Darius Slay A Sleeper At Corner
March 28th, 2013
OK Bucs fans, the NFL draft begins four weeks from tonight. Time for Joe to start focusing a bit more on the draft.
Earlier today, Joe brought a video from his good friend, “The Commish,” Justin Pawlowski of WHFS-FM 98.7. Each weekday late afternoon/evening, Joe will try to bring a potential prospect Bucs fans may be interested in, heavily focused on cornerback which is a crying need for the Bucs.
Now a lot of Bucs fans have pointed to Johnthan Banks, a corner at Mississippi State, who may fall to the Bucs in the second round. (Joe emphasizes, “may.”)
All the attention on the Mississippi State product may be taking the spotlight off his teammate who just may be a big time sleeper, that would be fellow cornerback Darius Slay.
Now if Bucs rock star general mananger Mark Dominik is looking for a well-rounded athlete, Slay is the guy. He was a basketball and track star in high school and started 12 games his first year on the Starkville campus.
Slay is known as a tough guy who is able to use his hands to battle receivers and force incompletions though at times he can get worked with speedy receives.
Dominik has stated the crop of corners is three rounds deep. Joe firmly expects Dominik to draft two corners. Might Slay be the second corner off the board for the Bucs?
March 28th, 2013 at 7:02 pm
He will draft no corners in the first 3 rounds
Trade for Revis
Re-structure Wrigt for 5 mil ayear
Draft Tyrann Mathieu in the early 4th round
1. Tyler Eifert
2. Hankins/Jenkins
3. Quinton Patton
4. Tyrann Mathieu
4. Chase Thomsd
5. Shamarko Thomas
6. Knile Davis
6. Ricky Wagner
March 28th, 2013 at 7:13 pm
I myself know zilch about this guy, but I have seen comments from a few ”scouts” saying that they watched the Dogs’ secondary to see Banks, but noticed Slay, who stood out.
March 28th, 2013 at 7:15 pm
@andrew 2
you couldn’t be more wrong.we absolutely will draft a cb if not two in the first 3 rnds.this whole thread was to discuss slay and his potential yet again you bring revis into it.speculation! The only truth, we WILL draft a cb by rnd 4.we constantly question athlete’s character and have been shredding Eric wright so tyrann mathieu is the answer? Guy was given 3 separate chances to stop smoking pot and failed…but Personally idc what the player’s off field attitude is as long as he plays well on the field and helps the team win.
March 28th, 2013 at 7:19 pm
@Andrew2 I would bet you NONE of the players will be drafted by the bucs. We will draft not one but 2 corners in this draft. Cross out Eifert Dom wants to see Stocker in a fulltime role.
March 28th, 2013 at 7:21 pm
And Mathieu will be gone before the 4th round. Sf or Pats will take him earlier
March 28th, 2013 at 7:27 pm
As good a time as any to put my mock up as well, since it included Slay.
Round 1, Pick 13 (13)
CB Johnthan Banks or DT Kawann Short
Round 2, Pick 11 (43)
CB David Amerson or DT Sylvester Williams (was coached by Butch Davis)
Round 3, Pick 11 (73)
– CB Darius Slay
Round 4, Pick 15 (112)
OLB Chase Thomas
Round 4, Pick 29 (126) (From Patriots)
QB Landry Jones
Round 5, Pick 14 (147)
DE Lavar Edwards
Round 6, Pick 13 (181)
FB Lonnie Pryor
Round 6, Pick 28 (196) (From Broncos through Eagles)
TE Ryan Otten
March 28th, 2013 at 7:28 pm
A guy named Slay has to be good.
“The Slayer”
March 28th, 2013 at 7:36 pm
I’m thinking big Moves
Trade up grab Millner/ or stay 13 and get DT from Missouri
March 28th, 2013 at 7:38 pm
OK I will play too. Here is my dream draft….
1. Jarvis Jones – OLB
2. Margus Hunt – DE
3. Tyrann Mathieu – CB
4. Logan Ryan – CB
4. Denard Robinson – Slot/ KR
5. Landry Jones – QB
6. 2 picks, who knows?
March 28th, 2013 at 7:40 pm
Hey everyone here is a great link to keep an eye out on any new players signed and cap hits.. Hope you like it..
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/tampa-bay-buccaneers/cap-hit/
March 28th, 2013 at 7:51 pm
@ MIKE J
I saw exactly the same thing. Mayock and McShay both said it. Said he looked like he should be a much higher draft pick than Banks.
March 28th, 2013 at 8:21 pm
And Kaput- where are you lurking? Please remind us how far the Bucs are under the cap?
March 28th, 2013 at 9:00 pm
Tavon Austin in the first. Banks in the second. Mathieu in the third. Trade 2014 for revis and there ya go we are scary good. No excuses for josh freeman and we might as well throw a package of future picks for Ryan mallet. Dude has so much potential. We won’t have a chance drafting a qb next year since we will trade our 2014 1st. Sorry joe, tavon on kick returns and mathieu on punt returns. Dear god we will be the best team in the NFC south. Cut wright even tho the hawk will be pissed about it. Let ronde retire and have mathieu take over as our new slot. Let’s go DOM. Sell tickets baby
March 28th, 2013 at 10:13 pm
Joe, if we took Slay, which pick do you think we would use?
March 28th, 2013 at 10:23 pm
I was researching Slay last night, looks like a solid 3rd rounder…but Mathieu, if there, would be my pick in the 3rd. Now if we go DT 1st, then CB 2nd, I would put money on Ryan or Trufant (if there)…
or Jamar Taylor. Check him out.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:30 pm
Banks is a way better corner than Slay. You can see it on the tape when Banks is matched up against their #1s and beating them more than Slay on #2 WRs. Ive seen it in a ton of games.
