THE PESSIMIST: Bad Knee = Bad Gamble
April 29th, 2011
THE PESSIMIST is a diehard Bucs fan whose negative writings appear occasionally on JoeBucsFan.com. His views surely do not necessarily reflect those of Joe. However, Joe sure gets a kick out of them.
What’s amazing about this Da’Quan Bowers pick is every team, including the Bucs, passed on him obviously because of his crappy knee. This morning, Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reported Bowers has a bone-on-bone condition. There’s no cure for that, folks.
The last Buccaneer with a bone-on-bone knee was Antonio Bryant. You can read about it in Joe’s archives.
But Mark Dominik calls Bowers great “value.” Nice.
So what’s Dominik trying to prove? Sure, the GM does his homework and sorted through character issues with Mike Williams and LeGarrette Blount and came up with gems, but you don’t talk to third-grade teachers and grill coaches to solve a knee. Bowers is damaged goods, and the Bucs gambled when they didn’t have to.
God forbid the Bucs went the seemingly safer route and prepared to break the bank to pay Ray Edwards, a healthy 26-year-old free agent coming off two eight-sack seasons in Minnesota.
THE PESSIMIST supposes the Bucs don’t think it’s prudent to actually pay a young proven player in his prime. Why the hell do that when you can toss a second-round pick after a busted up college dude?
THE PESSIMIST finds it comical that the Bucs say they’re building a lasting contender and they just drafted a guy unlikely to last.
The Bucs may have found the new Sack Exchange, but right now it’s rookie Bowers with a bumb knee, Brian Price with a mysterious hip/hamstring, Gerald McCoy coming off surgery, and Adrian Clayborn with one arm shorter than the other and coming off a 3 1/2-sack college season.
THE PESSIMIST can’t imagine any team will be scared of that bunch for a while.
April 29th, 2011 at 10:41 pm
Assuming the knee is fixable, worst case we redshirt him this year for surgery and have him back next year and for years to come. Then it’s like we traded a high second round pick this year for a top five first round pick next year. I’d do that anyday. Great great pick.
April 29th, 2011 at 10:45 pm
Nobody gives a #$%# about what you have to say pessimist. It was a 2nd round pick They already got a defensive end in round 1 and so could easily afford to gamble on the best defensive end in the draft being able to stay healthy for a while in the second round. Most of us Bucs fans are pretty much on cloud 9 with how the first three rounds have played out for the Bucs. Go ahead and bury your face in your pillow and cry about these picks if you want to buddy. Go ask your doctor for some prozac you wet blanket.
April 29th, 2011 at 10:48 pm
Still the uninformed idiot. Pal, you know D#%k about football
April 29th, 2011 at 10:55 pm
Someone needs to put you on a Prozac Drip Dude. How dare you rain on our Draft Parade, you who are as Negative as a Post on a freaking Battery.
April 29th, 2011 at 11:05 pm
I really like the Mason Foster pick, but I’m thinking that Allen Bailey might’ve been the better pick for us. We took risks by selecting both Clayborn and Bowers.
April 29th, 2011 at 11:15 pm
This is going to be as bad as the Dexter Jackson pick. But at least that guy made it on the field.
They were just saying on NFLN that orthopedic surgeons say his knee problem is something that will NOT improve, and that he will NOT be able to go for an entire game even if it is fixed.
So we drafted a guy in the first round that has weakness in his right arm. And then draft a guy in the 2nd round with a bad knee that can’t go full-time and may not be available at all the first year?
Yet this is a solid draft? These two guys were drafted on wishful thinking than actual facts. Completely disappointed in Dominik.
April 29th, 2011 at 11:15 pm
Mason Foster was a 2nd round LB that went to us in the 3rd with the 20th there. We need big strong stout run stuffers. How is Foster a bad pick? Even the pessimist thinks Foster was a great pick Pat.
April 29th, 2011 at 11:16 pm
Absolutely love how this draft has played out for the Bucs. Fantastic risk vs reward value. The rock star has now entered elite status keep up the great work Raheem. Keep up the great coverage Joe!
