Lay Off Arrelious Benn!
August 18th, 2010
Joe just finds it astounding that, based on a few practices, some crazed Bucs fans are ready to throw Arrelious Benn into Tampa Bay.
Just forget the fact that more often than not rookie receivers don’t shine right away, and that Benn played in a spread-option offense which is like a different language compared to most traditional NFL offenses.
Bucs coaches apparently are hearing and seeing the kvetching and have raced to Benn’s defense by way of Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune.
Benn might be overshadowed by Williams, but coaches say it is an unfair comparison.
Williams is the “X” receiver and Benn is a “Z.” Williams’ responsibility is to beat double teams and make big plays, such as San Diego’s Vincent Jackson and New England’s Randy Moss. Benn is expected to run underneath routes and play physical, such as Baltimore’s Anquan Boldin.
“You shouldn’t compare those two,” Bucs receivers coach Eric Yarber said of Williams and Benn. “They learn at different paces. … One (Williams) can see it on the board and take it to the field. One (Benn) has to see it on the board, has to see it on film, then practice it on the field. It’s not fair to make a comparison of those two. I’m very pleased about where he (Benn) is at right now.”
Besides, Williams is the more flashy receiver. Bucs coaches and personnel from the day Benn was drafted noted Benn was a YAC kind of guy, taking short passes and busting through traffic.
So calm down, Benn haters. Give him some space.
August 18th, 2010 at 11:18 am
Fair enough, Mr. Benn and any rookie have a lot to learn. Remember Cowher’s remarks about simplifying the offense for the beginning of the season.
But, why would Randy Moss X be easier than Anquan Boldin Z?
Seems counterintuitive.
As for Bucs fans jumping the gun, the remarks of our GM may be a contributing factor, plus relying on rookies to be the starting receivers to begin with.
August 18th, 2010 at 11:25 am
@eric
You really have poor reading comprehension skills.
Yarber didn’t say that X position is easier to learn than the Y. (This is the only argument I can discern from “But, why would Randy Moss X be easier than Anquan Boldin Z?”
He said that Benn and WIlliams,”…learn at different paces. …”
August 18th, 2010 at 11:27 am
soon some haters will log in and say..no he is a bust cuz i guess they know more then the pro..as they work in fast food …Benn will be fine
August 18th, 2010 at 11:29 am
Said it before and I will say it again: No one runs better routes right now and that will matter as we get into real games. Add that to what looks to be an ability to gain significant YAC and Benn will be fine.
August 18th, 2010 at 11:33 am
Hey JOE you should educate Mike and Mike that Benn’s not going to be the starter for the Bucs. I hate how all these so called profesionals can bad mouth the Bucs without knowing anything about them.
August 18th, 2010 at 11:34 am
Actually, Fire Greg Olson, the paragraph I was referring to is the first one, from Anwar.
Following the Sentence “coaches say it is an unfair comparison”.
Anyhoo, I agree with Joe, Mr. Benn needs space as do the vast majority of rookies , including McCoy, Price, Lewis, etc.
My problem is our managements failure to grasp that likelihood.
August 18th, 2010 at 11:37 am
Benn will have a break out here real soon. Hopefuly on Eric Berry for the chiefs. I Still hope not drafting him doesnt come back to bight us.
August 18th, 2010 at 11:46 am
Once again……
An un-educated, reactionary fan base. He’s a ROOKIE reciever- am I missing something here?
August 18th, 2010 at 11:49 am
Actually, its an uneducated GM:
Q. Do you think you’ve done enough at the wide receiver position?
A. (Mark Diminik)”I don’t see us going out in free agency and doing anything more at the wide receiver position. Right now I see us signing some college free agents, and seeing if they can compete for a roster spot. I’m excited about who we got in the draft. I’m also excited about Sammie Stroughter at the slot receiver. Stovall is a good special teams player, but also played his best ball towards the end of the season. Obviously it was a position that we needed to address going into the draft. The guys we took with our second and fourth round pick, I think could be potential starters. That made a lot of sense to me. Therefore, I don’t see us doing any more at the wide receiver position”.
He made his bed and must now lie in it.
August 18th, 2010 at 11:58 am
dude we are going to be fine at Wr. Its by no means the best it can be but its a start. I bet we could be around the middle of the leage in passing with what we have. Then if we can run and play some D-fence it should be a hell of an improvment from last year.
August 18th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
How does “could be potential starters” translate to him hyping Benn to the point that he’s a bust because he didn’t show up in the first preseason game?
