 2010, these players may be noisemakers heading into  training camp next season.  The common theme seems to be athletes who could play safety.  Is Tampa Bay looking for a particular physical size for safeties going forward?

With the performance of free agents the past two year, the roster is getting tougher to crack.  These men face a rough challenge, but it is a challenge others have overcome in Tampa Bay.

Buccaneers Final Roster: 2010

Here is how the roster finished the 2010 NFL Season, with the season ending 53-man roster first, then the Injured Reserve:

The Final 53-Man Roster

22	Asante, Larry	DB	ACT	6'0"	210	03/07/88	0	Nebraska
20	Barber, Ronde	CB	ACT	5'10"	184	04/07/75	14	Virginia
61	Barker, Will	T	ACT	6'7"	320	07/03/87	0	Virginia
10	Barth, Connor	K	ACT	5'11"	193	04/11/86	3	North Carolina
71	Bennett, Michael	DE	ACT	6'4"	274	11/13/85	2	Texas A&M
31	Biggers, E.J.	CB	ACT	6'0"	180	06/13/87	2	Western Michigan
27	Blount, LeGarrette	RB	ACT	6'0"	247	12/05/86	0	Oregon
89	Briscoe, Dezmon	WR	ACT	6'2"	207	08/31/89	0	Kansas
12	Carpenter, Rudy	QB	ACT	6'2"	212	04/15/86	2	Arizona State
60	Carter, Brandon	OG	ACT	6'6"	319	09/10/86	0	Texas Tech
96	Crowder, Tim	DE	ACT	6'4"	260	06/30/85	4	Texas
48	Economos, Andrew	LS	ACT	6'1"	250	06/24/82	5	Georgia Tech
5	Freeman, Josh	QB	ACT	6'6"	248	01/13/88	2	Kansas State
88	Gilmore, John	TE	ACT	6'5"	257	09/21/79	9	Penn State
34	Graham, Earnest	FB	ACT	5'9"	225	01/15/80	7	Florida
73	Hardman, Derek	G	ACT	6'6"	300	09/13/86	0	Eastern Kentucky
21	Harris, Dominique	DB	ACT	6'2"	213	04/14/87	0	Temple
54	Hayes, Geno	OLB	ACT	6'1"	226	08/10/87	3	Florida State
57	Hayward, Adam	OLB	ACT	6'1"	240	06/23/84	4	Portland State
29	Johnson, DJ	CB	ACT	6'1"	191	11/07/85	2	Jackson State
67	Johnson, George	DE	ACT	6'4"	265	12/11/87	0	Rutgers
11	Johnson, Josh	QB	ACT	6'3"	205	05/15/86	3	San Diego
26	Jones, Sean	SS	ACT	6'1"	220	03/02/82	7	Georgia
53	Koutouvides, Niko	LB	ACT	6'2"	238	03/25/81	7	Purdue
62	Larsen, Ted	G	ACT	6'2"	305	06/13/87	0	North Carolina State
77	Lee, James	T	ACT	6'4"	305	08/17/85	3	South Carolina State
23	Lewis, Myron	DB	ACT	6'2"	203	11/24/87	0	Vanderbilt
44	Lorig, Erik	FB	ACT	6'4"	275	11/17/86	0	Stanford
28	Lumpkin, Kregg	RB	ACT	5'11"	228	05/15/84	2	Georgia
41	Lynch, Corey	FS	ACT	6'0"	206	05/07/85	3	Appalachian State
33	Mack, Elbert	DB	ACT	5'10"	175	07/14/86	3	Troy
97	Magee, Alex	DE	ACT	6'3"	298	04/28/87	2	Purdue
1	Malone, Robert	P	ACT	6'1"	215	02/04/88	0	Fresno State
50	McKenzie, Tyrone	LB	ACT	6'2"	245	12/11/85	2	South Florida
90	Miller, Roy	DT	ACT	6'2"	310	07/09/87	2	Texas
78	Okam, Frank	DT	ACT	6'5"	350	10/16/85	3	Texas
84	Overbay, Nathan	TE	ACT	6'5"	270	01/04/87	0	Eastern Washington
87	Parker, Preston	WR	ACT	6'0"	200	02/13/87	0	North Alabama
70	Penn, Donald	T	ACT	6'5"	305	04/27/83	5	Utah State
80	Purvis, Ryan	TE	ACT	6'4"	260	05/08/86	1	Boston College
51	Ruud, Barrett	MLB	ACT	6'2"	241	05/20/83	6	Nebraska
81	Spurlock, Micheal	WR	ACT	5'11"	200	01/31/83	3	Mississippi
85	Stovall, Maurice	WR	ACT	6'5"	220	02/21/85	5	Notre Dame
18	Stroughter, Sammie	WR	ACT	5'10"	189	01/03/86	2	Oregon State
65	Trueblood, Jeremy	T	ACT	6'8"	320	05/10/83	5	Boston College
56	Watson, Dekoda	OLB	ACT	6'1"	240	03/03/88	0	Florida State
91	White, Stylez G.	DE	ACT	6'3"	270	07/25/79	4	Minnesota
24	Williams, Cadillac	RB	ACT	5'11"	217	04/21/82	6	Auburn
19	Williams, Mike	WR	ACT	6'1"	212	05/18/87	0	Syracuse
82	Winslow, Kellen	TE	ACT	6'4"	240	07/21/83	7	Miami (Fla.)
95	Woods, Al	DT	ACT	6'4"	309	03/25/87	0	LSU
79	Worthington, Doug	DE	ACT	6'5"	292	08/10/87	0	Ohio State
76	Zuttah, Jeremy	C	ACT	6'4"	308	06/01/86	3	Rutgers

