Tweaked Chucky Method Will Help Fill Roster
October 25th, 2011
"You wanna make this team? You better run through my fuc*n skull."
Just a hunch, but Joe suspects that if Chucky were still calling shots at One Buc Palace, Tiki Barber already would be on the Bucs roster sharing carries with Warrick Dunn and Ricky Williams.
“Jimminy Christmas, Olie. You’re the freakin’ quarterbacks coach, just tell Carson Palmer to stop calling audibles and hand the damn rock off to Ricky when I tell him to. I don’t care why Ricky was in Jerramy Stevens’ trunk, that guy’s the ’98 Heisman Trophy winner.”
But Chucky’s gone. The Bucs are young. And they’re running damn thin at running back.
While rockstar general manager Mark Dominik probably won’t sniff Tiki Barber this week, which Joe thinks is perfectly reasonable given the circumstances, it’s likely Dominik already has a fresh list of go-to running backs at the ready.
Speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network last week, Dominik explained that he tweaked Chucky’s old method of constant hands-on player evaluation. Dominik said Chucky liked to check out an endless carousel of free agents, “Let’s continue to roll people through,” Chucky would say.
It’s a system Dominik admits he kept in place and adapted.
“We do that now, but we really focus and try to make it a tighter group. It’s usually two, three, maybe four at the most at a particular position that we really selectively watched on tape to make sure they can really make an impact,” Dominik said. “I never like to bring one player in at a position because I don’t think you can subjectively see how they compare to the other guy. And so we bring in groups of three or four at a position, specifically targeted, and then rank them and they go into our emergency list, claim list, whatever it’s going to be. And we draw from that list if we have to.”
What happens next with the Bucs at running back is anyone’s guess. But clearly they have to make a move. The Bucs showed little confidence in Kregg Lumpkin against Chicago, and LeGarrette Blount could be another knee knock away from an additional month off.
October 25th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
This running game needs an infusion immediately. No more sticking with the status quo. Freeman leads the NFL in interceptions and is second in pass attempts only to Brees. He’s forcing throws that simply aren’t there and is having major trouble diagnosing zone coverage.
Freeman is even more reliant on a strong running game than we realized. In that regard he’s starting to remind me more & more of Flacco. That’s not a good comparison, by the way.
If the Bucs can’t get a solid running game going week after week they will struggle to be .500 at year’s end. This needs to change, and now. Period.
October 25th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
Ricky Williams should never ever be in the same conversation as Stevens. Thats like Gandhi hanging out with Hitler. And why not sign Tiki even after not playing ball for all these years he probably still blocks and catches balls out of the backfield better then Lumpkin and Blount.
October 25th, 2011 at 1:35 pm
I really had issues with Chucky’s ” seniors tour” brand of Football.
But I gotta admit- the Dunn, Williams,Barber backfield grabbed me for a moment there!!
October 25th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
Let’s get Spann activated and see what the kids got. I would even say bring up Madu and Spann, and demote Lumpkin. We need a spark.
October 25th, 2011 at 6:42 pm
Whatever is the cheapest way to go, that’s the Glazerhouse way.
October 25th, 2011 at 9:11 pm
@FLBoyInDallas You hit the nail on the head. Freeman is absolutely reliant on the play action and if the running game ain’t there….he is pressured all day long because the defense KNOWS the run is gone. So do the DB’s and they just blanket the receivers and don’t even concern themselves with the run. Very much like Flacco. How many yards did Rice have on Monday????? Bingo! If we have a good day rushing we win. If not, we lose. At this point in Freeman’s career it is going to continue until he matures and can carry the team with his arm, if that day ever comes.