A Vote Of Confidence For Luke Stocker
April 27th, 2013
In a division packed with stud tight ends, the Bucs will ride the backs of tight ends Luke Stocker and newcomer Tom Crabtree, who caught 18 balls with the Packers over the past three seasons.
Joe sees this as a huge vote of confidence in Stocker, who was a Bucs fourth-round pick in 2011.
Stocker’s blocking has improved and he’s got a pair of hands. Yes, Joe’s also seen Stocker look bad and slow, especially in practice, and he’s no Pro Bowler. But Joe believes Stocker can be effective.
A bigger question is how much the Bucs have devalued the pass-catching tight end role in their offense, as was done for years by the Giants when Bucs offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan was there following Jeremy Shockey’s departure.
April 27th, 2013 at 7:03 pm
Escobar was there for the taking, but we went in another direction.
April 27th, 2013 at 7:06 pm
It’s not over yet. I expect we may re-sign Clark and, or pick up a TE cut from another team for cap purposes….
April 27th, 2013 at 7:07 pm
I am OK with Stocker…always have been….sure I’d like to have the current prototype NFL TE too…but for the time being Stocker is growing as a traditional TE
April 27th, 2013 at 7:15 pm
Perhaps UCLA Fauria as free agent
April 27th, 2013 at 7:19 pm
Been saying for weeks that the Bucs would not draft a TE and planned to resign Clark after the draft. Smoke & mirrors.
April 27th, 2013 at 7:26 pm
Just because CAR, NO and ATL have good TEs doesn’t mean we need one. Its not like our TEs cover their TEs.
Dumb.
Stocker is just fine for this offense. Anyone remember the big names in NYG offense? Exactly.
April 27th, 2013 at 7:34 pm
We’ve also got some developmental guys who might be able to step up and contribute: Dunsmore and Noble. We’ve actually got a bunch of interesting guys at the TE position, just no big-time receiving threats… You can’t necessarily fix all weaknesses in one offseason… and if this is not a priority in the offense, then it doesn’t make sense to spend a high draft pick on one when there are big needs on defense.
April 27th, 2013 at 7:48 pm
we will fill this hole just like we fixed our secondary, but i like Dunsmore and hope he gets another chance
April 27th, 2013 at 7:51 pm
FWIT…Bucs signed USF TE Evan Landi per his reps
April 27th, 2013 at 7:51 pm
I wasn’t surprised we didn’t take a te. I knew it was a need but we have young stocker, and Crabtree. He had Aaron freaking Rodgers throwing him the ball. I mean he’s pretty much a seasoned vet already.
I was surprised however we didn’t take a rt. Any ideas we might get the start? Or are we dipping back into fa?
April 27th, 2013 at 7:52 pm
The Bucs value in-line blocking. Very often, with Jackson flanked in the slot, he becomes a de facto ”joker” tight end,hence Ogletree as an outside guy.
I believe I posted something along these lines some months ago, arguing that the Bucs’ brass might not see the same degree of need for a TE in the draft as a lot of fans & pundits do (did). & that was before Crabtree.
April 27th, 2013 at 7:57 pm
DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH: Ryan Otten, San Jose State, 6-5, 230, 4.73 … If not for a frightening staph infection which at one point threatened his life, Otten might be considered a potential top 100 prospect. He flashed this kind of ability while hauling down passes at San Jose State and earning an invitation to the Senior Bowl. While lacking the bulk and strength scouts are looking for as a traditional in-line blocker, Otten is a slippery route-runner with soft, reliable hands and enough speed to threaten the seam.
April 27th, 2013 at 8:00 pm
http://www.sbnation.com/nfl-mock-draft/2013/4/27/4276394/undrafted-free-agent-tracker-2013#
April 27th, 2013 at 8:28 pm
Fauria and Otten already signed with other teams per the link above…I really hope we Resign Dallas Clark.
April 27th, 2013 at 8:36 pm
Why the f did we let Dallas Clark walk? Stocker sucks and Crabtree has 18 catches in 3 seasons.
April 27th, 2013 at 8:42 pm
Dont worry we have a stud of a QB that will lead us to the playoffs….
April 27th, 2013 at 8:51 pm
bucsnation.com/2013/4/27/4276304/undrafted-free-agent-signings-tracking-the-buccaneers-undrafted-free
April 27th, 2013 at 9:12 pm
I really think Noble will shock some people was having a good preseason until he got hurt.
April 27th, 2013 at 9:15 pm
@Patrick
Walk? He is a free agent no one signed him yet, so the Bucs can pick him up at any time.
April 27th, 2013 at 9:51 pm
@ Patrick
You drive me nuts, dude.
