Pat Yasinskas, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Looking into Dirk Koetter's past for vision of Bucs' future

TAMPA, Fla. -- When you look at Dirk Koetter’s background, there is good news and bad news.

Let’s start with the good about the Buccaneers’ new offensive coordinator. Koetter has a history of getting off to a fast start. In his first season (2007) as the offensive coordinator for Jacksonville, the Jaguars finished sixth in the league in points scored and seventh in total yards.

Koetter had a similar result when he took over as the coordinator in Atlanta in 2012. The Falcons ranked seventh in yardage and eighth in points.

Under Koetter’s tutelage, Jacksonville quarterback David Garrard had the four most productive seasons of his career. Garrard’s best season came in 2008, when he threw for 3,620 yards.

Although Koetter’s offense is based on having a strong running game and a vertical passing attack, the coordinator showed some flexibility and took advantage of Garrard’s mobility. Garrard rushed more than 65 times in three of the four seasons the two spent together. Koetter also relied heavily on a running game that featured Maurice Jones-Drew.

In Atlanta, Koetter inherited Matt Ryan, a quarterback who isn’t nearly as mobile as Garrard was. But that was fine with Koetter, who changed his style and relied much more on a passing game that featured receivers Roddy White and Julio Jones.

Ryan threw for more than 4,500 yards in each of his three seasons with Koetter. In Koetter’s first year with the Falcons, Ryan threw for a career-high 4,719 yards and a career-best 32 touchdown passes while throwing only 14 interceptions.

Now, the bad news. Koetter’s history with a rookie quarterback isn’t very good. In 2011, the Jaguars drafted Blaine Gabbert in the first round. Gabbert struggled mightily in a season that got coach Jack Del Rio fired.

Gabbert completed only 50.8 percent of his passes for 2,214 yards with 12 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. That was the only season Koetter and Gabbert were together. You can’t put all the blame on Koetter. Gabbert’s stats were worse the next two years in Jacksonville before he ended up as a backup in San Francisco last season.

Maybe Gabbert was overrated coming out of college. But Koetter’s experience with a rookie quarterback could be a cause for concern because the Bucs are likely to use the No. 1 pick in the draft on Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota.

So what should we expect Koetter’s offense to look like in Tampa Bay? Probably a cross between what it looked like in Jacksonville and what it looked like in Atlanta.

Koetter is good at assessing his team’s strengths and playing to them. The Bucs have two excellent receivers in Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans. Koetter is going to take advantage of that, no matter who his quarterback is. He also is inheriting two good running backs in Doug Martin and Charles Sims.

But the offensive line must be much better than it was last year if the running game is going to have any chance at success.

When Koetter was hired, coach Lovie Smith said he wanted a balanced offense. That shouldn’t be a problem for Koetter. He’s had success running the ball and throwing it -- just not all at the same time. The Jaguars ran the ball well, but weren’t great in the deep passing game when Koetter was there. In Atlanta, the running game wasn’t very good, so Koetter passed a lot.

In Tampa Bay, Koetter might have the right ingredients to truly have a balanced offense.

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