Slay has only been there 2 years in that time
Slay 64 tackles 0 sacks 6 int 1 ff 16 pd
Banks 134 tackles 3 sacks 8 int 4 ff 24 pd
^^it shows on film, Banks is way more physical and gives WRs problems, while Slay is more of a nuisance. Banks is better against the run and is a better ballhawk..12 forced turnovers to 7 as well as double tackles…also Banks is a more effective blitzer and Banks returns punts, Slay doesnt return kicks or punts
March 28th, 2013 at 10:46 pm
you know every seems to be getting worried about not getting great CBs when there really is no need to, and Ill tell you why. my theory is that with Schiano’s new aggressive blitz heavy style defense, its all about getting to the QB first and relying on getting enough pressure which will prevent the QB from getting comfortable and making a timely, accurate pass. I know, I know… a defense cant get to the QB when you have crappy CBs, but if we can perfect Schiano’s style of defense by getting to the QB regularly, which we did NOT do last season, then we would only need average CBs to make this defense work. Now even though getting a great CB like Revis would only help matters, its not necessarily the priority of this defense. this defense is all about the font seven, so if we can blitz and apply pressure effectively it will take the pressure off the back end of this defense. just my thoughts…
March 28th, 2013 at 10:49 pm
^^^^ but Banks character is in ? ….A ton of baggage…. 🙁
March 28th, 2013 at 11:02 pm
and also, a great thing about having a head coach who is fresh out of college is that he will know all of these players for the next couple of drafts because of his recruiting and actually going head to head against these players while at Rutgers. he has the inside track, which is great.
March 28th, 2013 at 11:31 pm
@Andrew1
Im sorry but I disagree entirely with your assessment of how the Bucs defense works. I would say linebackers are devalued because of all the blitzing, as well as the DL in general. CB is one of the top priorities and that is why our defense was exposed so early and often. CB’s need to excel in one on one coverage.
CB is VERY important in this scheme. Make no mistake, there WILL be at least one exceptionally talented corner on this defense before the opener. Whether thats Revis or a high draft pick is to be determined but we will not both lose out and Revis and then draft a corner with a 2nd or 3rd and call it a day. It just wont happen.
March 28th, 2013 at 11:51 pm
@ WestCoast
then we agree to disagree, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I respect different point of views. and in a sense you are right about one thing, LB and DL are devalued because the emphasis is on them working together as a group and not necessarily being individually talented. kind of like a clock, the individually pieces in a clock dont need to be special for it to work, they must work together in order for it to work properly. thats prolly a corny analogy but its the only one I can think of at this moment. lol
March 28th, 2013 at 11:59 pm
moreover, I truly believe our defense was exposed because we sucked at running Schiano’s blitz happy scheme as evidence of our 31st ranked sack defense. if your ganna blitz and leave our corners, especially sh!t corners like ours, on an island in 1 on 1 coverage you better get to the QB or else you are going to be in trouble. if you remember, to often QBs had all day to throw even while blitzing and our CBs paid the price. I def agree with you that we will upgrade that position, I just believe that if we run Schiano’s defense successfully even average CBs will do just fine.
March 29th, 2013 at 12:02 am
and as we all know our CBs are anything but average.
March 29th, 2013 at 12:08 am
@ WestCoast
its kinda like that old saying- “what came first, the chicken or the egg?”
March 29th, 2013 at 1:50 am
The only problem with your take is that your assuming the receivers were covered for *some* amount of time and that the blitz just couldn’t get it done. This is false. Go watch the Giants game (or highlights from it). Receivers were literally open before the ball got from the center to the quarterback. It was not more prevalent than it was in that game. The receivers lined up, did one move at the snap and were gone. Every time. The blitz never had chance even if we had guys come free.
Its not really a debatable topic. The corners are the main reason our pass D was so terrible.
March 29th, 2013 at 2:07 am
This guy ran a 4.31 at the combine. Good thought. I am also liking Jamar Taylor from Boise St. He shored up that D and was a Team Captain and First Team All Mountain West. He might be a good pick in the 2nd too.
March 29th, 2013 at 11:45 am
Darius Slay And Jamar Taylor both look good to me these guys have some attitude on the field. Something we didn’t show much of last season. From the CB position anyway.
Thanks joe for the highlight reel of Darius Slay.
March 29th, 2013 at 11:50 am
Bucs want the best player at a position and they have shown propensity lately to go after that, so I could see them trading up to get Milner if he is there at 4 or 5. I would exchange 1’s and give up a 4 to move up for him but I am not a GM. Bucs won’t tip their hand, Revis is a smoke screen, maybe, but I won’t be mad if we get him. You know they scouted him when thy had their eye on Barron last year.
March 29th, 2013 at 12:12 pm
I want what’s best for the team and I don’t think Revis is it. If he’s healthy I believe he’ll play well, but he would do too much damage to our young locker room. I may be right or wrong but that’s the way I see it.
I suspect if the Bucs get him we’ll hear about he wants to be a leader on the team…but he’s not the kind of guy that mentors young players and he has never really been much of a leader…just a good player.
And that leadership would go out the window at the end of this season when he sits out camps for more money.
March 29th, 2013 at 1:58 pm
Slay and Hunt won’t be there in the second unless we move up. Hunt prolly gone in first. Logan Ryan is a third rounder. I think the likely picks worst case is Hunt, Trufant, or Eifert in rd1. Second round I think will be someone like John Jenkins (or another fat guy to play NT). The. Maybe Ryan or Mathieu in 3. Problem w Tyrann is he’s smaller than me, and can’t play Schiano’s scheme well. Here’s hoping sever Dion Jordan though…guy could be revolutionary SAM