The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ signing of LeSean McCoy made total sense in having a savvy veteran running back who may figure more in the passing game than in the running attack.
Think about it.
One of Tom Brady’s best talents is to take a running back with receiving skills and use him in the passing game to the point where defenses have to pay attention to him. At that point, defenses roll up coverages, then Brady hits his wideouts deep down the field for big plays.
McCoy is on the back end of his career as he enters his 12th NFL season after winning a Super Bowl ring with the Kansas City Chiefs. That was after an ankle injury and the play of running back Damien Williams equated to McCoy’s inactivity in the playoffs.
The Chiefs signed him after his surprising release from the Buffalo Bills before last season as he went from 1,138 yards and 77 receptions in 2017 to only 514 rushing yards a year later, while still gathering in 46 balls in the passing game.
McCoy has a new lease on life in Tampa Bay and is looking forward to the challenge of working on the field with Brady and potentially the NFL’s deepest and most talented receding corp.
“I had a couple of teams reach out,” said McCoy. “No disrespect to the teams, but it didn’t fit. I wanted to win. I wanted to contribute. I needed something to push me.”
That’s exactly where Brady comes in as he pushes players into becoming the best of themselves. McCoy is a running back who has had four 1,000-yards plus rushing seasons in Philadelphia and two in Buffalo. He has 503 receptions for 3,797 yards in his 11 years as his high point was 78 with the Eagles in 2010.
“I’m trying to get on track with the playbook, getting familiar with the guys,” said McCoy as he talked about how Coach Bruce Arians might use him. “We haven’t talked about the roles yet. I’m sure that will come eventually.”
McCoy’s excellence and knowledge of the game may give Brady the best overall threat in that passing game that he has had as a running back. Of course, he is second on the depth chart behind Ronald Jones, but the potential is there for him to earn the job outright or split snaps with Jones.
“I’ve had to beat linebackers and linemen in the hole and stuff like that, so just to run a route and beat a guy – I feel more comfortable with that,” McCoy noted. ‘You’re getting the ball in space and when you’re doing that, you also become a threat.”
McCoy’s season in Kansas City taught him some things about champions other than talent and a great quarterback like Pat Mahomes.
“You talk about Patrick Mahomes – he’s young, but he’s one of the first guys in that building,” McCoy said. “He’s leading by example, not only just by throwing the ball, but by the vocal things and making the guys believe. A lot of that stuff has to play a big role.”
The Buccaneers have added championship intangibles with Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski and then added productivity in such a veteran as McCoy. The climate and culture in the program have now gotten back to a level as in the 2Ks.
Now, that type of championship acumen and leadership must translate to the football field.
“Sometimes the ball may roll this way or that way, not in your favor,” said McCoy. “But, the ultimate goal is just to play together, help each other out and potentially you get that championship.”