Filling The “Cadillac Role”
August 28th, 2011
Twice last night during his postgame news conference, Raheem Morris talked about how he wanted a running back to emerge to take over the “Cadillac role” on third down.
Third-down back is still a competitive situation with Earnest Graham, Kregg Lumpkin and all the fellas, so said the head coach. And Raheem said he’s seeking “the guy who’s going to come up there and give you that spark, big time player. A guy that comes up and gives you a little bit of something, Cadillac role.”
“I’d like one of these guys to step up and take it,” Raheem added before he mentioned the “Cadillac role” again.
Of course, that got Joe shaking his head again. The Bucs simply could have had healthy homegrown Cadillac Williams, who signed for peanuts with the Rams, rather than still seeking his replacement. Cadillac had 12 carries for 54 yards last night and a 19-yard reception. Last year, Cadillac rushed for a whopping 6.4 yards per carry in the second half of the season (33 carries for 212 yards) when the Bucs put him in the third-down-back role that suits him.
Raheem says Graham is his No. 1 fullback, but he wants Erik Lorig to be sharp to keep Graham fresh and healthy and free to be as versatile as possible.
Considering Cadillac’s huge production during the second-half of 2010, when the Bucs offense was good, fans can only hope that “Cadillac role” is filled successfully.
August 28th, 2011 at 10:19 am
I was at Tampa Stadium last night, and thought both Blount and Graham both did a great job catching passes out of the backfield.
August 28th, 2011 at 10:29 am
Cadillac wouldn’t have help the OL last night.
August 28th, 2011 at 10:30 am
Graham had a drop and missed a couple of holes and he doesn’t pick up the blitz has well or as aggressively as Caddy. He’s got value, but I don’t see him making it through a season playing both positions especially if they keep him on special teams. He always gets hurt anyway.
August 28th, 2011 at 10:46 am
Graham didn’t have a drop, Freeman made a bad throw.
August 28th, 2011 at 10:56 am
When will they start giving Allen Bradford the ball? I want to see him athlete the opponent more.
August 28th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Brisbee,
There’s no world in which Williams blocks or receives better than Earnest Graham. Williams spent the majority of his career (minus his first 3 games) not hitting the right hole, bouncing everything outside despite not having elite speed to hit the edge, and aside from the past two seasons, he was a complete liability in the passing game.
Joe,
I’m not sure why you keep banging the drum for a RB that has two bad knees, isn’t a breakaway threat, isn’t particularly powerful, is still no better than an average receiver, and is always a threat to get hurt. He was a free agent, EG was under contract, 2nd and 3rd string RBs in the NFL as a general rule of thumb, HAVE TO PLAY SPECIAL TEAMS (which Williams does not), and it was time to look into the future with the RB position and no player can fill that role if it was simply going to be handed over to Williams.
August 28th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Bradford was never going to make in the NFL….he was merely a footnote in college
August 28th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
Rasta, the reports on him do not hold up your argument. He is a big down hill runner. You act like they cut him last night or something.
August 28th, 2011 at 12:44 pm
He is just not known for pass protection, which he should be able to learn. Once he stops hesitating and plows the pile, he will be fine. This was something that Blount needed to work on too.
August 28th, 2011 at 12:48 pm
Graham AND Winslow should have caught those passes from Freeman.
Methinks the Bucs traded in their Caddy for a Prius (think hybrid)
August 28th, 2011 at 12:49 pm
It’s my personal opinion that Graham will be relieved of his duties as FB this year, and Lorig or Rendrick Taylor will take over. I watched Taylor play live at the KC game with the starters and he played well. I don’t see why there isn’t more talk about that guy being our starting FB.
That way Blount is the starter, Graham is the goalline back, and Lumpkin (*crossing fingers*) develops into the new Caddy. If not, Graham is servicable in that position and Blount is getting better every day at becoming a complete ball carrier. I am not worried about our backfield in the slightest.
