Ed Gant Is This Year’s Kareem Huggins
May 18th, 2012
It seems like every year Bucs fans grasp onto the hopes of a player that has at best limited odds of making the team.
Just by listening to Bucs fans periodically pine for wide receiver Ed Gant, Joe’s pretty sure he is this year’s Kareem Huggins, an extreme bubble guy.
Good guy Mark Cook of PewterReport.com recently held a live chat where he was peppered with a question about Gant making the Bucs.
tward369
Last preseason, wide receiver Ed Gant showed signs of having some promising talent. Yet, we did not see him on the field last season. In your opinion, what are the odds of him getting playing time this season, and why?Mark Cook
Ed Gant is very intriguing. He has great size and has a totally different body type than any other Buccaneers receiver. He also has really good speed. I thought he looked really good Tuesday, but he is still raw and has a disadvantage to guys like Stroughter and Parker for that reason. I believe if he improves a few things, like footwork in his routes, and can grasp the playbook, then he has a real shot to make the roster this year.
Joe’s not so sure Gant will make the Bucs, though Dezmon Briscoe, who was the Bucs’ No. 5 receiver last year, has done just about everything to make the Bucs cut him, short of dropping a steamy No. 2 on Greg Schiano’s office carpet. So there could be an opening.
Then again the Bucs did go out and sign Vincent Jackson, so one would believe every receiver has dropped down a notch meaning Sammie Stroughter is right now the No. 5 receiver behind Jackson, Mike Williams, Arrelious Benn and Preston Parker.
May 18th, 2012 at 8:10 am
Another terrible move by Raheem and Olson. Ed Gant had the best preseason was the only true vertical threat we had has great speed and sat on the practice squad all year while safeties crept up to the line and took away all of the short passes Olson loved. The guy is a deep burner and would have helped just by his pure speed and nobody knew but the fans. Ed Gants cousin is Phllip Buchanon who was one of our fasted DB’s now on the Redskins. Hopefully if nothing else we have one guy with deep speed this year. Love Vincent Jackson but he does not have great speed and neither do Benn, Williams or Stroughter.
May 18th, 2012 at 8:19 am
I like Kareem Huggins, he was fast and could cath, can’t say if he was a good blocker though. Michael Smith reminds me of Huggins. Gant is good with potential and he’s got speed, I mean he’s a 4.4 guy and at 6’3 isn’t all that small. Give him a shot, see if he can win a spot on the roster.
May 18th, 2012 at 8:19 am
I like Kareem Huggins, he was fast and could cath, can’t say if he was a good blocker though. Michael Smith reminds me of Huggins. Gant is good with potential and he’s got speed, I mean he’s a 4.4 guy and at 6’3 isn’t all that small. Give him a shot, see if he can win a spot on the roster.
May 18th, 2012 at 8:47 am
I hope Gant makes it, he showed promise.
May 18th, 2012 at 8:56 am
Maybe Ed Gant never learned the playbook. like another RB we have all heard about. We keep Sammy & Preston over Briscoe why? It looks like Briscoe caught nearly everything thrown his way, yet he is below these other WR. Maybe Briscoe didn’t like to run the endaround that was so successful the past few seasons…
I like our WR depth with Briscoe & Gant not without. Big & fast with good hands, much better than small & not as fast with questionable hands. Not saying I know a good WR from a bad WR but we do need fast players who are tall so that they can go up and get a slight off Target high pass from Freeman. I can’t wait to have the season start.
May 18th, 2012 at 8:59 am
I don’t know how this will play out, but if I had to guess, Gant’s chances are slim. Don’t forget they signed Tiquan Underwood to a 2yr contract, so I would guess he makes the team.
Dez Briscoe knows he has an opportunity elsewhere and he wants to be released, but he’s going about it the wrong way. This is pure conjecture on my part but what else could it be? The guy has talent but is very immature. I don’t expect that he’s a Buc long-term.
May 18th, 2012 at 9:17 am
I didn’t realize that Brisoe had six TD’s last year. Twice as many as Mike Williams and four more than Winslow.
Winslow only had two TD”s the entire season?
I am going to have to learn not to look at the stat sheet from last year.
Yuck.
May 18th, 2012 at 9:30 am
Parker is pretty good. No one will benefit more from Vincent Jackson than he will, will make the safety one less worry for him.
Parker is a legit slot guy, and the #3 on this team. He runs pretty solid routes, has a knack for finding the seam in the defense, doesn’t have home run speed, but is very shifty. Add to that he was the only guy out there Freeman had confidence in down the stretch last year, and this season is looking to be a good one for him.
I think Briscoe is just immature. To him, he’s already famous and made it. He has a ton of talent, and size, but you’ve got to have the right mentality to make the most of it.
I do not think Stroughter will make this team, but he’ll catch on somewhere. The timing of the injuries he has had is what has really killed him. But he gets open, has decent hands, and can return kicks. But he and Parker are too similar, don’t see them carrying both.
May 18th, 2012 at 9:42 am
And Benn goes at the end of the line. Jackson, Williams, Parker, Briscoe, Benn, Stroughter.
