Buccaneers will run Bruce Arians' offense 'with a Brady influence'
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians is known for his offensive scheme. Arians tends to run long-developing plays, which require seven-step drops and a quarterback who can fire the ball down the field.
In other words, Arians’ offense is nothing like the one Tom Brady ran with the New England Patriots.
While those contrasting styles could create some issues for Arians and Brady in 2020, the learning curve might not be that bad. Though the Bucs will still run Arians’ offense, Brady will have plenty of influence, Bucs quarterback coach Clyde Christensen told The Athletic.
“I think what we’ll see here [in Tampa] is Bruce’s offense with a Brady influence. Bruce wants to keep the offense the same. We did some good things last year. Tom has been terrific as far as saying, ‘Just tell me what you want to do.’ And honestly, there’s a lot of carryover from all these offenses; it’s just what you call certain things. We’re looking forward to seeing how he can influence the offense. He’ll make it better. That’s what the great ones do. He’ll have some great ideas so we’re anxious to get his take on things.”
What, exactly, does that mean? It sounds like the Bucs will run the same offense Arians has run in the past, but changes will be made based on Brady’s preferences. If Brady doesn’t like a play, perhaps Arians will alter the play to better suit Brady’s strengths. While one could argue most coaches should be willing to listen to input from their quarterbacks, Brady’s career accomplishments should give him a little more leeway with Arians.
While Brady is expected to improve the team’s offense, there’s some concern over whether Arians’ desire to throw deep passes will be an issue. Some analysts have questioned whether Brady has lost arm strength over the years. He is 42 years old, after all.
Christensen doesn’t feel that way. He believes those analysts are wrong.
“Anybody who says he’s lost arm strength, all I know is I must have missed something. Remember, they didn’t have those kinds of receivers (in New England) who could get deep. It wasn’t about anything that he couldn’t do. I thought he played last year at a high, high, high level, still light’s out.”
No one will truly know how Brady will perform with the Bucs until he takes the field. While there are some reasons to be concerned about Brady’s fit in Arians’ offense, playing with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin will be a significant boost over the players Brady was throwing to last season.
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