“Could Be Exceptional”
June 3rd, 2015
Bucs GM Jason Licht could have the last laugh if all of his second-round picks pan out. Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.
As Joe told his good friend “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM 620, during the JoeBucsFan.com Hour yesterday, six wins would be nice progress because that would mean the Bucs tripled their win total from 2014
And folks, as Joe stated live on the air, the Bucs were 2-14 for a reason. The team stunk out loud and had a whole bunch of holes.
Even though it takes more than one offseason to repair a hole-filled 2-14 team, Matt Waldman of Football Outsider believes the Bucs could be sitting on a dynamic offense immediately.
The catch is Tampa Bay would have too hit on all its offensive picks the past two drafts, so he told “The David Todd Show” of WBGG-AM in Pittsburgh this week.
Yes, Waldman likes “America’s Quarterback,” Bucs signal-caller Jameis Winston, and really loves wide receiver Mike Evans. He also is of the mind tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins potentially is a stud. But the key lies up front.
“Their offensive line was very, very poor last year and I was very critical of them in not adding offensive lineman [in free agency or by trade] knowing they were going to take Jameis Winston first overall,” Waldman said. “But at the end of the day, they did take the kid from Penn State [Donovan Smith] and they did take the kid from Hobart [Ali Marpet] which are good prospects. So, they will be probably a work in progress but they have a young nucleus on offense that could be exceptional for the next five years.”
That’s true. The Bucs hope Smith turns in to their long-term standard at left tackle. Evans already proved himself and, of course, you would hope your No. 1 overall draft pick QB would rank in at least the top half of the league.
Granted, within five years the Bucs will have to replace Logan Mankins, Evan Smith and Demar Dotson.
But Joe can see where Waldman is coming from. The key will be how well AC/DC-loving Jason Licht’s first three second-round picks as the Bucs general manager pan out. That is the key. And they all play up front.
June 3rd, 2015 at 9:12 am
Licht has hit on one 1st round pick and 1 free agent. If 1 2nd round draft pick pans out, he will at least tied what it took Dominik 5 years to do!!!
June 3rd, 2015 at 9:23 am
Give me two of whatever the guitar player took! That MF is in the zone!
June 3rd, 2015 at 9:54 am
@Ray Rice,
I don’t know man. I don’t think I want what the guitar player has. He looks a little crazy… Lol
June 3rd, 2015 at 9:58 am
Smith and Marpet will get a long hard look during preseason.
I believe if the Bucs don’t like what they see, they will be scanning the waiver wire for an experienced player who might have one more year left in the tank.
Unlike Mankins, who was shell shocked last year, a veteran acquired off the waiver wire is a little more thankful he’s getting one more year of good paychecks.
June 3rd, 2015 at 10:06 am
I hope Waldman is right. The Bucs have sucked so bad with their 1st & 2nd rd picks in years past, it is a wonder we we did as well as we did in winning 30 of the last 100 games. I always supported the Rock Star because he did so well in finding hidden gems (UFAs, late rd picks, etc). But how the heck can one be good at finding hidden talent like that, but totally blows with their top draft picks?!
I read yesterday that the Saints resigned Cameron Jordan and it made me sick. Jordan was taken a few spots after Dom drafted Realist’s boy Clayborn and has done fairly well. That same draft, Dom drafted fat boy Bowers. How do we manage to BOMB on drafting TWO bad DEs with our 1st and 2nd rd picks in the same draft?!
June 3rd, 2015 at 10:23 am
@harry
What will make you sick was how deep with DE that draft was. There were productive guys into the 4th round that year! The way the pop-star found 2 busts so high is beyond amazing! But don’t tell Joe and the other 4 fans (sheep) that still think that Dominick was a good nfl GM!!!!
June 3rd, 2015 at 10:24 am
We have to remember that ASJ and Simms were both hurt last year, and we also lacked an Offensive Coordinator.
Tampa will be far different this year on offense, and I think we will flat out shock some naysayers.
Of course, this all assumes our O Line plays better, and I think they will.
June 3rd, 2015 at 10:43 am
Thanks to that horrifying season last year, I’m especially looking forward to the upcoming Reaper visits across the NFL later this summer as camps break. It’s normal that some solid veterans are given pink slips, not because their performance has fallen off, but due to cap issues. There should be a few quality OLmen available to come on board to at least add to the depth chart, if not start and mentor the rookies. And the Bucs get first dibs at every one of them. Kind of like a second round of the draft, the last great reward for the puke known as the ’14 Bucs season before a new era begins.
Sure hope Licht gets it right, if so it should be the last time the Bucs are in such a fortunate position for the next decade or two. Go Bucs!
June 3rd, 2015 at 11:07 am
If we hit our draft picks the last two years, we won’t really know for at least two seasons, but when, V-jax, Mankins, EDS and Dotson gets replaced, this offense will be extremely young. Likely no player with more than 3-4 years experience
June 3rd, 2015 at 11:16 am
the bucs have the pieces to be a really good offense, they have the physical talent but it remains to be seen if these young players have the mental makeup to be dominant on the field, if you have the potential and physical tools then all that’s left is your mental makeup…lol race to 10 began as soon as we got a coordinator and the quarterback to make him look like a genius
June 3rd, 2015 at 11:44 am
@CalBucsFan Says “Sure hope Licht gets it right, if so it should be the last time the Bucs are in such a fortunate position for the next decade or two. Go Bucs!”
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–You got that right! If Licht and his talent scouts picked correctly, we should be awesome for years to come.
But IF not, we can be in real trouble, especially if we have to get rid of Lovie, and the Tampa 2.
Many of our Defensive players are tailor made for the type of Defense we run.
But I think Licht and his staff are much better at the draft, then at free agency.
June 3rd, 2015 at 11:48 am
Considering 6 wins to be great simply because it is three times as many wins as 2 is just stat geekiness. That logic with numbers then says if there was only 1 win then 3 would be a good season. Really? Imagine if there were no wins and then improved to 2. The celebrations would go on for weeks. Not buying the logic.
6 wins maybe would be okay considering the work needing to be done on the O line, but that would be about all. 7 and a fan might feel like the Bucs have turned the corner. 8 or more would be cause to toast a few cold ones.
June 3rd, 2015 at 12:35 pm
The Evan Smith thing its so mutch more confusing then anything else with the new rookie T and our Star WR on the roster
June 3rd, 2015 at 6:21 pm
Well, let’s see this is easy enough – keep drafting and developing the trenches and never stop and stop making overhauling changes.
If Licht and his personnel staff and scouts prove to be above average and develop the talent in the roster, BE PATIENT AND DONT TURNOVER.
Let it evolve.
June 3rd, 2015 at 8:29 pm
Of course Licht likes AC/DC. Who doesn’t like old AC/DC with Bon Scott?
You don’t like Rock music if you don’t like the original AC/DC. Nice post Joe.
Time will tell – but the drafting seems to have improved over the last 2 years in my eyes. (compared to the previous 10 which ain’t hard to do ) We’ll see how many of these guys get 2nd contracts…
Dom got TWO 2nd contract draftees in 5 years as GM so far -and one of those is counting the new deal for L. David that hasn’t even happened yet. SMH
June 4th, 2015 at 1:15 am
Hard to believe Angus Young is the only surviving original member of the band.