“The Prototype” Gets Cut; Larry English Signed
September 9th, 2014
About 100 days ago, Lovie Smith sized up Steven Means as “that prototype guy” while talking about defensive ends for his system.
Now, Means is a former Buccaneer.
The Bucs cut Means today and signed veteran free agent defensive end Larry English. A notorious first-round bust of the Chargers from the 2009 draft, English was with Tampa Bay for much of preseason. As a veteran, his contract his contract will not be guaranteed as he was signed in Week 2 of the season.
Means, a fifth-round pick last year, played a few snaps Sunday, whereas Scott Solomon played about 40 percent of the snaps as a rotational defensive end.
Joe wouldn’t be surprised if Means clears waivers and the Bucs put him on the practice squad.
September 9th, 2014 at 12:22 pm
Now sign Richie…a proven NFL starter….to back up the “capable”…guy that filled in for Mankin
September 9th, 2014 at 12:26 pm
That’s sucks. I was really pulling for Means. He was a project coming in but he is a good dude and seems to work really hard. I just like the guy I guess
I hope he makes it to practice squad.
September 9th, 2014 at 12:28 pm
Never saw anything from Means on the field. He looked like a very likeable kid but beside that…
I think Larry English is an upgrade but not by much
September 9th, 2014 at 12:31 pm
I was wondering when they were gonna bring English back. Thought he looked good in pre-season.
September 9th, 2014 at 12:38 pm
Wonder if this is a sign that they will sit MJ with his supposed ankle injury to hide and excuse his woefully disappointing effort as a Buccaneer.
September 9th, 2014 at 12:41 pm
Pablo is no longer a L&L supporter. These guys are confused idiots . Cut Barth, Cut Patton then resigned Patton, Cut English then resigned English.. L&L are idiots just trying stuff out and seeing what works .. Pablo thinks we need a new front office
September 9th, 2014 at 12:42 pm
It amazes me how long it takes these coaches to figue this stuff out. Means ever since last yr is always running brhind the play. He looks clumsy out there meanwhile English come in a get a sack w only a few reps and he gets cut. Soloman might take MJ spot if he played for a coach who didn’t play favorites. Smh once again. Frazier is a complete waste of space.
September 9th, 2014 at 12:44 pm
I am not far behind you pablo…..few more games…to have a bit more evidence..but I suspect you are correct
September 9th, 2014 at 12:47 pm
It looks like Lovie is trying to figure out a pass rush one way or another. 1 sack won’t cut it.
September 9th, 2014 at 12:48 pm
Man! That was close. I was almost getting ready to ask for Bowers to hurry up and get his a$$ back on the field. Where the hell is Gholston? We need quality rotation now! Means couldn’t hold up at the point of attack. Good move in my opinion. Now if we can just get Mason Foster to understand that he has to get depth on his drop backs in the middle of the field we will be ok. If not, then im picking up every tight end the Bucs play against for my fantasy team….. Hell, im unemployed now. Gotta spend my time doing something. #RayRice. Can Shelton Quarles, Hardy Nickerson, and Brooks run LB practice soon?Pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaase! These young guys need a wake-up call asap! I can’t even remember the amount of times I saw Foster and Casillas completely out of position.
September 9th, 2014 at 12:51 pm
Betcha NE grabs him..
September 9th, 2014 at 12:53 pm
Any word on Doug Martin’s injury? Any new updates on Mankins?
September 9th, 2014 at 12:56 pm
I am a little surprised English was not already signed. He had a decent preseason with us.
September 9th, 2014 at 12:58 pm
@RastaMon Says:
Now sign Richie…a proven NFL starter….to back up the “capable”…guy that filled in for Mankin
Unfortunately, Lovie is on record saying that any Guards promoted to start will come from the current 53 man roster. Makes me sick we don’t sign him
September 9th, 2014 at 1:01 pm
Lovie is living in the past……and has no real vision or leadership….he is just status quo…playing off an old script.
September 9th, 2014 at 1:02 pm
pablo Says:
September 9th, 2014 at 12:41 pm
Pablo is no longer a L&L supporter. These guys are confused idiots . Cut Barth, Cut Patton then resigned Patton, Cut English then resigned English.. L&L are idiots just trying stuff out and seeing what works .. Pablo thinks we need a new front office
Isn’t that what they are supposed to do. I mean, it’s these guys first year to work with our roster. There really isn’t any other way to go but see who cuts the mustard. I can’t hate on them for this. That’s ridiculous.
