Massive Competition Brewing At WR
June 5th, 2015
Robert Herron takes on a garbage can at Bucs OTA practice
When Joe gathered intelligence from covert drones and ground operatives at Wednesday’s OTA practice, (not yesterday) Joe learned that rookie Division III wide receiver Donteea Dye and undrafted Clemson product Adam Humphries have important people at One Buc Palace grinning.
Yesterday, Mike Evans chimed in on Dye and Humphries, calling them both “fast” and lauding Humphries for running good routes.
Joe’s happy for the rookies, who are both under six feet tall, but their chances of making the team appear super flimsy.
Consider the following: Evans, Vincent Jackson and Louis Murphy, re-signed this offseason, are locks for the roster. Russell Shepard, who proved he can catch last year, is considered a Pro Bowl special teams player by the regime. He’s not going anywhere. Sixth-round pick, receiver Kaelin Clay, is slated as the Bucs’ No. 1 returner.
That’s five receivers with a stranglehold on a roster spot. And the Bucs have second-year running back Charles Sims, who many considered a rare receiving threat out of last year’s draft.
That would be enough for many teams.
But the Bucs also have rookie fifth-round pick Kenny Bell, the pride of Jason Licht’s father. It would be a little surprising if he didn’t stick.
That puts long odds on Humphries and Dye, and Robert Herron can’t be feeling great these days. The Bucs also have one of the most important receivers in Bucs history battling for a gig, Tavarres King. Joe’s grateful to him every day.
June 5th, 2015 at 11:09 am
I’m really worried about this position
Other than Jackson, we don’t have anyone on the roster who has had consistent sucess in the NFL. Yes, Evans was fantastic last year…but we’ve seen first round wideouts have incredible rookie years only to fall off the face of the earth in the following seasons.
Louis Murphy, Robert Herron, Kaelin Clay, and on and on…none of them have ever done anything in the league of note. It should be a concern for Lovie, Licht, Koetter, and Buc fans
June 5th, 2015 at 11:12 am
Agree with depth comment. And what about Rannell Hall? He seems to be mentioned a lot in your OTA notes. Maybe the Bucs will carry 7 this year.
June 5th, 2015 at 11:17 am
Joe, there are always injuries in training camp and preseason, and that’s when this receiver depth will prove worthy. So I wouldn’t worry about counting roster spots just yet
June 5th, 2015 at 11:17 am
Murphy has done NOTHING to deserve to be a lock on this team. Nice local story but he does not play special teams or scare d coordinators. Bell, Humphries and Dye all have more talent and potential than journeyman Murphy.
June 5th, 2015 at 11:21 am
Vjax, Evans, Bell, Sheppard, Clay and bpa
If Murphy makes the roster it’s just more stupidity like playing Simms over James.
June 5th, 2015 at 11:24 am
After camp Herron will still be playing against Garbage…..Cans! Unfortunately, he will be doing it in the confines of his own home.
June 5th, 2015 at 11:38 am
I didn’t see as many games as I wanted last year but why are you guys down on Murphy? He’s not supposed to be an elite playmaker but he’s made some big catches in games and i don’t recall him consistently dropping the ball.
He’s a fast WR that provides a nice deep threat basically (4.32 40 coming out). Was on pace for about 45 catches / 550 yards receiving / 3 TDs before his injury last year. 27 years old. I mean I’m not really high on him. I’m much more hopeful for a guy like Kenny Bell to become an elite playmaker. But he isn’t a terrible WR to have on the roster as your 3rd or 4th guy.
June 5th, 2015 at 11:44 am
Lord Cornelius
personally, i am not down on him just think he can be replaced by younger, faster more versatile player. Murphy does not contribute on special teams and in my opinion that is critical to a 4,5 or 6 receiver on the roster. there is a reason murphy has been cut so many times. he is a one trick pony and not an elite one trick pony.
June 5th, 2015 at 11:46 am
So is King still employed more as a thank-you for helping us get #1 overall?
