A Tryout For Johnthan Banks?
January 1st, 2016
One of the great mysteries of 2015 was not how Joe still failed to lure Rachel Watson into his lair (frankly, that’s not much of a mystery).
No, the mystery was what the heck happened to Johnthan Banks?
The talented second round pick from Mississippi State seemed to be in the crosshairs of Lovie Smith from the day he took over the Bucs. Joe will never forget in training camp of 2014, whenever Lovie was asked about Banks, Lovie would immediately turn the conversation into his adoration for Toast Jenkins.
That bromance sort of blew up in Lovie’s face, didn’t it?
But it did not subside. When Lovie was asked about Banks, he routinely would flip the conversation back to Jenkins almost as fast as he would dismiss opposing quarterbacks’ completion percentage against his secondary.
It still amazes Joe that for all the incessant, weekly whining Lovie does about lack of takeaways, he benched the guy who led the team in picks in 2014, Banks. Be careful what you wish for, right?
Well, yesterday, when defensive coordinator-in-name Leslie Frazier took to the microphone at One Buc Palace for what very well may his final press conference (his contract is up, his duties have been stripped and if Lovie is looking for a fall guy for his awful defense, Frazier is set up perfectly for such a tumble), Frazier seemed to hint that Sunday’s game with Carolina is a tryout for Banks to remain with the Bucs.
Frazier cited Banks for his good play last Sunday, but then when asked why he hasn’t played that much this year, Frazier sounded like Banks is on thin ice.
“He’s done some good things for us in the time and he has had an opportunity, will have an opportunity over this past game and of course this ball game as well to show why he deserves to be in the mix in 2016,” Frazier said. “He’s done some good things at times. Just has to keep giving him opportunities and keep getting opportunities to make plays for us.”
Well, it is sort of hard for Banks to have opportunities from the sidelines.
This is troubling. Banks played well under former Bucs commander Greg Schiano. Remember, as a rookie he took over for a hurt Darrelle Revis and shut down Calvin Johnson. Then he followed that promising rookie season by leading the team in picks.
Now, Banks must prove in the final game that he deserves a roster spot? Something doesn’t add up.
January 1st, 2016 at 2:42 am
Lovie’s head coaching skills, talent evaluations, personnel decisions doesn’t add up.
January 1st, 2016 at 2:46 am
just figured out the problem with the buccaneer’s bandwagon… too many re-treads!
January 1st, 2016 at 3:16 am
Like most players for the Bucs, the sooner they get away from lovie , the better their career will be!!! If a was Banks, I would be 5 minutes late to the game day bus!! Just so next he could play for a “real” NFL coach!!!!!
lovie sucks!!!! Fire love in 2016!!!!!
January 1st, 2016 at 4:52 am
My guess is that he may not show the required respect for lovie’s son, who couldn’t coach his way out of a wet paper bag!
January 1st, 2016 at 4:58 am
Lovie sucks, Jameis is awesome
January 1st, 2016 at 6:20 am
Play him at FS… We need a new secondary except Moore but until then why not maximize the talent in the backfield. Play Moore and JAB outside, Verner as nickel and Banks as FS. Probably McDougald as SS but only because all the rest suck.
January 1st, 2016 at 7:50 am
Well, if Banks is let go by the Bucs I can guarantee that the team that signs him will probably exploit the Bucs….. Lovie makes a lot of head scratching decisions; benching Banks is just one of them….. Anyhow: happy New year Joe!
January 1st, 2016 at 8:20 am
This in itself should tell the Lovie Boat fans that this guy needs to GO!!!
Bench Banks for Jennings. Hahaha..
And You call this guy a Head Coach
January 1st, 2016 at 8:25 am
I like Banks, think he is a very good player. If he’s smart, he will not do anything spectacular in this last game. Then he can move on to have a great career somewhere else.
January 1st, 2016 at 8:35 am
lurker Says
“Lovie’s head coaching skills, talent evaluations, personnel decisions doesn’t add up.”
Yeah! Just look at our offense!!!!!
January 1st, 2016 at 8:37 am
I like Banks, but we don’t know what is happening behind closed doors. He might just be one of the guys with a quitting attitude that Lovie wants to get rid of. We don’t know.
So far as skills, I think Banks has them and just needs experience to develop them.
January 1st, 2016 at 8:45 am
Here’s the simple truth. Lovie Smith’s defensive scheme SUCKS!!!
Look at all the Corners and safeties that have been tried and failed. Look at 70 % completion rate. That does more than suck.
Big news. Lovie sucks as a defensive coordinator.
The back end of the defense. Personnel, coaches and scheme need to be completely overhauled and Lovie needs to stay the hell out the way while someone with a clue fixes this mess.
