Bucs are 24th in motion at the snap in 2023

Motion at the snap has become more of a phenomenon in the NFL as of late, but Tampa Bay doesn’t tend to implement its motion that way as much as others.

Motion at the snap is all the rage these days. But where do the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stand on the issue?

While many teams have employed motion before the snap occurs for quite some time, there has been a recent renaissance of teams using motion as the snap occurs — this allows players to effectively get a running start before the play begins and can also set up blocks before the ball is even snapped. The team that is most famous for this at the moment is the Miami Dolphins, who use motion at the snap 62% of the time. Other high-octane offenses like the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions employ it frequently, too.

According to ESPN stats, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 24th in the league in motion at the snap, only using it 14% of the time. The team does employ motion before the snap quite frequently, though, as it runs motion %43.7 of the time in general. When asked specifically about motion at the snap, Bucs offensive coordinator [autotag]Dave Canales[/autotag] confirmed that it’s in Tampa Bay’s arsenal and that it can be a big help on offense.

“It’s a part of what we’re doing,” Canales said. “It allows us to stretch the defense horizontally. All you’re trying to do is create a moment of indecision for the defense and then that helps the run game, helps the pass game. Switching the responsibilities to create free-access releases at the line, that’s a big part of it.”

Tampa Bay’s low percentage of using this type of play doesn’t mean that it won’t increase in the future, though. Canales said that while some teams are doing a great job at implementing it in their offense, others like the Bucs are catching up to speed. He mentioned that he first saw heavy usage of pre-snap motion when he was with the Seattle Seahawks and played the Los Angeles Rams twice a year.

“[The Los Angeles Rams] really utilized that from the time Sean [McVay] had been there in LA. It’s something that’s been around for a while, and I think that the rest of us are learning how to utilize it.”

Tampa Bay’s offense still has room to go in Canales’ first year as a coordinator, but much of the philosophy has gotten the team wins early in the season. The Bucs will continue to put that offense to test on Sunday when they play the Atlanta Falcons at 1 p.m. EST.