Tag: Sean Tucker

Where is Sean Tucker and where has his usage gone?

In recent weeks, Liam Coen and the offense abandoned the run game and have since lost three straight games. 

Early on in the season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were a run-heavy team that controlled time of possession and helped out the passing game. In recent weeks, Liam Coen and the offense abandoned the run game and have since lost three straight games.

Although two of the three losses came to the teams in the Super Bowl last year, that is where the moral victories start and stop.

One major question in the abandoning of the run game is where Sean Tucker has gone. Tucker was the NFC Player of the Week after his performance against the Saints, where he ran for 136 rushing yards, had three receptions for 56 yards, and had two total touchdowns. It seems insane that a player could do that and have just ten carries since then.

In week 10 against the 49ers, Tucker had no snaps played at all, let alone touches. It will be interesting to see how things stand coming out of the Bye Week if he can work his way back into the fold.

Bucs running back group remains without a leader through Week 9

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have not one but three running backs who are more than serviceable in their backfield. 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have not one but three running backs who are more than serviceable in their backfield. The issue the Bucs are now dealing with is deciding which one is worth giving the bulk of the workload to.

A few weeks ago, when Rachaad White was injured, Tucker emerged and was the NFC ground player of the week. Rookie Bucky Irving is making the most of every single touch he gets. Meanwhile, Rachaad White continues to find the endzone one way or another.

Against the Chiefs in Week 9, Irving had 10 touches for 34 yards, White had six touches for 35 yards and a touchdown, and Tucker had four touches for 17 yards.

That type of production, or lack thereof, has to be fixed. The rotation doesn’t allow any one running back to get momentum going. Liam Coen is creative; perhaps he uses White out at the slot receiver position to get him touches. Regardless, the running backs have to find some sort of consistency.

Right now, all they have is chaos and a lack of results.

Bucs RB Bucky Irving misses practice with toe injury

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have found themselves a future starter at running back with the selection of Bucly Irving in April’s draft.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Bucky Irving in April’s draft, and they have found themselves a future starter at running back. They paired him up with Rachaad White and expected to have their own version of the thunder and lightning that so many teams in the NFL have success with.

However, it seems the Bucs may be without their emerging star at running back in Week 8.

In the team’s initial injury report of the week, Bucky Irving did not practice designation on the report. There were no specifics as to what the injury could be, but it is a less-than-ideal injury for a running back to have.

Rachaad White missed time earlier this year, and Sean Tucker proved to be a more than reliable option to step up in his place. If Irving misses time, look for Tucker to take his workload and work alongside Rachaad White out of the backfield.

Fantasy Football: 10 running backs to target on the waiver wire

Tyler Goodson and Ray Davis highlight this week’s list of running backs to target on the fantasy football waiver wire.

Several key injuries (and players returning from injuries) are shaking up the NFL — and fantasy football lineups — going into Week 8.

At quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa (27%) is expected to return after recovering from his concussion. In Cleveland, the Browns are expected to turn the offense over to Jameis Winston (1%) after losing Deshuan Watson to an Achilles injury. Drake Maye (14%) is also worth a look at QB.

At wide receiver, Jauan Jennings (46%) will be a popular target this week after the 49ers lost Brandon Aiyuk to a torn ACL. Elsewhere at the position, Romeo Doubs (37%) has turned heads with consecutive big games.

At tight end, Hunter Henry (28%) and Taysom Hill (21%) will be among the top targets to consider on the waiver wire ahead of Week 8.

Today, though, we’re focusing on the running back position. We’ve put together a quick list of ten running backs to consider on the fantasy football waiver wire this week.

Fantasy Football Running Back Waiver Wire Targets

1. RB Ray Davis (15%): Even with James Cook back in the lineup, Davis still got five carries and a target, turning those touches into 41 rushing yards and a touchdown and a one-yard reception. He won’t reach the end zone every week, but Davis offers flex value even when Cook is healthy.

