Forget Courtland Finnegan And Brent Grimes
March 2nd, 2012
The Bucs very well could be looking at a starting cornerback duo next season of Myron Lewis and E.J. Biggers, if Ronde Barber retires and troubled Aqib Talib is jailed after his trial, or suspended after his trial by NFL warden commissioner Roger Goodell.
This is why Joe has been banging the drum for Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik to pick up a solid free agent cornerback.
Well, the talent pool just got a lot shallower this morning. Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network reports via Twitter that two favorite targets of Bucs fans, Courtland Finnegan and Brent Grimes, of the Titans and Dixie Chicks, respectively, will be slapped with a franchise tag by their respective teams.
@JasonLaCanfora: Falcons are notifying CB Brent Grimes he will be franchised. … and Titans likely to tag CB Courtland Finnegan.
The Finnegan news is a shocker because the Titans’ beat writers have all but written Finnegan off from returning to Nashville.
This news should be a sobering reminder just how thin the Bucs are in the secondary and demonstrates why the thought of drafting Trent Richardson would be shameful. With Grimes and Finnegan, allegedly, off the market, it is even more imperative Dominik lands cornerback Morris Claiborne in the draft next month.
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:01 am
Still be a few upgrades out there for us. Porter, Carr, Rodgers, Marshall to name a few.
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:05 am
Brandon Carr time ! hopefully he won’t be tagged.
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:06 am
You pretty have to draft Claiborne now, right?
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:08 am
This would be good news hopefully towards getting Curtis Lofton. One could argue MLB a bigger need than CB as MLB is weak in the draft this year and some ggod talent at corner in Rds 1 & 2.
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:10 am
If Carr is gone I’ll return solidly to the Claiborne camp. I’m still of the mind that we can get the best value out of our first 3 picks if we go T-Rich, CB, LB (or LB, CB) and sign Carr in FA.
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:18 am
Jason La Canfora also reported that WR’s Vincent Jackson, Dwayne Bowe and Stevie Johnson will likely get tagged by Monday.
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:24 am
Jason is slowly becoming “The Professor” of the NFL Network. The guy right about 25% of the time! Note that he hedged his bet on Finnegan by using the term “Likely”.
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:25 am
If Bowe is tagged, Carr can’t be. We should pursue whichever of the 2 isn’t tagged.
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:33 am
I stand by my opinion that Trent Richardson is the pick, however, if the CB FA pool is severly diminished, you can’t pass up Claiborne.
That said, I don’t think Claiborne is there at #5. Rams trade back to #4 and take Claiborne. Then 1 of 2 things happen, we trade back (if we have a partner) and take another DB or LB -OR- We take Richardson.
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:34 am
I still really doubt Finnegan will be franchised….I guess we will see
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:34 am
Kryq Says:
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:18 am
Jason La Canfora also reported that WR’s Vincent Jackson, Dwayne Bowe and Stevie Johnson will likely get tagged by Monday.
No he said those guys are in limbo and not sure if they will be tagged or not. Brees, Forte, Lynch, Campbell, Welker, Prater and Scobee are the likely tags he reported.
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:38 am
If Claiborne is gone, trade down as there are a selection of very good corners in this draft.
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:38 am
Better get on the phone with the Eagles and start working that trade for Asante Samuel. I we manage to get Samuel via trade, we could sign a 2nd tier CB like Richard Marshall or Eric Wright and be good.
If the Eagles are willing we should swap first round picks for Asante and one of their 2nd rounders. (they have two this year) Might even be able to get their 4th rounder too.
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:38 am
Richardson and Claiborne should be 1(a) and 1(b) on their draft board. Highly unlikely that both will still be available, take whichever one is there.
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:40 am
I must of misread my apologies.
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:43 am
Carr and Nicks need to #1 priorities for FA and then Lofton or Tulloch
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:43 am
Adam Schefter just tweeted that the Titans WILL NOT place the franchise tag on Finnegan
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:43 am
Schefter is now reporting the Titans will not be franchising Finnegan. Interesting…
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:45 am
Cortland Finnegan was informed he won’t be frachised. C’mon Dominick!
