Bucs WRs No. 16
June 9th, 2015
Bucs rookie WR Kenny Bell doesn’t have a high bar to clear for a roster spot.
Readers who come to Joe on this here corner of the Interwebs know Joe loves the one-two punch of Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans. They may not be the best receivers duo in the NFL, but the list ahead of them is awfully damn short.
After that? Um, er, uh, let’s just say “depth” is an operative word, as there is a big dropoff from the seawall after Evans and Jackson.
If one was to refer to Louis Murphy as a “journeyman,” that would be accurate. Robert Herron? C’mon.
It seems Russell S. Baxter of Bleacher Report agrees with Joe. As good as Evans and Jackson are, the Bucs just barely made the top half of the league in Baxter’s wide receiver rankings — at No. 16.
Along with Louis Murphy (31 catches, two touchdowns in 2014), you can expect to see 2015 draft choices Kenny Bell (Nebraska) and Kaelin Clay (Utah), as well as second-year pro Robert Herron.
For the sake of head coach Lovie Smith and the Buccaneers, you also hope to see a lot more than two victories.
This is why Joe is very high on Bell, the Bucs’ fifth-round pick. It’s not like he’s trying to beat out an All-Pro for a roster spot. He only needs to beat out a guy who struggles at catching the ball (Herron), which is kind of a thorn in the side for a guy whose main responsibility is to catch the damn ball.
The bar is low for Kaelin Clay and Bell to make the squad.
June 9th, 2015 at 1:07 pm
I think that our WR play will also be affected by Koetter, ASJ improving and contributing more as well as Winston. I also am hopeful that Kenny Bell surprises everyone. As far as who we have after V-Jax and Evans, how many teams had two 1,000 yard receivers as well as super stars on the field in 3-5 wide out sets? I am guessing not many. Things are going to be much different this year and our WR ratings will go way up.
June 9th, 2015 at 1:07 pm
stop beating people over the head the with word DEPTH. every team in the nfl has a drop off after 3rd receiver except the one’s that don’t have 2 number 1 recievers like we do and the one that don’t even have a number 1 receiver and there are plenty of them. besides I don’t think this media would care if we were a playoff team like chip Kelly eagles if we were winning 10 games, you just want the appearance of a winning team because everyone loves to talk about what a team was the year before
June 9th, 2015 at 1:09 pm
Yes, and all he needs to do is hurdle Murphy for the slot receiver spot. I think its doable even though Murphy has the veteran experience. If nothing else it should make for good competition for the slot with those two battling it out, and that’s never a bad thing.
June 9th, 2015 at 1:14 pm
My crystal ball says bell will win the slot job and the return job. The balls says herron, Murphy and clay will have splinters on their butts.
June 9th, 2015 at 1:16 pm
I guess I can understand the article because technically we’ve never had an elite slot guy. it’s like it was never important to have guys underneath a defense that could take the pressure off of the guys on the outside. im really hoping ASJ makes us forget about Louis Murphy especially if koetter is going to follow the successful model he had with tony Gonzales, roddy white and Julio jones.
June 9th, 2015 at 1:17 pm
I think Bell will be a difference maker. I would not rule out Dye making the team. Hopefully ASJ stays on the field and we finally get to see the pass catching simms that we have been hearing about.
June 9th, 2015 at 1:19 pm
I believe that the chemistry forming with Winston and Bell will give Bell a little edge. I mean, as much playbook studying they are doing together when on their free time at their place of lodging can’t hurt his chances anyways and perhaps the communication between Bell and Winston will translate on the field.
June 9th, 2015 at 1:30 pm
I am really see that Evans and VJ numbers to be way down. Last year the stats were very skewed! Mostly due to injuries in TE, and being down by 2 touchdowns before the end of the 1st quarter. Most of the time the run game day plan was thrown out the window by halftime. 531 passes compared to 353 run attempts.
And the 2 huge lineman they drafted really point to trying to get a running game going this year!
The Bucs have no depth on the team except the cheerleader squad!