2. RB Tyler Goodson (10%): It remains to be seen if Jonathan Taylor (ankle) will be able to return this week. In his absence on Sunday, it was Goodson, not Trey Sermon, who led the Colts’ backfield with 14 carries for 51 yards and a touchdown.

3. RB Alexander Mattison (43%): Mattison dominated the Raiders’ backfield on Sunday with 26 touches that he turned into 123 yards.

4. RB Jaylen Warren (46%): Najee Harris is still the guy in Pittsburgh, but Warren got 12 carries and three targets in Week 7. He’s worth flex consideration in a shared backfield.

5. RB Tyrone Tracy (48%): Even with Devin Singletary back in the lineup, Tracy remained a key part of New York’s offense. Game flow didn’t allow for much rushing from the Giants, but Tracy got one more carry (six to five) and two more targets (three to one) than Singletary on Sunday.

6. RB Sean Tucker (11%): Rachaad White is back and Bucky Irving remains the RB1b, but there’s still a role for Tucker in the backfield. He got five carries and two targets on Monday.

7. RB Kendre Miller (8%): The Saints weren’t able to get anything going against Denver’s defense on TNF, but Miller got six carries (compared to Alvin Kamara’s seven) and three targets (compared to Kamara’s seven). Kamara is obviously still the star in New Orleans, but Miller might have some standalone value going forward.

8. RB D’Ernest Johnson (15%): Tank Bigsby (69%) is dominating right now, but there’s still a role for Johnson. He got nine carries and four targets this week.

9. RB Trey Benson (18%): Benson is a claim-and-stash option in case James Conner is ever unavailable this season.

10. RB Blake Corum (18%): Similar to Benson, Corum is a valuable handcuff behind Kyren Williams.

Bonus RBs: Nick Chubb (83%), Tank Bigsby (69%), Jonathon Brooks (60%), Bucky Irving (66%) and Tyler Allgeier (54%) are already rostered in most leagues, but double check just to make sure they’re not still available in your league. 

Roster percentages for players listed in this article were sourced from ESPN. For more fantasy coverage, check out our fantasy football hub.

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5 takeaways from the Bucs brutal loss to the Ravens in Week 7

Here are five key takeaways from the Bucs’ 31-41 loss to the Ravens in Week 7.

A quick 10-0 start for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the Baltimore Ravens sent Raymond James Stadium into a frenzy.

However, 34 unanswered points from Lamar Jackson and the Ravens had fans leaving the stadium at the end of the third quarter. While the Buccaneers may have lost the game, they would go on to lose much more as the game went on.

Here are five key takeaways from the Bucs’ 31-41 loss to the Ravens in Week 7.

Consistently inconsistent

Wins are hard to come by in the NFL and are even more challenging to earn when you do not play consistently, which is precisely what this Buccaneers team lacks. On both sides of the ball, through all seven games, it’s hard to determine which Buccaneers team will show up and how many quarters will last.

Wide receiver depth is a glaring hole

When you have the luxury of superstar wide receivers like Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, there should never be a discussion about issues at WR for the Buccaneers. A worst-case scenario for the Bucs happened as the team lost both Evans and Godwin on the same night. While Evans reaggravated a hamstring injury, he should miss minimal time, whereas Godwin will likely be done for the remainder of the season.

You cannot replace receivers the caliber of an Evans or a Godwin, but who on the roster will step up and assert themselves as leaders inside the wide receivers room? Baker Mayfield and Sterling Shepard showed a rekindling of their former college teammate relationship in Week 4; however, that has been routinely non-existent since then, leaving a real issue at wide receiver for the Bucs.

Defense is still an issue

This season, the Buccaneers have needed to play nearly perfect offense more often than not, as their defense has been unable to slow down their opponents. For added context, the Bucs defense even allowed the Detroit Lions to control the clock and generate more offensive yards in a winning effort in Week 2.

