Kicking woes may have cost the 2017 Bucs a couple games in the win column last year. Have they solved their problems on Special Teams or are the Bucs still kicking their own backsides?
Losses
Kickers Nick Folk, Patrick Murray, long snapper Garrison Sanborn.
Additions
Free Agent signing kicker Chandler Catanzaro, UDFA kicker Trevor Moore and long snapper Drew Farris.
Starters
Catanzaro has the inside track to the starting kicker duties over Moore due to the size of the contract he signed. Catanzaro would need to pull a full Aguayo to lose out or Moore would need to be so lights out he couldn’t be cut.
Punt Bryan Anger continues to be one of the best in the business. The long snapper role, kick and punt return duties are wide open.
Bucs Backups
Most backups make the 53-man roster on special teams. How exactly that will be comprised depends on their performance in training camp and pre-season games.
Improvement or No?
Throughout his NFL career, Catanzaro has been a streaky kicker. The Bucs are banking that after a solid 2017 campaign for the NY Jets, Catanzaro has his mojo back and will solidify the Bucs kicking game. I have to admit, I’m very nervous about it. The Bucs have searched for a dependable kicker for so long, you really have to “see it to believe it”.
J.C. De La Torre
Want to give JC a piece of your mind? E-mail him at JC@whatthebuc.net JC De La Torre is formerly a columnist/blogger for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers blog site BucsNation.com where in 2016, he was nominated as best sportswriter in Tampa Bay by Creative Loafing. Previously, he served as a featured columnist for Bleacher Report on Tampa Bay sports, an editor and featured columnist for SB Nation Tampa Bay covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Gators, wrote for NFL.com’s Blog Blitz and contributed to Pewter Report, one of the top magazines on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. JC is also a filmmaker, comic writer and rabid Whovian.
Follow Me:
