Are The Bucs Already Missing Cadillac?
August 30th, 2011
Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik may have finally hit a sour note.
Ever trying to stock the roster with young talent, Dominik let team leader and fan favorite Cadillac Williams drive off to St. Louis.
From a bean counter perspective, this made a lot of sense. Cadillac simply was no longer able to be a first string tailback. He was playing on two bad wheels, and God love the guy, no one fought back harder than he did from two ugly knee injuries.
But the laws of physics are stubborn. Those surgeries took a lot out of Cadillac and the brutal punishment of being a running back in the NFL was also likely taking its toll. But Cadillac proved he was quite valuable coming off the bench for perhaps no more than a dozen runs a game, sort of a change of pace from LeGarrette Blount and being a solid blocker, keeping Josh Freeman’s jersey clean on blitzes.
Maybe in an effort to get a better concession in contract talks, maybe a wishful thinking state of mind that Kregg Lumpkin could easily replace Cadillac, Dominik waved goodbye to the former Bucs first round pick.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the regular season: Lumpkin hasn’t exactly set the world on fire. He has struggled enough that it appears the Bucs will anoint everyman Earnest Graham as the third down back, so writes NFL.com blogger Jenna Laine.
Earnest Graham is your third-down running back. The team just has to figure out what to do at fullback. There was hope Graham would stay in at fullback and Kregg Lumpkin would be a complementary back to LeGarrette Blount, but Lumpkin really hasn’t been that impressive this preseason. Neither has Erik Lorig. So this one’s a head-scratcher …
Graham’s hands and his ability to fight for yardage after contact make him an asset in the passing game, much like Cadillac Williams was last year. In fact, head coach Raheem Morris even said in his post-game presser, “Earnest is doing what Cadillac did for us last year.”
Joe had his doubts about Lumpkin from the start. The Packers last year, a team desperate for running backs, let him go. That to Joe raised a red flag. Teams that need players at a certain position generally do not let players at said position walk if they value said player at all. Given the fact it was sage talent evaluator Ted Thompson making that decision — not someone playing a general manager like, oh, Jerry Jones — further reinforced Joe’s fears.
In many interviews this preseason, Dominik threw bouquets at Lumpkin, but Joe tried to dismiss this as, at times, Dominik’s habit of bragging up guys who are buried on the depth chart and rarely see playing time.
Perhaps Dominik will be scouring the free agent lists of available players in the coming days for a running running back who could replace Cadillac? If we can trust two things, it is Dominik finding a gem on the scrap heap and that running backs, by and large, are a dime a dozen.
August 30th, 2011 at 11:08 am
I think maybe Dominic got a little over the tips of his skis on this one. I think he becmae a little too confident in his ability to assess hidden talent. It wasnt like Caddy was asking for a ton of cash for Pete’s sake.
August 30th, 2011 at 11:14 am
Graham moves to RB and you have a guy every bit as effective as Caddy an go find a full back amongst the FA and next round of cuts and problem solved.
August 30th, 2011 at 11:21 am
RUUD ALSO
August 30th, 2011 at 11:24 am
Yes, mikeck…
“Head Over Heels” would be the ABBA song that comes to mind when someone gets over their tips like that…
August 30th, 2011 at 11:25 am
Am I missing something? Why can’t Graham be the FB and then stay on as the 3rd down back as well? Don’t tell me he would get warn out because the FB is not out there on probably 50% of the offensive plays.
Then you have Lorig as a backup and Bradford & Lumpkin fighting for time at 3rd down.
Plus let’s not dismiss Blount on 3rd down as well, especially as the season goes on and he gets better and better with blitz pickup.
August 30th, 2011 at 11:27 am
Would have rather seen James Harrison in uniform than Lumpkin. Lions just signed him a couple of weeks ago and he came out and played fairly well against the Patriots considering the short time in camp.
August 30th, 2011 at 11:27 am
Nothing to worry about really, as we saw last year with Blount, there will be some good RBs that will come available in the next few weeks. I wouldnt be surprised if the Bucs ended up signing someone like Tashard Choice after he gets released by Dallas.
