Lay Off Gerald McCoy!
November 10th, 2010
Joe feared that when the Bucs drafted defensive tackle Gerald McCoy third overall in the past spring’s draft, he would forever be compared to manbeast Ndamukong Suh who was drafted by the Lions.
Some psychotic Bucs fans even went so far as to label GMC a bust before even the first preseason game kicked off, which to Joe is outrageous beyond words.
When GMC got off to a slow start — expected for rookie defensive tackles — certain haters began whipping Bucs fans into a frenzy, already claiming GMC was a waste.
Joe wrote many times GMC didn’t have a solid veteran playing alongside him as Suh does. This seemed to fall on deaf ears.
Well, not the ears of Joe’s good friend, Justin Pawlowski of WDAE-AM 620. Justin has evidence of how GMC is getting no help on the defensive line. In fact, Pawlowski believes GMC is actually playing quite well but the rest of the substandard Bucs defensive line is dragging GMC down.
I learned that Gerald McCoy is getting better and better every week and is becoming very fun to watch. After the last 3 years of keying in on Barrett Ruud, I have now shifted my focus to Gerald McCoy when the Bucs are on defense. I was pleased with McCoy’s effort to get penetration into the Falcons backfield. I think it’s easy for naive people to simply point to the highly touted McCoy when the Falcons were running all over the Bucs defense and when Matt Ryan has tons of time to throw, but that’s simply not his fault. When I see McCoy getting penetration and right next to him I see Roy Miller get completely blown off the ball, you have two guys going in opposite directions, which, in turn, creates a huge gaping hole. McCoy did his job. This guy is going to be very good with better players around him. I’m not saying they are the same type of player, but watch Casey Hampton of the Steelers get penetration, but watch how his teammates take full advantage of his disruption. McCoy needs his teammates to take advantage of his disruption. Until they do, McCoy won’t be viewed as a success.
GMC is starting to get the job done.
What puzzles Joe is how much Roy Miller has regressed. If Miller was playing anywhere near how well he played as a rookie, the Bucs may just be 6-2. The fact Miller has terribly regressed falls squarely in the lap of defensive line coach Todd Wash.
Simply put, with Brian Price, Kyle Moore, Miller and GMC all drafted in the first two days of the past two drafts, that’s a boatload of Team Glazer’s cash invested to rot away by not being coached up.
Is Wash up to the task?
November 10th, 2010 at 10:12 am
It’s hard to imagine Wash will be a part of the coaching staff next year.
November 10th, 2010 at 10:14 am
“Is Wash up to the task?”
Simple answer. NO.
November 10th, 2010 at 10:21 am
YES!! Exactly right Joe. With proper coaching, Miller would at least be playing the same as his rookie season and GMC would be flashing more through individual effort/talent and also because of better players around him.
I hate asking for someone to be fired, but someone please ask Rah off the record what kind of job he thinks Wash is doing. Right now I would take a anonymous source or even a journalists opinion they are not happy with him.
November 10th, 2010 at 10:23 am
A healthy Brian Price and two good DE’s and this defense could look like world beaters – it makes that much difference. 1st two picks – DE’s.
November 10th, 2010 at 10:31 am
Todd Wash is definitely a question mark. I think there will be a change next year at d-line coach. If Rod Marinelli becomes available, that would be great. I know it is a long shot.
November 10th, 2010 at 10:38 am
Time for the Bucs and Raheem to “wash” thier hands of this issue!
November 10th, 2010 at 10:49 am
get rid of wash, bring back Rod Marinelli and steve white as his assistant.
November 10th, 2010 at 10:51 am
Finally I agree with Justin on something!! I watched Mccoy the whole game and he was getting good pressure most of the game. Like Justin said though the problem is that when he got in the backfield there was no one with him and the QB or RB just changed direction and got away from the pressure.
His job is to disrupt the play and force the guy with the ball to go to where the other defensive players are. The only problem is they are never there when he does.
I thought he played a very good game.
November 10th, 2010 at 11:25 am
Some psychotic Bucs fans even went so far as to label GMC a bust before even the first preseason game kicked off, which to Joe is outrageous beyond words.
Interesting, didn’t you do the same thing with Freeman?
November 10th, 2010 at 11:30 am
“Interesting, didn’t you do the same thing with Freeman?”
ZING!! He’s got you there Joe.
In fairness to Joe he has admitted he was wrong about Freeman on many occasions.
November 10th, 2010 at 11:35 am
Chargedcbh:
You are one angry SOB.
