Emotional Akeem Spence Love
May 26th, 2015
Sometimes it’s not what an important Buccaneer says, it’s how he says it.
Joe experienced one of those moments last week at One Buc Palace.
Defensive line coach Joe Cullen was talking about Akeem Spence and earnestly praised the nose tackle for his and performance last year.
For those punch drunk from all the losing, Spence had three sacks in five starts and backup duty.
Here’s a great trivia answer: Spence had more tackles (37) last season that heralded Gerald McCoy (35), per Buccaneers.com.
“We get really good snaps out of Akeem Smith, I mean, Akeem Spence, excuse me, from Akeem,” Cullen said.
Again, Cullen seemed so smitten with Spence, He even referred to him as “Smith.”
Joe talked to Smith earlier this year (in case you missed it).
“I say I developed a lot, man. I came from far away,” Spence said. “Especially with Coach Cullen and Coach Phair, they helped me a lot, just learning how to play the nose and be dominant at it, as opposed to last year I was just trying to figure it out, you know, being young.”
Spence has been a heck of a fourth-round pick. Former Bucs rockstar general manager Mark Dominik traded up for him in 2013, and Greg Schiano pegged him as a starter in training camp.
Damn that Dominik, destroying the Bucs at every turn.
May 26th, 2015 at 11:07 am
I’ve liked Akeem Spence since he was drafted, and if he can keep getting better and stay clean off the field, he should surprise people.
He’ll spend a few plays at DE this year as well. That will be interesting.
As to this year’s draft, here are my thoughts…
Buccaneers 2015 NFL DRAFT RESULTS
Round 1 – QB Jameis Winston
Thought to be the best quarterback in the draft. No QB comes into the league as a finished product though.
Although many Winstonites expect him to be elite in year one, it is not a realistic expectation. Jameis was not exactly a fast player in college and the NFL is much faster. He’ll need time to adapt, and it may be slowed because two fifths of his offensive line are rookies as well.
Round 2 – RT Donovan Smith
He was expected to stay in college, but surprised everyone. He has the size and weight. A Prototype player. But even if he proves to be a boom, it will take some time for him to adapt and arrive at that point. Expect the first few games to be ugly, and then he should start getting better. Maybe by mid season, he’ll start looking more like a pro, depending on how fast he learns.
Round 2 – OG/C Ali Marpet
Ali is a special case. Many don’t know much about him, but he was on my wishlist for the draft. He should be playing center, but is projected at guard because EDS currently hold that center position. HOWEVER. If EDS costs us games like he did last year, expect them to trade positions by mid season. If they don’t, Marpet should be in good form by that point at guard.
But if they do swap positions, he’ll need at least 4 games to adapt (his time at guard will have helped him some).
Round 4 – OLB Kwon Alexander
Primarily depth and special teams. Personally, I felt they would have been better served going after ILB instead here. The current projected starter (Carter) has not had a complete season in a while. He’s fragile and not the real solution there. In fact, I will be surprised if he makes it past game 4.
That said, Kwon is a developmental project. He’ll learn alongside Lavante David. If he turns into something good, perhaps David will shift to ILB in a couple years? Something to think about since many wanted him there when he was drafted, and he did call plays for Mason for a couple years.
Round 5 – WR Kenny Bell
This kid was on my wishlist too, so I’m glad we got him. He has the ability to return kicks, but his real value will be in the slot. The kid is fast…a 4.38 forty. At 6’1″ he’s not as tall as our outside WRs, but it won’t matter. He has soft hands and reacts quickly. Routes are slightly stiff but that will improve. He also needs more meat on his body to improve durability. He has almost no body fat, and is muscular, but thin.
I believe this kid will make the center field a deep threat as he develops.
Round 6 – WR Kaelin Clay
In my opinion, this was a wasted pick. I understand he was chosen as a gamble for a kick returner, but he really isn’t a good choice there.
He has ball security issues. He retuen ONE PUNT for a TD in college. That doesn’t make him a good returner. He has hard hands, which means he won’t be much good in hte passing game either. Expect the ball to bounce off his hands a lot, resulting in picks, if he plays at WR.
Round 7 FB Joey Iosefa
This one was a surprise to me, but a good one. I wanted a fullback in this draft, and I don’t know how I missed on this guy.