August 30th, 2011 at 11:39 am
Its time for Dom to pull another Desmond Briscoe, Blount out of the “second draft” i.ei waiver wire. I am sure there will be a competent #2 back available that some team cuts for cost cutting measures. Come on Dom work your magic we need a backup for Blount!!!!!! If not that then give us a brusing fullback and let Earnest Graham be our second option.
August 30th, 2011 at 11:40 am
As others have said Joe: Why can’t Graham be that guy?
August 30th, 2011 at 11:49 am
The Packers were hardly running back needy when they cut Lumpkin. They had a healthy Grant, Brandon Jackson and Kuhn, along with James Starks on the PUP list.
August 30th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Well, Joe guesses Graham could be that guy, but that clearly wasn’t the first option last year and it clearly wasn’t the first option this year, which kinda tells Joe something.
Outside of Freeman, the most important player on the Bucs is Blount. He goes down, much like if Freeman goes down, this team is screwed. Remember how there was no running game until Blount started getting the ball last year? All of a sudden, instant offense.
August 30th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Joe here,
@BonesMahoney — Let’s not re-write history here. Ryan Grant played one game last year and John Kuhn was a fullback from D-2 school.
August 30th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
Lets face it, we got Blount and not much else at running back.
But, hes very good.
August 30th, 2011 at 12:41 pm
I think it was John Lynch who said that Graham is the starting FB right now because Lorig isn’t where they want him to be. If it’s not Blount on 3rd down, I’m hoping they find a way to get Graham in there.
August 30th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Huge mistake to let caddy walk. I’ve been critical of letting Ruud walk, but at least we had a promising young talent in Foster to work in. Caddy’s absence just leaves a giant hole in the offense. I can hear the sucking sound from here.
August 30th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
If it’s all about 5 then I think Dominic failed. Not only in not retaining caddy but not adding any new toys other than Stocker. I think the offensive line should have been upgraded as well. Caddy if anything was the best guy for picking up the blitz and keeping Freeman upright. God help us and Dominic if Freeman goes down. It also goes against what Dominic is trying to sell in not going after FA’s. He said we take care of our own but he clearly did not in this case.
August 30th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
I disagree with that statement. If you were speaking only of offense? Maybe.
Graham is not a good football player. He is average at best. I don’t like the idea of him even staying on the team, much less playing an important role.
And there is another option at FB if Morris uses a little imagination. We’ll see.
Letting Caddy go was a wise move.
So far as Dominick…he hasn’t hit on everything else either. How many kickers/punters have we seen? However…what I like is he decides fast…he doesn’t cling to a player if they are not producing. He tries to find someone that will.
On Fullback…we need a heavy bruiser there…someone that can pound the line so hard that by halftime they can barely stand. Then you play Blount more and watch the yards add up.
August 30th, 2011 at 4:37 pm
Not re-writing history here, Joe. Just saying the Packers weren’t as runningback needy as you are saying at the time of Lumpkins cutting.
August 30th, 2011 at 6:19 pm
Time to try out Tiki.
August 30th, 2011 at 6:48 pm
Ive bedn saying on here before pre-season started that Caddy was one of the main free agents Dominik had to bring back. Now it’s gonna come back to bite him in his a**. But hopefully someone gets released that turns out to be that third down back. Or earnest can take over caddy’s role and Dominik can find a fb.
August 30th, 2011 at 6:59 pm
Has anyone bit on Tiki yet?
August 30th, 2011 at 10:20 pm
I love my Bucs, but really, sometimes its laughable how Dominick gets so pumped up about cheap nobody’s off the scrap heap. Maybe there’s a reason why he never got drafted and why the Packers cut him? Get real, are any of you surprised that Lumpkin is no good? C’mon, there’s a 1 in 10,000 chance that you’ll find an Earnest Graham (undrafted free agent) off the scrap heap. I’m not counting Blount, because we all know that he was a top talent running back that didn’t get drafted because of his behavior problems.
August 31st, 2011 at 7:52 am
Henry Hyonoski should have been drafted. That being said our rushing numbers are allot better when Blount is the sole man in the backfield.