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Playing catch-up

The Bucs’ offense suddenly is explosive at wide receiver.

By RICK STROUD

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 3, 1998

rent Dilfer had a breakout season and made the Pro Bowl. His quarterback rating of 82.8 was 18 points better than his previous high. And still the Bucs finished 1997 near the bottom of the pile in passing offense.

Jacquez Green adds some speed to the Bucs' offense this year. [Times file photo]

After watching film of Dilfer struggling to complete passes in big games, the Bucs knew they would continue to throw away any chance of unseating the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Central unless they improved their receiving corps.

Opposing defenses dared the Bucs to beat bump-and-run coverage on the outside, and Tampa Bay couldn’t do it. Safeties crept closer to the ball and loaded up to stop the run.

“If (defenses are) going to come in and commit to take the run away, people creeping up and sending the kitchen sink, you’ve got to make them pay,” director of player personnel Jerry Angelo said.

“For them to do that, there’s got to be a void somewhere because they’re not being sound. They’re cheating. So if they’re going to cheat, you’ve got to make them pay. It’s going to come on the perimeter, it’s going to come in centerfield. We felt we had to have people to exploit that.”

That’s why the Bucs went into the free-agent market to find a big-play receiver and signed Atlanta’s Bert Emanuel to a four-year, $16.4-million contract.

In the draft, they revisited the factory of fleet receivers that is the University of Florida and plucked Jacquez Green with their second-round pick. A year earlier they selected UF’s Reidel Anthony in the first round, and Anthony led the team’s wideouts in receiving as a rookie.

Although he may not be a savior, Emanuel is the player the Bucs hope will make big catches.

Emanuel has proven he can make adjustments. Dilfer is the third quarterback he has had to work with in as many years. A year ago he made the transition in Atlanta from Jeff George to Chris Chandler, and he led the team in receptions for the second consecutive season. Emanuel has averaged 65 catches and 900 yards in his four pro seasons.

“I think my position this year is going to be the guy who steps up in big games and makes plays for this team,” Emanuel said. “Obviously, that goes with any go-to guy out there on the field. I’m looking forward to it. Once we get it down, it’ll be something fun to watch.”

Emanuel is the first free-agent receiver to join the Bucs since Alvin Harper, who rode into town on a white horse from the Dallas Cowboys and was run out on a rail after two miserable seasons. But Dilfer and the Bucs know Emanuel can’t do it alone.

“All the flash and all the free agents you signed and all the great things you talked about in the off-season don’t mean diddly if you can’t do the basics,” Dilfer said.

Emanuel’s presence should make the other receivers better. In leading the team last year, Anthony had just 35 receptions, and just one catch over the final four regular-season games. The Bucs’ top three wideouts had fewer receptions (101) than Detroit’s Herman Moore (104).“Obviously, because of the stats at the end of the year on offense, we knew that’s where we had to go,” Angelo said. “Is that a knock on our guys? No. It’s not like we were unhappy with Anthony or with the guys and the way they performed. We just felt we needed to put more teeth into it. Through talking about that as we were preparing for the draft, that’s how the Emanuel thing came about. Drafting Green kind of played into that.

“We’re a running football team. People ask if you’re a running football team, how can you bring in people like a Green and an Emanuel? Because if you’re a good running football team, those guys -- like a (Lynn) Swann, like a (John) Stallworth -- will ascend. They’ll give you the big plays. And on Sunday, the game is determined by big plays.”

The Bucs still will attack defenses on the ground using running backs Warrick Dunn and Mike Alstott.

To give them more flexibility in the backfield and make better use of Alstott, the Bucs traded for New York Jets fullback Lorenzo Neal. A former teammate of Dilfer’s at Fresno State, Neal is a crunching blocker and will keep Alstott fresh to play on third down and grind defenses into submission at tailback.

The Bucs didn’t need to do much to improve a defense that finished third overall in the NFL. They added depth and future starters by drafting USC cornerback Brian Kelly and Vanderbilt linebacker Jamie Duncan.

Dilfer, who threw 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions last year, says winning comes down to the “simple stuff. The trap you fall into is you get some big-time players at other places that had success or big-time college players, but they can’t do it all,” he said. “You need to do what you’re best at. I think we’ll get back to that.

“I think we’ll win games this year the way we won them last year, playing good defense, being good on special teams, having a very good run game and being opportunistic in the passing game. Yes, we want to be more opportunistic in the passing game, and yes, we want to make more big plays. But I’ve learned you don’t just try to do that. They just happen.”