August 28th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
Just think if the Bucs had resigned Caddy the Glazers (consummate businessmen that they are) could have petitioned the Obama administration for a portion of the TARP/GM bailout couldn’t they?
Or maybe by trading in their Caddy the White House promised the Glazers a refund under the cash for clunkers program?
August 28th, 2011 at 1:16 pm
I agree here with you Joe, especially after seeing what Cadillac signed with the Rams for. Now I love Barrett and hated to see him go, but it was the right move, and deep down I know that. But I still can’t understand the move letting Cadillac go. Unless Cadillac was being stubborn and wanted more money and years, the Bucs said no way, and then Cadillac was left with whatever deal he could find coming off two major knee injuries, i.e. the Rams. I think Allen Bradford runs really hard when he doesn’t dance around in the backfield and I think Kregg Lumpkin could potentially be our Mewelde Moore. Lumpkin, when he does pick up the right protection, is more than capable of sticking his face in the fan so far from what I’ve seen in the games and that training camp video of him ripping Adam Heyward’s helmet and pads off. But it’s going to him a while to get to Caddy’s level…if he ever does. So if we could have got Caddy for another year, then I don’t know why we didn’t. Caddy proved to be a very nice and more than capable 3rd down back.
I wouldn’t mind us picking up Derricck Locke who the Eagles let go (because of a very crowded backfield, I’m assuming) and see what the guy can do. At worst we could develop him on the practice squad. He would definitely bring a spark and some speed (4.37 40 yd dash). I think he might have failed a physical with the Vikings though.
August 28th, 2011 at 3:12 pm
Kregg Lumpkin sucks. Stop thinking all these scrap players can turn into productive players. Bottomline, we should’ve kept Caddy.
August 28th, 2011 at 3:13 pm
Caddy may have taken a beating with the two major knee injuries, but he always found a way to contribute to the team one way or another.
August 28th, 2011 at 3:33 pm
I’ll say this again. A lot of people seem too damn worried about who the freaking blocking halfback is gonna be. Its not that big of a deal. Its a lot more important for these highly paid offensive lineman to hold up in pass protection and for Freeman to find the rhythm and accuracy he’s been lacking so far in preseason.
August 28th, 2011 at 3:36 pm
@ Patrick
I agree with you on Caddy
But it’s hard not to believe right now…Briscoe, Okam, Bennett, Woods, Penn, Blount, Graham, Larsen, Clifton Smith, Barth, Spurlock…look at the 7th rounders who no one would of thought…Grimm, Biggers, Stroughter, Watson, Lorig. Don’t tell me scrap players can’t turn into productive players, especially under this regime. Wake up man!
Anthony Gaitor is looking pretty good this year too.
August 28th, 2011 at 3:41 pm
I agree with Patrick totally, The man gave you what he could, and i dont know why anybody would think that Lumpkin will ever be better than caddy, Lumpkin looks horrible, and slow, i thought the third down back needed to be a change of pace, Blount is your hammer, but where is the lightning.
August 28th, 2011 at 4:06 pm
stats for the three preseason games:
Kregg Lumpkin 6 rushes 24 yards 4.0avg
2 rushes 7 yards 3.4avg
3 rushes 9 yards 3.0 avg
Cadillac Williams 11 rushes 40 yards 3.6 avg
6 rushes 23 yards 3.8 avg
12 rushes 53 yards 4.4. avg
Which one do you want?
August 28th, 2011 at 8:19 pm
@Bobby Looks like either or. Neither stands out.
August 28th, 2011 at 11:20 pm
We SERIOUSLY lack speed at the tailback position… Madu is our best speed option really…. I know we love to “collect” big backs, but it would be nice to have a game breaker behind Josh once in a while…. Follow me on twitter Tampa_Bay_Bucs
August 29th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
@ Bobby
Love Caddy. Wanted him back. And was very productive last year and more specifically in the 2nd half of the season in the 3rd down role. But after his two major knee injuries, he is not ‘lightning’ by any means. His rookie year, you could definitely make a case for that for sure, but not now brother!