What's that about the Bucs being the model franchise?

By Rich Tandler

A year ago, the Bucs defeated the Redskins on their way to a 10-6 season. They missed out of the playoffs through tiebreakers but it was thought that since they were the youngest teams in the league that the future was bright for them.

At the NFL Combine last February, Bucs General Manager Mark Dominick said that the Bucs had made a decision to get younger and to do so quickly. He compared his team to the one that one the Super Bowl.

The way we wanted to do it in Tampa, how we were going to build our football team, was going to be through youth. And so yeah, it was a conscious decision and when you look at where the Packers are now, at not only their age, but what they accomplished this year, it tells you you’re going in the right direction.

Fast forward to now and the Packers are still doing quite well. The Bucs, not so much. They are 4-9, occupying the basement in the NFC South.

They started out 3-1 and then moved to 4-2 but they haven’t won a game since Oct. 16. Things have been so bad that going into as of two weeks ago week they had trailed for over 475 minutes of their games this season, the most in the league. That was before they blew an early 14-0 lead by giving up 41 unanswered points to the Jaguars in a 41-14 loss last Sunday and before the rolled over and played dead against the Cowboys.

During the offseason, a lot of fans and media types were saying that the Redskins should have done what the Bucs did. By going all in with youth, the Bucs supposedly were setting themselves up for success for the long term. The Redskins’ approach of a mix of youth and some older veterans didn’t seem to be working.

The jury is still out on whether or not what Mike Shanahan is doing will work. But the verdict on the Bucs’ approach is very much unsettled as well. 

 

Comments

[Hogs Haven]

Great point, Rich. It seems Raheem Morris might be more on the Zorn side. Young and inexperienced...where opposing teams have him schematically figured out and players are failing to rally behind him.

It also doesn't help that the Bucs drafted defensive linemen with their first 2 picks in the last two drafts and they still have 30th ranked rushing and overall defense. It's not like their picks can't play. What a mess.

[PremiumSeater]

Rich, thanks for your insight and honesty. I still think that Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen are on the right track, philosophically. It seems to me that the best teams, long term, are built with lots of "B" players and a few "A" and "C" players. In the Dan Snider era, the Redskins have for the most part, tried to build teams with more "A" and a lot more "C" players and very few "B" players. The result is that when injuries occur or when the chemistry is not right, there is no depth. In light of the salary cap, If you spend on A players, especially if you over spend, as the Redskins have often done, you can only get "C" players, who almost never work out in the end. It is much more likely that a "B" player might become an "A" player or might be able to provide "A" performances for a short while. As an avid fan, the Redskins roster is starting to look like there are a lot more "B" players and fewer "C" players. Give me the "B" players who tend to have fewer ego issues, have more incentive to improve and are more likely to do so by stressing teamwork than me-work. I like where the Redskins seem to be heading.