With The Fifth Pick In The 2012 NFL Draft …
January 2nd, 2012
Joe realizes the thought of many new players on the Bucs roster is therapeutic to legions of Bucs faithful, so let this post be a moment of hope and happiness for you as the stain of the 2011 season rattles your core.
(Yes, Joe realizes most of you won’t breathe easily until the Bucs have a new head coach, but try for a minute.)
By virture of their heinous 4-12 record, the Bucs have scored the fifth pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Tampa Bay lost the tiebreaker with Cleveland for the No. 4 spot because the Bucs had a more difficult 2011 schedule, so BSPN reported.
Now Joe’s hardly ready to talk draft with college games left to play and no knowledge of what kind of defense the Bucs might run next season. But Joe is pretty certain there will be endless debate over whether or not the Bucs should go after a running back like Alabama stud Trent Richardson with their beloved pick, in addition to spirited chatter about the Bucs trading down as they sit in a coveted position to draft a quarterback they don’t need.
Of course, the Bucs are desperate for a linebacker, and a game-breaker receiver sure would have an impact.
With plenty of holes and question marks — will Ronde Barber and/or Aqib Talib return? — this will be one of the more fascinating offseasons in Bucs history.
January 2nd, 2012 at 10:05 am
We need Mo Claiborne.
January 2nd, 2012 at 10:10 am
^^This
January 2nd, 2012 at 10:14 am
Morris Claiborne
Justin Blackmon
Trent Richardson
Dre Kirkpatrick
in that order are my priorities, maybe some of them are reach, but is not like we need someone else, im still confident in players like freeman.
January 2nd, 2012 at 10:14 am
Seems like they always lose the tie breakers, last year the Giants got it. BS!
January 2nd, 2012 at 10:16 am
1st choice – claiborne
2nd choice – blackmon
3 rd choice – richardson
January 2nd, 2012 at 10:22 am
Nice choices, need all THREE though!
We’re going to have to be active in FA too. There are going to be a lot of players gone after this terrible season and there should be. That’s on THEM.
January 2nd, 2012 at 10:22 am
Swap 1 and 2 Raph
January 2nd, 2012 at 10:23 am
I figure we need about 8 picks on defense and maybe 6 on offense. And that’s just starters.
January 2nd, 2012 at 10:29 am
Let’s hope Dominik is not here making the selection. Im not excited about another great draft choice. I would trade the number 1 pick or at least the number 2 for a proven veteran leader that can come in and change the mindset of this team. Getting even younger does not thrill me. Weve been forced fed that building thru the draft is the only path the Bucs will take. Dominik’s plan failed this team to the worst defense I have ever seen. He along with Morris should be sent packing today. Don’t drag this out Glazers. The fans want change and they want it now!!!!
January 2nd, 2012 at 10:43 am
we might need Mo claiborne but he very well could be gone by our pick. I like the trent richardson pick. He is a complete back, can play on all downs. He is a dynamic playmaker. We have greater needs but we have needs everywhere on our team, so we should take the best player on the board. Opposing teams know that Blount is just going to run straight up the middle, and don’t have to worry much about him catching out of the backfield. Having richardson adds speed and a pass catching threat out of backfield.
January 2nd, 2012 at 10:46 am
RG3 could slip to us……….
January 2nd, 2012 at 10:51 am
1- Luke Kuechly
2- LaMichael James
3- T.Y. Hilton
January 2nd, 2012 at 10:54 am
Richardson would be a nice choice , gives us a back who is multidimensional and can stay on the field on 3rd down and would compliment Blount . A stud receiver with speed couldn’t hurt either .
January 2nd, 2012 at 10:59 am
Justin Blackmon is a must at the 5 pick…
January 2nd, 2012 at 11:05 am
I vote for Trent Richardson, considered by many as one of the finest running backs to come out in a good while. He also is a very good blocker. Watching Blount these past few games, it’s obvious the opposing teams have figured him out: meet him in the backfield because he doesn’t get up to speed fast enough. Blount also has had trouble blocking which is going to shorten Freeman’s future. He will be a good second power back. Josh has to have some kind of running game to open up the passing game or next year will be much of the same. Richardson is very strong, fast and of good character. If the Browns don’t get a replacement for Hillis ahead of us in the draft by draftring Richardsonm he should be available.
January 2nd, 2012 at 11:10 am
Need to grab Justin Blackmon with the 5th pick and then grab a solid OLB in the 2nd rd, we have lost our LB quickness and speed that made the Bucs D great…Our LBs cant cover and by the time they have been thrown on for 8plays straight then they cant stop the run
January 2nd, 2012 at 11:25 am
I like the hammock pics but Keuchley is a 10-15 guy, not a top 5 guy. If ever a year to trade back, it’s today.
