Should The Bucs Take A Run At Osi?
May 11th, 2012
So the Bucs, which are loading up on Rutgers players like Joe does with cold beers on a steamy west-central Florida weekend afternoon, have already had a major hit to their defensive-line depth when second-year defensive end Da’Quan Bowers tore an Achilles tendon working out yesterday.
Bowers is scheduled to have surgery today. It is very likely Bowers is done for the season, though there is a small chance he could rejoin the team in December — provided the Bucs don’t put him on the injured reserve list.
Depth was a key goal along the defensive front for new Bucs coach Greg Schiano and already that goal has been hijacked by Bowers’ injury. The Bucs already are counting on oft-injured Gerald McCoy and previously hobbled Brian Price to stay healthy, which neither has done in their NFL careers.
It almost makes Joe wonder if the Bucs will be looking to perhaps make a trade?
Rumor had it, via Jason LaCanfora, in his last days working for the NFL Network, that Giants stud defensive lineman Osi Umenyiora can be had for a third round pick.
The trick here is that after this seaosn, Umenyiora will be a free agent (unless he re-ups a contract) and isn’t exactly injury-free as well.
Oh, and his contract likely will be steep.
So perhaps the Bucs, with their Giants connections on the coaching staff on defense, may be interested in Umenyiora? Look, Joe likes GMC a lot and Price seems to be a good guy but to bank on both playing 16 games without an injury is a gamble until and/or unless they prove they can stay healthy.
Until the Bucs linebacker unit and secondary is settled, and both areas were beyond porous last season, the Bucs simply must put heat on the quarterback and stop the run up front.
Perhaps Umenyiora can help with that goal. Bowers is out, and now with a bum knee on his left leg and a blown Achilles on his right leg, one wonders how effective he will be whenever he recovers.
May 11th, 2012 at 9:41 am
If we have the resources and no better options, why the hell not?
May 11th, 2012 at 9:43 am
Seeing as Osi is already 30 it doesn’t sound like he would fit Dominik’s long-term plan.
May 11th, 2012 at 9:46 am
Make it happen. He has 3 or 4 10 sacks seasons left!!!
May 11th, 2012 at 9:50 am
Osi> McCoy
May 11th, 2012 at 10:01 am
I’ve sent my best wishes and get well soon card to Daquan. These things happen, however unfortunate, but it’s football. As bad as this is, in some respects we are fortunate. This is not the middle of the season. It is 1 week before the 1st OTA. As much upside as Bowers has, we were not in the middle of a playoff run where we were dependent on his play to be competitive as was Chicago last season with the loss of Cutler and or Forte. We have time to address this situation.
This is where Mark Dominik and staff need to move swiftly to address depth at LDE. We should not be looking internally to move players around, hoping some rookie can step up and be that guy, or shopping for a stop-gap alternative expecting Bowers to make an early recovery. We have the time, the wallet, and the benefit of secondary free agency and the trade route to go get a veteran LDE capable of competing with Bennet for playing time. If Osi is the guy, then we should go for it!
Response time is key here. I know how I felt after hearing of Bowers injury. I could imagine how this news affects team morale. To keep morale high, take advantage of OTAs, and get a new player acclimated with the defensive scheme, this should be resolved well before training camp starts.
This doesn’t have to be a step back and could possibly be a step forward if this is addressed in a timely fashion with the right personnel! Get a move on Mark, Go Bucs!
May 11th, 2012 at 10:18 am
Mark needs to move swifly to cover up for his bad drafting the last two seasons. Not knowing about Price and taking a risk on Bowers is coming back to haunt the great GM. A move for Osi or another top player at that position is a must. Otherwise the great draft he had this year doesn’t look as impressive and puts the target back on his back.. And we haven’t seen how Black is going to respond to new coaching.. If Black isn’t 100% better this year then I believe the writing is on the wall for the Rock Star. I wouldn’t think any GMcam last thru that many mistakes. Of course some how Loomis is still employed.
May 11th, 2012 at 10:26 am
Ive stated on other posts yesterday, that we should kick the tires on Osi or Freeney, with the former being more realistic than the latter, but I really believe both could be had if the price was right.
But with a day to think about it, both are rental players at best, if we don’t give them new contract extensions. Are we really that serious playoff contenders? Vegas o/u on wins is at 6 to 6.5. If you ask fans, hardly any predict more than 8 wins, unless they’ve imbibed.
I just don’t think the Glazers, who just coughed up 3 years of Man U debt service payments on free agents this offseason are willing to go out and drop another year of debt service payments on an injury plagued DE when it’s a transition year with a new coach, and expectations are that we probably won’t make the playoffs.
This smells like the play will be to get a veteran, low-cost FA to fill this hole to me.
May 11th, 2012 at 10:30 am
Very tough break for Da’Quan, I feel bad for him and the team. Really the first bad news the Buccaneers have had to deal with since the end of last season.
I hope he makes a full recovery and can come back next year. That’s all I have to type right now.
May 11th, 2012 at 10:30 am
I’m with Big Picture guy on this one…. get a lower cost guy that is the ying to Bennett’s yang and take a sniff next year at a top UFA if you feel like the situation is closer to being ideal and making a big run.
The reality is that Osi is a guy you add as the last piece of a defense not a guy you bring in when you are rebuilding. This is the first year under a new coach, we shouldn’t be a in a huge hurry. Particularly when our defense seems consistently injured.