August 18th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Eric, youre taking things too literally. What is he to say? “We drafted a few WRs who will never see the field this year just because they are rookies”. He said COULD be POTENTIAL starters just because a) both are talented and b) we dont have much else. You just seem to be knit-picking a little.
August 18th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Folks…You just don’t get. Eric loves to bait with his skillful writing. Truth is, this dude wants you to take the hook because, he has nothing else to occupy his mind. Pass on this worm and he will go away.
August 18th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
By the way ,Eric= Joe.I’m almost positive
August 18th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
Dom was asked a question about additional receivers this year, which is the context of his answer.
No need for any more FA’s at wideout for this year because the rookies in round two and four were potential starters.
He set that expectation, not me.
Why am I taking heat, I agree that Benn should be given time to develop!
August 18th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
@ eric
What I glean from Anwar’s comments about the Moss-Boldin comparison is that Boldin’s game takes knowledge, practice, and feel (finding holes in the zone, sight adjustments, etc.) which takes time to develop. On the other hand, Randy Moss chiefly runs 4 routes: go, post, flag, and comeback; all routes requiring more athleticism the precision.
August 18th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
Sensiblefan,
Sounds like a reasonable explanation to me.
May have been what Cowher was referring to also in terms of simplifing things for the rookies.
August 18th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
BucFan593 touched on part of the problem a little bit. Buc fans are seeing all the other media outlets automatically assuming that Benn is the starter without actually knowing that Williams is already listed as the starter. Couple that with fantasy draft boards listing Benn ahead of Williams and ignorant fans starting to spew rash remarks is not a surprise.
People quit reading Yahoo! and all the fantasy football magazines. Your local media (Joebucsfan.com) is the best resource for accuarte information. This is not fantasy football. Go Benn and go Bucs!
August 18th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
I am confused. Didn’t the Buccaneers just have an A+ draft? Mark drafted 5-6 opening day starters who will soon become the foundation of this franchise.
I can’t wait for Raheem to make guys like Eric eat his words, which he never will of course because he is blinded by his disgust for, his life? idk.
It pretty much is a proven fact that Raheem Morris and Mark Domminic have the Buccaneers on a path to not just competing for the playoffs, but competing for Super Bowls.
Give Raheem 5 more years, the same amount Tony Dungy had. You’ll see.
August 18th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Capt.Tim, you may be on to something.
August 18th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
I like how all the commentors on tbo.com think they know everything and are so negative torward the bucs.
August 18th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
I’m slightly confused. I mean, I thought from day one that Mike Williams would have more of an immediate impact with us so that doesn’t surprise me but.. whats the deal with Benn? I know he’s a rookie and he needs time to develop so don’t think that I’m one of those people calling him a bust. But from everything I’ve heard, he runs better routes than everyone on the field, I haven’t heard that he’s been dropping a lot of passes or anything either. So it must be all mental then? Is he going out to the line of scrimmage and not knowing what route he is supposed to run? Maybe I’m taking this to literally can someone elaborate?
August 18th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
Bucfan593:
Who said Mike and Mike are professionals?
August 18th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
Yup, same verbiage, same style, I’m telling ya, it’s the same guy! Lol !
August 18th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Thank you Tommy Boy!
August 18th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Joe here –
Capt. Tim, Joe assures you he is not Eric or any other commenter. Joe is not so twisted and in need of something to do that he must pretend to be yet another character. It actually takes quite a bit of time to run the operation over here…But feel free to keep up the conspiracy theory. …JoeBucsFan could use a good X-file.
August 18th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Way I see it, we got steals with Sammie in the 7th and Williams in the 4th, so if Benn ends up being a bust….oh well.
August 18th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
I am the real Capt. Tim!
The truth is out there.
August 18th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
No, I’m the real CaptTim!
August 18th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Maybe Capt. Tim and Javier are alter egos coming from the same computer…
I have seen some posts (mostly on TBO but a few on here, I think from Radio) proclaiming Benn a bust…Radio, if I am misquoting you, sorry about that.
Eric, just when you were starting to get excited and seeing the good in the Bucs, you have turned back to the dark side. Maybe after Saturday’s game on the radio you will be happy for two days again.
August 18th, 2010 at 1:39 pm
Who’s hating on Benn? I haven’t heard or read that anywhere other than a comment or two. Seems like he’s doing just fine to me.