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:48 am
Who would you guys rather have Carr or Finnegan?
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:51 am
I’d believe Schefty over LaConfused any day.
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:52 am
big007hed Says:
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:48 am
Who would you guys rather have Carr or Finnegan?
——————————————————————
Carr for me personally but I’d take either one in a heartbeat.
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:55 am
https://twitter.com/#!/AdamSchefter/statuses/175606757949833216
Schefter says not so fast.. LaConfora zero creditibility jumps the gun
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:57 am
I really miss the days when Schefter was with NFL Network…..he was the man, La Canfora is just a lazy eyed plagiarist
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:59 am
This is all the Glazers fault!!!
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:59 am
If we don’t land a top FA CB & then stupidly draft Trent Richardson I’d be absolutely stunned & disappointed. I’ve heard all of the Pro-Richardson folks on here and have yet to see a legitmate argument that convinces me we will be a significantly better football team by drafting him instead of going in a different direction.
See recent 1st round “top talent” RBs draft history since the Bucs won the Superbowl: Who’ve been failures so far, just terrible, injury prone or just average, or split time at RB- Knowshown Moreno, CJ Spiller, Ronnie Brown, Cadillac Williams, Mark Ingram, Ryan Matthew, Javid Best, Donald Brown, Beanie Wells, Darren McFadden, Johnathan Stewart, Felix Jones, Lauarance Maroney, Joesph Addai, Chris Perry, Kevin Jones
Mixed Success: Marshawn Lynch, Reggie Bush, DeAngelo Williams, Cedric Benson, Willis McGahee
Sucesses: Rashard Mendenhall (only SB winner of successes), Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson (only top 7 pick), Stephen Jackson, Larry Johnson
26 RB’s taken in the 1st round: Only 5 legit successes that lived up to their lofty pick (19.2%)
5 mixed success another (19.2%). Even if you lump the mixed successes (which isn’t that great for the 5th overall pick) it still only brings it up to (38.4%) chance of getting in right.
61.6% chance we get it wrong. Just say not to Richardson.
March 2nd, 2012 at 12:04 pm
Glad to hear we’ll have a chance to go after Courtland, now that he won’t be franchised.
March 2nd, 2012 at 12:05 pm
How long will it be before the NFL Network realizes that La Confora is just a blind squirrel? Big ups to Schefter on the “in your face loser boy” timing of his response though…
The reality is there are a lot of solid guys out there we can land without breaking the bank. I have a lot of faith in Shelton Quarles and his pro evaluation talents. I do think we need a big fish or two, Nicks from NO would be amazing as well, but I think the biggest bang long term will be from just solid every down players with a desire to play the game hard and who understand the play book is more than just a collection of “suggested reading material”.
March 2nd, 2012 at 12:32 pm
This is ALL Gruden’s fault.
March 2nd, 2012 at 12:44 pm
@ Matthew
“I’ve heard all of the Pro-Richardson folks on here and have yet to see a legitmate argument that convinces me we will be a significantly better football team by drafting him instead of going in a different direction.”
LMAO. If you don’t see the legitimacy in the argument you’re blind. Take your pick of the arguments out there:
1) Trent turns a good young offense into an elite young offense in an offense-first league; Trent is as close to a sure thing as Adrian Peterson was when he came out. Elite offensive talent wins in this league and Trent would come in and be the best player on an offense that lacks elite offensive playmakers.
2) A good running game is a young QB’s best friend; Blount is one-dimensional thus allowing defenses to be able to easily diagnose our play.
3) Possessing the ball via the run game keeps our rebuilding defense off the field
4) Because of the depth and talent at corner in the Draft and Free Agent cornerback classes we don’t HAVE to draft Claiborne at #5. Dennard, Trumaine Johnson, Chase Minnifield, etc. will be available in Round 2 and have 1st round talent.
March 2nd, 2012 at 12:49 pm
Didn’t Jason La Canfora also report that Mike Sherman would be the Bucs new head coach? How did that work out? Jason La Canfora is a fountain of misinformation.
