High Risk, High Reward
May 17th, 2015
Several offseason player transactions could have dramatic impact.
Take the Eagles trading for Sam Bradford, for example. If he goes down and the Eagles miss the playoffs, then Chip Kelly won’t be able to walk down Broad Street without bodyguards.
Then there is the Jimmy Graham trade to Seattle. A budding star quarterback who has been to the playoffs in each of his three seasons, and a breath away from two rings, arguably got the top pass-catcher in the NFL. That is huge.
Then, per SI.com producer Bette Marston, there is Jason Licht picking “America’s Quarterback,” Bucs signal-caller Jameis Winston. She believes either the move shows Licht will be around for years running the Bucs because it was such a savvy move, or he is currently updating his resumé.
Now, Winston has a chance to completely change the outlook of this franchise, and it certainly won’t be easy. On the field, Winston will face a large amount of pressure in the pocket; it’s no secret that the Bucs’ offensive line is a work in progress, despite drafting two offensive linemen in the second round. He’ll have two huge receivers in Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson at his disposal, but they can’t be effective if Winston’s spending the majority of his time scrambling under pressure. But Winston’s off-field behavior is what has most people concerned. There’s no doubt his charisma will make him popular with the media and fans, and in the locker room, but will his immaturity follow him from his college days?
Fans and media alike will have high expectations for Winston, and Licht knows his job is on the line with this pick. High risk, high reward? You betcha.
Maybe it is just Joe, but Joe doesn’t get the sense Bucs fans think drafting Jameis automatically means Super Bowls.
What it means to Joe is that if Jameis develops, the Bucs won’t have to worry about having the worst quarterback in the division, and it would give the Bucs a chance to do more than just quality for the playoffs someday.
It won’t be Jameis who makes or breaks Licht’s tenure with the Bucs, it is the offensive line. Remember, it wasn’t former Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik or former Bucs commander Greg Schiano who decided to blow up the O-line.
So long as the guys you pick to fill the holes get the job done, completely dismantling an offensive line is just fine. But that is exactly the opposite of what has happened.
It was so bad, the guy the Bucs signed to play left tackle is still unemployed, and the team had to burn two second-round draft picks on offensive linemen, Donovan Smith and Ali Marpet.
If those two cannot live up to expectations, and Jameis gets pounded on worse than a speedbag at a boxing gym, that has the potential of taking down the braintrust of the Bucs more than if Jameis struggles.
May 17th, 2015 at 8:23 am
Marpet will live beyond the expectations!
May 17th, 2015 at 8:32 am
Remember the grin Licht had on his face after the combine and Jameis’s pro day and visit. Im pretty sure thats when he was given the green light and even Jameis knew a month in advance that he was ours.
Yep. They screwed up last year with those signings. But at least they learned from it, cut them, and have moved forward. I like Licht so far and believe he’s def more than just some talking head. It may take a year for Jameis and the O line to gel, but its coming!
Be ready Buc fans, and FK you mariotajoe!
May 17th, 2015 at 9:00 am
@madmax- you don’t think he was given the green light back when we were tanking games, yes i said games not just the last one, last season? This has the smell of a long brewing plan all over it. I couldn’t be happier either. Shows that these guys have their eyes on much bigger prizes than managing to win a few meaningless games at the end of the season
May 17th, 2015 at 9:05 am
After getting rid of penn and Zuttah then replacing them with bums if
They miss on these two guys and others that they could have chosen go on to be solid pros…. Jason must go
May 17th, 2015 at 9:06 am
shhhh….
Silence! I KILL YOU! (in my best Dunham’s Achmed voice)
May 17th, 2015 at 9:08 am
This revisionist history gets old. Tell you what, Joe. Let’s trade two second-round picks for Joseph and Penn. Surely they will do the job. Idiot.
Zuttah was more of a head-scratcher, as was the avoidance of o-line help in the 2014 second and third picks. But L&L did diagnose the disease, and the treatment plan will take a little longer. The line was in shambles already. ((My private opinion is that Tedford played a huge role in the W2014 draft and was aiming to reconfigure the line into a modified zone blocking scheme. The 2nd and 3rd picks look like sop to an offensive guru with out-of-the-box ideas, particularly the use of a TE and backfield pass catcher to widen the space. We will never know, and the 2014 plans went awry, because of the OC’s illness and perhaps because he was wrong).
Most teams end up with one or two low round o-line picks or UFAs on the field. Dallas is the exception. The redoing of the line was not L&L’s fault, but fixing it is their responsibility.
May 17th, 2015 at 9:18 am
I’m with you mad max,I think Marpet will be a star. Something about his persona that just says gamer to me.
May 17th, 2015 at 9:27 am
Everybody is talking about how Philly got Bradford…yeah whatever. Bradford cant even make it to week one! Relying on him is a huge gamble. Instead, I think the Rams won. Nick Foles missed a portion of last year, but his injury risk isnt half as high as Bradford. Kelly better pray that his guy stays healthy other wise, Philly will miss the playoffs again and you know the rest. But think about it, that St.Louis defense just got a quarterback! Thats way more exciting! Screw Chip Kelly! Foles isnt Manning, but he dosent have to be anyone but himself because the kids pretty damn good. St.Louis will appreciate the complement Foles brings to their defense.
May 17th, 2015 at 9:31 am
Ali Marpet……”America’s Guard”
May 17th, 2015 at 9:33 am
I concur largobuc. My opinion the Rams got the better end of this deal.
May 17th, 2015 at 9:45 am
I think Kelley was smoking crack when he traded for Bradford. 5 yrs later and Tebow Still has a better win% than Sam Bradford
May 17th, 2015 at 9:48 am
Yeah Nole. Im with you on Marpet. I think Licht will be crowned for the Marpet pick in the long run. Heck he may even be “America’s GM” Marpet has the Moxi.