First, I’ve always said we need a Lorenzo Neal type of run blocking FB. We have that in Joey. He will be a premire run blocker once he cracks the starting lineup.
Second, he can pass block. He isn’t elite and needs to work at it, but he is better at it than Mike Alstott was as a rookie.
He can also catch passes better than Alstott could as a rookie.
But what we really want to know…can he run like Alstott?
The answer is maybe. He’s a powerful runner, doesn’t flinch at contact and moves piles for extra yardage. That’s Alstott all the way. His goal line and short yardage playing is top of the line.
He IS NOT a distance runner. Like Alstott, his speed is not as good as, say, a Warrick Dunn.
Truthfully, this kid has the potential to be better than Alstott was, but he won’t be there for a couple years at least. In fact, being the last pick, he’ll be lucky if he makes the final roster. He may end up on the Practice Squad, but I hope he impresses enough to be a starter.
Size is very similar to Mike.
May 26th, 2015 at 11:16 am
Here’s a great trivia answer: Spence had more tackles (37) last season that heralded Gerald McCoy (35), per
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That’s only bc GMC is getting quadruple teamed every play.
May 26th, 2015 at 11:22 am
Ha! W2G Joe! Praising Dominik for drafting a backup nose tackle. If that’s what you need to hang your hat on for his legacy, than it’s all you need to know about his tenure here.
Dominik also burned two 4th round picks on that amazing backup blocking TE Luke Stocker. The fact that he and “Smith” are still on the roster means that they’ve been significantly more successful than most of his other picks or trades. It’s a shame more of Dominik’s draft picks couldn’t even pan out to be useful backups like the one mentioned above (Freeman, Benn, Price, Myron Lewis, Clayborn, Bowers). But you know, you can’t win them all right? At least he has a couple of backups to hang his hat on.
May 26th, 2015 at 11:29 am
That goes to show you… Aunt Geraldine needs to step it up. All that yapping isn’t helping.
May 26th, 2015 at 11:43 am
Look for Coach Schiano to get some serious looks and interviews next year. A lot the NFL will notice of what he had to work with in Tampa. The comparison of coaching a Dominik roster is like trying to sail across the Atlantic on a 2×4!!!
Even co-works at Espn laugh at side-show-dominik!!!
May 26th, 2015 at 11:59 am
Akeem Spence….”America’s Backup Nose Tackle”
Yea…..give Dom some credit for his real success in the draft….Wow….a 4th round backup……congrats Dom!!!
May 26th, 2015 at 12:28 pm
@ Buc Realist
I agree man. People here seem to forget that unlike the Morris&Dom drafts that netting mostly busts and guys out of the NFL already the Schiano & Dom drafts were pretty damned good. Most guys are still on the team or at the very least still in the NFL. A shame Schiano didn’t adapt fast enough to NFL divas, the guy was pretty solid at drafting and probably a good teacher to players that could deal with the hard ass discipline.
May 26th, 2015 at 12:38 pm
love this dude. plays with heart
May 26th, 2015 at 1:15 pm
I had to reload the page to even be able to post. Friggin’ advertising is screwing with my computer. Anyway, I like Spence a lot. I think our D-line will be deep this year. Now our O-line….that’s another story.
May 26th, 2015 at 2:22 pm
Akeem Spence is the best run stopper on the Bucs defense, I feel that he should be starting and let McDonald backup him and McCoy,let Henry Melton play some DE and some DT.
May 26th, 2015 at 2:37 pm
Doesn’t Spence play on running downs & McDonald on passing downs MOL?
May 26th, 2015 at 2:48 pm
Buc Realist? Really? I see him on ESPN and think, he sounds good. I am actually listening to him today on Sirius XM NFL radio right now. He’s smart and makes sense, maybe he was growing into the position and got better and better. Seriously Realist you are “out of order” here. I am just shocked at your hate for him and now your love for Schiano, get back on your meds please.
May 26th, 2015 at 3:27 pm
@Bonzai
I respect the fact that you put time and thought into your draft analysis. Your analysis on Joey Iosefa being a potential better rookie FB than A- Train though, is bold for sure. Iosefa has a long road to even make the final roster, much less make us forget about A-Train anytime soon.