The Final Injured Reserve List

50	Alston, Jon	LB	RES	6'0"	235	06/04/83	5	Stanford
17	Benn, Arrelious	WR	RES	6'1"	220	09/08/88	0	Illinois
58	Black, Quincy	OLB	RES	6'2"	240	02/28/84	4	New Mexico
69	Dotson, Demar	T	RES	6'9"	315	10/11/85	2	Southern Mississippi
52	Faine, Jeff	C	RES	6'3"	291	04/06/81	8	Notre Dame
72	Gilbeaux, Brandon	DE	RES	6'3"	270	06/09/87	0	Delaware
35	Grimm, Cody	FS	RES	6'1"	203	02/26/87	0	Virginia Tech
32	Huggins, Kareem	RB	RES	5'9"	198	05/24/86	1	Hofstra
75	Joseph, Davin	G	RES	6'3"	313	11/22/83	5	Oklahoma
93	McCoy, Gerald	DT	RES	6'4"	295	02/25/88	0	Oklahoma
94	Moore, Kyle	DE	RES	6'5"	272	10/25/86	2	USC
92	Price, Brian	DT	RES	6'1"	303	04/10/89	0	UCLA
25	Talib, Aqib	CB	RES	6'1"	205	02/13/86	3	Kansas
36	Jackson, Tanard	FS	SUS	6'0"	200	07/21/85	4	Syracuse

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished the 2010 NFL Season with a 10-6 record but did not qualify for the playoffs.

Buccaneers Finish With Top 10 Defense

On defense there is only one statistic which matters:  How few points did your opponents score?  By that measure, Tampa Bay finished 9th in the NFL, giving up an average of 19.9 points per game.

How important is Defensive Points Allowed?   The eight teams who finished with a lower average are all in the playoffs.  The other four playoff teams are ranked #11 (Kansas City), #21 (Philadelphia), #23 (Indianapolis), and #25 (Seattle).

Obviously, it's a significant indicator of success and a big reason the Buccaneers finished 2010 with a 10-6 record.

It's another indicator of how far the team has progressed since going 3-13 last year.  In 2009, Tampa Bay surrendered an average of 25 points per game, which was 27th in the NFL.  It's the lowest points-per-game average since 2007 when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were 3rd stingiest in the NFL giving up a measly average of just 16.9 points.

Combine this accomplishment with the Top 10 Rushing attack and the formula put forth by Head Coach Raheem Morris and General Manager Mark Dominik before the 2009 season is proven out: be a physical running team and a stingy defense and you will have success.

In the Buccaneers case, it appears it will be a lasting success!

Buccaneers Build Top 10 Rushing Attack

When Head Coach Raheem Morris and General Manager Mark Dominik took the reigns of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before the 2009 season, they painted a picture for the Buccaneer Faithful of a team with a powerful rushing attack and a solid defense.

They have made big progress towards both this season with a winning record to prove it.

With one game remaining, the Buccaneers have reached the top quarter of the NFL as far as production in the running game.  The chart below shows how the offense has made steady improvement running the ball since Week 5:

Currently, the offense has set a new high mark in the per game average at almost 128 yards/game, which ranks 7th in the NFL, ahead of teams like Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and New England.  Tampa Bay also has a 7-game 100+ yard rushing effort streak still going (which includes teams like Baltimore and Atlanta).

The most impressive part of this evolving running attack is the number of different offensive linemen who have contributed to the effort:

Week 5 (New Orleans):  Center Jeff Faine suffers his first severe injury of the season, and in steps rookie Ted Larsen as Jeremy Zuttah moves to center.  Since then, the Buccaneers have not rushed for less than 90 yards in a single game.

Week 7 (Arizona):  Tackle Jeremy Trueblood and Guard Keydrick Vincent suffer injuries.  The Buccaneers promote G/T Derek Hardman off the practice squad and ask T James Lee to step in for Trueblood.  Lee has started ever since, and Hardman has worked his way into the starting lineup when Davin Joseph was injured during Week 11.

The changes have not all been up front, either.  After Kareem Huggins suffered a season ending knee injury during the New Orleans game, LeGarrette Blount emerged to start playing a larger and larger role in the running game.  Blount had a two-pronged effect:  not only was he effective, his production on first and second down started reducing the need for Josh Freeman to run for positive yards to keep drives alive.

This is all a very good sign for the near future of the franchise:  multiple contributors up front and in the backfield, plus the experience of Earnest Graham and Cadillac Williams.

The running game is becoming a reliable part of the Buccaneers offense, opening up the playbook and providing even more options to offensive coordinator Greg Olson.  A reliable running game has been a strong part of the past success of the Buccaneers.

Looks like those times have returned!