The Impact Of Adrian Clayborn
August 16th, 2013
Much has been made of the Da’Quan Bowers Odyssey, where the Bucs (mistakenly?) have put a whole lot of trust in a whole lot of production. From Bucs commander Greg Schiano’s own words, one can easily infer the move may have been premature.
Last year Clayborn went down with an ugly knee injury, but he’s back and in incredible shape so Joe has been told. Clayborn for the first time in his life had football taken away from him, the story goes, and it fueled an even deeper passion to rip off an opposing quarterback’s head.
Slowed by a groin injury early in training camp, Clayborn seems to have bounced back and Schiano couldn’t be happier from the sounds of his words after yesterday’s closed practice with the Patriots. Schiano about Clayborn playing tonight for the first time since his knee injury.
“That will be good,” Schiano said. “AC [Adrian Clayborn] brings not only his play, but his tenacious attitude and his energy. It going to be fun to have him back out there on the field.”
The Bucs need a pass rush worse than Joe needs Advil after a long Friday night pouring session at Hooters. We all know Gerald McCoy will be fine. Getting rushes from the edges is imperative.
If Bowers is not up to the task as the Bucs had hoped entering the season, then it is even more important for Clayborn to be healthy and active. Bucs fans should get a taste of how well Clayborn has recovered tonight.
August 16th, 2013 at 7:12 am
Go AC!!! I always liked this guy…..what a motor. It only takes one sometimes to succeed at pressuring the !QB. If Clayborn can beat his man….then we will have something special.
August 16th, 2013 at 7:34 am
I’m not giving up on Bowers yet. He is a good situational pass rusher even if he isn’t a 3 down player. Besides, I really like what Cox has been able to do with the other guys.
August 16th, 2013 at 7:36 am
Why does the media have to jump to conclusions after basically a couple of hours into the preseason, Can Bowers play more than 2 quarters without being deemed done for the year, im sure by the time Freeman has his 1st incompletion he will be 6 flags city.
August 16th, 2013 at 7:47 am
Clayborn is a beast and should have been getting more of the press focus than Bowers all along. And with 2 typos in 1 short paragraph, Buccaray wonders if Joe may have been pouring at Hooters last night…???
August 16th, 2013 at 7:56 am
I have to agree with the guys above. Schiano must have seen something to decide to initially put the eggs in Bowers basket. I have to conclude that it was his play when he returned from injury last season. Even though he played in rotation, he played well.
If this is a matter of conditioning, then this can be fixed with more playing time. I doubt that he’s been here this long and they just discovered that he is not the real deal. It will take time but I think he will be ok.
Now I don’t know if he is that pro bowl 10 sack guy that every team covets. If Shiano bet the farm on that occurring, it could turn out to be a bad bet!
August 16th, 2013 at 8:32 am
I can’t friggin wait to see this guy tonight. It’s so hard to read his twitter and imagine this is the same guy on Sundays. I mean hell, I thought I loved my dog. This guy has the biggest heart that a Sunday manbeast has ever had. Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde couldn’t be more accurate.
I’m not ready to give up on Bowers yet either. If it’s a problem with him being in shape, then he should be able to get there by September 8th. When Sept 8th gets here and he still shows little effort in a game then I’ll be ready to show him where the curb is.
August 16th, 2013 at 9:36 am
Bowers will be OK. He will get better as the season wears on. He may never end up being an every down player but remain as a situational pass rusher, where he’s had some success.
Looks like the coach is also been familiarizing him with the interior line. Schiano must be looking for a multidimensional pass rusher, so he can experiment and move McCoy around, and at the same time keep his best players on the field. But, it may be that Bowers just needs repetitions, and, or Schiano’s experiment will eventually be iced, or better yet realized.
Kind of similar to the offensive line where we have guys that can play either the G/T/C position. I would think that multi-task players are a bigger commodity compared to guys who only play one position. So really it would be to Bowers benefit for future contract negotiations, if he could master both.
But like someone commented the other day, “wouldn’t it be better if he masters his own position first” …and I totally agree but the Coach believes Bowers is smart and should be able to learn both. We’ll see.
August 16th, 2013 at 10:29 am
I hope AC owns LT Nate Solder tonight. Braidee should continue wearing his leg brace. 🙂
August 16th, 2013 at 12:29 pm
I agree wit Chef Paul that AC’s got a lotta heart. I actually think he’s the best defensive lineman we have. (sorry GMC)
But in my gut, I feel that Bowers lacks heart if he still can’t be an everydown player by now. He’s had all offseason to condition himself – look at Clayborn. Im still rooting for him though.
August 16th, 2013 at 1:08 pm
Bucs really need to kick the tires on John Abraham if they’re really this worried about Bowers not being able to play at the level he has to be at, cant hurt.