May 26th, 2015 at 4:31 pm
@I know why, Of course Dominik speaks well, explain his resume that brought him to getting a GM job in the first place? Was it the signing of Donald Penn…did he do much else of note before being handed the job? No. He was a nice looking, well speaking person who was promoted to a job he didn’t have the chops for.
One of the last moves Dominik made was arguably his worst. Trade a 1st (which became Sheldon Richardson) and a 4th for the right to pay 16 million to Darelle Revis for one year. If you are the Patriots you might make that move. Except the Patriots ended up getting Revis for free after we cut him. 4-12 teams generally don’t need 16 million dollar corners when there were a bunch of very good ones available in FREE agency that panned out (Smith, Grimes, Talib, DRC). But tell me again what Dominik learned through his run here?
May 26th, 2015 at 4:41 pm
Tom:
Dominik didnt cut Revis. A first and fourth for one of best CBs in NFL? No-brainer.
May 26th, 2015 at 4:59 pm
BuccaneerBonzai
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Your numbers couldn’t be further off on Kaelin Clay. He has ONE kickoff return for a TD in his ONE NCAA season…he has THREE punt returns in that ONE season as well. In his college career, including JC, he has TEN career returns for TDs. It’s not his hands that he has struggled with as a WR, it is his size and getting off the jam.
May 26th, 2015 at 5:02 pm
Joe Says:
May 26th, 2015 at 4:41 pm
Tom:
Dominik didnt cut Revis. A first and fourth for one of best CBs in NFL? No-brainer.
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Coming off a torn ACL and then turning around and immediately paying him far above his healthy market value? Terrible freaking deal on a 28 year old CB coming off a potentially devastating knee injury. This was perhaps one of the worst deals in NFL history.
May 26th, 2015 at 5:07 pm
Here’s a great trivia answer: Spence had more tackles (37) last season that heralded Gerald McCoy (35), per
***************
That’s only bc GMC is getting quadruple teamed every play.
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How many games did GMC mis due to injuries versus Spence?
May 26th, 2015 at 6:56 pm
Spence is one of those solid players that we drafted and need to retain for some continuity. I like him on our team
May 26th, 2015 at 7:04 pm
Joe: Revis didn’t give himself a 16-million dollar a year contract. Dominik did. The Patriots didn’t pay him that much when they got him for free either. They paid 12 million.
When you go to that length to get a corner when you had all-pro or pro bowl corners on the open market for free (Grimes, Talib) who took a third of what Revis got for one year? Genius.
P.S. Getting a top tier cornerback for a team lead by Greg Schiano (Dominik/Glazer hire) and Josh Freeman (Dominik draft pick) is like tits on a bull.
May 26th, 2015 at 8:12 pm
So DT; deepest position on the team?
May 26th, 2015 at 8:57 pm
Tom, Revis was so bad that the Jets signed him back giving him a bigger deal than what Dominik did. You can’t see things you don’t want to…if he would have traded that first for Harvin or Richardson both terrible decisions on players that have done nothing then I’d agree. However, Revis is elite and since the ACL he has two Pro Bowls, an All Pro team and a new Superbowl ring. Instead we cut him and signed Collins, McCown and Johnson….and you all pick on Dominik. Ha
May 26th, 2015 at 9:00 pm
Joe would suggest he was worth it.
Revis leaves the Bucs, who plummeted to the basement of the NFL, goes to the Pats who win it all. Revis was not a problem with the Bucs. He was an asset.
While Joe’s at it, what Patriots player left the team and his new team sucked tailpipe last year, and arguably had the worst offensive line in the NFL? Hint: He likes to barbecue.
May 27th, 2015 at 12:36 am
We had the great Darelle Revis for one year. We went 4-12 with him (how many wins did he gets us? .5?). The year later, with a roster still composed of largely Dominik players, we went 2-14. If you think the better move for this team was to go after a highly paid corner rather than use the 1st and 4th round draft pick and 16 million on an obviously rebuilding team you guys can’t even get hindsight right and I feel sorry for you.
Dominik’s record as GM 28-52 and no playoff appearances over 5 years. Oh and a backup DT. Thanks Dominik.
May 27th, 2015 at 8:37 am
@BuccaneerBonzai – you have WAY too much time on your hands…..and honestly, who cares what you think?