The Blount Truth
April 24th, 2013
The Kregg Lumpkin Experience was among the dark days of Buccaneer football.
Please don’t ask Joe to rehash that. So Joe’s confident the Bucs are not going to dare leave their running back cupboard poorly stocked in 2013, especially when they’ve invested a king’s ransom along their offensive line and they lack a quarterback who can put the team on his back week in and week out.
That would be foolish and short-sighted.
This is why Joe finds all the local and national speculation about LeGarrette Blount getting traded during the NFL draft rather silly.
Blount, with one year left on his contract, has little trade value. Heck, most starting running backs don’t have trade value, and Blount’s a backup. It’s just not a position that carries a load of value in NFL circles because great running backs often can be developed after coming out of the draft’s later rounds and off the street.
Maybe, miraculously, rockstar general manager Mark Dominik could nab a fifth-round pick for Blount. But would that be worth it?
If Doug Martin gets hurt, do Bucs fans really want Brian Leonard and/or captain inactive Michael Smith carrying the load? Or an undrafted rookie or late-round pick? This is supposed to be a playoff-ready team.
Again, Joe knows Greg Schiano wants to pound the rock relentlessly if his Pro Bowl guards Carl Nicks and Davin Joseph come back strong. And anyone paying attention knows Blount could do serious damage if thrust into an opportunity. Why would Schiano want to ditch good insurance on Martin?
Joe will be stunned if the Bucs trade Blount in favor of a lesser backup or a little-known rookie.
April 24th, 2013 at 4:47 pm
Agreed Joe.
Blount doesn’t make a good back to take a snap or two if Martin is tired. He is a good backup though. I would be very comfortable (not happy) if something happened to Martin and Blount had to take over, full time, for the rest of the season. That alone provides more value than any fifth or even fourth round pick.
With his current contract, I am all in favor of holding on to him. (Even if he only sees the 40+ snaps he did last year.)
April 24th, 2013 at 5:06 pm
I also agree and hope you’re right, Joe. I can’t remember off the top of my head the last time The Bucs picked a real contributor from Round 5. This regime seems to have soured on him though.
April 24th, 2013 at 5:06 pm
Anybody would be better than Blount, anybody dead or alive or even nobody.
April 24th, 2013 at 5:09 pm
That’s exactly how I view him too. Terrible as an in-game fill in for Martin. But, very good for a multi-game lead back fill-in. If he could only learn to hit the line with a head full of steam…
Which leads to the question, who is the backup for Martin in most games?
April 24th, 2013 at 5:16 pm
WCBFan:
Great point about full-time backup vs “spot” duty…which includes goal line packages. He needs to get into the flow of the game to be effective.
April 24th, 2013 at 5:20 pm
Blount is a good RB when he’s given enough carries. He hasn’t really been given a fair shot since his second year. All that work put in fixing his fumble issue and never really getting to test it.
I’m happy with Hamster, who is clearly a better RB, but people still tend to sell Blount short.
April 24th, 2013 at 5:35 pm
@Oil Derrick Brooks
I got to think it is either Michael Smith or the guy they picked up in FA. (His name escapes me at the moment.) I suppose it will matter even less who is the game day “fill-in” backup to Martin. D.J. Ware filled that role last year and was heavily used on third downs for his pass protection prowess. I mean I guess that is why he was used instead of Blount or Martin. (He sure didn’t rip off too many long runs when he did run.)
Martin should be expected to handle the third down role this year in addition to his lead back role. The gameday depth chart would probably look something like this:
1.Doug Martin
2. Michael Smith/ FA pickup
3. Legarette Blount
This way Blount would only see the field in case of injury or extreme exhaustion from the two people ahead of him.
Either this or they get comfortable enough with him through training camp to make him the true number two back.
April 24th, 2013 at 6:00 pm
Because Blount can’t do what Martin can…he’s a different kind of player…they need someone more in the mold of Martin that won’t alter the offense as much if he were to go down. They’ve visited with mid-round running back prospects like Christine Michael, Montee Ball, and LeVeon Bell for a reason. There’s also Rutgers product Jawan Jamison…
April 24th, 2013 at 6:10 pm
good points Brian D, think they need 1 different style back though so the defense has to think about it. I’m thinking that could be Leonard. Is any of Blount’s deal guaranteed? I think that is a pretty big question, want to think it’s a 1 year $1.75 million. There are plenty of good vetran backs available that they could sign for the veteran minumum.
April 24th, 2013 at 6:12 pm
I don’t care about anything other than the draft. Please! Please! Please! Draft Leon Sandcastle. Dom may have to trade up to get him, but he’s a beast. He reminds me of Deon Sanders, but better than Deon thought he was. Rumor has it he once ran a 4.0 40 with a 8 foot vertical and 15 foot broad jump. Also read somewhere he pressed 225 500 times.