June 5th, 2015 at 11:47 am
Good read on Murphy Lord Cornelius. The three people who posted before you are known to be some of the biggest Buc haters and trolls out here.
They have never paid or attended a live Bucs game in their life. Their moms won’t haul their big fat lazy asses to the game and give them money to buy a ticket.
June 5th, 2015 at 12:56 pm
Only $262,500 of Louis Murphy’s contract is guaranteed…..I agree that he could also be on the bubble for one of the younger players….
A couple of them will make the practice squad…..usually a WR goes down with injury early….so we need the depth.
June 5th, 2015 at 1:21 pm
Just curious from looking at the picture…. who won that round? Herron I hope, but the garbage can may of been too much for him to get seperation from.
June 5th, 2015 at 1:34 pm
I heard that the water cooler was able to catch VJax from behind!!!!
June 5th, 2015 at 2:16 pm
I think the offense will have 9 linemen, 2 QBs, 4 RBs, 1 FB, 3 TEs, 7 WRs on the depth chart. Like tampabaybucfan says, only a small portion of Murphy’s contract is guaranteed. While I think he would be a serviceable receiver, he’s not out of the clear. It would be good to have some more experience at WR but I think WR is that one position on a team that I believe that a having a load of veterans isn’t needed. As long as you have someone talented throwing to them and they are good route runners and can catch, why not go younger? So I can see the team going with these 7 guys: Evans, VJax, Bell, Clay, Sheppard( sounds like he’s a special team stud), the last two spots would be between Humphries, Dye, Hall and Murphy.
June 5th, 2015 at 2:58 pm
SoCo –
That sounds very reasonable to me.
June 5th, 2015 at 3:11 pm
I’m not sure that I agree with your assessment of loMurph tmaxx and ws99. He overacheived last year and at times was more reliable than VJax (at times!). He’s got legit experience and seems to have found his hands. His performance last year cannot be overlooked. I’d say he’s a lock at #3 or #4 and I’m ok with that.
June 5th, 2015 at 3:20 pm
My 6 receivers, Vincent Jackson,Mike Evans, Donteea Dye,Kenny Bell,Kaelin Clay,Adam Humphries. My practice squad receivers are Robert Heron,Rannell Hall. Adam Humphries is a natural slot guy with the speed and toughness of Wes Welker, I like what he did at Clemson playing alongside DeAndre Hopkins, Sammy Walkins and Martavis Bryant. With all of that talent at WR, Humphries was still able to catch 127 passes in 4 seasons.I like Louis Murphy and his speed and experience, but I believe that these young players has a lot of upside. All of these young guys plays special team and Murphy don’t, and Russell Shepard is a special team ace, but he gotta show something as a receiver during preseason.
June 5th, 2015 at 3:20 pm
Herron was practicing against a garbage can? I thought Myron Lewis was not on the team anymore?
June 5th, 2015 at 3:23 pm
If we go 7 receivers I would go with Louis Murphy, I hate to expose these young receivers on the practice squad. I don’t think they will be there for long if they perform during preseason like I think they will.
June 5th, 2015 at 3:51 pm
20 of Louis Murphy’s 31 catches, and both of his TDs, came in the five games MG8 was slingin’ the rock. I doubt he was the #1 receiver on most of those plays.
tickrdr
June 5th, 2015 at 4:20 pm
Rannell Hall will suffer a Training Camp “Injury”, see little pre-season game action (which means no game tape for other teams to see) and end up snuck onto the Practice Squad.
Herron is gone
June 5th, 2015 at 4:26 pm
Rannell Hall and Adam Humphries will suffer a Training Camp “Injuries”, see little pre-season game action (which means no game tape for other teams to see) and end up snuck onto the Practice Squad.
Herron is gone
June 5th, 2015 at 4:26 pm
I feel the number of rbs we keep will directly effect the amount of wrs we keep, and vice versa. If Sims can play the slot as advertised, that’s bad news for some of those receivers mentioned.