September 9th, 2014 at 1:03 pm
Larry English probably knows this is his last chance, so hopefully he comes here and balls out. It’s a numbers and money league, contract not guaranteed
September 9th, 2014 at 1:03 pm
Lovie is living in the past…he has no real vision or leadership…status quo..playing with an old NFL script
September 9th, 2014 at 1:09 pm
I hate you Pablo. Your posts are always terrible.
September 9th, 2014 at 1:13 pm
I love you Pablo
September 9th, 2014 at 1:13 pm
Maybe L&L thought English had the edge over Means all along but not enough to give him a guaranteed contract, so they cut him and then waited to sign him after week 1 (as Joe eluded).
September 9th, 2014 at 1:14 pm
Now sign Ritchie
September 9th, 2014 at 1:15 pm
Here we go again, everyone worried about the backups, when we need to worry about the so called “starters”!!!!
September 9th, 2014 at 1:23 pm
Larry English should have replaced Bowers. Both he and Means have potential.
But I’m glad English is getting another shot. I really like him.
September 9th, 2014 at 1:23 pm
Makes sense, Means was being converted from LB to DE, and English DE to LB, both guys are athletically talented, just a matter of getting Means a little bigger and meaner aka Ziggy Ansah, whos blown up physically since being drafted by Detriot. Hope we keep Means tho
September 9th, 2014 at 1:26 pm
I truly believe the Glazers paniced in signing Lovie Dovie. They should never have fired Gruden. Even Shiano’s first game wasn’t this bad.
September 9th, 2014 at 1:27 pm
Pablo might be onto something….
September 9th, 2014 at 1:29 pm
The_Buc_Realist Says
“Here we go again, everyone worried about the backups, when we need to worry about the so called “starters”!!!!”
It’s a game or two soon to be worried about all the starters. Most of them will come together.
If, by games 3 or 4, we have not seen vast improvement, then it might be time for some drastic moves.
FYI, the Dungy/Gruden teams almost always started the season with a loss.
Matter of fact, we started the superbowl year with a loss. The team looked horrible in that game. 26-20 was the score. Lost by 6 points.
We lost this game by 6 points too.
Not saying we’re going to the superbowl (or denying it) but only that it is too soon to give up.
Another FYI…they did not replace any starters between games 1 and 2 in the superbowl year either.
September 9th, 2014 at 1:31 pm
Tomcin Says
“I truly believe the Glazers paniced in signing Lovie Dovie. They should never have fired Gruden. Even Shiano’s first game wasn’t this bad.”
Gruden was fired because 90% of the fans wanted him fired. Anyone who denies that is a revisionist.
See my above post for the rest.
September 9th, 2014 at 1:32 pm
I would take Schiano any day over this clown we have now for a coach.
Lovie=Fail
September 9th, 2014 at 1:38 pm
Smart move great start at winning me over after seeing the entire line disappear and I honestly wonder what they were thinking by keeping a couple of these young guys over English
September 9th, 2014 at 1:42 pm
@Greg
Stay off the Molly, shrooms, tabs, and alcohol before the internet polic come and arrest you for posting under the influence
September 9th, 2014 at 1:42 pm
@BuccaneerBonzai
For the record, even you will agree that I have been worried about some of the so called “starters”
and I have stated that with all the turn over on the roster, its not a win now year, but a L&L want to see who can play in the NFL this year. We will see major turn over again this offseason.
September 9th, 2014 at 1:43 pm
@ Pablo
I rhink just a bit premature to call it quits….has me wondering if you’re premature with other things???
September 9th, 2014 at 1:43 pm
He’s an upgrade over means whose now going to the practice squad unless he’s snatched up by Dallas. I bet they planned all along to sign this guy after week one so his contact isn’t guaranteed
September 9th, 2014 at 1:45 pm
@The_Buc_Realist
Maybe. But by the looks of things, they will be trying to refine the roster throughout the season as well. This latest move seems to point to that.
So maybe they will find the right guys (for the best backups) before next season.
And, As I said elsewhere, it is waaaay too soon to give up on the current starters.
September 9th, 2014 at 1:46 pm
Lovie simplified…
Definition of ‘Peter Principle’
An observation that in an organizational hierarchy, every employee will rise or get promoted to his or her level of incompetence. The Peter Principle is based on the notion that employees will get promoted as long as they are competent, but at some point will fail to get promoted beyond a certain job because it has become too challenging for them. Employees rise to their level of incompetence and stay there. Over time, every position in the hierarchy will be filled by someone who is not competent enough to carry out his or her new duties.