Sure, they’ve battled injuries, but it’s a recipe for disaster when you force your offense to play mistake-free, and this was on full display for the Buccaneers against the Ravens. Through seven games, the 4-3 Buccaneers defense has allowed opposing offenses to outgain them four times.

Good problem in the running back room

The good news for the Buccaneers is that Rachaad White showed flashes of why he was the clear-cut starting running back coming into the season. This gives the Bucs an embarrassment of riches in the backfield between White, Bucky Irving, and Sean Tucker, the reigning NFC Offensive Player of the Week. As the Bucs will need to do some serious soul-searching, particularly on offense, with the loss of their top two leading receivers, OC Liam Coen may start leaning on the emerging three-headed monster in the backfield.

It all boils down to coaching

The Buccaneers showed they would not give up when they recovered the onside kick with 3:46 remaining in the game. On a drive that would result in a touchdown and bring the Bucs within 10 points as they trailed 31-41, there were no attempts to get out of bounds or throw toward the sideline to stop the clock— they still had all three timeouts, plus a potential of being ahead of the two-minute warning. The following Ravens series was an attempt to run out the clock, with the Bucs defense forcing a punt.

Todd Bowles kept his starters in the game, which was already out of reach with 1:34 remaining and no timeouts remaining. The result was a gruesome injury to Godwin, and the early expectation is that he will not return for the season as his lower left leg was immediately put in an air cast.

When teams are inconsistent, it comes back to coaching. Ironically, this has been a consistent theme among Bucs fans, with their general distaste for Bowles as the team’s head coach. As the Bucs await to hear the prognosis on Evans’s hamstring injury, it will be a tumultuous finish to the second quarter of the season for a Bucs team who have a gauntlet of the Atlanta Falcons, Kansas City Chiefs, and San Francisco 49ers.

Bucs RB Sean Tucker named NFC Offensive Player of the Week

Headlining the team with 136 rushing yards, three receptions for 56 yards, and two total touchdowns was Bucs running back Sean Tucker.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers set a franchise record with 594 net yards of offense in Sunday’s 51-27 victory over the New Orleans Saints.

While the Saints’ defense posted a box score that showed three interceptions, they had no answer for the Bucs’ offensive attack. Headlining the team with 136 rushing yards, three receptions for 56 yards, and two total touchdowns was Bucs running back Sean Tucker, who has been named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 6.

Not only did the second-year running back gash the Saints defense, averaging a sweltering 9.7 yards per carry on 14 carries, but Tucker’s 192 yards from scrimmage were also the third-highest in a single game through six weeks of the 2024 NFL season, trailing only Derrick Henry’s 209-yard and Ja’Marr Chase’s 193-yard performances.

Following Tucker’s dominating performance, he entered elite company, becoming the fourth RB in Bucs franchise history (Doug Martin x2, Warrick Dunn x2, and James Wilder) to total 192+ yards from scrimmage.

Adding further to the impressive resume that Tucker built in Week 6, this becomes the first Offensive Player of the Week award that a Bucs running back has won since Leonard Fournette against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 12 of 2021.

5 key takeaways from the Bucs pivotal win over the Saints in Week 6

An ever-important bounce-back game was on the docket for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the New Orleans Saints on the road.

An ever-important bounce-back game was on the docket for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the New Orleans Saints following their Week 5 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Not only would the Bucs fall to .500 with a loss, but they would have been 0-2 in the NFC South, a place you do not want to be.

With a commanding 51-27 win over their division rivals, this was more of a giant leap forward for the Bucs team, who improved to 4-2 on the season. Here are 5 key takeaways from Sunday’s pivotal win over the Saints.

The offense once again showed glimpses of explosiveness

For the fourth time in six games, Baker Mayfield and the Bucs have put up more than 30 points, three of those being in winning efforts. Despite three interceptions from Mayfield, two of which should have been catches, Liam Coen never let off the gas in his playcalling. Three fourth-quarter touchdowns were a much different -and welcomed- feeling for Bucs fans as the offense was able to truly shut the door on the Saints in their blowout win.