June 5th, 2015 at 4:30 pm
Louis Murphy and Glennon had bonded while working with 2nd team,the same way he bonded with Timmy Wright.I’m a Winston supporter, but I would admit that Glennon has never worked with the 1st team during offseason workouts,until Thursday. I guess you can say that Schiano screwed Glennon and Josh Freeman over, he drafted Glennon to replace Freeman, but during the entire offseason he had Josh working with the 1st team and Glennon the 2nd team, then he sabotage Josh, blaming the Saints and Jets losses on Josh. He even went as far as having Josh to hand the ball off instead of passing on 3rd downs.If he didn’t want Josh he should have traded him after his 4,000 YD , 27 TD , when he still had value, he could have got a 2nd rounder for him.
June 5th, 2015 at 4:39 pm
I havent seen anything from Russell that makes me think he could be a pro bowl special teamer. But meh, I’m just a couch fan.
June 5th, 2015 at 5:12 pm
Ranell Hall > Herron
June 5th, 2015 at 5:47 pm
Whatever happened to Yo Murphy?
June 5th, 2015 at 7:31 pm
Murphy and Bell are practically clones in terms of size and speed. But Bell is more acrobatic, arguably has a better knack for making contested catches, is an aggressive blocker, can be a special teams gunner and return man, was drafted by the current regime, and is five years younger. So, if it comes to a choice between Bell and Murphy, Bell is a lock.
Since he arrived in Tampa, VJax has been our deadliest slot receiver. I see no reason why we won’t want to continue to play Jackson out of the slot 40-50 percent of the time, which means we need that third receiver who can be effective either lined up as the outside number two when Jackson is in the slot, and as the slot receiver when Jackson is on the outside. Again, this points to Bell.
I have a feeling one of the Dye/Hall/Humphries contingent will have a monster camp and preseason and end up making the final 53. and L&L seem pretty hell-bent on giving Clay a shot as the return guy this year as well.
So, if we carry our typical six receivers, it looks like Evans, Jackson, Bell, Clay, and the Dye/Hall/Humphries winner, leaving Murphy, Shepard, and Herron battling for the final roster spot.
Sorry, but I just don’t see Herron making the roster. And since Shepard is a special teams ace and has been improving as a receiver, I think Murphy may be the odd man out in the end.
Of course, there are always camp or preseason injuries, and we have top priority on the waiver wire, so we might not be done adding bodies. I’ll just be happy if we go into this season with a legit third receiver finally. And as it stands right now, Kenny Bell looks like by far the most promising prospect as far as that goes.
June 5th, 2015 at 8:19 pm
WR is actually one position I have little to worry about this season. I actually have high hopes for kenny bell but remember koetter didnt have a te worthy of taking on the tony gonzalez role. ASJ should see plenty of opportunities this year but I cant wait to see BELL explode on the scene. My biggest concern is both of our lines. Hopefully our rookie ol man will pan out. Wouldnt hurt to take a couple stud edge rushers early next season.
June 5th, 2015 at 9:09 pm
@ The original “Kevin” Says:
Wouldnt hurt to take a couple stud edge rushers early next season.
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Sure wouldn’t.
But considering that this franchise has played football for 39 seasons so far, and has only ever drafted one true “stud” DE (our first ever draft pick), do you feel real confident that we will somehow draft two “stud” edge rushers next year?
June 6th, 2015 at 1:24 pm
No way Louis Murphy isn’t on the roster next year. He got the extension at the end of the year because he was dependable in the slot. A lot of empty hype on our rookie receivers just like there was w the route running phenom Herron last yr this time… Except he was missing one important tool, the ability to catch. So before we try to fix what’s not broken w Murphy, and pretend that ASJ ha proven his keep, let’s just find the most able bodies for behind him
June 6th, 2015 at 5:57 pm
I’d like to see dye make the 6th spot with humphries and hall on the practice squad. Not even sure russell, king, and herron are all safe with these guys. Herron showed nothing last year. Clays got his spot. Makes him expendable and he is known for not having good hands. Hall and dye got good hands and speed and humpries has hands and all have kr ability. I wouldn’t be superseded to see 2 of these guys on the roster.