Potential Draft Steal
May 12th, 2014Joe knows a lot of Bucs fans shook their heads, and maybe dropped their beers, when the Bucs selected running back Charles Sims in the third round Friday night.
Wait a minute? A running back? The deepest unit on the team and you add a running back?
Well, prior to the draft, BSPN’s Big XII blogger Max Olson predicted Sims would be a potential steal for any team because of his receiving skills.
If West Virginia running back Charles Sims lands with the right team, he’ll have a chance to make a lot of other organizations look stupid for passing on him.
In today’s NFL, where you better have two good backs even if you have Adrian Peterson, Sims has the potential to be a special commodity. He probably would’ve been drafted off his resume at Houston, but what Sims achieved in his lone season at West Virginia opened a lot of eyes and should’ve significantly boosted his stock.
What he’ll bring to the table for whomever drafts him is all-purpose playmaking. You will not find another back in this draft who has 2,000 receiving yards on their resume. Big 12 defenses knew they had to stop Sims and he still went for a combined 1,496 yards rushing and receiving in 2013.
Olson goes on to write that people who play fantasy football (Joe does not; he’s into other types of, ahem, fantasies) would be wise to select Sims this summer in your beer-soaked drafts.
Joe thought the pick of Sims was quite odd at first, especially given how razor-thin the offensive line is. Then when Bucs coach Lovie Smith stated he was specifically looking for a running back who could catch, making the former high school receiver a newest member of the Bucs made all the sense in the world.
Then when Bucs general manager Jason Licht said Sims could, at times, line up as a slot receiver, his selection seemed like a no brainer.
May 12th, 2014 at 2:11 pm
Still. The names available when they took him, shook me. Gabe Jackson, David Yankey, Louis Nix…. Ummmm. Yes all of those would have been a better selection. If they wanted Sims they could have had him in the 5th. NO ONE saw him coming off the board until at earliest late 4th. Come on now…
May 12th, 2014 at 2:13 pm
It’s not just about who you get. It’s about who you get, where/when. And if they wanted Sims they could have had him, but not at the expense of two sure fire day 1 starting guards and a sure fire day 1 starting DT
May 12th, 2014 at 2:17 pm
Yankey still there when Bucs picked in the 5th, so they obviously weren’t high on him.
May 12th, 2014 at 2:21 pm
I had to watch his highlights 3 times to believe what I saw….This guy can really play….he will replace Brian Leonard as our third down back immediately and will get lots of touches…
May 12th, 2014 at 2:24 pm
yup, something stunk with Yankey. Maybe an injury concern.
Sims could be a surprise for sure.
Just have to wait a few years and see. Thats all folks
May 12th, 2014 at 2:25 pm
Joe Says:
May 12th, 2014
Yeah, we know… like the one where Joe goes skinny dipping with Johnny Football, and one thing leads to another… Or the one where Joe is giving Johnny Football a nice “platonic” massage, and one thing leads to another… Or the one where Joe and Johnny Football are grilling hot dogs, and one thing leads to another… Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
May 12th, 2014 at 2:28 pm
Orca that’s hilarious.
May 12th, 2014 at 2:30 pm
Goes back to IF Nick’s is healthy! If he IS and Meredith is still in their plans then no guard would not be a high priority.
May 12th, 2014 at 2:49 pm
The Sims pick shows how much we know about what’s going on in the minds of the HC and GM. After all the pre-draft speculation, Evans was the only early round pick on the radar. The Sims pick left people stumped, me included, but the new regime has a plan. It’s a difficult plan to figure out, but it’s a plan nonetheless.
May 12th, 2014 at 2:50 pm
@Orca
Hahahaha.
The Joes are never gonna live down the Johnny man crush. Although to be fair they brought it upon themselves.
May 12th, 2014 at 2:51 pm
I loved this pick!!! The kid is a beast and we can get real creative with him and Doug in the line up together! Finally Tampa’s putting together an offense that everyone can get excited about not just Bucs Fans
May 12th, 2014 at 3:07 pm
But can he pull?
May 12th, 2014 at 3:30 pm
Lol! @ Orca…that was funny
As for Sims, the pick that almost every fan and local media member gasped over, cursed aloud and threw their bowl of chips at the TV in response to, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if this guy becomes a fan favorite over the next couple years because of how much offense he produces and how dangerous he is.
May 12th, 2014 at 3:35 pm
It is looking like Lovey is learning somethings about the draft from Licht. I’m liking this team more and more already. Now if they could teach a few things to our favorite Buc’s site moderators. LOL!
May 12th, 2014 at 3:38 pm
Sims is a good size back. He may end up being the feature back sooner than later.
May 12th, 2014 at 3:46 pm
Kid is going to be a steal. His acceleration is uncanny he’s gonna lineup in multiple roles for us rb,wr,kr,pr.He’s gonna be nasty.
May 12th, 2014 at 3:47 pm
Runs just like Matt forte. Sort of reminds me of Arian foster as well. He will be better than Doug eventually but they will be great together. He might be my favorite pick from this draft
May 12th, 2014 at 3:54 pm
Sounds like he can be the Bucs Govanni Bernard and Martin a much better Green-Ellis…scratch that Martin is way better. Wow getting stoked on the RB talent on the team…going full homer soon 🙂
May 12th, 2014 at 4:12 pm
Same reaction as you, Joe.
First, thought it was a wasted pick
But after seeing Why they drafted him- it was a great pick
He may be the best Recieving back in the league, on day one.
It just proves that Tedford is going to run a passing offense,
Sims is like having a slot Reciever in the backfield- that can pick up the blitz, and kill a defense in Space.
Great pick- great draft
May 12th, 2014 at 4:32 pm
He will be a joker underneath when the 3 Towers take the top off the Defense along with Herron and a little bit of Demps, Speed in Space?
May 12th, 2014 at 4:40 pm
Can hardly wait for the mini camp in a few days. I’m sure Joe will give us some good insight on these guys.
May 12th, 2014 at 6:00 pm
RB- Doug Martin, Mike James, Rainey, Jeff Demps, Charles Sims
WR- Vincent Jackson, Mike Evans, others??? Open competition.
TE- Sefarian-Jenkins, Brad Meyers, Tim Wright, Crabtree
Gentlemen, we have some depth at skill positions. Finally.
May 12th, 2014 at 6:59 pm
He`s got eyes in the back of his head go look at the tape on him.
May 12th, 2014 at 7:55 pm
C’mon guys, most of the intelligent Buc fans were pining for Darren Sproles to be signed when he originally signed with the Saints… this is our Sproles. Watch his tape if you don’t like the pick, just because you haven’t heard of him, doesn’t mean he isn’t good or add an additional element to the team.
May 12th, 2014 at 10:43 pm
When I saw that the Bucs had drafted a RB in the 3rd my first thought was that it was a stupid pick. But the more that I read about his abilities and respect that professional analysts have for him, I like the pick.He can help extend DMs career by taking some of the load off or we can play them both at the same time with Sims in the slot. Heck maybe Tedford will bring back the wishbone and turn it into a passing attack with the RB who doesnt pick up the blitzer catching the pass out of the backfield. 🙂
May 14th, 2014 at 2:55 pm
I think he’ll get more than a few touches this year.