Rotating Door Is Damning
April 28th, 2014
The weird career-ending injury suffered by Brian Price didn’t slow down the revolving door of players in and out of One Buc Palace.
One leg of building a good football team is to establish consistency. Teams that change front offices, coaches and quarterbacks more than some change their briefs leads to trainwreck organizations (yes, Joe is looking right at you, Jimmy Haslam of the Browns).
And one way to build consistency is to draft well.
As Joe has pointed out earlier today, former Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik had some bad luck with high picks getting injured or going mental. That is one reason why general manager Jason Licht and Lovie Smith are here.
But Joe didn’t realize just how unstable the Bucs were with their drafts, as detailed by Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.
The Bucs presently have 17 of their own draft picks on the roster. That ties them with the Jacksonville Jaguars for the second fewest. The Chicago Bears have the fewest with only 15 original draft picks. The Green Bay Packers lead the league with 33.
What’s most striking about Tampa Bay comes when you look back at the draft classes of 2009 and 2010. Players from those drafts should be entering their prime. But, outside of defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, that’s not the case for the Bucs.
McCoy is the only player from those two drafts still on Tampa Bay’s roster. It would be easy to blame the lack of draft picks on the roster on the change of regimes from Mark Dominik and Greg Schiano to Jason Licht and Lovie Smith. But it wouldn’t be accurate.
So only the Bears have a worse number at keeping draft picks? Hhhmmm?
But this goes to show how a team can sink to the dregs of the league when draft picks don’t come through. It’s like having a noose around one’s neck.
.
April 28th, 2014 at 5:21 pm
Mark Dominik everybody, let’s hear it!
April 28th, 2014 at 5:38 pm
Our one and only savior, love smith is responsible for being worse at drafting than Marky Mark? This is comforting…long pause, NOT!
April 28th, 2014 at 5:50 pm
BucinNC makes a great point. Lovie handled those drafts for the Bears.
Scary thought.
Wish we could have Schiano picking our draft picks, but keep Lovie as coach.
April 28th, 2014 at 6:06 pm
Joe just found out that the Rockstar is a terrible GM. In other news the sky is Blue.
April 28th, 2014 at 6:08 pm
That would be Jerry Angelo.
April 28th, 2014 at 6:15 pm
I think the door revolves, not rotates.
April 28th, 2014 at 6:38 pm
Lets see what Licht can do for us…
Connor Shaw is coming to Tampa.
April 28th, 2014 at 6:42 pm
“But Joe didn’t realize just how unstable the Bucs were with their drafts…”
I’m not sure how Joe couldn’t realize it. He must not read the comments section too often.
April 28th, 2014 at 6:42 pm
No wonder we were 4-12….and….its not just the QB!!! We lost depth and squandered many picks. Somehow, I think the talent was there with most but the mental meltdowns took its toll.
We should just draft nothing but Olinemen in the first two rounds for the next 3 years…then I think our record would improve.
One exception….Sammy @ 7.
April 28th, 2014 at 6:49 pm
I’m hurting….
anyways, maybe after this article Joe will stop calling him a rockstar.
April 28th, 2014 at 6:51 pm
Either Lovie and Company turn this around or the coaching merry go round will continue. Maybe Lovie is the face of the Bucs, not the brains.
April 28th, 2014 at 6:53 pm
If Sammy Watkins, Greg Robinson, Clowney, or Mack isn’t available at pick #7 I say the Bucs should try and trade down. Trading down would give the team more picks and still be able to draft a good player like Aaron Donald, Odell Beckham, or CJ Mosley.
April 28th, 2014 at 6:55 pm
I think readers are skipping the second to last paragraph and what it subtly emphasizes! Go Bucs!
April 28th, 2014 at 6:57 pm
Teams that change front offices, coaches and QUARTERBACKS more than some change their briefs leads to trainwreck organizations.
—————————————————————————-
Sound familiar?
What surprises me is that so many players who are run off from here, go on to have decent careers somewhere else.
Sometimes I get the feeling that players just don’t want to play for Tampa. Even most FA’s when given the choice between Tampa and Cleveland would probably choose Cleveland. We have gained the reputation as one of the worst franchises and rightfully so. It’s kind of ironic how JOE pointing a finger at Haslam is like calling the kettle black. It’s not like Tampa has been world beaters in it’s 40+ year history.
Let’s put together a decade of winning football before we criticize other teams first.
April 28th, 2014 at 6:58 pm
O.J.T.
April 28th, 2014 at 7:07 pm
Jerry Angelo spent 14 years overseeing Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ scouting department as their Director of Player Personnel.