April 24th, 2013 at 6:13 pm
Montee Ball is who I’d like to see us draft. This guy is awesome to watch. We have the former Wisconsin oline coach I bet he will be pulling for him to come to Tampa. I’d like to see Blount get more than 4-7 carries a game this season.
April 24th, 2013 at 6:17 pm
@patrickbucs
No guaranteed money. The new contract made him very “trade-able” (or “release-able”, haha) without any penalties.
Also, yes, $1.75 million for 2013. $1.25 million in base + Reporting Bonus: $350,000 + Workout Bonus: $150,000.
April 24th, 2013 at 6:17 pm
I have said before, if they can get a 4th rounder for him DO IT!! They can always sign aother as a backup OR they have some confidece in Smith
Otherwise, keep him
April 24th, 2013 at 6:22 pm
I’ll spare you all…..but I am SO wanting RB Lacy in the second round….go ahead tell me how stupid that would be…..
April 24th, 2013 at 6:25 pm
Ware was terrible. Love Blount, but he’s not just different from Martin in style, but also in scheme. It’s not that he doesn’t hit the hole quickly, but that just isn’t his style.
Blount is top notch at setting up the players at the 2nd and 3rd level when he is still in the backfield. Those little jiggles he does in the backfield, that is why he breaks so many long runs. He gets the linebackers and dbs out of position before he goes through the line.
To do that guys have to hold their blocks and stop penetration, whereas with Martin they head more downfield and wedge guys out of the way.
Blount definitely has talent, but I don’t know his talent fits on this team anymore.
April 24th, 2013 at 6:26 pm
I don’t expect Blount to be traded for another player. Look for Blount to be incuded in a deal to trade up or some other dynamic transaction during the draft. For them to float the possibility of a trade during the draft, I expect it to be determined by the draft board meaning if a sought after player is on the board at pick time the trade goes down.
April 24th, 2013 at 6:30 pm
Martin is a stud,I cant fu–ing wait until the first game of the year ,the Bucs will be one of the best teams in football.12-4 Super Bowl bound.Halfway threw the season everyone will be on this bandwagon,so why not jump on now whos with me!
April 24th, 2013 at 6:51 pm
If running backs are a dime a dozen like Joe says they are then I’m confident that Leonard or Smith can pick up the slack if Martin goes down. Especially with the offensive line that we have.
April 24th, 2013 at 6:53 pm
@bucobruce
I’m on board the wagon!!! Oh s**t! I thought you wrote beer wagon. I’m still on board. Go Buc-n-nucs!
April 24th, 2013 at 7:42 pm
Bye bye blount. He’s not a good spot duty RB and he doesn’t fit Schianos style.
April 24th, 2013 at 7:54 pm
Blount could be a fine running back with some better coaching. (Same is true for Freeman at QB.) My hope is that with a full offseason now to help these guys that there will be improvement in their fundamentals, particularly since the Bucs staff is so college-sourced.
Also with the Bucs’ two pro-bowl guards healthy, even I could get past the line and close in stuff that Blount has trouble with. If he gets to start every run essentially five yards downfield because of great blocking at the line, he could be very dangerous even as-is.
April 24th, 2013 at 8:01 pm
They don’t like his running style and indecisiveness. Period, he is name but the prod don’t balance the liability of keeping him versus drafting a back that fits better.
April 24th, 2013 at 8:47 pm
@bucobruce
I know barring injury we are going to the playoffs. As far as the Super Bowl I know we have a good chance against any team we would play. It’s doing it three times in a row in the playoffs to get there worry me. I think we are another draft away from having a team who can go on a 6 to 7 year run. Just like the old days 🙂
I went out on the gambling boat in John’s pass and got 60/1 odds on the Bucs for the championship.
April 24th, 2013 at 8:50 pm
Got 150/1 on the Raiders. Think I should have spent it on Beer 😉
April 24th, 2013 at 10:14 pm
The Bucs have every incentive to run Blount a bit more next year. Besides resting the Dougernaut, it could increase his trade value especially with the deadline moved back this year. He plays well and who knows maybe you can flip him for a third or fourth to a team that needs him
April 24th, 2013 at 10:57 pm
Keep him. He’s an inexpensive backup, he’s been a 1000 yard rusher in the NFL, we’ll have (hopefully) a healthy O-line for our RBs to run behind which gets Blount to the 2nd level where he excels when he gets touches. Look back at the KC game last year and he actually did a pretty good job as a closer to the game. If we have a D that can keep teams from making miraculous comebacks in the 4th qtr this year, Blount will get opportunities in the 4th after Martin has put in his 150+ yards and couple TDs. And he’ll excel at it.
April 25th, 2013 at 1:23 am
If given a fair shake, Blunt could put up some yardage numbers. Wish they would say what pissed off Schiano about Blunt. I like Schiano but this situation tells everyone ,”don’t piss off the boss man!”.
April 25th, 2013 at 12:06 pm
@WestCoastBucsFan Says:
Great info, thx..
Excited for the draft tonight, can’t wait to see Revis on Goldson introduced at 7!