TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have a much different look on offense when they take the field. Of course, there was the retirement of Tom Brady, but there’s also a new coach calling the plays.
After four years of a Bruce Arians/Byron Leftwich offense, Tampa Bay will have a new look with first-time offensive coordinator Dave Canales.
During the three-day mandatory minicamp, we’re slowly getting some hints of how the Bucs’ offense will actually look.
“We obviously have a lot of potential to be explosive,” Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield said.
“I would say it’s unpredictable,” Bucs quarterback Kyle Trask added. “You don’t know what you’re going to get.”
Last season, the Bucs' offense became stale and predictable, ranking last in rushing and second in passing. Under Canales, that is expected to change—regardless if Mayfield or Trask is named the starting quarterback.
“To me, it’s about just staying ahead of the chains and taking care of the ball, and good things will happen,” Mayfield said. “I think everybody here will see the difference in the run game that we will be able to do, and that truly will establish what this offense is about, and I’m excited about that.”
“We could come at you a million different ways and then throw it over the top of your head,” Trask said. “You just never know. You saw the success they had in Seattle with that philosophy, and I think if you add our weapons into that, we could be very dangerous. I’m really excited to see how this plays out in the fall.”
Canales was previously the quarterbacks' coach in Seattle. As the Tampa Bay OC, this will be his first time as the primary play-caller. During minicamp, he’s testing his offense against the pressure of a Todd Bowles defense.
“I have all of the confidence in the world; I think we’re both getting thrown in the fire going against a Todd Bowles defense for the first time running this system and the first time he is calling it,” Mayfield said. “I think this is great work. We’re doing a lot of ‘call it’ periods where it is unscripted, and he is having to talk about formations, personnel and different things like that. It’s great for everybody to get a feel for how he wants to call it.”
“I feel like as this offense evolves, we’re going to have the ability to really do a lot more things,” Bucs wide receiver Chris Godwin said. “I think the biggest is trying to be as efficient as we can."
