“He’s Got A Pro Bowl In Him”
June 21st, 2010
How good is Barrett Ruud?
The debate has raged on for a couple of years about the “quarterback” of the Bucs defense, as Raheem The Dream calls him.
Some esteemed analysts think Ruud is a manbeast who recorded a career high 142 tackes last year. Others think he’s overrated and needs to learn how to shed a block and make big plays. Still others are undecided.
Tampa Tribune veteran scribes Roy Cummings and eye-RAH! Kaufman take on the subject of Barrett Ruud in their latest Bucs Video Blog, better known as a Vlog in cool guy circles.
Joe won’t spoil the video for you, but one of these beat writers thinks Ruud’s “got a Pro Bowl in him.”
June 19th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Ruud was smart signing his tender.If he has a big year he can stick it to the Bucs or he can walk.Hard to get a big contract somewhere else if you’re not playing.
June 19th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Here’s the tricky thing about saying someone has a pro bowl in them. You have to look at the guys entrenched as pro bowlers and try to figure out if they will be surpassed or retire etc. Right now you can pencil in Willis from SF for at least the next five years. Then you have guys like Vilma, Lofton, Urlacher, Beason, in the NFC who Ruud will be in competition with for the other spot on the pro bowl roster. So even though he may play to a pro bowl level it’s gonna be very hard for him to make one.
June 19th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
@sgw94 – I see what you’re saying, but outside of Willis, I think Ruud can hang with any of those other guys(except Urlacher, who I think Ruud is definitely better than). Beason may be a little better, but he’s moving outside this year, so he won’t be in direct competition with Ruud. I think more than anything, and I don’t think I’m making a groundbreaking statement here, it’ll depend on McCoy/Price/Miller. I’m excited for the season! BTW, great article on the possibility of a winning season this year, however remote it may be.
June 19th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Lakeland Bob — someone should remind Penn about that.
June 19th, 2010 at 4:40 pm
Steve — this may be a dumb question, but when you first played with Brooks and Sapp, did you know they would be perrenial Pro Bowlers? How about potential HOFs? I am curious whether they both developed into the players they were or if they were head an shoulder above from the start. I assume developed, but curious how they started out.
June 20th, 2010 at 9:35 am
Isn’t the Pro Bowl just a big Popularity Contest set up for the Dallas Cowboys?
June 21st, 2010 at 8:35 am
The only fans who think 142 tackles are impressive are the one’s who have never played the sport. Tackles are inflated stats by the team to make one of their stars look better. I sit through every game at the stadium and watch him make 5 solo stops with 2 or 3 assists and then see the end of game totals; 13 tackles. WHAT!! Is that including missed tackles? Nothing personal against the guy, but they have really overhyped him. Everyone wants Ruud to be a Pro Bowl player, but he is not. You see pro bowlers are game changers; nothing to do with tackles or assists. They knock down passes, make a stop in the backfield, interceptions, fumble recoveries, sacks, crushing tackles, cause fumbles etc…etc…Ruud does none of these things. Look it up!! This is what a pro bowler does; makes plays that change the outcome of the game. You don’t need lineman in front of you to make plays like these; it comes from talent and heart.
June 21st, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Thank you Bucnjim.
Ive stated in earlier posts that I believe there to be three main qualities that make a MIC stand out on the field in the cover-2 system. The three are as follows:
1: Coverage ability. Can the Barrett make a quick read/react and drop back to cover the center of the field? I believe he has this skill down pretty well.
2: Ability to get to the ball/ballcarrier. Can Barrett read/react and “shed a blocker” (as Joe would emphasize) and get around any obsticles by whatever means necessary to get to the ball. It’s my belief Barrett gets bogged down in traffic in this area. And for all of the “the DT’s werent very good last year, which hindered Barrett”people Id say this: Hardy Nickerson’s first year with the Bucs he had Mark Wheeler and Santana Dotson at tackle if im not mistaken. Wheeler was certainly no Chris Hovan at the point and Santana was notorious for loafing on run plays because he only cared to rush the passer. Hardy had 214 tackles that year. Barrett had 142. Why? Hardware could shed quicker. Period!
3: Leadership! Ive gone on and on about Barrett needing more of this in previous posts so I wont embellish. lll just share this story. Derrick Brooks came in as a rookie and had a tendency to overpersue on his run fits (taking wrong angles). Hardy stopped practice once, got on (what is now considered the weakside position) and showed Derrick how to cut off the angle with no encouragement from Lovie (Smith who was then LB coach). It seems minor to some, but that’s what leadership is. Doing the unnecessary in the risk of adversary from your peers.
Last year Jon Beason called Julius Peppers out for loafing on plays. Some thought that controversial. Was it? If Ray Lewis did the same thing would it be? I think not.
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:08 am
That was a great response & I appreciate it. Most of the time fans speak with their hearts and not their minds. Hardy Nickerson may have been the most importand F/A signing in Buccaneer history. He brought a physical force and a winning attitude to a team in desperate need of both. I know he was the ultimate team leader and mentor which we could use right now.
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:27 pm
If I want a fair analysis about a players ability, I think I could find a number of better sources than Anwar or Roy. These guys are “sportswriters” not scouts or personnel people. When asked whose brain he would like to have if he ever needed a brain transplant, Norm Van Brocklin answered, “A sportswriters. Because it’s never been used.”