September 9th, 2014 at 1:47 pm
Greg Says
“I would take Schiano any day over this clown we have now for a coach.
Lovie=Fail”
Bandwagoner. Pure and simple.
September 9th, 2014 at 1:48 pm
pablo- you obviously do not understand the GM side of the business. The Patton and English re-signings show that Licht understands how to play the game.
Patton was cut because little risk in someone else grabbing him. This way we can keep Sims and put on IR then re-sign patton.
English is cut because we dont want to be caught with his salary if he is terrible during the season. We waited until after week 1 to re-sign him with no guarantee to pay him.
Means will end up on the practice squad and get another year to get better.
I do agree that MJ is so far the best waste of 24 million that i have seen
September 9th, 2014 at 1:49 pm
Easy observations:
Coach said, they would be looking for as many players at as many positions as possible. Realy?
How about, that they didn´t cut Cousins after the first pre-season game.
or
that Michael Jenkins is still on Roster; just like McCown/Cousins, he wasn´t anything special while in the NFL. Now he was/is a Buccaneers starter.
Give me a break.
Short: Cut Jenkins (again he looked way overmatched, in man(?) coerage, at least it were some man against man plays(cover3?) )
Patton? Reminds me of what we already had in Page. Plain average.
Not bad, but does he have it? Nope.
Hester would have been one hell of an upgrade compared to these two and wanted to re-unite with Lovie(?).
Just another point showing concerns about putting too much trust into the Bucs organization.
Why is their gameplan,to try to run against one of the best front 7s of the NFL, with a about average O-line?
Still lacking some explosive players with good hands (like DeAnthony Thomas – the Welker types you know)
McCown instead of Glennon reminds me of Cousins in the starting lineup.
First building up fan hopes in a history(ied) so-so player.
Then fans think “hell no”
then putting in an average player, who still isn´t good enough but at least some fans will think “yeah okay” because of improved play (Glennon).
Below average is better than garbage but wont win you Championchips.
Anyone else thinking the defensive calls were kind of vanilla?
Again: how about disguising who could blitz or not?
Instead Anderson shredded our defenses and most of the time he did by pre-snap reading…..
Take a page from Lovie and other 3-4 defenses; just like on offense too, it helps when the other team doesn#t know what to prepare for.
on the other side: it helps having better players too (off-season i was questioning the DB´s and D-line; while D-line will get Gholston/Bowers back at least)
How about real improvement? Lets see how it all shakes out, but again:
LL should be given 2 years to determine what their great planin looks like.
So far: Not impressed one bit – better than last regime? lets see
GoBucs!
September 9th, 2014 at 2:38 pm
It’s too early to talk ditch the coach and GM. I was’nt too fond of Lovie when he was brought in, but he needs some leeway to show improvement. Give them both more time than one stinking game. I don’t believe either are going anywhere this season. The Bucs will improve to shut out the mutiny talk.
September 9th, 2014 at 2:43 pm
@Buccfan37,
The aftermath of Game 1 is always overboard. There’s a reason they refer to the Monday after the first game as overreaction Monday. The fact of the matter is St Louis does not look good. If we fail to beat the Rams at home, then I can understand some mild panic.
September 9th, 2014 at 2:49 pm
cmurda…..I offer this IS mild panic……
September 9th, 2014 at 3:22 pm
We need Incognito.
September 9th, 2014 at 3:25 pm
We need Incognito
September 9th, 2014 at 3:42 pm
English adds more or less nothing. Means pretty much did nothing but English has pretty much done nothing his whole career. Michael Johnson doing absolutely nothing should be a bigger concern.
September 9th, 2014 at 3:51 pm
I concur with Rasta…this IS mild panic. Wait until next Monday if they lose.
September 9th, 2014 at 3:51 pm
Resigning English was a good move.
He has burst
I’ve been Bowers biggest Supporter. I know what he can do.
But that time is now.
He is healthy. He needs to heat up the QB.
Ignore the run for now. Don’t drop into coverage.
Get your big, fast butt in the backfield, and knock the QB down!!
He can. 2 sacks, and you are the answer
It has to be now
September 9th, 2014 at 3:52 pm
We need Incognito.
September 9th, 2014 at 4:16 pm
Our D-Line couldn’t get any pressure last week so why not give this guy a shot…
September 9th, 2014 at 4:19 pm
We need Incognito. I was going to wear my Steven Means Business T-Shirt to the game this Sunday!