January 2nd, 2012 at 11:32 am
@ Captain Stagger-
In years past I might agree with you…..but with the new rookie wage scale I think it totally changes things. You can go grab a guy 10 or 15 spots higher than he might be “slotted” to go and not really have to worry about it. Of course if you can trade down, add a few more picks, and still get your guy, then why not?
I’m an FSU fan so I’ve seen Kuechly a lot and the guy is a stud…apparently there’s a MLB at Arizona State that some are putting ahead of Kuechly, but I’d love to see us grab one of those two guys in the first and then concentrate on adding speed to our offense the entire rest of the draft…..add a couple of FA’s in the secondary and it could be a decent offseason
January 2nd, 2012 at 11:52 am
The bucs haven’t been able to draft any WRs with speed in the past, what makes you think the same idiot scouts can do it now?
January 2nd, 2012 at 11:58 am
It could be argued that the plan belonged to the Glazer boys…who insisted he build through the draft.
Not a fair assessment. The offensive line counts for most of that. Our supposedly improving oline of 2 years ago has sucked consistently. It was the one unit we thought was set. It is far from it. We need at least 2 replacements there…though it’s possible just a RT would improve their performance enough for now.
Blount is all heart, and has it in him to perform well. Remember when Jones was cut because he was no good? He went north and excelled. They had a good oline.
January 2nd, 2012 at 12:00 pm
We are so bad at so many positions, we can just pick the best available player, and I hope that’s what we do. I’m still pissed about passing up on Adrian Peterson because we had Cadillac. Whoever we pick, I just want them to be dynamic at their position. We tend to draft ok on our first round picks, but haven’t hit a home run in what seems like forever (we will see about Freeman). We need to hit a grand slam this year.
January 2nd, 2012 at 12:29 pm
@Hammock
Good point on the wage scale. I love Keuchley, he is a stud because he is smart. Not an athlete, but a football player. The guy from ASU is Vontaze Burfict. He is a personal foul machine, tried to tone it down and his play suffered so he is going to slip a bit. Good kid, but plays hot. Unless we get a discipline coach he would be a waste here. A freelance guy that roams the field and blows thing up, but no gap discipline. I think he would thrive on the steelers.
January 2nd, 2012 at 12:31 pm
@CreamicleBananaHammock
yes please to that draft! Finally a Bucs fan that can evaluate talent and understand the draft.
January 2nd, 2012 at 12:36 pm
Robert Griffin, trade Freeman for a 2nd or 3rd, fire Morris and re-start. This whole thing has been a disaster. When you draft a dude who didnt have a single winning season in college, how do you expect him to change the culture?
January 2nd, 2012 at 12:47 pm
The Bucs need offense badly . Take Trent Richardson. Then puck up some secondary players. To win in todays NFL you need to put up a lot of points and force the other team into throwing the ball. The Saints, Packers, Pats don’t have great defense. Just high powered offense.
January 2nd, 2012 at 1:26 pm
My gut tells me to take Mo Claiborne with Aqibs troubles and Ronde getting closer to retiring.
That being said, my heart says go for Trent Richardson.
RB’s aren’t the smart choice, but Richardson is a beast.
He reminds me of a taller MJD, and I don’t think anyone would have a more immediate impact.
On a side note, I don’t want to take a chance on Blackmon. His statistics are there, but I don’t like his size going into the nfl.
January 2nd, 2012 at 1:50 pm
Going to watch the Rose Bowl today, and dream of actually having the dominant O-line the Bucs’ have been building and touting for over 10 years. Not a first round priority, but maybe a second.
January 2nd, 2012 at 1:52 pm
1) I think Justin Blackmon if he is truly going to be a top 5-7 receiver in this league as projected. True number 1 receivers open up the entire offense which would help everyone like Willams, Benn, Briscoe, or whomever is on the roster next year. Most of the truly top offenses in this league have 1 if not 2 great receivers we have none. If the plan is to build arond Free he needs a special player.
2) Morris Claiborne: excellent corner definetly not as good as Patrick Peterson though, keep that in mind and picked in the 5th spot last year. Also he hasn’t faced many great qb’s this year, he was beaten multiple times by Georgia in the SEC Championship game.
3)Trent Richardson, you really don’t see rb’s or lb’s taken in the top 15 picks or so anymore because they are a dime a dozen, especially on the rb side. This guy might merit that especially if the top 2 are gone.
I could see us trading back as well to pick up some more picks, it’s actually too bad that Matt Barkley decided to return.. would have made this pick potentially even a greater bargaining chip.
My 2 cents anyway.. really hope the firing of Ra means they realize the time to move forward with a true plan and add some much needed Vets at key spots that cannot just be filled in the draft.