“Quite A Bit Of Substance To It”
January 5th, 2015
Bucs GM Jason Licht weighs in
Bucs fans learned last year to expect the unexpected from the Tampa Bay front office.
The Bucs didn’t need a tight end, but they drafted one in the second round. They were set at running back, but grabbed one in the third.
Heck, defense-first Lovie Smith’s team drafted all offensive players, but not a quarterback, their position of greatest need — then and now. What a curveball that was.
So where do the Bucs stand on their running backs stable? Might they draft one again?
That seems doubtful.
General manager Jason Licht shared a lot of optimism about the play and growth of his rookie tailback.
“Charles Sims, here in the last few weeks has really done more than what we were saying ‘flash’ before,” Licht said on the Buccaneers Radio Network last week. “It was flash, now there’s quite a bit of substance to it, or showing at least more substance.”
Licht went on to say Sims is part of “a big upside here with this team, and everybody in the locker room knows it.”
While Joe didn’t see a special player in Sims, Joe will give it to Licht that Sims was improved over the final three games. In that span, he had 29 carries for 102 yards (3.5 yards per carry) with one rushing touchdown. And he caught seven passes for 81 yards.
Joe expects the Bucs to add more bodies at running back. Bobby Rainey was buried inexplicably late in the season, and Mike James wasn’t always active on game days, and the Bucs had little use for him. Plus, Doug Martin has battled injuries in his past two seasons.
January 5th, 2015 at 12:09 pm
ALL PLAYERS should improve over the course of a season, otherwise, you’ve got yourself a lousy staff…..
Sims is nothing special…
Simple as that………
January 5th, 2015 at 12:14 pm
Sims looked great in the screen game. I didn’t see very much in the running game though. Certainly, it was not enough.
January 5th, 2015 at 12:15 pm
Those already calling Sims a bust are going to be embarrased…..also ASJ falls into that category….it is way too soon to be calling any rookie a bust…..Neither one of these players had a full camp/preseason/season due to injuries…..give them another season….
January 5th, 2015 at 12:15 pm
Also he’s a rookie coming off an injury who hasn’t played that many NFL games. He might be able to make a quick improvement next year.
January 5th, 2015 at 12:16 pm
A reasonably solid O-Line would help Martin get back to form and then it would be fine for Rainey to get some time as well. Sims is nothing more than a situational back as it seems James is too. A stout O-Line should give these 4 RB’s the ability to show who should be #1 on down. There aren’t many running backs in the league that could do much with our current O-Line and QB that no one is afraid of.
January 5th, 2015 at 12:17 pm
Once again we have 3 players on the roster that are “safe” anyone else can be replaced or traded.
January 5th, 2015 at 12:19 pm
No reason to ship out Dougie. Depth is a MUST at RB. Lets ride Sims and Martin at least one more season.
January 5th, 2015 at 12:21 pm
Sims isn’t a bust yet, but it’ll always be a terrible pick because of what value he brought compared to what an offensive lineman would have. Sims did not look appreciably better than any of the other backs except Miek James and even that is dubious considering James barely saw the field. But Rainey and Martin were better running backs over the year.
Maybe convert Sims to a slot receiver, but he’s a horrible pass blocker and not a very good runner. Cheap running backs can be found on the street…in fact this past season’s leader in YPA from a running back has played on 4 teams. Terrible value pick.
January 5th, 2015 at 12:21 pm
Ugh, we need upgrades at almost every position, so lets just get the job done you guys in charge over at the Bucs. I actually am giving myself an ultimatum this next season that if we don’t improve drastically the Bucs will have to have at least 2 seasons in a row of winning records before I go to another game. I went twice this year and spent way way way too much money for what I got in return. Was I not entertained? No, I was disappointed, very very disappointed.
January 5th, 2015 at 12:23 pm
@Tom Edrington
Sims played in 8 games and had 66 carries (roughly 3 games worth for an avg starting RB). Lets maybe give him a pass for one more season (not to mention he looked pretty good in the passing game).
January 5th, 2015 at 12:27 pm
Hello Joe……it was THE OFFENSIVE LINE….all things on offense last year….gee…I thought you knew football
January 5th, 2015 at 12:29 pm
“expect the unexpected” is about the nicest way one can say “expect head-scratching moves that are inconsistent with the stated philosophy and true weaknesses of the team”.
