It's been 12 seasons since the Buccaneers have made the postseason.
It was 11 straight seasons that Tom Brady made it to the playoffs with the Patriots.
Tampa Bay's postseason skid or Brady's playoff windfall will conclude upon the end of the upcoming season.
However, one lost component in all the ballyhoo of Brady and Rob Gronkowski joining a Buccaneers offense with Chris Godwin and Mike Evans is Tampa Bay's long-struggling running game.
Since 2016, the Buccaneers rank first in passing yards per game (285.3 yards per game) and 30th in rushing (95.5), per ¹ú²úÍâÁ÷ÍøResearch. Not since 2015 and Doug Martin has there been a Buccaneers runner to hit 1,000 yards rushing – which is tied for fourth as the longest active droughts, according to ¹ú²úÍâÁ÷ÍøResearch.
Can the presence of Brady, a continued resurgence of Ronald Jones and the drafting of Ke'Shawn Vaughn add a rushing component long absent in Tampa?
A second-round pick out of USC in 2018, Jones' rookie campaign was the definition of a bust as he appeared in only nine games and ended his disappointing year with a meager 23 rushes for 44 yards and one touchdown. A season later with coach Bruce Arians at the helm, Jones played in all 16 games with nine starts and led the Buccaneers with 724 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. He capped it with his first career 100-yard game, too.
Will Jones' ascension continue with one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time handing off to him and piloting the offense?
Jones, who shared carries last season with Peyton Barber (now with the Redskins), will presumably be complimented by Vaughn, a 5-foot-10, 214-pound straight-ahead runner. On the heels of consecutive 1,000-yards seasons at Vanderbilt, Vaughn was picked in the third round by the Bucs.
One would surmise that Jones is still in line for the lion's share of the carries and has the best chance to be the first since the Muscle Hamster to hit 1,000 yards on the ground in a Buccaneers uniform.
Then again, perhaps it won't matter all that match.
Interestingly enough, of Brady's record six Super Bowl wins, three have come in seasons in which the Patriots had 1,000-yard runners and three have come without.
As a new day approaches in Tampa Bay with Brady leading the way, the stats and the research show that passing the ball has long been what the Bucs offense has been known for (of course, turnovers aplenty have come with it), but it's the rushing attack that's needed a boost for a long while. Maybe that changes like much else in 2020.
