The Bucs passing sport led to most of their offensive success in 2023. Former offensive coordinator Dave Canales was in a position to implement well-designed passing ideas that catered to quarterback Baker Mayfield’s strengths because the staff had a Prime 10 passing sport (by anticipated factors added per play) down the stretch of the second half of the season.
Pewter Report’s Josh Queipo checked out all 37 of the Bucs 2023 explosives passing performs – that’s performs that gained 20 or extra yards – to search out some commonalities that the staff ought to look to proceed in 2024 beneath new offensive coordinator Liam Coen.
Bucs’ Success On Two Dimensional Routes
Most of the Bucs’ largest performs got here on dig and out routes. That’s routes that attacked the opposing protection throughout two planes one after the opposite (versus one over the opposite like crossing routes or slants). Baker Mayfield was most snug throwing to well-defined depths after a horizontal break that normally coincided along with his receiver creating extra separation and created extra leverage within the route. And versus one over one multi-dimensional routes the place the cross normally desires to steer excessive of the receiver, one after one multi-dimensional routes require throwing beneath the receiver with much less loft/contact and extra energy behind the throw. This additionally works to Mayfield’s strengths.
Weaponizing Trey Palmer’s Pace
Bucs WR Trey Palmer – Picture by: USA Right now
One of many hallmarks of those ideas is working the dig/out routes beneath a go, fade, or clear route. These deep-attacking roles had been usually run by Bucs receiver Trey Palmer, whose elite velocity allowed him to be simplest at forcing defenses to commit a number of gamers to overlaying him.
This additionally helped open up the intermediate and center of the sphere for route technicians like Chris Godwin to thrive with head fakes and plus stems to create extra separation.
Three Fundamental Ideas
The Bucs had been in a position to win a number of occasions on three primary ideas that each one carried out the above methods – Flood, Dagger and Ohio.
Flood
Flood assaults a single outdoors third of the sphere at three ranges by with a go route attacking deep, an intermediate out route 10-15 yards down area and a shallow cross from the other aspect of the sphere to the flat. The quarterback reads the development high-to-low (go, out, cross). It’s particularly efficient towards cowl three the place it creates a 3-on-2 matchup for the quarterback.
Dagger
Dagger is a two-route idea that runs an in-breaking “dig” route from the surface receiver beneath a “clear” (deep) route designed to assault a security from a slot receiver. Towards two-high the clear route will run pretty perpendicular to the road of scrimmage, whereas towards a single-high defensive construction the slot receiver will usually run proper on the deep security. The aim is to get the deep defenders to decide to conserving on high of the play to permit the dig to develop beneath.
Ohio
Ohio has a variety of the identical construction of Flood with out the other area shallow to the flat. This offers a easy high-low learn for the quarterback and might work properly towards man protection if the receivers can time their stems correctly.
You possibly can take a look at the video highlighting the three ideas that the Bucs had been in a position to create a number of explosives off of right here or by visiting our YouTube channel.