January 5th, 2015 at 12:32 pm
Typical end of the season Bucs speak. “We are really impressed with (insert players name) and we feel they are going to really give to be a big part of the teams plans next year”. Even though they’ve done next to nothing this year…
January 5th, 2015 at 12:33 pm
i’d rather you get a running back in the third round with higher upside than martin who was 1st round pick that will require a big payday very soon. this team knows it cant draft a runningback this year, they know they cant draft a tight end they’ll get killed by fans and media, they know they have to draft lineman and a quarterback, middle linebacker and corners for anyone to be satisfied that we addressed the issues but it all depends on what they do in free agency before the draft right
January 5th, 2015 at 12:33 pm
@ pick6
Very true at this point. Well said.
January 5th, 2015 at 12:42 pm
At this point, if I’m Licht and Lovie, and I’m offered a 2nd or 3rd round pick for Martin I’d take it in a heartbeat. I’m confident that between Rainey, Sims and James, we are more than capable at RB.
January 5th, 2015 at 1:06 pm
If you have a young OC that calls a bad game and has easy tendencies on film it’s going to be next to impossible to get anything going on offense, especially if you don’t have the horses up front overcome it.
Once again, the o-line was the achilles of this team, same song different verse as the last decade of Buccaneers football. We still don’t actually know how good our skill position players can be without the line playing at a top level.
January 5th, 2015 at 1:08 pm
Last season the Bucs really wasted picks in the 2nd and 3rd round if you consider that those picks could have been used to find a decent G and Center that could have helped rebuild this O-line; instead the Bucs got an injured RB and a TE that distinguished himself by getting a personal foul after imitating Captain Morgan after one of his few positive contributions of the season… Beside Evans, Licht really struck out in the 2014 draft, hopefully 2015 will be better.
January 5th, 2015 at 1:24 pm
If he is there in the 2nd round draft Gurley and this discussion is over. He is a beast and would give us our first real RB since my favorite player ever Dunn. Sims is not a true RB. He should be transitioned to a slot WR. Drafting Gurley would allow us to use Martin as our backup which fits him better. There wouldn’t be all the pressure on him to succeed.
January 5th, 2015 at 1:30 pm
With both ASJ and Sims it’s more about about using them correctly and staying healthy too.
Both have the talent IMO. We’ll see.
January 5th, 2015 at 1:33 pm
Biff:
ASJ has to stay out of the tub. He has shown flashes, but if you can’t get out on the field, you can’t contribute.
January 5th, 2015 at 1:59 pm
Joe, agree, outside of Evans we didn’t see much production from this draft. Both Edwards and Pamphile (projects yes), both landed on IR too.
In ASJ’s case, he never was fully healthy the entire season. I hope his ankle is not his Achilles.
On a bright note, our guy Stocker was mostly available and blocking very well.
January 5th, 2015 at 2:02 pm
If the Bucs draft another RB this year, the Glazers should be forced to sell the team.
January 5th, 2015 at 2:05 pm
Gurley is an interesting proposition if he fell to the 3rd, which I doubt.
January 5th, 2015 at 4:01 pm
Without an O line, doesn’t matter who’s running or throwing the ball – all offensive positions will underperform
January 5th, 2015 at 5:53 pm
bucrightoff SAYS and I agree except that a RB drafted or anyone should only be the follow-up to the Glazers doing a forced sale taking the front office with them incl. the HC.
January 5th, 2015 at 7:02 pm
Extent of Gurley knee injury is the real question mark; remember beast South Carolina RB Lattimore, drafted by SanFran in the 4th round as a great value pick, but as we all know, the value never showed up after his extensive rehab.
January 5th, 2015 at 7:12 pm
zero resolve from top to bottom….you drafted fat and out of shape in tight end and bought 2of the same in EDS and Collins in free agency….do us a favor and go get us an athlete…not weak sauce potential in RB…but some freaking MEN
January 5th, 2015 at 8:25 pm
Trade Rainey and Martin…..draft Duke Johnson…..Freakin Beast!!
January 5th, 2015 at 8:28 pm
The Charles Sims hate, he played on a team of futility but you could see flashes of a real weapon in passing and running game, ask Luke Keukly. With a offensive line and a team that believes, I think both ASJ and Sims will be great for the Bucs return to the playoffs
January 6th, 2015 at 11:24 am
First priority should be to get a decent OC
Trade down and work on getting a reliable OL
Bench McClown and give MG8 and the current RB.s a chance with a decent OL in front of him.