A Plea For Healthy Choices
March 6th, 2014
Last year, Greg Schiano and former rockstar general manager Mark Dominik gambled that four Buccaneers coming off major surgery would perform at a high level at critical positions.
How the hell did that turn out?
Adrian Clayborn was below average playing alongside an every-down, manbeast disrupter in Gerald McCoy.
Darrelle Revis wasn’t ready to earn his money until the second half of last season.
Davin Joseph was miserable, even more so considering his paycheck.
Last summer, pre-MRSA, Carl Nicks was talking about how his foot would be a lifelong problem.
The Bucs believed those four cogs would give 100 percent. Joe thought the Bucs would be lucky if three out of four delivered. The Bucs got about 20 percent of what they were seeking.
Joe’s sick of banking on injured players. Enough already. Dominik said a few times that he and the Bucs medical staff “know knees,” as in torn up joints. How about just putting old fashioned healthy bodies on the field. Joe sure hopes Jason Licht and Lovie Smith are in that mindset.
Many Bucs fans want the likes of free agent Bears Charles “Peanut” Tillman and Corey Wootton on the Bucs defense. But they’re both coming of major injuries and surgery.
Stud Chiefs left tackle Branden Albert? He’s got back issues and has had other problems. Michael Vick? The man needs his own private nurse. The list goes on, including one of the Bucs’ own free agents, Jonathan Casillas.
The Bucs are about to go shopping when the free agency bell rings in five short days. Asking for healthy choices should not be too much to ask.
March 6th, 2014 at 6:22 pm
This is one thing we can agree on.
March 6th, 2014 at 6:25 pm
You can’t help the club when your sittin’ in the tub
March 6th, 2014 at 6:40 pm
AD had 5.5 sacks and should have been more if it wasnt for the bogus call on drew brees and some other qb but still 5.5 coming off of injury is below average, still havent heard a comeback for why michael bennett didnt show up in the nfl until 2 years ago…hmmmm money is a great motivator so who knows what he will do when he gets it.
Actually, Clayborn was credited for a full sack on that Brees hit. The sack/fumble stood, but the penalty came to negate the turnover. Strange rule, but that’s how it worked. So it was 5.5 sacks. Also, Bennett was strong and developing, a favorite of former Bucs DE Steve White, before 2012. –Joe
speaking on injuries how’d that michael bennett experiment workout? not resigned because he supposedly had some sort of injury so bad that we couldnt afford 5 million dollars to resign him. this is the most violent sport in america which means injuries is apart of everyday life even iron man ronde barber had injuries and even in season surgery
maybe if the coach was smart enough not to overwork his players in training camp but give them virtually no playing time in the preseason we would have had a better record but i digress because this is no excuse because the only guy that should be rehabbing still is carl nicks and all these guys except mike williams are more than a year removed from injury so they will get a chance to make this club
March 6th, 2014 at 6:43 pm
If you want healthy players. there is no better place than the draft. thats why we need to trade as many on this team for any value that they can get.
March 6th, 2014 at 7:04 pm
First player signed should be Jared Allen.
March 6th, 2014 at 7:20 pm
Trade down in the first and second and we should be back to winning ways.
March 6th, 2014 at 7:32 pm
You build through the draft! …. Yet we continue to wait for that free agency bell to ring so that we can patch up problems w our checkbook… The formula isn’t working guys! I hate to say it, but there are far too many deficiencies not to call it what it is, we’re either at the beginning or the middle of a REBUILDING process, but not the end.
March 6th, 2014 at 7:56 pm
This is one of my fundamental rules of team building… invest in the defensive front four, don’t spend premium picks and cash on injury risks, and don’t bank on anybody into their 30’s making it through a season healthy.
March 6th, 2014 at 7:56 pm
Joe sometimes writes stuff like he is just an average Joe.. He wrote in one article, that Revis shouldn´t be traded (maybe just before the trade deadline; when he doesn´t play up to his contract). And yeah, Bucs shouldn´t go for Veterans who are coming off of big injurys.. But yeah, keep Revis..
That´s realy just plain stupid.
1. Revis came along like playing on his former standard level (which is high).
2. That means he´s got good trade value
3. (Freeman fiasco) If we wait till trade deadline and Revis doesn´t perform at elite level and/or is injured, or even just shows signs of getting sore = trade value gone (after FA and stuff – who should take that cap?? As of right now there are some good suitors, who could use him and have the amunation to make a deal)
4. No matter what his performance will look like, i guess it´s very safe to say: he will still be way overpaid.. maybe not big time overpaid.. but still we could use the money very well elsewhere – if this regime is smarter than the previous two, it should make for very very fun years in future..
5. Someone wrote: best way getting healthy players is the draft, and trading that risky-to-have-because-of-re-injury-potential(cadillac)-and-way-to-expensive-in-resorces(draftpicks and cap)-CB will boost us from 4th to 3rd rounder, plus another 1st rounder(!) plus what you can get(!!!).
6. Plus the cap(!!!!!)
7. Can anyone give me a serious reason not to trade him???
8. FA options like Cromartie, That Colts CB and Titans CB and others and draft and better pass rush (hopefully)
9. Why isn´t he traded yet
10. because NFL favors some teams (they run the show for money only; is it sport? yes – but 1st it´s business) – and Bucs aren´t seen as a relevant team; so they won´t do all the good moves – just so they (by NFL paid “experts”) can analyse afterwards what should have been done..
Conclussion: They won´t deal him until it´s too late; or this very post was that effective (because it opened some eyes) and they will in fact do the right thing.. and loose out elsewhere, doing stupid things – not just the false moves; but realy stupid.
