Tampa Bay lacks a knack for YAC

TAMPA — Why does it seem as though every time a Bucs receiver catches the football, he is looking for a soft patch of grass to fall on?

Why are there always two or three defenders surrounding every pass catcher? Why are there holes in the screens?

It’s all true because the Bucs get almost no yards after the catch. The YAC is enough to make any fan, well, yack.

The Bucs are ranked 31st overall with an average 4.02 yards after the catch. Entering Thursday’s game, only the Cowboys were worse. The Rams are first at 6.93.

Todd Monken said certain players have more knack for YAC.

“Some other guys aren’t as comfortable doing that,” the Bucs offensive coordinator said. “The more you utilize your backs and screens, you’re going to get some of that. The better you are at screens, you are going to catch it and gain yards, so that is part of it.”

Teams are increasingly going to the spread offense, Monken said, with more shallow and intermediate routes that rely on receivers to gain ground after the catch.

“Are we conscientious of that, trying to get guys in space, especially guys like Desean [Jackson] and Adam [Humphries] and some of our backs? Of course,” Monken said.

“We certainly don’t want to have to — if you throw for 300 yards, throw for 280 of it — no. We would like to be able to throw for a couple hundred and have 100 [yards] after the catch.”

Jackson’s career average is more than 17 yards per catch. This season, he is averaging 13.8.

A year ago, Washington had 22 pass plays of 30 yards or more, and Jackson caught 10 of them. This season, the Bucs have nine passes of 30 yards. Jackson has caught two.

The biggest contributor to yards after the catch is the screen pass, since nearly all the yardage comes after the reception.

“We run quite a few. We’ve left quite a few yards on the table,” coach Dirk Koetter said. “… The key on screens is getting them started. If you get that first block to get to the second level, that’s when you can get some more yards.