All I want is Stocker to catch around 30-35 balls and block his ass off. If we get that out of him it will be a successful season for him in my book. This offense doesn’t need a 60-70 reception TE, it needs one that can set the edge for Martin and work the redzone on play action.
April 27th, 2013 at 10:00 pm
I like Landi @ TE. AMAZING hands, decent speed, average size. Really needs to get stronger and work on blocking, though.
April 27th, 2013 at 10:23 pm
I don’t know. I wanted us to get a TE badly. I see Atlanta with Roddy and Julio and still the guy who makes things happen is Gonzalez. He’s just the perfect safety valve. We could use that extra threat. Maybe Stocker can turn into that, I don’t know.
April 27th, 2013 at 10:24 pm
the only thing Im upset about is that we didnt get a good enough DT, like one with our second round pick. think about it, if Gerald McCoy God forbid goes down with a season ending injury WE ARE SCREWED. say goodby to the top run defense and say goodby to any type of pass rush from the interior of our dline. if that happens not even the great Darrelle Revis himself is going to successful.
April 27th, 2013 at 10:26 pm
unless you really believe our 4 round pick Spence is going to be able to fill the void, in which case I dont.
April 27th, 2013 at 10:31 pm
It’s absurd to settle for a TE we hope can catch 20 or 25 passes a year. All the really good teams have great TE’s, why because it adds another dimension to their offense that the other team has to account for and makes them harder to defend. To have your TE primarily for blocking purposes only is a waste of what should be a productive offensive position.
April 27th, 2013 at 10:35 pm
@ Andrew 1
You can’t have starter caliber players backing up every position. I understand the concern regarding McCoy because of his past. I would assume the scheme would have to adjust if McCoy goes down again.
April 27th, 2013 at 10:41 pm
We need a TE to attack the middle of the field.
Right now, we only attack the edges.
It would greatly diversify the passing offense.
There is always a chance we find an adequate TE in FA.
April 27th, 2013 at 10:44 pm
Are you gonna put up a story about the top 100
April 27th, 2013 at 10:44 pm
@ gotbucs
yea but they obviously want another starting caliber DT playing next to McCoy or else they wouldn’t have drafted Brian Price like 4 picks into the 2nd round in that draft. I realize it didnt work out with Price but thats no reason not to immediately find a suitable replacement for him, which we have not. do you really believe anybody we have on the roster is worth starting next to McCoy or take his place if he were to go down? I dont.
other than that the bucs have done a nice job of filling out the roster.
April 27th, 2013 at 10:45 pm
Take a chill pill MR.T.
If Stocker is our starter this year he’ll catch close to 50 balls. Vernon Davis only had somewhere around 40 receptions last year and I can’t even think of who Seattle’s TE is off hand. There are good teams out there that don’t over emphasize the TE position.
April 27th, 2013 at 10:48 pm
Mr. T, you’re wrong. Giants haven’t had a big threat at TE. Ravens have Pitta, who’s a nice TE, but not a superstar.
You’re right that the big receiving TEs are in vogue, but that means nothing. We were #9 in offense last year without one of these stellar TEs. Also, we have some developmental TEs on the roster: Dunsmore, Noble… And we had bigger needs on defense. Sorry dude, sometimes you have to draft priorities, and TE was not one this year.
April 27th, 2013 at 10:50 pm
@ Andrew 1
Lets hope he doesn’t get injured then. It is what it is, if he goes down again Bowers probably slides down on sub packages to rush inside. Also, yes, I believe Gibson could easily start at our tilt nose position.
April 27th, 2013 at 10:53 pm
@Andrew 1 Spence will play next to McCoy, he’ll be there to suck up blocks as the tilt nose and free up Gerald. Nose in this defense can be played by almost anyone.
April 27th, 2013 at 10:54 pm
@ gotbucs
I will keep Gerald McCoy’s health in my prayers, thats for sure. but your probably right, if he were to go down they would adapt by changing the scheme up a little bit.
April 27th, 2013 at 11:02 pm
Curmudgeon
Part of that 9 was due to D. Clark and his 47 catches which stocker wont come close to I would much rather have Clark back for 1 more year than the guys we have now. It is still a waste not to have a good 60 or 70 catch TE on the roster. We would be the better for it, for the reasons I already mentioned, its just common sense.
April 27th, 2013 at 11:11 pm
@ MR.T
you dont know for sure that Stocker wont get 40-50 catches next season. ever since he was drafted he has been playing in the shadow of Kellen Winslow and Dallas Clark. who knows, now that he has been declared our go to TE it could bring out the best in him.