May 17th, 2015 at 9:57 am
Small steps! I’ll be happy with the Bucs just beating some division foes at home.
May 17th, 2015 at 10:01 am
Why would the gm take all the credit and be the genius of the organization? Don’t teams in general with the top picks take the best player available?building his resume I can see but savvy, I think not.
May 17th, 2015 at 10:21 am
@Lou
That was an excellent post guy. Well thought out with spot on points. I agree with this completely.
Most teams end up with one or two low round o-line picks or UFAs on the field. Dallas is the exception. The redoing of the line was not L&L’s fault, but fixing it is their responsibility.
Exactly! It wasn’t their fault but it is their responsibility to fix it.
I think some of those “high priced FA’s” were as much about generating some talk to try and repair the Bucs fading attendance numbers. The team needed to gin up some faux excitement. L&L played along and threw some darts at the board and came up short.
Let’s see what happens this year now that they have a QB and more offensive weapons.
May 17th, 2015 at 10:40 am
Joes, no way lights future rest on line. Winston has ANY issues with a women, this administration is done! And yes the Bucks fans do count on huge improvement. Why, you and the rest of the media told us he’s our new franchise qb. You call him Americas qb. Be men, have the guts to stick by what you said pre-draft. He’s the savior, you doctored a picture of Jesus to prove it!
May 17th, 2015 at 10:45 am
Guess I must have been reading it all wrong I thought after all the garbage fighting and you srarting or leading the way in most of them, the fans were all automatically thinking Super Bowls now.
May 17th, 2015 at 10:48 am
starting^
May 17th, 2015 at 10:56 am
Winston thinks Super Bowl now. That’s good enough for me.
May 17th, 2015 at 11:02 am
You don’t get fired because of a draft pick….Nope you get fired cuz your team sucks, if Winston a bust he still will be better than Glennon and if we’re winning his job is safe especially if the other picks work out. media fantasizing about a quarterback changing football in Tampa forever but hit on your other picks you can still compete for playoffs.. . how do I know this? Bucs never had a franchise qb but used to be consistently in playoffs
May 17th, 2015 at 11:24 am
87
Haven’t had a chance to congratulate you. Have you come down yet. And happily I can say so far your guy Fameis has been the real deal. If he stays out of trouble I think it’s going to be all good.
And so I give the the “I told you so” award and hope you get to keep it for the rest of Fameis career.
May 17th, 2015 at 11:36 am
Still don’t understand getting rid of Penn and Joseph, they were at least average at their positions and until someone ON THE ROSTER ALREADY could displace them, they should still be on the roster!
May 17th, 2015 at 12:10 pm
Last year L & L took a sub-mediocre offensive line and made it the worst in history.
This year they are hoping two 2nd round picks and last year’s 2 late round picks can make the offensive line better than worst in history.
Bucs fans (and Jameis) remain hopeful!
May 17th, 2015 at 2:49 pm
MadMax Says:
May 17th, 2015 at 8:23 am
Marpet will live beyond the expectations!
You are right.
May 17th, 2015 at 4:18 pm
Brees will be out of football in the next few years, Matt Ryan is heading into his 9th season and will probably fall off ias Winston is rising. In 3-4 years it is very possible TB will have the best or the second best QB in our division.
May 17th, 2015 at 4:33 pm
To MadMax and logged, expectations and remaining hopeful won’t cut it in the big boys league. Think about it, expectations lead to disappointments-fact, and hope is for those who simply wish things were different.
May 17th, 2015 at 8:55 pm
@ruggyup
Wow dude. I hope you take this with the good intentions I offer it. I’ve been around 67 years now and you couldn’t be more mistaken! Not just about the Bucs…but about life in general.
Think about it, expectations lead to disappointments-fact, and hope is for those who simply wish things were different.
That runs counter the to knowledge imparted by every great philospher, thinker and spirtual leader from Christ to Marcus Aurelius to Ralph Waldo Emerson.
What the mind conceives the body achieves. Famous but true cliche. Without expectations there are no real results…just tossing yourself to the vagaries of luck and totally omitting an amazing power available to you.
Norman Vincent Peale did not write “The Power of NEGATIVE Thinking”
Even our nursery rhymes have been created to counter your type of negativity. The little train didn’t reach the top of the hill chugging along saying I think I can’t I think I can’t.
You have given yourself to fear of failure which is a recipe for disaster in all walks of life. I have NEVER achieved anything in my life believing that I could not do what I set out to do. Fear of failure will consume you if you let it.
Embrace positive thinking. Look at it logically. You can believe we will win ten or more next year. And then it can either happen or not. If it doesn’t yes you’ll have some disappointment. If it does you can jump for joy. Meanwhile with your negative attitude you will have wasted all the months prior to the accomplishment p!ssed off and negative when you didn’t really have to feel that way.
Guard against negative thinking. Seriously if I had ONE piece of advice to share with any other human being it would be about the power of positive thinking.
May 18th, 2015 at 4:56 am
Wow, StPeteBucsFan, I rarely read all the posts, and very rarely post at all… But I’m glad I read that… Nice bit of wisdom you just shared, I’ll take that with me… Proud to be a fellow Bucs fan with you!
May 18th, 2015 at 5:58 am
MadMax Says:
May 17th, 2015 at 9:06 am
shhhh….
Silence! I KILL YOU! (in my best Dunham’s Achmed voice)
—————-
You had a compelling argument until you started quoting a man that plays with puppets.
May 18th, 2015 at 10:04 am
Joe. like many of the so called fans out here, conveniently forget the Bucs offensive line was horrible the year befor. IT wasn’t exactly like he let go of the infamous ‘Hogs offensive line.
The 2013 O Line was probably just as bad but had a little bit more competent OC.