Like Shiano-shematics-stupid…. Doesn´t anyone wonder why the Glazers shiano after Morris.
Does anyone wonder, why no one wanted to come coaching here, despite good looking free cap numbers and all the Re-building plans (since Morris times, when they cleaned house).
Naturaly, every coach/regime would love to get their chance to build up sth. from the get go – complete free choices to do what you want to do.
But no one wanted to come to the Bucs..
Because they knew, the NFL haven´t had big plans for them. or they guessed it right, but everyone with a brain should be able to figure it out…
wake up america…
anyways, WWE-Wrestiling is sports entertainment for the teenys – and grown men watch Football because it is just a great sport!! GoBucs!!
March 6th, 2014 at 8:00 pm
Imagine Joe’s dilemma if Johnny Football hurts his knee between now and draft day.
March 6th, 2014 at 8:06 pm
@Mike10: fully agree on!! i guess we are in the middle, because we have great possibilitys to be ready to go as soon as the offseason 2015 comes around, but this year should be fun anyway, watching a Lovie coached team, build with Licht;
@Brandon: i like it – your team builder guide. Proven front 4 guys are worth every penny and skill positions are way easier to scout in college; stuff like ballskills, Football IQ, Field-Speed, techniques.. and stuff..
March 6th, 2014 at 8:16 pm
in additon to my first post: doing stupid things like letting the sack leader go (for appearant no reason) – reason being the seahawks: they (with beloved face of the NFL Russel Wilson) were made to go a long way into the playoffs – that meant, they needed good playmakers and depth; which can perfectly come from teams which aren´t known for making good moves – teams who aren´t loved by national media – teams no one wonders they suck (and i wonder that so very few people wonder, why all kind of “crazy, not to imagine how stupid” things happen) (wow, what suprise, even though playcalling is very compareable to a poker game, they got very very good calls, specially in the final.. wow, and broncos seemed like having NO answer.. not even an idea what to do…)…
March 6th, 2014 at 8:28 pm
some people will argue: but NFL game outcomes are as clean as the players playing it.
Refs got too much power to influence key situations (why can´t a coach challange anything he wants, anytime he wants, if the league truly wants to make it mistake free; they could even get more commercial money.. at least the networks, which later gets into the tv-contracts and so on).
then, there is all the money made by gamblings.. wasn´t there even a scandal with a college shool, where an assistant or sth. like that gambled against his team?
and players can make extra earnings as well.
as well as refs..
and coaches..
blah blah blah – anyway, great sport, great entertainment – just way too much commercial breaks – that being the reason for American Football to have no chance at all against soccer (which the REST OF THE WHOLE F´N WORLD calls soccer)
by Albert Einstein (i dont get it word for word): some people got an horizon with and radius of nill – and they call it their standpoint.
Well, i still love America.. Just not everything about it..
March 6th, 2014 at 8:38 pm
Joe – Don’t forget about mental health… Hopefully Glennon is not a grown man with a snake collection. The signs were there bro
March 6th, 2014 at 8:42 pm
Michael Vick? The man needs his own private nurse. <<<< LMAO JOE. this is classic man. LMAO
March 6th, 2014 at 8:50 pm
Good points.
One common trait of most championship teams is good health. Starting off with a roster of rehabbers gives healthy teams a head start…
March 6th, 2014 at 9:01 pm
Maybe the best article you have written Joe about the franchise moving forward IMO. We cannot count on people that are hurt anymore. There are plenty of healthy players in the draft and free agency out there that we need desperately. Injuries happen, some bounce back like before (Revis) some do not (nicks so far.
March 6th, 2014 at 9:01 pm
@Loudon – Joe didn’t write that Revis would suck, just that the Bucs could deal him at the trade deadline if he didn’t play up to the level they want withing the defense.
March 6th, 2014 at 11:12 pm
If Schiano had not over worked his player, there would not have been so many injuries.
March 7th, 2014 at 12:16 am
we should have won 3 more games then we won.
hate to say it with a dom supplied team like greg had i think the record would have been 6-10
March 7th, 2014 at 3:29 am
This year will be different!
March 7th, 2014 at 3:55 am
So i guess this article marks the official end to mark dominik’s rock star status on JBF. It was a good run, but I guess like all things it had to end some time.
March 7th, 2014 at 8:48 am
I mean, specifically speaking, for AD it’s not bad to get 5.5 sacks in a year when you only run sideways in stunts or cover backs.
March 7th, 2014 at 9:00 am
This love for Dom is reminiscent of a eulogy where all sins are omitted. Truth is, his draft picks blew more than the Kardashian chicks.
March 7th, 2014 at 10:34 am
I think the straw that broke the camel’s back for Dom, was when he passed on Kueckly to draft Barren.
March 7th, 2014 at 3:40 pm
@Keith: and i wrote that IF you trade Revis, you should do it now, because of the draft pick(s), the suitors who are there as of now (we could even trade up in draft to get that QB – if they decide there is one worth to do it); and Revis has high value now.
trading him by the deadline is stupid: because you loose all the leverage and with that the loose out on upgrading the 4th into a 3rd – serious talent level drop-off.
i wrote that Joe doesn´t want to trade Revis at all – IMO – that´s a pretty dumb call. and that Joe thinks “if you want to trade Revis you could do it at the deadline” – but like i pointed out – that´s not an good idea.
The whole Revis-toTampa-trade was just silly BS marketing BS silly stuff, that only a Shianomik demon could pull off (with help of clueless owners; OR the NFL-mafia, as i think/know..)