Diontae @ X

[Untouchable]

He primarily lined up here for the Steelers so not a real surprise here but figured he'd be moving around or playing a bunch of Z.  Doubt a draft pick would change this in 2024 either.

[top dawg]

As expected. 

[Dave Gettleman's Shorts]

Dionte at X and Theilen at Slot

Just need to find a Z and TE to step up

[Adb6368]

https://x.com/josephperson/status/1782823972142231823?s=46&t=_DjhjjFqclQ6vBvhN496Xg

be careful. He obviously doesn’t do much homework. He may have thought the head coach said X but he was actually just saying he’s ready to exit 

Edited April 23 by Adb6368

[XClown1986]

This is mildly surprising, actually. I know Dionte has a great feel to beat press at the line of scrimmage, but tethering him to the line instead of letting him come off of the line and even go in motion to the slot, limits some of the creativity we can get from him. They must be trying to limit the shots he could take from a linebacker or safety over the middle. Guys like Legette, Polk, and Coleman have the bulk to hold up against those harder hitters. Polk and Coleman have clear slot ability, but Legette seems like an X to me.

I read somewhere where the debate was coming down to Coleman or Legette. If they are projecting past this season? Legette has a true number 1 ceiling. Coleman may only ever be a Z but he could bring that Tee Higgins element to the offense. 

[Mistuh Jones]

IDK man I'm not really sold on Legette getting separation in the NFL. I think at this point I'd rather go Coleman to have that different body type out there

[Ricky Spanish]

2 minutes ago, Mistuh Jones said:

IDK man I'm not really sold on Legette getting separation in the NFL. I think at this point I'd rather go Coleman to have that different body type out there

It's easier to get guys open if you send them in motion. Not sure what Canales' tendencies are there, but we were damn near dead last last season when Reich was the play caller and the lack of separation showed. If we do take someone not named McConkey I would expect motion to help assist in getting the players open more consistently.

At least that's what a competent coach would do. Jury's still out on the new guy.

[MHS831]

These few days of practice will tell Canales what he needs.  If Mingo has developed and shows signs of being able to play the Z, we could go F or slot WR in the draft--there are some 4 WR sets and this is probably Thielen's last season here anyway.  We could draft 2 as well.  No guarantees Johnson returns for 2025. 

 

[ForJimmy]

Yeah right now he is our X.  He is our best weapon on offense by a good margin.  He played some X in Pitt.  Even if we draft a solid rookie WR, the offense will probably still go through DJ until the rookie develops.  

[Jackie Lee]

1 hour ago, Ricky Spanish said:

It's easier to get guys open if you send them in motion. Not sure what Canales' tendencies are there, but we were damn near dead last last season when Reich was the play caller and the lack of separation showed. If we do take someone not named McConkey I would expect motion to help assist in getting the players open more consistently.

At least that's what a competent coach would do. Jury's still out on the new guy.

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 Dave Canales 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."

[PNW_PantherMan]

I thought this was gonna be him saying something dumb on Twitter lol

[CRA]

2 hours ago, Dave Gettleman's Shorts said:

Dionte at X and Theilen at Slot

Just need to find a Z and TE to step up

we really don't need Theilen living in the slot so heavily.  He lowers the ceiling and threat of the offense given how much Bryce likes those throws.  We need youth and speed in the slot that can actually do something with the ball. 

I'd like to see Thielen reduced in the slot.  

[CRA]

1 hour ago, Mistuh Jones said:

IDK man I'm not really sold on Legette getting separation in the NFL. I think at this point I'd rather go Coleman to have that different body type out there

Colemen doesn't separate either.   He basically is a lesser Leggette present day IMO. 

[Dave Gettleman's Shorts]

4 hours ago, CRA said:

we really don't need Theilen living in the slot so heavily.  He lowers the ceiling and threat of the offense given how much Bryce likes those throws.  We need youth and speed in the slot that can actually do something with the ball. 

I'd like to see Thielen reduced in the slot.  

idk I don't see Thielen having the speed to work on the outside at this stage of career. he was deadly in the first half of season when he was going against linebackers and nickel corners. but once defenses noticed that and schemed against thielen, he was taken out of the offense. however, thielen is still a reliable receiver and hopefully with the addition of diontae and possible draft picks, we can spread the defense out more