August 18th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
No me Capt Timothy. We all are from the ari olive tree.
August 18th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
I was Capt Tim once…
August 18th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
No, no, Javier is really RahDomdabest. Eric= Joe, I am ussually the really real Capt. Tim, and we are all awaiting the reincarnation of our beloved JimBuc! And thanks Joe, glad you appreciate my hard work in bringing a Lil conspiracy theory into the Mix! Anything to help !
August 18th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
what people need to realize is that just because a player isnt flashy that doesnt mean they’re a bad player. they also need to realize that had mike williams stayed in school he would have been a 1st round pick. benn will be fine.
August 18th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
With the week I’ve had, I hope none of you are Capt.Tim this week :(. . . and yes, Eric’s trip to the light side of the force was short lived, you can see with each comment , he is reverting to the Dark side again.
August 18th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Yes the truth is out there. Turns out I can’t handle the truth!
August 18th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
@ Eric
I think it’s “Crap on Eric Day” here at JBF! Hopefully Benn has a thicker skin then some of the Bucs fans calling him a bust already! Geez, we haven’t even played our second game on tape delay yet–cut him some slack!!!
August 18th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
CaptTim, Don’t worry the truth always hurts! lol! And sorry to hear about the bad week you are having, but no worries mate that’s what weekends are for! And they just got better, cause now it’s FOOTBALL SEASON!
August 18th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
Thanks oar, that cheered me up! And I really need it!
August 18th, 2010 at 4:34 pm
@Greg…”Geez, we haven’t even played our second game on tape delay yet”
LMAO! Good one.
August 18th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
@McBuc
I live in Virginia Beach now, so at least I can watch the replay at 4 am Sunday because, in Joe’s words, I’m a real man with the NFL Network up here!! 🙂 Hey, I’ll let you guys know the score as it comes in since Joe won’t bring back the by-quarter reports until the real season starts!! 🙂
August 18th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
I was going to go to the game, but now that it has been established that Benn is a bust, I’m staying home.
And McCoy ain’t even made a tackle!
It’s a disgrace!
August 18th, 2010 at 5:42 pm
I wonder where Mush has gone off to?? lol
August 18th, 2010 at 9:53 pm
“Joe just finds it astounding that, based on a few practices, some crazed Bucs fans are ready to throw Arrelious Benn into Tampa Bay.”
Almost as astounding as , after ZERO practices last season , some crazed blogger (Joe) was ready to throw Josh Freeman in Tampa Bay . Actually the latter is MUCH more astounding…
Benn may or may not be a bust , but as of now, I think we can all agree on 1 undeniable fact: so far he looks like garbage….
August 18th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
Translation: In this offense, we put you at the “X” if you’re good. If you suck , we stick you at the “Z” and ask you to block and throw picks ….ask Micheal Clayton. LOL
August 18th, 2010 at 10:20 pm
oh and by the way:
Boldin’s rookie year was pretty modest also, OR NOT…. 1300 yards and 100 receptions.
So much for a slower learning curve for the “Z”. Damn those pesky facts….
August 18th, 2010 at 10:29 pm
How does that work though…. You just said if you play Z you suck and than you said playing Z Boldin did amazing. Which one is it?
August 18th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
@ Rican
Don’t respond to Radio, it only emboldens him to continue to be a jackass!
August 18th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
lol
August 18th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
@ Radio
So far, we can all agree that Benn didn’t have the best game for a ROOKIE in his FIRST freakin’ PRESEASON GAME! Take your hate somewhere else!
August 18th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
Coulda had the real Boldin!
August 18th, 2010 at 11:12 pm
@ Eric
Coulda had Marshall too, but we don’t–give the kid a chance!
August 19th, 2010 at 7:25 am
“How does that work though…. You just said if you play Z you suck and than you said playing Z Boldin did amazing. Which one is it?”
Apparently they don’t have sarcasm in Peurto Rico ??
August 19th, 2010 at 7:29 am
Yes we could have had the real Boldin , or Marshall.
Instead we used our high 2nd rounder AND a 5th rounder to acquire Benn.
Odds are 100 to 1 that he’ll never turn out to be the player of either, but if you mention that cold hard truth around the Kool-aid drinkers , you will be called a moron….
August 19th, 2010 at 8:04 am
Is that what they call peurto rico these day?? Dang always thought it was Puerto Rico lol. You say sarcasm I say scapegoat, nice try though lol. Was the PR comment based on the assumption that I’m puerto rican??