September 9th, 2014 at 4:44 pm
BuccaneerBonzai Says:
September 9th, 2014 at 1:31 pm
Also, because the players had grown weary of his act, plus the fact that he and Allen put together the worst stretch of drafts in the history of the team, plus the fact that he never developed a QB (or any other young players for that matter), plus the fact that he produced mediocre results year in and year out. He left the team devoid of talent. Other than that he was a great coach. The Super Bowl team was the only decent team he ever produced in Tampa… but people still think the guy was some kind of genius. How many years of producing crap is a coach allowed after winning a Super Bowl?
September 9th, 2014 at 4:54 pm
Correction…when Gruden left the team was deviod of draft picks….that was not his fault…rather a multi year mortage beginning with Scott Dill ,Kenyatta ,2 1st for Key…2 first and 2 seconds for Gruden and the Lombardi…followed by desparte catch up gamble that failed…
September 9th, 2014 at 4:56 pm
I left out Colemen for a trade up pick…think it was a 3
September 9th, 2014 at 5:23 pm
Jon Gruden was fired in part because he couldn’t or was too stuborn to develop a young franchise QB. Yeah, I understand that franchise QBs don’t grow on trees, but just remember that almost all of the old veterans that were purged from the team when Gruden was fired did not play another down in the NFL.
The team was stuck in the middle of the pack and the defense was getting older, while the offensive didn’t show signs of improvement. Let’s also not forget the way the team fell apart to end the season, going from division contenders to missing the playoffs and losing to JaMarcus Russell and the Oakland Raiders.
There’s also the pitiful draft record of the Gruden/Allen regime as more evidence that a change was needed.
Look, I love Gruden, and I would make the trade to land him in Tampa all day long, but it was time for a change. The problem wasn’t firing Jon Gruden, it was who the Buccaneers replaced Gruden with; Raheem Morris and Greg Schiano, two men in over their heads for a variety of reasons.
Only a fool would condemn the Lovie hire after week one, regardless of how pitiful the team looked. I’ll give the man some time, but goodness do the Bucs need to improve on both sides of the ball. If Josh comes out with another stinker that bad, he needs to sit down, but let’s see what happens this Sunday before we go jumping off any bridges.
September 9th, 2014 at 5:50 pm
Wow….There are folks here who long for the Greg Schiano era? (Almost as bad as thinking “Rah” was also a good coach….)
Well said TheGregWitful….
September 9th, 2014 at 5:59 pm
We need incognito
September 9th, 2014 at 7:11 pm
Orca hit the nail on the head. Those of you that disagree were either not a fan at the time, have bad memories or was not in touch with fan response at the time.
There were multiple reasons he got fired, and Orca named several.
thegregwitul named a reason right off the bat.
Many players did not like Gruden because he misled people constantly. Garcia even showed this in a presser, when he said, “John Gruden doesn’t like to marry quarterbacks, he just likes to date them.”
If Gruden had Garcia’s respect, Jeff never would have said that publicly.
And he wasn’t the only one to make comments. Sapp loves the man though. Then again, much as I love Sapp, he’s not the best behaved guy in Bucs history either. He has a mouth just like Gruden, or he did on the field.
As to Schiano, I liked him, but I like Lovie more. I really feel Lovie is the solution…but fans will have to be patient. Just like Barber told them before the first game. Just like Brooks told them. Just like White told them. Just like Dungy told them. Just like…well, you get the idea.
It’s not like fans were not warned. Listen to the people who matter, not the media. Media offers mostly opinion these days.
September 9th, 2014 at 8:18 pm
The sky is falling!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh chicken little. Fair weather fans be gone. They looked shaky and Carolina won… That’s what practice is for. I’m thinking the tides will turn considerably.
September 10th, 2014 at 7:19 am
Orca – spot on about Gruden. That was exactly the problem.
He could run a team, but couldn’t build one.
The D-line was the biggest concern. Everything will improve every week- just need time together in the System.
Despite two really dumb Plays- McCown will turn out to be a very Good QB for us.
But if that line can’t produce QB pressure- then we are in bad shape.
The Defense is based on QB pressure- and nobody but McCoy has shown any sign of disrupting a QB- and he’s getting double and Triple teamed!
I hope English shows the same burst he had in the Preseason
Running out of options here.
September 10th, 2014 at 8:29 pm
ONE GAME IN PEOPLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m going to pretend I haven’t seen people already giving up ahahaha