The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a new offensive coordinator heading into the 2023 NFL season. Dave Canales takes the reigns from departed Byron Leftwich in the post-Brady era of the Pewter Pirates.
Canales comes with extensive experience after rising from receivers coach to passing game coordinator during his 13 seasons in Seattle. Now an offensive coordinator, Canales is tasked with installing a new offensive scheme AND choosing a starting quarterback. So the question is, what does this new scheme look like?
Recently Buccaneers’ receiver Chris Godwin was a guest on “The Rich Eisen Show“, where he spoke about the new-look Bucs’ offense.
“I definitely think it’s gonna look different. The presentation of things is gonna be a bit different. If you look at some of the things that Dave and Brad did while they were in Seattle, what they did compared to what we’ve done in the past is very different. The interesting thing is for them to be able to come and kind of merge the two systems. To take some of the stuff that they’ve done really well and take some of the stuff that our guys are accustomed to and merging the systems.”
A System Merger
The challenges to install a new system are numerous. Godwin understands this and knows the key to making this work starts with the running game.
“I think that we’re gonna have to be significantly better running the ball,” Godwin said. “I think we might’ve been 32nd in the league last year. It’s only up from here. Just from that perspective, it’s already gonna look a lot different just because of our commitment to the run game. If we’re able to really establish that, then a lot of other things open up for us.”
Installing a new system and quarterback is never easy, nor without hiccups. Godwin points out that the emphasis is on everyone understanding what their trying to do offensively.
“It’ll be interesting to see how Dave reacts as a play caller, not only to adversity but success as well,” Godwin said. “Just trying to find our niche of things that we do well and make sure we’re able to execute at a high level. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but we have to make sure all of our guys understand what we’re trying to do. Then figure out the best way to get them in position to do that.”
The Buccaneers start training camp in less than a week. They’ll need every second of camp to be ready to face the Minnesota Vikings in the season opener September 10th.
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