I feel like I’m the only one who actually watched Benn play last year. Single coverage every play, never got open. Ran terrible routes, had no break, could not get separation. The only times he got the ball downfield were on blown coverages. The only way Olson could figure to get him the ball was to hand it to him because the guy just could not get open.
May 18th, 2012 at 9:55 am
[buccin: Joe wrote a post about Brian Price’s situation last night. — Joe]
May 18th, 2012 at 10:01 am
Does anyone think that Dezmon Briscoe might be trying to get himself released from the Bucs? I’m not excusing his lack of appearances at any of the OTAs, which if I recall correctly, are not mandatory. But perhaps his thinking is that he’s buried on the depth chart and might have a better chance to catch on and be more productive with another team. I understand he’s involved in some off the field drama, and personally I like the kid, but he really should make every effort to be here and to establish himself with the new regime, because he very well could be the odd man out, especially if someone like Ed Gant shows promise in camp.
If our guys can stay healthy, we have V-Jax, Mike Williams, Benn, and Preston Parker all likely ahead of Briscoe on the depth chart. If he were able to go to a team like Miami, he would be at worst, their second best WR, in my opinion. Maybe he or his agent knows this, and they are trying to see if he can be moved or are waiting for his release. In any event, this isn’t the way to go about handling your business.
May 18th, 2012 at 10:50 am
At Nick Benn is fast and V Jack at game speed is very fast!
May 18th, 2012 at 10:52 am
@thegregwithul I definantly agree with you dude. Seems like briscoe would be the odd man out even if he did come to training camp. I mean Vjax, mike will, benn are all almost locks to be in front of him. Probably even preston Parker the forgotten man. Who played quite a big role last year should be. That makes him 4 – 5th on the depth chart at best. If we see this him and his agent have to see this. Not to mention Underwood’s 2 year deal and a couple of wr’s in camp. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if he wanted to get released eventhough it shows whatever team that he goes to that Dez is scared of competition and to fight to have his spot let alone keep it. Dez hasn’t earned enough in this league to do that. I mean kid has talent but does he have the work ethic? Idk I obviously don’t know dez but this can be outside perception.
May 18th, 2012 at 10:58 am
knuck:
Bingo!
He wants to live (the twisted perception) of an NFL lifestyle but isn’t willing to put in the work to stay in the NFL.
Maybe he isn’t aware, but all of these women and these two-bit reality shows will vanish (along with his cash) when the NFL checks quit coming in.
May 18th, 2012 at 11:04 am
Woman vansih when the cash stops flowing?
As soon as the last meat on the bone has been picked clean.
May 18th, 2012 at 11:13 am
2nd round pick David..has signed
May 18th, 2012 at 11:14 am
Where is Huggy Bear anyways? Any team showing interest in him?
May 18th, 2012 at 11:39 am
Thanks @Joe. I mean I like dez as a player and think he has the potential to be a stud. He even doesn’t seem like a bad guy from interviews and ahem.. reality tv. But he should want to get in and prove that he’s the best receiver. I mean obviously he isn’t getting vjax’s spot. But no one’s guaranteed that 2nd spot. Mwill had a down year, the previous regime drafted benn in the 2nd round not this one, and preston parker still has alot of work to do. Dez should be working his a$$ of but he’s not and in the long run its gonna hurt him.
May 18th, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Briscoe is a better reciever then Benn, in my opinion. He’s been productive when given the chance to play in games. He’s got good hands and is good in the redzone (I shouldn’t have to explain how awful our redzone offense was last year) In the 12 games he played in, he scored 6 TDs, more then our top two recievers combined (Winslow/Williams) It’s a shame he’s not been showing up to the OTA’s because I think if he came out and showed the new coaches what he’s got, that he could be #3-4. (Vjax, Williams, Briscoe/Benn)
May 18th, 2012 at 1:58 pm
I though P. Parker was a FA. When did he resign!? Cause I thought he would f signed elsewhere for bigger money after being so clutch on 3rd down.
May 18th, 2012 at 3:48 pm
Briscoe was at OTA’s today.
May 18th, 2012 at 7:34 pm
@DRam55 Parker was an exclusive rights FA, he had few options but to resign (along with Blount).
Yes Briscoe was there today, pictures on the Bucs page will confirm it. He missed some voluntary activities with the new coach which could be legitimate excuses. I think he has the talent to have a spot and contribute on this roster, and other than his missing of 3 days of an off-season program I have no reason to question his work ethic. Let’s not pile on him so quickly.
May 20th, 2012 at 8:56 am
I talked (too much maybe) about Gant last year. Kid looked great then. Fast, physical and spent extra time before and after working on details. No idea about his work in the film room or in the playbook but was pretty shocked due to his physical abilities that he did not stick.
As for the Benn comments, he has been one of the best guys cutting (pre surgery) and seemed to get back to it quickly. Not sure what you were watching where you did not see separation. I will watch him in TC this year to see if that has changed but his first year he spent a large % of the time open and being ignored. Notably last year, even when he was thrown the ball he seemed to have spent time in the same course as M.Will on dropping passes.