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2014 NFL Season Review: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Touches, Targets and Team Summary

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Throughout the month of January we’ve been rolling out a thorough review on touch, target and workload data from all 32 NFL teams in an effort to paint a complete picture of the 2014 fantasy football season and turn our attention to what things like (in the early part of the offseason) for 2015. Much will change, but understanding the relative workload distribution can go a long way to making projections for next year.

[View the full set of articles here]

2014 NFL Season Review: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Touches and Targets

Inconsistent play from Josh McCown and Mike Glennon led to capped production in Tampa this year (Photo: Getty Images).

Inconsistent play from Josh McCown and Mike Glennon led to capped production in Tampa this year (Photo: Getty Images).

A season which started with much hope with Lovie Smith at the helm was quickly turned on its head in Tampa Bay. From a fantasy perspective, though, all was not lost as the team produced a pair of useful wideouts and offered contributors on a less regular basis at other positions.

Indeed, the receivers were the players of interest. Veteran Vincent Jackson saw a steep drop off in fantasy production but with an 11 yard catch in the season’s final game he pushed his year over 1,000 yards. After scoring 15 TDs in his first two seasons with the Bucs his two score campaign was a significant downer for anyone investing in his fantasy services. QBs Josh Mccown and Mike Glennon threw just 21 of them on the season, so that fact accounts for part of the drop off, mind you. All told, Jackson’s 138 targets were still in the receiver top-10 and his 70 receptions will play just fine (a poor 50.7% catch rate, but again, his QBs completed 56 and 57% respectively). Vjax saw plenty of work deep this year, with 34 targets over 20 yards, more than all but three other receivers but he was given just nine catchable changes (securing all of them) At any rate, the 32-year-old WR remains productive and he’ll need to be on your fantasy radar. It’s assumed that he’ll stay in Tampa though, (not a lock with a near $10 Million coming due next year) so he’ll need to see more consistent QB play to be truly relevant.

He’ll also need to fight rookie phenom Mike Evans for targets. Evans caught 68 of the 116 balls thrown his way this year at an average of 15.5 yards per reception, the 6th most among receivers with 50 or more catches and his 12 scores are hugely impressive given all the constraints we noted when discussing Jackson. He joined the veteran in the 1,000 yard club, with  1,051. Evans was in the mix right from jump in his first season, alternating most targeted honors with Jackson for much of the season but his development really became evident at the start of an impressive scoring run in Week 9. Heading into 2015, you’d expect that flip flopping of targets to trend much more favorably in his direction. On the note of deep balls, Tampa wasn’t scared to throw it long this year, as Evans’ 37 looks over 20 yards actually led the league – and his 18 receptions were double those of his veteran teammate. Seven of his 12 scores came on long balls as did 31.9% of his overall targets. All told, it was a heck of a debut season from Evans, one that would have rookie of the year potential were it not for an overwhelming number of strong seasons at the position.

Elsewhere, the team has resigned Louis Murphy who made 31 catches on 53 targets after joining the team late and getting shut down early. He seemed to have found a niche after finding himself on and off rosters throughout the league over the last few seasons and could be one of the more interesting third receivers around, again, if Tampa Bay gets more consistent play out of the QB position (and if they trail as often as they did this year). There wasn’t much else of note at receiver, nor at TE this year, where rookie Austin Seferian-Jenkins led the group in targets with 34 in an up and down, oft injured, debut. He caught 21 balls on those targets while Brandon Myers made 22 catches on 29 looks, but ASJ should take on a larger role moving into his second year – that seems to be in the plans of new OC Dirk Koetter.

To be frank, there isn’t much worth noting at the RB position either. Doug Martin is under contract for 2015 and figures to be back and leading the way for the Bucs, but, outside of a couple of long runs his season really underwhelmed. All told, Martin carried the ball 135 times, producing 500 yards (3.7 YPC) and scored twice. Forcing eight missed tackles, he often went down at first contact (just 2.2 yards after contact per attempt). Bobby Rainey (94-406) ran more efficiently but only saw significant use when Martin or Charles Sims were hurt, and enters the offseason as an RFA with an uncertain future. His limited usage despite those rushing efficiency numbers and an impressive 39/33/315 line (again, besting Martin’s 19/13/64) suggests that the coaching staff don’t see much future for him with the Bucs. Charles Sims, meanwhile, has some form of future but in limited work (85 touches) he struggled as a rookie (66-185 for 2.8 YPC on the ground) and isn’t promised anything despite his 3rd round status. Owners will need to watch camp to see how the carries are projected to shake out in 2015, but if the season looks anything like it did this year you’re not likely to want to be in a position where you have to use either party.

There is another reason we’ll all be watching camp, and that is the presumed selection of Oregon QB Marcus Mariotta by the Bucs with their #1 draft choice. Of course, that’s an easy pick for me to make from my sofa in January but it seems to be where things are trending for the franchise. When contemplating the receivers, and even the run game, again we’ll want to count on improved play from the QB position before feeling truly warm and fuzzy about anyone (outside of Evans, who proved to be impervious to poor Quarterbacking this year). Choosing Mariotta doesn’t guarantee it, and in reality it doesn’t guarantee he’ll even start the season under center. Glennon enters his third season (Update February 11: Josh McCown has been released, leaving Glennon as the only QB worthy of consideration on the roster at the time being) and hasn’t been altogether awful, so he may hold off the rookie through camp long enough to earn the early season starts. In any event, you’re probably unlikely to be starting either party but you’ll want whoever it is to be delivering consistent balls to Jackson and ASJ if you’re contemplating either.

The post 2014 NFL Season Review: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Touches, Targets and Team Summary appeared first on Fantasy Sports Locker Room.


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