March 2nd, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Grimes is simply an overachiever. I don’t see him going anywhere else and performing like he has in Atlanta. Plus Atlanta has no one else aside from Robinson and he’s sucked since signing with the Falcons. So, the Falcons HAD to tag Grimes!
Better them than us! Now, Finnegan’s a different story, I’d love to see him with Claiborne, Barber & Talib as our four cornerbacks!
March 2nd, 2012 at 1:35 pm
@SensibleBuc….so you’re saying that a 19% success rate is meaningless because when it comes to Trent Richardson…. ‘stats are for losers’? Personally, I think those stats present a pretty compelling argument for not taking a RB at #5…especially a RB who just had knee surgery, no matter how minor.
March 2nd, 2012 at 1:57 pm
@Bobby thank you for actually looking at facts/statistics & not just relying on conjecture & fantasy football & old time NFL dogma to back up preconceived notions.
-Instead of making unverifiable statements such as “Richardson makes a young offense elite!?” What statistic or fact backs this up? There isn’t one, it’s simply a biased opinion.
-Alabama didn’t even have an “elite offense” finishing outside the top 25 offenses in CFB at 31st overall!
20th Scoring Offense, 16th overall Rushing, & 69th overall Passing. And that was at the CFB level. (Although why let facts get in the way of a bad opinion)
People mistake me for hating Richardson or saying he’s talentless simply because I think it would be dumb for the Bucs to draft him. I think Richardson “COULD” be really good, but he might also not be good & I either way I don’t think he’s good for the Bucs compared to our other needs.
March 2nd, 2012 at 7:33 pm
@ Bobby
“so you’re saying that a 19% success rate is meaningless”
LOL. First, where did I say that?
Second, in the grand scheme of things…that number IS practically meaningless without context of the scheme, talent around the player, team need at the time the player was drafted and value of drafting that player at that pick…oh yeah and the fact that Matthew used his personal subjective opinion in grading the “success” of the RBs.
Lastly, how much weight should we place on the success or failure of players who were drafted by other organizations using different player evaluations, have different team needs and different draft strategy when we’re doing an evaluation of OUR team, OUR needs and this specific player? It’s pretty low on the totem pole to me.
March 2nd, 2012 at 7:57 pm
@ Matthew
“@Bobby thank you for actually looking at facts/statistics & not just relying on conjecture & fantasy football & old time NFL dogma to back up preconceived notions.”
LOL! Dude you can do anything you want with numbers. There is no Moneyball-level quantitative analysis in football because it’s one of the truest “team” sports. The quality of your teammates substantially affects an individual player’s output…but I’ll play anyway:
You want to see what I can do with numbers?
T-Rich: 4600 career all purpose yards (rounded up), 43 TDs and 5.8 yards per rush average in college.
AD: 4500 career all purpose yards (rounded up), 42 TDs and 5.4 yards per rush average in college.
Guess we should draft T-Rich solely because he had greater production in college that Adrian Peterson. I could argue that he’s worth more than AD because he produced in all 3 phases of the game and already knows how to produce as part of a two-headed monster rushing attack. We can play the numbers game all day.
” think Richardson “COULD” be really good, but he might also not be good & I either way I don’t think he’s good for the Bucs compared to our other needs.”
The NFL Draft is a crapshoot. Nobody knows what anybody is going to be! Is Andrew Luck going to be a great player? Would you bet your life on that? Why did so many teams pass on Tom Brady? Who knows? So you take the best value at your pick, trust the grade you have on the kid and hope for the best.
Picking T-Rich (based on potential/projecting his talents to fit within Schiano’s tough physical running offense) would give us the best value out the #5 pick because
1) He would have the highest grade out of all the players who are projected to be left (Claiborne, Blackmon, Kuelchy, etc.) and carries the highest grade for an RB since AD (96 grade per ESPN).
2) There’s a higher probability that our other needs can be filled through free agency or the later rounds of the Draft (the talent at corner and LB is more deep and talented than RB in both the Draft and FA).
3) Even though our offense is devoid of elite playmakers but we still were at top 10 offense for the last half of 2010. If Trent can simply come close to what he did in college our offense will improve immensely because teams would not be able to tee off on what we’re going to do with him in the backfield.