Jerry Angelo was the Chicago Bears GM from 2001-2011
Here’s the Chicago Bears draft picks during that time-
(2002)
• 1 29 Marc Colombo OT Boston College
• 3 72 Roosevelt Williams DB Tuskegee
• 3 93 Terrence Metcalf OT Mississippi
• 4 104 Alex Brown DE Florida
• 5 140 Bobby Gray DB Louisiana Tech
• 5 165 Bryan Knight DE Pittsburgh
• 6 199 Adrian Peterson RB Georgia Southern
• 6 203 Jamin Elliott WR Delaware
• 6 210 Bryan Fletcher TE UCLA
(2003)
• 1 14 Michael Haynes DE Penn State
• 1 22 Rex Grossman QB Florida
• 2 35 Charles Tillman DB Louisiana-Lafayette
• 3 68 Lance Briggs LB Arizona
• 4 100 Todd Johnson DB Florida
• 4 116 Ian Scott DT Florida
• 5 139 Bobby Wade WR Arizona
• 5 143 Justin Gage WR Missouri
• 5 171 Tron LaFavor DT Florida
• 6 191 Joe Odom LB Purdue
• 6 206 Brock Forsey RB Boise State
• 7 261 Bryan Anderson OG Pittsburgh
(2004)
• 1 14 Tommie Harris DT Oklahoma
• 2 47 Tank Johnson DT Washington
• 3 78 Bernard Berrian WR Fresno State
• 4 110 Nathan Vasher DB Texas
• 4 112 Leon Joe LB Maryland
• 5 147 Claude Harriott DE Pittsburgh
• 5 148 Craig Krenzel QB Ohio State
• 7 215 Alfonso Marshall DB Miami
(2005)
• 1 4 Cedric Benson RB Texas
• 2 39 Mark Bradley WR Oklahoma
• 4 106 Kyle Orton QB Purdue
• 5 140 Airese Currie WR Clemson
• 6 181 Chris Harris DB Louisiana-Monroe
• 7 220 Rodrigues Wilson LB South Carolina
(2006)
• 2 42 Danieal Manning DB Abilene Christian
• 2 57 Devin Hester DB Miami
• 3 73 Dusty Dvoracek DL Oklahoma
• 4 120 Jamar Williams LB Arizona State
• 5 159 Mark Anderson DE Alabama
• 6 195 J.D. Runnels RB Oklahoma
• 6 200 Tyler Reed OG Penn State
(2007)
• 1 31 Greg Olsen TE Miami
• 2 62 Dan Bazuin DE Central Michigan
• 3 93 Garrett Wolfe RB Northern Illinois
• 3 94 Michael Okwo LB Stanford
• 4 130 Josh Beekman OG Boston College
• 5 167 Kevin Payne DB Louisiana-Monroe
• 5 168 Corey Graham DB New Hampshire
• 7 221 Trumaine McBride DB Mississippi
• 7 241 Aaron Brant OT Iowa State
(2008)
• 1 14 Chris Williams OT Vanderbilt
• 2 44 Matt Forte RB Tulane
• 3 70 Earl Bennett WR Vanderbilt
• 3 90 Marcus Harrison DT Arkansas
• 4 120 Craig Steltz DB Louisiana State
• 5 142 Zack Bowman DB Nebraska
• 5 158 Kellen Davis TE Michigan State
• 7 208 Ervin Baldwin DE Michigan State
• 7 222 Chester Adams OG Georgia
• 7 243 Joey LaRocque LB Oregon State
• 7 247 Kirk Barton OT Ohio State
• 7 248 Marcus Monk WR Arkansas
(2009)
• 3 68 Jarron Gilbert DT San Jose State
• 3 99 Juaquin Iglesias WR Oklahoma
• 4 105 Henry Melton DE Texas
• 4 119 D.J. Moore DB Vanderbilt
• 5 140 Johnny Knox WR Abilene Christian
• 5 154 Marcus Freeman LB Ohio State
• 6 190 Al Afalava DB Oregon State
• 7 246 Lance Louis OG San Diego State
• 7 251 Derek Kinder WR Pittsburgh
(2010)
• 3 75 Major Wright DB Florida
• 4 109 Corey Wootton DE Northwestern
• 5 141 Joshua Moore DB Kansas State
• 6 181 Dan LeFevour QB Central Michigan
• 7 218 J’Marcus Webb OT West Texas A&M
(2011)
• 1 29 Gabe Carimi OT Wisconsin
• 2 53 Stephen Paea DT Oregon State
• 3 93 Christopher Conte DB California
• 5 160 Nathan Enderle QB Idaho
• 6 195 J.T. Thomas LB West Virginia
So after years of power struggle over draft picks & the direction of the team. Now we can see why Lovie Smith wanted to hand pick- his GM this time.
April 28th, 2014 at 7:12 pm
@PhantomVash808
Exactly….a very reasonable approach….the players you list are solid picks….I think 1 or 2 will be there…If we can’t get Watkins, I like Mack….and if we can’t get them…trade down.
I like trading down for Mosley or Ebron.
April 28th, 2014 at 7:15 pm
Remember the bears traded two number ones for Cutler and two 3rd rounders for Marshall.
And drafted Jeffries to round out a pretty talented offensive squad.
