The Battle For No. 3
July 6th, 2015
Will Louis Murphy be able to hang on to his No. 3 WR position?
The lack of depth on this Bucs squad is a significant reason Tampa Bay won the Chase for Jameis last year.
Joe many times has pointed out that Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson very well could be the best one-two punch of wide receivers in the NFL. If that duo is not, then the list ahead of them is damn short.
After that, hoo-boy, is there a dropoff.
Your No. 3 receiver is journeyman Louis Murphy. Joe can only remember one play Murphy made last year. That was a helluva catch-and-run from quarterback of the past and quarterback of the future and maybe quarterback of the present, Mike Glennon, in a thrilling come-from-behind win at Pittsburgh to set up the winning score by Jackson.
Now whether Murphy is the No. 3 receiver this year is up for grabs. as Pat Yasinskas of ESPN pointed out recently.
@PatYazESPN: Louis Murphy has the edge going into training camp because of his experience. But Kenny Bell will get a long look. The Bucs drafted Bell because they think he can play slot receiver. But it might be too much to expect Bell to step in right away, even though he looked good in the offseason workouts.
Joe has spoken with trusted Bucs sources and they are genuinely excited about Kenny Bell. Barring injury (he was hurt in June) or Bell freefalling in training camp and preseason, the Bucs are pretty confident he can make the final 53-man cut.
In a perfect world, Bell and his wheels will push and perhaps overtake Murphy as the No. 3 receiver. Of course, that would be a best-case scenario.
July 6th, 2015 at 8:13 am
We will probably carry 6 WRs……or maybe even 7 if one is a return specialist. Look for Evans, Jackson, Murphy, Bell, Clay, Sheperd & one of the UDFAs.
July 6th, 2015 at 8:23 am
Keeping Murphy over one of the young guys who has a greater upside and plays specials teams would be just another one of Laughable Lovie the Clowns dumb personal moves. Murphy is a mediocre one trick pony who does not play special teams. If these team was close to playoffs I would buy the BS experience crap but the most experience Murphy has is being cut from NFL teams. Humphries, Clay and Bell all have way more upside than Murphy.
July 6th, 2015 at 8:35 am
But, but, but………..Murphy caught passes from Tim Tebow.
July 6th, 2015 at 8:54 am
…..and who knows which of the number 3 “candidates” will have the best chemistry with America’s Quarterback…Jameis Winston.
July 6th, 2015 at 9:20 am
Bell skill set is more suited for WR more so than slot. Murph presence will be at slot this up coming season.
July 6th, 2015 at 10:15 am
The Bucs will need both Bell and Murphy. Depth, as Joe said, will be key should Evans or Jackson go down. Evans was out for a while last year and Jackson, although in good shape, is older.
In a perfect world our TE’s would see a lot of passes over the middle and free up the WR’s for that 4-Vetical offense we’ve been hearing so much about. That, of course, is wishful thinking because hooks and slants will be the staple passing routes until the OL can handle the blitz on a regular basis, someday.
Let’s hope that all the WR’s that currently reside on our bench with their highly touted speed (and no hands) can make a meaningful contribution.
July 6th, 2015 at 11:34 am
If Bell can hold on to the ball, our offense will be in good shape. Ja
July 6th, 2015 at 3:41 pm
Murphy has deep speed and is perfect along with Evans for the four deep vertical offense. He also can read NFL Defenses much better than any rookie, and is better than Clay or Bell in beating jams at the line of scrimmage. Also remember that Jackson is getting up in age and has already lost some speed, and will need to be replaced in the future. Murphy can take over that role in the long run as the second receiver and elevating Evans to number one receiver. Hopefully by then Bell will have become efficient as the slot receiver. We need Clay to stay healthy as our returner and just be an emergency backup. Shepherd is great at Special Teams and can be a dependable backup as well. The receiver from Central Florida should also make our team, Stonehands Herron should be cut, and the best of the rest put on the Practice Squad.
July 6th, 2015 at 9:58 pm
Bell will take over the #2 WR, Evans the #1…and Jackson will play slot. That’s how it will play out eventually.
July 6th, 2015 at 11:51 pm
Right, because most teams have little drop off after their #1 and #2 receivers go down. Silly premise here.
July 7th, 2015 at 5:56 am
Joe, Louis Murphy had that big play against the Bengals during the last seconds of the game. That was called back for 12 players on the field.
July 7th, 2015 at 9:15 am
I could leave for a year, come back and Tmaxcon would still be spewing his negative vomit lined words all over his keyboard. So sad and pathetic.