Bucs Mailbag: How Would Mike Alstott Fare Playing Today?

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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account each week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag.  Here are the Bucs draft questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: How do you think the legendary Mike Alstott would fare on the Bucs in today’s game?

ANSWER: I actually think Mike Alstott would thrive in today’s NFL just as he did in the 1990s and early 2000s in helping the Bucs rise to prominence and win the franchise’s first ever Super Bowl title. The reason is two-fold. Alstott was a versatile weapon who could not only block and run, but also catch the ball out of the backfield. Alstott recorded 305 career receptions for 2,284 yards and 13 touchdowns, including a career-high 65 catches for 557 yards and three touchdowns during his rookie season in 1996. That’s a rookie record for receptions by a Bucs running back that still stands today.

Because the passing game is so prominent in the modern day NFL, Alstott’s ability to catch the ball out of the backfield is a perfect – and necessary – fit. With enough wiggle to make defenders miss in the flat or the brute strength to blast through them, Alstott would be a candidate to become an every-down contributor in 2023. He averaged a respectable 7.5 yards per catch during his 11-year Bucs career.

And with the NFL being a league where seven-yard runs are way more common than 70-yard runs, Alstott’s lack of speed still doesn’t matter. The most successful running backs in the NFL over time were the ones who could elude or break tackles. Alstott proved capable of doing both, but became famous for the latter. His power and second-and third-effort quickly won over the Bucs fan base in the late 1990s and made him one Tampa Bay’s most popular players of all-time.

Fans always appreciate humble, hard-working players, especially those with a blue-collar mentality that can appeal to the masses. That’s why players with a similar approach to Alstott like Derrick Brooks, Ronde Barber, John Lynch and Mike Evans were so popular and become Bucs legends. Power never goes out of style in the NFL. Hard work never goes out of style in the NFL. Effort never goes out of style in the NFL. And a player like Mike Alstott would never go out of style in the NFL, either.

QUESTION: Do you think Tampa has any interest in signing James Robinson? Still young and has been productive when healthy. They may need to give him time to get healthy but could be a good depth signing.

ANSWER: No, I don’t think so. James Robinson is still young at the age of 24, and has only played three seasons in the NFL. So there is still time for him to resuscitate his pro career. But he has to get fully healthy first. Robinson burst on to the scene as an undrafted rookie free agent in Jacksonville where he ran for 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns in 2020. But he tore his Achilles tendon at the end of the 2021 season and then battled through a knee injury in 2022 as he played for both the Jaguars and the Jets.

The Patriots signed him this offseason, but cut him in June as he had problems staying on the field. Robinson’s lack of explosiveness was apparent, and that was a primary reason that New England waived him last month. That’s not a ringing endorsement that would appeal to the Bucs right now.

Tampa Bay is already taking a chance on another running back that is trying to overcome health issues. The Bucs signed undrafted free agent Sean Tucker after he went undrafted due to a heart condition that was discovered at the NFL Scouting Combine during the medical checks. Tucker’s heart condition is clearing up and the Bucs are hopeful he can be medically cleared to take the field by or during training camp. The former Syracuse star has already been dubbed “Baby Nick Chubb” by some at team headquarters.

Aside from Tucker, the Bucs also added veteran Chase Edmonds to a backfield that consists of starter Rachaad White and backup Ke’Shawn Vaughn, who is entering a contract year and is making significant strides in practice. The Bucs believe this quartet of rushers will suffice this year – at least entering training camp. We’ll see as time goes on if any interest in Robinson materializes.

QUESTION: With the offensive line getting stronger, what is holding this offense back? Our offensive coordinator is untested but I really think he and Baker Mayfield could kill it this year with our weapons in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.

ANSWER: The biggest thing holding the offense back this year would be execution, and perhaps play-calling. The revamped offensive line has potential, but also some serious question marks, especially on the very young right side. Rookie Cody Mauch is making the transition from being a North Dakota State left tackle to right guard in the NFL, and we saw how challenging that was for Alex Cappa years ago as a rookie, and also for Luke Goedeke last season. And Goedeke, who is entering his second season in Tampa Bay, is making the move back to his more natural spot at right tackle.

If the offensive line executes better than it did a year ago in both run blocking and pass protection, a perceived weakness could turn into a team strength, especially if the Bucs get Pro Bowl-caliber play again from center Ryan Jensen and Tristan Wirfs, who is making the move to left tackle. Then it’s up to either Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask to execute by avoiding costly turnovers and getting the ball into the hands of Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and others.

Beyond that, the learning curve of Dave Canales will speak volumes about the level of success Tampa Bay’s offense finds in 2023. If it’s steep the Bucs offense could struggle to find its footing. If Canales can quickly adjust to play-calling, and making the necessary in-game adjustments quickly, which is just as important, then Tampa Bay’s offense could be – and should be – better than it was a year ago.

QUESTION: I thoroughly enjoyed the Dave Canales interview and wrap up on the Pewter Report Podcast. I keep hearing that the offense will be more horizontal-based. With all the screens and flats, we seemed pretty horizontal last year. What do you see being the difference between this year’s horizontal approach and last year’s?

ANSWER: New Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales has implemented a new system that is similar to that of San Francisco’s attack and Seattle’s scheme as well. It attacks defenses both horizontally and vertically, as he talked about on a recent episode of the Pewter Report Podcast. The horizontal elements come from the mid-zone and wide-zone run schemes, which get the defense moving laterally at the snap of the ball. Each step a defender takes horizontally to maintain gap integrity is not a step forward into the gap, so this reduces the chances for negative plays like tackles for loss or sacks.

And Canales’ offense will also be running more misdirection plays in the passing game with bootlegs and waggles and designed QB rollouts. Those plays were not part of the Bruce Arians playbook. While there will be screens to the running backs and wide receivers this year, they are designed differently and will hopefully be more effective.

Where Canales’ horizontal approach should pay off is that when defenses get used to running sideline-to-sideline to cover crossing routes and slants, then the Bucs will go with play-action to hit some vertical routes down the seam or the sidelines for big gains. This attack has been successful in Seattle, L.A. and San Francisco and should continue in Tampa Bay this season.

Watch Dave Canales On The Pewter Report Podcast

Check out the latest Pewter Report Podcast with Special Guest: Bucs OC Dave Canales by clicking the link below.