“A Neon Deal For A GM”
May 6th, 2015
Man, Joe is enamored by the hefty set of footballs carried by Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht. The man traded up into the second round for a Division III offensive linemen, Ali Marpet, and likely needs him to start.
Joe is not alone.
Personnel guru Charles Davis agrees that Licht made the fearless play when other linemen, guys who played dozens of games against premier college competition, were available.
“It’s one of those things that becomes a neon deal for a GM, if the Division III guy doesn’t work out,” Davis said in an NFL.com podcast. “You’re actually protected if you take a guy from a power conference.
“I’ll put it to you this way, I admire Jason Licht. ‘Forget the book. I like this guy. I’ll take the heat if it doesn’t work. I’m going to go make it happen and try and help out my quarterback.'”
Joe sure is rooting for Marpet. The Bucs will be putting a lot of pressure on him and fellow rookie Donovan Smith, the likely starting left tackle.
May 6th, 2015 at 11:08 am
If those two come in an simply achieve competency much less compete for all rookie honors this OL has a chance to become at least professional if not dominant.
With Koetter calling the plays and a large array of offensive weapons that should mke it a little easier on the line as well.
May 6th, 2015 at 11:20 am
Let me rephrase your last sentence Joe: The Bucs will be putting a lot of pressure on him, and fellow rookies Donovan Smith and La’el Collins, the likely starting left tackle.
And as far as Davis goes – before your rave about Licht’s decisions, be a Bucs fan and soak up the entire gambit of his “enLICHTening decisions” before you fall too in love.
May 6th, 2015 at 11:21 am
Sounds like more of the same from these Bozos where they rely heavily on their terrible talent evaluation projecting great things from players that have never done it before. A long list of disasters come to mind but I’ll just mention McCown, Collins, Johnson, EDS, ASJ and Sims…just to name a few.
May 6th, 2015 at 11:34 am
You only named a few then after that you just started making sh1t up, Dallasbuc.
May 6th, 2015 at 11:35 am
There are 3 major reasons our offensive line problems may just get solved.
1. Dirk, our new offensive coordinator, will design plays and blocking schemes that will help the new line come together.
2. Jameis is used to making calls at the line that maximizes blocking and protection.
3. We still have the #1 pick of any waiver wire linemen cut for salary cap or younger draftees. This could add a couple of backups or even a starter to our current roster.
Chicken little, the sky ain’t falling quite yet!
May 6th, 2015 at 12:01 pm
Marpet is really an interesting pick that I think will do quite well. I’m more concerned about Smith being able to play LT at the NFL level
May 6th, 2015 at 12:16 pm
sounds like they did more homework on him that Bruce Allen & John Gruden did on WR Dexter Jackson. that’s encouraging at least. i wouldn’t mind seeing us land a veteran tackle (or La’el Collins if exonerated, like 25 other NFL teams) that allows Smith & Marpet to compete inside at RG and allow for the possibility that one of those guys is not what we need them to be on day 1. in that scenario, Marpet could even cross train at Center.
May 6th, 2015 at 12:51 pm
I really like the Marpet pick. I thing this guy will be a day one starter at guard.
May 6th, 2015 at 1:31 pm
First I don’t mind the pick of Marpet; unfortunately he’s probably already an upgrade to EDS at center
May 6th, 2015 at 1:34 pm
its not EDS anymore.
it is ES he changed his name to Evan Smith.
May 6th, 2015 at 1:34 pm
per profootballtalk
May 6th, 2015 at 2:07 pm
I’m more worried about Donovan Smith than I am about Marpet. Smith is going to be on an island facing guys like JJ Watt and Charles Johnson in first month of games. If he’s not the real deal right away, Winston could be picking up his teeth with broken fingers once those guys get finished.
May 6th, 2015 at 2:35 pm
Pound the Rock
May 6th, 2015 at 2:44 pm
They need to win up front, out physical at point of attack, north & south, smash mouth, power run game. With Luke Stocker and Iosefa blocking out of I Formation with Marpet pulling to block linebacker! Pow!
May 6th, 2015 at 3:02 pm
I loved the Marpet pick. The most athletic O-lineman in the draft, and coming from a D3 school, he’ll have huge chip on his shoulder. No one will out-work him.
I’m far more concerned about the Donovan Smith pick than I am the Marpet pick.
May 6th, 2015 at 5:27 pm
First off, for those that hate the Marpet pick… AJ Cann was not a can’t miss stud. He’ll probably be a pretty good OG in the NFL…at best. Marpet, on the other hand, has far greater potential, and can also play OT and OC so he has far greater position versatility. I wouldn’t have been upset with Cann, but I understand the Bucs falling in love with Marpet, his athleticism, and his versatility. Who knows, in a year or two the Bucs starting OL might look like this.
LT Donovan Smith
LG La’El Collins
C Ali Marpet
RG Kadeem Edwards
RT Kevin Pamphile—-though I think Pamphile to be better suited for the left, and Smith to be better suited for the right….
May 6th, 2015 at 6:21 pm
Jason’s personnel decisions on the o line leave a lot to be desired in the past. Maybe he is good at it now all of a sudden
May 6th, 2015 at 6:59 pm
DallasBuc, the eternal troll.
ASJ showed some good flashes last year but got injured. Same with Sims who got injured early but came on late, juking Luke Kueckly out of his shoes.
EDS, like the rest of the offense, was hampered by Mark Arroyo’s incompetence.
May 6th, 2015 at 7:33 pm
Drdneast- the eternal apologist for that incompetent Lovie Smith and his talks-too-much bobblehead lapdog GM.
Excuses for everything bad that happened last year. How convenient that you pin 2-14 and all admitted failures in personnel on Arroyo. Too funny man. You and all your apologist buddies will say anything to absolve the actual decision-makers from culpability. Yeah I’m just trolling with my slanderous McCown, Collins, Johnson criticism! Where are those hand-picked bums now? Right.
May 7th, 2015 at 1:16 am
can someone tell me if we signed La’El Collins? Sounds like we did,..sorry I have been working, but haven’t heard the news. However both 2nd rounders is an upgrade at what we did have. Thats a big plus in my book. Also if one of our 5th rounders or both steps up from last year is a great thing too. If someone actually blocks for our RB’s and they have a productive season makes the trade back in the 2nd for Marpet all worth it. If they struggle,…thats okay….so did all the top projected LTs in the last couple of drafts have struggled. Things are starting to look up,…maybe I will try to get some time off of work this year to watch BUC Ball.
May 7th, 2015 at 8:05 am
^^^how does it sound like we signed La’el Collins? That would require news reports that say something to the effect “Bucs sign La’el Collins” which I have yet to see. Where did you see this at?