April 27th, 2013 at 11:14 pm
lol @ common sense…
so you know the offensive scheme? you mentioned the things you want, but our offense is not the type you are talking about. also, gotbucs and curmudgeon mention “great” teams that do not use the tightends as the “offensive weapon” that you want.
April 27th, 2013 at 11:17 pm
I pity the fool!!! lol, sorry couldn’t help myself.
April 27th, 2013 at 11:21 pm
Again, Mr. T… priorities… Why did we lose games last year? Mainly because of defense. We drafted defense because that was the greatest need. You can say that’s stupid all you want… In a perfect world, we would’ve had more draft picks to work with and we might’ve been able to grab a TE just to make you happy… But, we only had so many draft picks to fill more pressing needs. And there’s no reason to think Stocker can’t catch 40-50 balls. And we have developmental guys in Dunsmore and Noble who might be ready to step into contributing roles. There’s a lot of ways to run an offense…
So, what you say is “just common sense” isn’t… Priorities, priorities, priorities… Defense, defense, defense. Drafting defense when that was our doom last year is common sense.
April 27th, 2013 at 11:23 pm
gotbbucs,
The Seahawks TE is Zach Miller. They have the good Zach, we have the bad Zach, the one from the Jags.
April 27th, 2013 at 11:25 pm
Saw that RB Akeem Shavers and QB Robert Marve, both from Purdue, signed with the Bucs, as well as Landi, UMass OT Speller and OLB Moseley from Buffalo.
April 27th, 2013 at 11:29 pm
Akrem Shavers, RB, Purdue
Nick Carlson, OL Wyoming
Branden Smith, CB, Georgia
Rashaan Melvin, CB, Northern Illinois
Hubie Graham, TE, Pitt
Evan Landi, TE, USF
Nick Speller, OT, UMass
Brice Schawb, OT, ASU
Rashaan Melvin, CB, Northern Illinois
Deveron Carr, CB, ASU
Robert Marve, QB, Purdue
April 27th, 2013 at 11:42 pm
See you like Melvin so much you listed him twice Scotty. 🙂 Curious to see if Marve can beat out Orlovsky & Weber.
April 28th, 2013 at 12:17 am
Here’s the thing, if some of you guys were looking for impact players in any round beyond the 3rd, this was not the draft for you.
If you count Revis I think we got two starters out of this draft with Revis and Banks, and one rotational DT. Spence will rotate with Gibson. Everybody else is developemental and special teams for now, and that’s not a knock on our draft class for this year, that’s just the kind of draft this was. Take the guys that have the measurables but never quite put it all together in college.
There was one impact TE in this class and he didn’t quite make it far enough down the 1st round for them to consider trading up for him. Seriously, that’s pretty much it. Crabtree, Noble, Dunsmore….that’s pretty much the caliber of TE’s that were coming off the board in the middle of this draft, so what would have been the point of taking another one. All I really expected them to go after late was a straight up blocking TE, but there wasn’t a great crop of them either.
April 28th, 2013 at 7:17 am
Marve won’t make it to training camp. He is not an NFL talent.
April 28th, 2013 at 7:17 am
Bucs sign
Evan Landi, TE, South Florida
Robert Marve, QB, Purdue
Akeem Shavers, RB, Purdue
Nick Speller, OT, Massachusetts
April 28th, 2013 at 9:32 am
The Bucs need a TE that is a threat. They don’t have that threat at this time which makes them easier to defend. All the high offenses have one. It will be interesting to see how it is addressed.
April 28th, 2013 at 10:07 am
I watched Stocker play at UT and he can become a good TE. He can be a security blanket for Freeman because he has really good hands.
April 28th, 2013 at 10:53 am
Celek could be had. The eagles signed Casey then drafted Ertzs. He has taken a beating over the year’s but he’s a vet. That could teach these young TE’s how to be consistant. Let’s face it Stocker and Crabtree are a joke. Might get catches just because no one will bother covering them. Stocker does a good job on that backside misdirrection TE throw back. But then again anybody can make a play when there wideopen.
April 28th, 2013 at 11:34 am
The Buc’s draft was OK. We got d-line depth,CB positiion is set,a smart mirror image of Freeman back-up QB. No O-line depth,TE and I’d like to have seen another LBer. But when you have 50 M commited to 5 player’s you will lack depth everywhere.The secondary will be much improved,the D-line not so much. I expect about the same sack number’s. The LBer’s won’t be blitz happy thou. Gotta believe the LBer’s had a tell of some sort,or were just to obvious when they blitzed last year. They seemed to get pick up every time. Blitzing LBer’s is just not Buc ball anyway.
August 30th, 2013 at 8:53 pm
Dom is a Moron