Buccaneers OC compares team's WR room to explosive Miami Dolphins duo

Despite being just 35 years of age, new Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard has been coaching in the NFL for almost a decade. Seven of those years came with the Miami Dolphins, where Grizzard held roles as both a quality control coach and wide receivers coach.

During his most recent stint with the Dolphins, Grizzard had the opportunity to coach one of the league's most dynamic receiving duos in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. In 2023, Grizzard's last season in Miami before joining the Buccaneers as their pass game coordinator, the offensive coaching staff took advantage of their explosive receiving core by leading the league in yards per game (401.3), passing yards per game (265.5), net yards per pass attempt (8.0) and points scored per game (29.2).

It's important to note that Grizzard was instrumental in the development of Jaylen Waddle, which dates back to 2021 where Waddle established a then-rookie-record with 104 receptions and over 1,000 receiving yards in his debut season. Tyreek Hill also had his best seasons in Miami when Grizzard was there.

Thankfully for Grizzard, the quality of wide receivers he has to work with in Tampa Bay are equally as lethal. You can expect Grizzard to lean heavily on players like Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan and Emeka Egbuka in his first season calling plays at the NFL level.

During a recent interview with Buccaneers' legend and NFL Hall of Famer, Ronde Barber, Grizzard was asked to compare this current receiver room in Tampa Bay to that which he had in Miami. His answer seemed to reveal a clear preference.

"Coach and Jason and his guys have done an unbelievable job of putting that [wide receiver] room in a position to have so many playmakers. I guess we don't want to compare it to Miami with having 4-5 guys, and now you're dealing with multiple body types, speeds, play styles." Grizzard said.

The young OC went on to describe the importance of variety in terms of the types (and versatility) of the receivers he is coaching with the Buccaneers.

"Not that [Tyreek] and Jaylen are the exact same –- you're talking about shorter receivers, fast, quick, that have a lot of the same attributes –-  and I feel like in this room [in Tampa] , not only do we have the same element but we also have guys that can go over the middle, that can win the go-balls, like Mike, so, there's even a multitude of skillsets."

Although Josh Grizzard doesn't openly proclaim that the Buccaneers group of wide receivers are better than what he had in Miami, it's pretty obvious that the team's new offensive coordinator greatly values the versatility that he'll have to work with in Tampa Bay this year. Hopefully, he's able to take advantage of that this season as the Buccaneers look to build off what was an incredibly successful offensive campaign in 2024.