April 29th, 2011 at 11:19 pm
Bowers was picked late in round 2. The pick is fine considering where we got him. Overall, we now have excellent depth along the line. Worst case scenario, we end up with depth and just one free agent away from being a solid defensive line. A far cry better than the past few years.
April 29th, 2011 at 11:28 pm
@weneeddefense – Second round picks are supposed to be longterm starters for your team. Thinks 6+ years minimum. So how the hell is Bowers a good pick because of where we got him. He’s damaged goods. I’d love to see him have a couple of great years. That might be enough. But it was a stupid pick.
April 29th, 2011 at 11:28 pm
New Era Bucs:
Thanks man, appreciate the kind words.
April 29th, 2011 at 11:36 pm
Ya you can tell the Pessimist just wanted to be different and be “that guy” and disagree for attention. He clearly LOVES the Bowers pick and was probably having a hard time typing all the lies in this piece (of crap…du dunsss). Although this guy is bold enough to go by an alias, educated enough to write for a well known paper, and clearly affiliated with the Bucs staff and scouting department (since he knows everything about Bowers), I’m gonna go on a limb and trust the Rock Star and Rah Rah and say THIS MIGHT ONE DAY BE THE BEST D-LINE IN BUCS HISTORY!!!!!!!!!! Good Stuff Joe…keep em coming.
April 30th, 2011 at 12:02 am
@Jerry
“and that he will NOT be able to go for an entire game even if it is fixed.”
Wow, I’m hearing new bad stuff every minute about Bowers. I hope the pick works out, but we probably should’ve just waited till FA began and signed a young stud like Ray Edwards. Safe bet there. Allen Bailey was still on the board too.
April 30th, 2011 at 12:24 am
It is a good gamble. With no season this year he will have a year to get a bionic knee and have the kinks worked out for the 2012 season.
April 30th, 2011 at 12:35 am
If anyone needs me-I will be at the top of the Skyway Bridge. You can thank THE PESSIMIST.
April 30th, 2011 at 1:07 am
I’m very excited about the draft thusfar! Clayborn’s not going to be a superstar at RE but he’s going to create some havoc and stuff the run so I’m good with that.
Bowers is just plain awesome and I don’t think MD would’ve taken him unless he felt pretty good about the future of Bowers’ knee. Also, it being his right knee had to have had somewhat of a factor on whether they took him. Had it been his left knee things might not be as they are. Hook him up with Caddy’s knee doc and he’ll be in good hands. 🙂
If our next pick isn’t a CB I wonder if we’ll be seeing Asomugha in a Bucs jersey next year. Hmmmmm.
Love your site, Joe!
GO BUCS! This is just another few steps to getting “Tampa Defense” back in Tampa.
April 30th, 2011 at 1:10 am
If Talib doesn’t return, then signing Asomougha is a must. Sorry but I don’t want to see Biggers getting beaten by Calvin Johnson in week 1 again.
April 30th, 2011 at 1:22 am
Hey pessimist…I must suck being a miserable “gloom and doom’ dude.
There is a soltuion to your problem… Good luck with your great outlook on “things”. Maybe kervorkian can help!?!
April 30th, 2011 at 1:26 am
no offense intended, of course, “sunshine”, or armegadan, or whatever the hell your problem is. wow…you cant be serious?
April 30th, 2011 at 1:31 am
Absolutely love this pickup… While solidifying a top DE in the 1st round, the Bucs got the opportunity to draft a top 5 player with a late 2nd round pick. This is a player with HUGE upside… if the pick turns out any better than the 2008 2nd round pick than I am happy. Go Bucs! And good luck Bowers!
April 30th, 2011 at 1:41 am
Bowers will for sure be better than Dexter Jackson. His talent isn’t a question, it’s just his knee that’s a conern.
The fact that Jackson got drafted as a high as he did is still a big mystery to me. I had never even heard of the guy when we selected him.