Of course Joe did… along with dozens of others who cover the draft and the NFL for a living. Do you also bang their drum? Do you call Steve Duemig to ask this? Do you call J.P. Peterson for the same reason? Do you call ESPN Austin — where Joe has appeared many times and those guys cover the Big XII for a living and thought Dominik should have been drug tested for the pick?
The only people who claimed GMC would be a bust were psychotic fans like Radio Mushmouth, among a handful of others.
So what’s your point?
(Joe also thought Roy Miller was a good pick. How come you never give Joe sh!t about that? Oh, because it doesn’t fit your narrative, right?)
November 10th, 2010 at 11:42 am
Less angry Joe here,
Here’s the difference Chargedcbh: Joe tagged Freeman as “bust-in-waiting” before the draft and dropped the nickname before Freeman showed up for Bucs camp, saying Freemans was here now and he gets a clean slate to prove himself. The others Joe is talking about never gave McCoy that clean slate.
Besides, it’s well documented rookie defensive tackles struggle. So to label a rookie defensive tackle a bust before training camp is absurd.
November 10th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
maybe the veterans around miller last year helped him,the bucs kept caddy who seems to be helping freeman call blocks,barber helps secondary,ruud too do watever he supposed to be doing ,no one to help d-line by playing beside them
November 10th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Lees angry Joe- exactly, and we get. Angry Joe . Busting balls is what we do here. Everybody gets racked from time to time. That’s the fun of it all. You know we love ya, he was just treating ya like “one of the Guys”. Other than a few haters that wanna hate on everything, for the rest of us it’s all on good fun. Yes! Finally glad someone besides me realizes how much talent this McCoy kid has. He’s not running big numbers, but he has changed our defense already- by himself. If we had productive DEs,and Linebackers doing their job( my biggest disappointment this year!), then McCoy would already be the talk of the town- for all the right reasons! Problem is the other players. White is only “on” about 5 plays per game. Moore is also really a Rookie, after being hurt all last year. Price was a Rookie,miller is a 1st year guy that has regressed. Crowder and Bennett couldn’t be considered more than 1st year players. Add on the terrible Linebacker play, and the poor kid is preetjk
November 10th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
“pretty much alone”
November 10th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Mike56:
Thats why a D-line coach becomes the only thing helping the youngsters because I know from Stylez’ blog on PR he is not the one to lead.
Wash just isn’t getting it done in any aspect.
November 10th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
I have sad thoughts about the job Todd Wash is doing. Raheem doesn’t necessarily wait when he wants to dump a coach so maybe…….?
November 10th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Larry:
They’re not going to get rid of an assistant, short of him getting caught with a hooker, while the team still has a winning record.
November 10th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
“Certain haters began whipping Bucs fans into a frenzy, already claiming GMC was a waste.”
Who is Joe talking about here? Duemig? Outside of my morning commute I don’t have much of an opportunity to listen to 620. I don’t listen to Duemig anymore. I got tired of his shtick and constant Maddon and Gruden (back in the day) bashing.
November 10th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
gary,all the coaching in the world didnt heip players like John Randle as a rookie,who had 1 sack 12 tackles.steve white has a career 28 tackles 13 sacks (estimate)and he benifited from vetsand that was overmaybe 8 years,I like white but when did the light turn on for him is all im saying,it wasnt the first or second year,except for suh,ngata from ravens the only two 1st round def tackle playing well that was drafted in the last three years,dominic and morris would have fired him by now if the coach was the problem,Iwas pissed last year but those two showed me that they knew wat they were doing.I trust them to fix it
November 10th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
If Wash goes the so should raheem.
November 10th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
Less angry Joe,
It’s actually pretty absurd calling any first round draft choice a bust before training camp. Yeah, DTs take time to develop under most circumstances, but any position player benefits from time and experience. Calling anyone a “bust” before they’ve hit the practice field is ludicrous, and it’s not much better saying that during their rookies season either.
I understand what you’re saying. The “tag” was removed prior to the season and he was given “a chance” to prove he wasn’t a bust. McCoy hasn’t seemed to be getting the same opportunity. I hope people can see the difference in Freeman after having some playing time last year, then a whole off season to work on things and coming back this year. He’s grown leaps and bounds. McCoy deserves at least that much before anyone is calling him a bust.
November 10th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
they surrounded freeman with talent this year and they’ll do the same for mccoy this coming offseason. for me its not a question of if he’ll be good, but when. a hammer at mlb and more speed off the edge will do the trick.
November 12th, 2010 at 5:36 pm
If Wash would only take you with him Buc You…