So just counting how many draft choices are still with a team doesn’t tell the whole story.
More than one way to skin a cat.
Lovie has done a great job of upgrading the team here and hasn’t even used a draft choice yet. And has done it for the most part with young up and coming players.
Awesome job so far. I think the draft will have the same professional effectiveness.
Go Bucs.
April 28th, 2014 at 7:21 pm
Rich McKay’s-(Personnel Tree)
• Jerry Angelo
• Tim Ruskell
• Ruston Webster
• Mark Dominik
• John Idzik
• Martin Mayhew
Hmmm…
April 28th, 2014 at 7:21 pm
Joe
Have you made any headway on the redirect issue? It only happens to me on your site and I can’t stay on there for more than 30 seconds anymore with my iPhone.
Nope. Unfortunately, Joe’s learned it’s a harmless but annoying glitch that’s been common for mobile-only readers on several major sites over the past year. A google search would reveal how the NBC family of sites and others have approached it. Sorry. It’s only a problem for a small percentage of Joe’s mobile-only readers. Hopefully, a fix will be found.–Joe
April 28th, 2014 at 7:38 pm
Arizona has built a good team through the draft. Licht gets some credit for that. Lovie has final say on the 53.
April 28th, 2014 at 7:52 pm
Regardless of these statistics, lovie still led a winning team. Its unimportant what you do if you win while doing it. For the most part.
April 28th, 2014 at 8:17 pm
Luvmybucs
Ewwwwwweeweeeee
Not a great tree
April 28th, 2014 at 8:26 pm
Lovie led a team that didn’t win enough otherwise he would still be in Chicago instead of Tampa. I second Bonzai’s sentiment about wishing Schiano were still here on draft day. Virtually everyone of the picks made while he was schooling Rockstar on the finer art of drafting are still currently on the roster. That is impressive regardless of his lack of success coaching in Tampa. Lovie is a more successful and proven head coach, but I doubt we’ll see as good drafts as we did the past two…thank you GS and keep those toes on the line at your next future NFL coordinator stop (cough…Foxborough, MA…cough)
April 28th, 2014 at 8:33 pm
Increasing clouds of smoke coming out of 1Buc Palace. Sure sign of a fire in the war room.
April 28th, 2014 at 9:29 pm
The only room Schiano needs to occupy is a rubber one.
Keep that lunatic as far away as humanly possible.
April 28th, 2014 at 9:38 pm
Sometimes owners make stupid mistakes and fire guys like Lovie Smith.
We’re the beneficiary of that and are very fortunate to have him.
April 28th, 2014 at 10:02 pm
@Luvmybucs Exactly! As a Bears/Bucs fan I can tell you that Angelo would occasionally get lucky, but most of the time it was just bad… I could go into it deeper but I don’t see the point in kicking a dead horse.
I will just say this to put it in perspective… the bears O-line has been so bad since Cutler got there…Angelo tried every year to bring in free agents or draft them, but always failed miserably. Phil Emery and Marc Trestman came in and fixed it in one off-season. They went from one of the worst in the league to one of the best in one off-season.
I would be shocked if the Bucs dont trade down as many times as they are able in the first round, just to accumulate picks in 2-4th rounds. And the more I think about it the more I want them to. Especially for 2nd and 3rd rd picks. THere are going to be some real steals there.
April 28th, 2014 at 10:15 pm
The OLine drafts by the Bears absolutely look terrible and I hope that doesn’t continue over to the Bucs!
April 28th, 2014 at 11:58 pm
Ok, go back three years to our last game in London. Remember whose team beat the living daylights out of the Bucs and was so demoralizing our team unraveled and ROM got fired? Oh yeah, it was the Chicago Bears who kicked our rear ends all over the field, Coached by Lovie. So if all his drafts were bad and he did not have the talent he should have had because he had DeAngelo, a former Buc Scout, calling the shots as his GM. So what does that tell you about how talented a HC Lovie is and that he was able to surround himself with great Assistants too. Now if he had had Licht bringing in his talent for him he wouldn’t be here. We are so lucky. He would already have won some SBs and Chicago would have never let him go.
April 29th, 2014 at 6:35 am
It would be easy to point the finger at Mark Dominick for past draft failures and accurate.
April 29th, 2014 at 7:20 am
^^^
Have to give Rah some of that blame as well. HC’s have a lot to do with the player selection in the draft too (case in point I’m sure JF5 was the awesome work of Morris brought to Domick’s attention by Rah). I blame Raheem for crappy drafts more so than Dom (but it is still on them both)
April 29th, 2014 at 10:37 am
The last few years have been pitiful. I almost forgot about Buc football if it wasn’t for D. Martin, LVD, and GMC. It really sucks about AC and Bowers, and B. Price for that matter. Whom ever the Coach or GM was, it was just transition period. The players are all excited and that excites me. They want to play for L&L and I wan’t L&L to draft good. Tic Toc