April 30th, 2011 at 1:47 am
One interesting to think about Bowers playing for the Bucs. If his knee is healthy enough to play, Adrian Clayborn is limited to RDE only due to the Erb’s Palsy. That means that Bowers will be our LDE. Ok, so he’s not gonna be attacking the QB’s blind side, but he will be facing the RT instead of the LT every down he’s in the game. For a guy that could return to the form of a top 10 pick, going up against RTs is a HUGE advantage in the Bucs favor. If we can see McCoy continue to improve and get pressure up the middle, Bowers push the RT, then Clayborn doesn’t have to be the best pass rusher on the team, he gets to clean up what the other guys push his way. Not that Clayborn can’t rush the passer, but what I’ve seen of him he’s more a beast against the run with some rush ability. Not only that, but it would also seem that Bowers and McCoy will line up on the same side of the ball fairly frequently. If they can learn to work together and run stunts, that could be wicked. Now we just need to find out how Price is recovering from his surgery.
April 30th, 2011 at 8:41 am
So the draft is about getting guys that are “scary” to the other team? Wow, that’s good to know! I thought we were trying to put together a winning team here. Man was I confused…
April 30th, 2011 at 9:37 am
Hey Tampa two is back with all his sunshine, we are so lucky!
Jerry, I am sure the team docs took a good look at these guys. Any of you that think Clayborn can not get to the QB never watched Big Ten ball. I have seen reports that say Bowers will need surgery at some point in time, but I am sure you know better than the team that’s job is to look into these things. If these two guys are the beasts they can be, I hope you come back and eat crow. I am sure you were crying about the freeman and Williams picks as well as the Winslow trade.
April 30th, 2011 at 9:56 am
The real reason they went with these two picks is if they are medically unable to play they won’t get paid saving the Glazers millions. Then the gems found in the later rounds can step in for half or even a quarter of the salary.
April 30th, 2011 at 9:57 am
You know I finally figured out where the PESSIMIST had disappeared to for awhile:
The PESSIMIST was leading the Birther’s cause looking for Obama’s live form birth certificate!
Since the President produced the form the PESSIMIST came back to JBF to share some more of his ‘insight’.
Gee thanks Pessimist, I think there might be an opening on the Donald’s staff for you.
April 30th, 2011 at 9:58 am
the hip/handstring/groin problem was most likely a “pelvic seperation” think… EXTREME splits, to the point that the pelvis where it connects down low seperated a little bit, it would be a place thats hard to explain, hard to diagnose and would be painful in odd ways, Prices problem was that it WASNT diagnosed right, and continued to play on it, because it would feel ok for a while doing normal walking, once they realized what it was and called it a PELVIC injury he came out and rested it PROPERLY. it will heal correctly and he will be beast.
April 30th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
THE PESSIMIST—cant wait to watch you eat crow with the other “haters” of this draft when Clayborn and Bowers kill it just like everyone with the actual balls did when they talk about what a horrible pick Freeman was and rolling the dice on Blunt.
Tampa will rotate Bowers in and out along with the other D-ends and he will kill it, not every down but he will make his impact be known around the league and he’s pretty pist off he slipped.
Watch Clayborn and Bowers play lights out pisst off football and make other teams pay for not selecting them.
April 30th, 2011 at 11:28 pm
Got to give kudos to Joe, as obviuosly, the”Pessimist” serves one purpose, and that is to create “hits”, so to speak. Muy intelliente…controversy sales…a “pessimistic view’ creates alot “post”, ie..hits to the site. IMO, he(pessimist) doesnt believe a word a writes..it’s business, web hits..etc. BTW, I’ll be fishing round the Skyway tomorrow if the pessimist is ready to really go “all in”…heheh…click, hit, click hit…mucho traffico…rock on Joe!
April 30th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
Joe here,
@bucyea — Actually, Joe’s really not that calculating and wouldn’t waste time on crafting such nonsense for a handful of extra views. As you can see, Joe’s site is NOT set up for maximum “hits” in order to keep things streamlined and easy for readers.
THE PESSMIST does a good job making a point and is allowed to chime in when he’s moved to do so. He has the green light, but doesn’t take advantage of it very often. Joe can assure you that THE PESSIMIST believes every word he writes, and he’s probably spewing it right now at a local bar.
May 1st, 2011 at 3:29 am
nuff said