The Buccaneers have the luxury of two superstar wide receivers and a revolving door of capable running backs. A balanced offensive attack proved the recipe for success against the Saints, as there was a 36-to-35 passing attempt to 35-to-35 rushing attempt split.

Rachaad White might be the odd man out

There will likely continue to be a theme when it comes to figuring out the running back room, and the theme will be uncertainty. A couple of times this season, it appeared that Rachaad White and Bucky Irving could be in the discussion for one of the top duos in the league until they weren’t. That conversation spun off into Irving potentially taking over RB1 duties from White. With White being inactive for Sunday’s matchup against the Saints, insert Sean Tucker into the conversation. Tucker carried the ball 14 times for 136 yards and a touchdown, while Irving also logged 14 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown.

A saving grace for White has been his ability to catch passes and create out of the backfield. However, Tucker finished the day as the team’s second-leading receiver, with 56 yards and a touchdown on three receptions.

The coaching staff will need to figure this out, and with arguably the toughest four-game stretch in the league looming, it might be time to roll the dice and stick with what worked so well against the Saints.

Defense still needs to tighten up

Don’t let the score fool you. Typically a 30+ point effort puts your team into prevent defense and clock-eating mode, that just simply hasn’t been the case for this team more often than not this season. Once up 17-0 early over the Saints, quickly turned into a 3-point 20-17 deficit. Rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler was sacked five times and threw two interceptions on the day, but he never truly looked uncomfortable in the backfield in his first career start.

Only one time throughout their six games have the Buccaneers given up less than 250 yards, and that was to an A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith-less Eagles offense that generated 227 yards of offense. Leaving your offense to win in a shootout is going to be a difficult task, especially with the Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, and San Francisco 49ers coming up. Yes, a crucial game against the Atlanta Falcons should be on the radar as the defense allowed Kirk Cousins to have a career day in Week 5.

Cade Otton isn’t the tight end the Bucs need

As legendary pro wrestling commentator Jim Ross would say, “he’s a good hand.” What that means is that he can be dependable, but there is nothing that truly stands out. It’s not a knock on Otton, but he is incapable of the athletic playmaking that the Buccaneers offense needs. GM Jason Licht is not one to make in-season trades, however, a dynamic playmaking tight end could prove to push this offense into the upper echelon of the consistently elite offenses in the NFL- emphasis on consistently.

Tykee Smith is developing into a solid starter

It’s too early in his career to talk about a budding superstar. After yesterday’s performance, it’s understandable why emotions are high, but let’s bring it back down to earth and talk about what Tykee Smith truly is, and that is a very solid developing star in this Buccaneers defense. Allowing just a 3.5 passer rating -yes, you read that right, 3.5- to Rattler while seeing six targets (second most behind Zyon McCollum’s 7) cannot be ignored. As Jamel Dean has struggled in the first quarter of the 2024 season, and the continued need for Todd Bowles to tighten up the defense, Smith should continue to see more snaps- especially with the return of Antoine Winfield Jr. looming over the top.

 

Bucs set franchise record for offensive yards against Saints

No team has had a more eventful 10-day stretch than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but on Sunday they were able to push it all aside.

No team has had a more eventful 10-day stretch than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. From last week’s overtime shootout loss to the Atlanta Falcons to being displaced over 700 miles in New Orleans since Tuesday due to Hurricane Milton, the Bucs had all the makings of a “putting up a dud” coming into their Week 6 divisional matchup against the New Orleans Saints.

From the opening kickoff, where the Bucs elected to receive the ball, they never really let off the gas on the offensive side of the ball.

In fact, when the final whistle blew, the Bucs set a new franchise record for offensive yards with a net total of 594. Bucky Irving and Sean Tucker combined for 277 yards on the ground, while Baker Mayfield threw for 325 yards in the air.