The Buc Realist
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June 9th, 2015 at 1:32 pm
Speed in space yes please but unlike Robert Herron in the sixth round, has the speed but whats the point if you cant catch a pass
June 9th, 2015 at 1:40 pm
We drafted Herron for his speed and then put him in the slot to run short routes. Another great move from our high school ex OC.
June 9th, 2015 at 1:43 pm
Once again,and I know I love making cowboys analogies. But after Dez Bryant who plays WR for the cowboys? An inquiring mind would like to know.
June 9th, 2015 at 1:49 pm
And I’m not sure I agree that Clay will be riding the pine WS99. His YouTube footage looks real good returning kicks. Even the ones in high school shows a great deal of talent in that regard. I just feel like it translates. Well at doing something in high school,go off to the NC2a,similar results. My opinion the NFL should be no different.
June 9th, 2015 at 1:56 pm
@ Nole on Sat.-Bucc on Sun
stop trying to write common sense, that doesn’t go over well in sports these days. its not about the content it’s about volume, as long as your giving information media doesn’t really care how it comes across. we were 2-14 so they want you to believe we have a depth issue at every position. depth doesn’t matter if your starters don’t compare to that of other teams. that’s why teams win or lose not because of depth just look at the receivers that played in the superbowl….green bay packers come to mind but then again there is no team in the nfl that has any depth at receiver at all lol if they do how would we know if they aren’t logging major minutes
June 9th, 2015 at 2:06 pm
@bucs4lyfe
He is right for once. The Bucs do have 1 squad with depth, Unfortunately the only depth that the Bucs have is on the cheerleader squad!!!
June 9th, 2015 at 2:14 pm
lol I saw that but the talent at cheerleader was atleast 10 deep last year. I have no idea what they were thinking this year…..hopefully we get better talent at next year’s try outs.
depth at offensive line and safety who can argue that due to all the unproven players but there are many vets plus some promising young talent at receiver this year and it’s a silly argument right now honestly because you cant say theres no depth then change your mind in training camp and preseason you’ll just look silly joe. I think dallas will be like the bengals and niners were with that one or two good years and now they will fall off. this disrespected dez Bryant, they have this serious habit of signing troubled players and now that their best player is due a contract they want to throw his troubles in his face, he’ll probably be thinking about it all season and being that corners get better and they don’t have a number 2 receiver….dallas is fools gold
June 9th, 2015 at 2:46 pm
Well, here is a take on the comments above that I think most guys can agree on. Cheerleaders!! I am a fan of all 32 NFL teams cheer squads!! I just hope ours have more to cheer about!!
June 9th, 2015 at 3:12 pm
I can’t argue with any of that’s Bu4lyfe. And man I actually received some props from Buc the Realist!!!! I’m on my way.
June 9th, 2015 at 3:13 pm
I also wanna add it is my belief that Vjax will be our slot this season. They won’t say that but he’ll line up primarily in that spot.
June 9th, 2015 at 4:15 pm
Winston will have 2 kelvin Benjamin’s and a rashad green in Kenny bell
June 9th, 2015 at 5:30 pm
If Koetter uses ASJ & Sims efectively…..our WRs will have and easier time of it.
I don’t believe Herron will make the team….the drafting Bell & Clay spoke volumes.
June 9th, 2015 at 6:10 pm
our ws squad will be better just by adding Jameis alone…he does not hold on to the ball but instead throws it where it can be caught…our qbs of the past were always late in getting rid of the ball , loosing the opportunity the play created by simply being late with the pass …..when the qb throws the ball as intended, he does not suffer a sack, …eventually the run game opens up and woopie, we have an offense!
June 9th, 2015 at 9:15 pm
A general question for Joe and the posters.
We get lots and lots of posts about lack of depth at WR and no star edge rusher.
And so how would we feel if we got the sacks/hurries/tipped balls in great team numbers but absent any Simeon Rice- Sapp individual numbers…
Same thing at WR. How would we feel if neither VJAX or ME reach 1,000 yards but Bell hits 700+ as does ASJ.
Is is just possible that while we won’t necessarily have great individual stats we might still put up winning “team” numbers?
June 9th, 2015 at 11:28 pm
If by “team numbers” you mean wins, all for it.