May 11th, 2012 at 10:31 am
Guess we can pick up Hayneswurf again! Hell no! Take a flier on Osi, all he wants is to be paid as much as Kiwanuka.
May 11th, 2012 at 10:34 am
Tearing your achilles tendon is a freak accident. Any one of us could do it going for a run or playing a game of pick up basketball. It has nothing to do with the knee injury he had last year, and that knee is fine he proved it toward the end of last season. I would love to get Osi in the mean time, Osi Clayborn and Bennett sound good to me. With a chance of Bowers coming back at the end of the season. However there is also andre carter, older but would not cost a draft pick and would be cheaper to retain. If Bennett breaks out this year he will be do a big contract as well.
May 11th, 2012 at 10:36 am
DO IT!!! Give him a 2 year deal.
May 11th, 2012 at 10:51 am
Using Andre Carter in a rotation with Bennett would probably be a good scenario. He wouldn’t break the bank and would give some pass rush. How much does he have left however and would he take a short term deal?
May 11th, 2012 at 10:51 am
no to carter. we need someone to step in. dont need to rehab another player. that said ive always like carter.
May 11th, 2012 at 10:53 am
3rd round pick for one year? Only way I’d do it is if he’d agree to a 2 or 3 year extension shortly after the trade.
Also that Rutgers line at the beginning was forced and terrible.
May 11th, 2012 at 10:53 am
Why should we get an aging non-tackling Diva with knee problems ???
May 11th, 2012 at 10:53 am
I wouldn’t mind the bucs going after Osi, but the compensation would be too much: the Giants probably want high draft selection and Osi has publicly stated that he wants to get paid hansomely.
May 11th, 2012 at 10:56 am
“So the Bucs, which are loading up on Rutgers players like Joe does with cold beers on a steamy west-central Florida weekend afternoon”
So at first Joe acts like this is no big deal then says this ??? Is this just a case of 2 different writers on 2 different pages or just humor ??
May 11th, 2012 at 11:01 am
Sure hope we don’t have any more of this type of good fortune.
BTW
What in the world are we going to do if Free has a serious injury? We might struggle to win two.
May 11th, 2012 at 11:05 am
Thing is, I believe Bennett would have got the starting nod over Bowers anyway. Remember, Schiano’s first priority on defense is to stop the run. Bennett was far and away our best run-stopping DE last season, and one of the best in the league (in fact, if you buy into ProFootballFocus’s meticulous stat-taking, Bennett was the second best run-stopper out of the DE position last season – only Terrell Suggs did better). Yes, Bowers took over the starting LDE spot once Bennett missed two games through injury, but that was under Rah. New coach – no-one’s starting spot is safe. If Schiano wants to stop the run, Bennett would have been the starter this season, and Bowers would have been used more as a rush end on passing downs. Sign a low-level pass-rush specialist to take over from Bennett on third down, or used Watson there more often in nickel packages, and the loss of Bowers isn’t as bad as it first appears, though no doubt it will have an effect.
May 11th, 2012 at 11:21 am
Brad:
What exactly did Dominik not know about Price?
May 11th, 2012 at 11:24 am
Why are we always suckers for every big name?
May 11th, 2012 at 11:47 am
Dominik can’t predict injuries any more than Bruce could anticipate Sears mental breakdown.
Or Caddy’s knee issues.
Or the enlarged heart of Gaines.
Or Tanard smoking weed.
Or Talib’s problems.
But blame we have, haven’t we? One of the jettison justifications if I recall.
May 11th, 2012 at 12:22 pm
@GurS
I believe that to be a contradiction there. “A low-level pass-rush specialist”? What the hell is that? There is no such thing in the NFL buddy, anyone who can successfully rush the QB in the NFL is either a.) making big money or b.) no team is going to let go cheap.
May 11th, 2012 at 1:32 pm
Fried-day afternoon.
T-Minus 3hrs 28 min and counting…
“We have twist off”
May 11th, 2012 at 1:33 pm
Eric:
🙂
May 11th, 2012 at 1:35 pm
I believe the Bucs would be wise to build an indoor practice facility……… and now, like Chucky had at Disney.
May 11th, 2012 at 2:10 pm
BigMacAttack:
AAAAHHH!!!
May 11th, 2012 at 6:15 pm
So far, two of Boy Band General Manager Mark Dominik’s draft picks are definite keepers. Two. Everyone else is a bust or the jury is still out.
May 11th, 2012 at 6:48 pm
Here’s a question why does it matter ? The draft comp if Dom is throwing away almost every second round pick onto a bust or a player that gets hurt.why not trade it for some one proven for the d we need proven leadership on the d. Also I’m not saying osi is the guy but if we’re talkin trade picks I’m all for trading if the player is proven 30 years or not . What do u think JOE ?
May 11th, 2012 at 9:43 pm
I believe we should make a run at him for the simple fact he can show all these young guns how to play in the NFL he is proven unlike mccoy price and you can even say clayborn… a nice big time vet would be a welcome!
May 12th, 2012 at 11:25 am
Bowers doesn’t have a bum knee. The knee is fine now. He does however have a torn achilles tendon and that means no Bowers for this season. He will go on IR and they will either wait until the roster cuts and pick someone up (my guess is it’s this option) or they will trade for a DE. It’s a shame because he had a huge upside and was really coming on last season. He’ll be back.