The previous record of 588 yards came from a Tom Brady-led 47-7 win over the Detroit Lions in 2020, the year the Bucs won the Super Bowl.

Bucs win preseason opener, beat Bengals 17-14

The Buccaneers defeat the Bengals with a last-minute scoring drive.

The Buccaneers returned to football on the right foot, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 17-14 in their preseason debut. Most of Tampa Bay’s starters did not play, but the Bucs were able to squeak by the Bengals with a handful of big plays on offense.

The game kicked off with Bengals starting quarterback Joe Burrow under center as he led Cincinnati’s offense to a touchdown on their opening drive. The Bucs nearly had the Bengals stalled just outside the redzone, but a pass interference call on cornerback Josh Hayes, though it appeared rookie safety Tykee Smith committed the penalty, pushed Cincinnati within striking distance. Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins juked Hayes on the following play on the 10-yard scoring reception.

Tampa Bay responded at the end of the first quarter with their own scoring drive. Backup QB Kyle Trask distributed the ball the Bucs’ young receivers Ryan Miller, Trey Palmer and Jalen McMillan to drive the offense down the field. Rookie running back Bucky Irving capped the drive with a five-yard run into the endzone.

The second quarter was a symphony of dysfunction for both teams. Trask badly missed Ryan Miller for an interception by Bengals CB Josh Newton, while Bengals QB Jake Browning threw his own pick to Bucs CB Keenan Isaac. Both Chase McLaughlin and Evan McPherson missed field goals to ensure a scoreless quarter to end the half.

Tampa Bay opened the second half with a 53-yard scoring drive in which McLaughlin successfully kicked a 35-yard chip shot. After that, neither team made much traction for the majority of the half, trading punts and a Bucs turnover on downs.

As the game drew to a close, both teams started to heat up on offense. The Bengals struck first with 37-yard touchdown reception by WR Jermaine Burton. The Bucs responded with a 60-yard drive that was kept alive by pass interference call on CB Lance Robinson, allowing RB Ramon Jefferson to punch in the go-ahead touchdown score.

The Bengals threatened in the closing minute with a 37-yard Chris Evans kickoff return and a 38-yard Jermaine Burton reception. The drive stalled on the Bucs’ 24-yard line and the Bucs ended the game after the Bengals turned the ball over on downs.

Tampa Bay finished with 390 total yards, including 136 rush yards. RB Sean Tucker led the Bucs with 68 rush yards on 10 carries. Kyle Trask led the team with 144 pass yards with 12 completions on 20 pass attempts. The Bucs’ quarterbacks were uninspiring overall, throwing no touchdowns while taking three sacks and throwing two interceptions between Trask and Wolford.

The Bucs defense was solid, holding the Bengals to 36 rush yards and 12 total first downs. While they failed to bring down the Bengals quarterbacks for any sacks, outside linebacker Jose Ramirez lived in Cincinnati’s backfield, forcing a few offensive holding penalties to stymie the Bengals offense.

While the Bucs offense showed some dysfunction particularly at quarterback, the run game looked much improved from last season, and the young wide receiver corps flashed potential. Tampa Bay now faces a week of joint practices with the Jacksonville Jaguars ahead of their preseason matchup next Saturday.

The worst offensive players in Tampa Bay’s loss to Philadelphia, per PFF

PFF rated these five offensive players the lowest against the Eagles Monday:

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive prowess certainly slowed down on Monday night after its first two weeks prior.

The Bucs offense scored 20 points in its first two contests but managed just 11 against the Philadelphia Eagles in a 25-11 loss. The most notable lacking aspect of the offense was the run game, which only managed 41 yards on the ground. Much of this was due to the interior line’s poor stretch of play, which has been a notable problem this season.

Pro Football Focus took to grading the offensive players’ snaps for Monday’s game, and while there were some good performers, others struggled. Here are PFF’s five worst offensive players against the Eagles: