No “Cartwheels” For Jason Licht
May 5th, 2015
Bucs GM Jason Licht refuses to do cartwheels, no matter how much he likes his recent draft.
Yesterday, when appearing on “The Blitz,” co-hosted by Bruce Murray and Rich Gannon heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Bucs general manager Jason Licht was peppered with all sorts of questions about the draft.
Aside from the Jameis Winston chatter, Licht dove into talk about the two offensive linemen drafted early, tackle Donovan Smith and guard Ali Marpet . In sort, Licht said his day was made when he secured the two, and talked about how they won him over.
On Donovan Smith, “The first game that jumped out to me was in 2013 against [Nebraska defensive end] Randy Gregory and, in my opinion, he shut [Gregory] down.”
On Marpet, Licht said it was the feedback he received from offensive line coach George Warhop that sold him on the Hobart College scout.
“George can be critical,” Licht said. “That’s a good thing. We need him to be. He spent an entire day with both of them. And he came away very impressed with these guys, which bodes well for them.”
Licht noted he expected Marpet to struggle at the Senior Bowl, jumping from his Division-III playing level to going against top defensive linemen in Division-I. Marpet held his own if not dominated, Licht said.
“These are two guys that going in to Day Two, we looked at our board and thought, ‘If we could come away with Donovan Smith and Ali Marpet, I would do cartwheels,'” Licht said. “And I haven’t done a cartwheel yet. I’m not gong to throw out my back.”
May 5th, 2015 at 6:09 am
Relax Jason.
On paper this draft looks to be a good one but we will only know in time. Don’t hurt yourself doing amateur gymnastics, I think the Bucs Health Insurance is still reeling from MRSA.
May 5th, 2015 at 6:55 am
I was pleased to see they both put up 30 or more reps of 225. This means they are already strong enough to compete for positions. I hope they are both dominant run blockers and pass protectors. Would be great to be able to run the football without 2-3 defenders in the backfield on every play!
May 5th, 2015 at 7:14 am
I’m picturing us finally, FINALLY having a good screen game. Marpet is fast as hell for a lineman and I’d love to see him running downfield blasting defenders.
May 5th, 2015 at 7:27 am
I don’t remember ever feeling this way about any of mark dominicks drafts. without the first overall pick this draft was better than most of dominicks
May 5th, 2015 at 7:28 am
I was hoping for Winston and a T and a G with the next 2 picks. That is exactly what they did. Good job Jason. Hope all 3 work out well.
May 5th, 2015 at 8:19 am
It was a smart draft. You can’t be sure of how young men will develop- but I feel good about who we bet on!
May 5th, 2015 at 8:45 am
The only thing that scares me is warhop and his lack of credibility to scout and more importantly develop players. Scary
May 5th, 2015 at 9:30 am
Un oh, Warhop liked these two? Kiss of death! Hope they can overcome him.
May 5th, 2015 at 9:46 am
“George can be critical,” Licht said.
2 words.
Oniel Cousins.
May 5th, 2015 at 9:53 am
Let me pose a question. If they took a vote from the entire team last season about going after WINSton wouldn’t lead most to assume that 1 like I’ve mentioned on many occasion that the tank job was at play last season and 2 maybe Warhop who has been an employee in the NFL for some time now is more qualified as a coach than what last season would have shown because no one was playing to they’re full potential because the tank job was at play. From what I’ve previously read he took the browns Oline from the bottom tier of the league to top five. I think Warhop knows what he’s doing folks.
May 5th, 2015 at 9:56 am
Nole on Sat.-Bucc on Sun…..we were discussing about the tank job yesterday at the bottom of this thread…
https://www.joebucsfan.com/2015/05/lichts-long-love-of-winston/#comments
May 5th, 2015 at 9:58 am
I mean d@$! brighter days are on the horizon and right on que people are still b@$!#in and complaining. We’ll win a chip in a few seasons and people will still be crying like babies and s@!t. Disgusting.
May 5th, 2015 at 9:59 am
Hell I remember around week 9 or so I went into a Race Trac and the girl at the counter saw my Bucs jersey, then said to me : “Oh you’re a Bucs fan they aren’t doing so good this season are they?” My reply : “That’s okay I think they’re losing on purpose.”
May 5th, 2015 at 10:11 am
Maybe no cartwheels but the man’s head is bobbling more than normal
May 5th, 2015 at 10:11 am
I almost did a cartwheel when Marpet was announced. I know what I saw in him while he was being touted as a 4th rounder. But I knew as draft came closer, he would climb the boards and probably be a late 2nd rounder, and that we’d have to move up to get him. He went a few spots later than I thought, and we moved up for him. That post is somewhere in Joe’s archives. Not so sure we wouldve drafted Smith if Landon Collins hadnt been taken. But maybe not. Smith is a huge smart guy, barring injury, I see him and Marpet growing together and being key blockers.
And Marpet very well could take Mankins position at LG in the future. I think we’ll try him at Center, and Mankins play should be automatically better with him and Smith….I just dont know yet if we still plant Dotson at LT and Smith at RT. Maybe switch the roles and see how they do. But Ali is used to the left side, and thats where most of the better pass rush will be coming from. And as fast as he is, he’ll be hard to get around.
May 5th, 2015 at 10:14 am
Good look Buc 1987 I’ve read thru it,I’m up to speed now my dude.
May 5th, 2015 at 10:22 am
And MadMax my inner feelings tell me Marpet about to be a star. Watching a program on him over the weekend he oozes the same type of”I know I’m the s@$!”Jamies does. Really looking forward to seeing this guy do his thing.
May 6th, 2015 at 3:56 am
Buc1987 Says:
Hell I remember around week 9 or so I went into a Race Trac and the girl at the counter saw my Bucs jersey, then said to me : “Oh you’re a Bucs fan they aren’t doing so good this season are they?” My reply : “That’s okay I think they’re losing on purpose.”
____________________________________________________________
When I wear Bucs stuff here in Austin, people just look at me and smile sadly.