January 1st, 2016 at 9:15 am
Banks has another year on his rookie contract…..surely you would think we could get a 7th rounder for him…..if he’s not worth that, he’s not worth keeping.
January 1st, 2016 at 9:49 am
Banks is definitely not a quitter, he is a good team mate always fired up on the sidelines. He’s proven he has the skills to defend top end receivers so what gives? Who knows! But if he couldn’t make an impact under Lovie this year with all the trash in front of him then he won’t be given a fair shot next year either. He will end up as a pro bowler with the patriots! Watch and see!
January 1st, 2016 at 10:21 am
The patriots are plug in play on defense Lovie is plug and fail.
January 1st, 2016 at 10:22 am
We need to completely start over on defense, maybe all those fake double a gap blitzs are getting our players out of position, thanks Lovie.
January 1st, 2016 at 11:01 am
BuccaneerBonzai Says:
January 1st, 2016 at 8:35 am
Yeah! Just look at our offense!!!!!
_______________________________________________________________
1. It’s in the bottom half of the league in scoring
2. How many yards/points earned in garbage time? There’s been a lot of garbage time this year.
January 1st, 2016 at 11:03 am
“Yeah! Just look at our offense!!!!!”
exactly!!! licht hired koetter and drafted jameis christ. then koetter and jameis created the offense that saved lovie’s job.
January 1st, 2016 at 11:09 am
Bonzai…SMH at you lately. He had PLENTY of skills under Schiano.
It’s so wacky how you try to twist everything to make Lovie look like the good guy and it’s the players problem.
It happens daily.
January 1st, 2016 at 11:10 am
Reading into things again Joe
Every single DB should be playing to prove themselves to try for a roster spot for next year, it’s a simple as that.
And for gods sake, go watch the first few games of the season, Jonathan Banks sucked ass along with Verner.
January 1st, 2016 at 11:32 am
Why does nobody press these guys for a real answer. Banks has been benched for a majority of the year so “hes made some good plays for us” is an asinine answer.
January 1st, 2016 at 11:35 am
It’s so wacky how you try to twist everything to make Lovie look like the good guy and it’s the players problem.
—————————–
So true. Tired of people blaming everything on players that we have SEEN perform much better before Great Ole Nice Guy Lovie got here. Yes some of the blame can be laid on the players but to act like Lovie has done a good enough job is simply stupid.
January 1st, 2016 at 11:39 am
I also love how people keep trying to pretend Lovie has had anything to do with the offensive selections we’ve drafted. Licht told us that Lovie practically falls asleep when they evaluate offensive players… yea he has a lot to do with the selections. LoL.
I understand though thats the only thing he’s done well since being here so they have nothing else to fall back on.
January 1st, 2016 at 11:44 am
After seeing Bank’s play as a rookie in Schiano/Sheriden’s system vs. two years in Lovie’s (ok I’ll add Frazier in name only…technicalities) it’s pretty obvious the guy is a talented player with a lot of potential. it isn’t the popular JBF belief, but all those crazy stunts and LB blitzes that the silly “college coach” was doing to try to generate some pass rush was about trying to maximize results with the roster on hand vs. trying to force a system that isn’t working as well yet insisting it merely needs more time and better players to work correctly. So remind me again which HC has the ego issues here? Come on Lovie…challenge yourself to figure out how to leave your co
January 1st, 2016 at 11:45 am
Comfort zone and create new ways to use the current players you have on the roster
January 1st, 2016 at 12:19 pm
Couch…Bonazi thinks it’s all Jason Lichts fault.
Kind of like it’s all George Bush’s fault…
January 1st, 2016 at 12:19 pm
Would love the hear Licht’s thoughts on Banks. Maybe we would all get some real insight in to the reason he went from being so promising to walking the plank.
January 1st, 2016 at 12:26 pm
THIS TEAM ORGANIZATION AND COACHING IS SO EFFFING STUPID!!!!!!!! CMON IM SO SICK AND TIRED OF BEING A FAN OF A TEAM THAT LETS EVERY SINGLE ONE OF ITS BEST PLAYERS GO 9 TIMES OUT OF TEN. LAST YEAR I PLEDGED NOT TO WASTE MY TIME WATCHING ANOTHER RAYS GAME AFTER MADDEN WAS SHOWN THE DOOR AND I DIDNT. I SWEAR RIGHT NOW IF KOETTER ENDS UP LEAVING TO ANOTHER TEAM AND JONATHAN BANKS IS GONE I WILL BURN MY JERSEYS AND NOT WATCH ANOTHER BUCS GAME. IM SO FED UP WITH WAITING AND WISHING FOR A TEAM TO GET BETTER WHEN TRY TO WIN BY DOING EVERYTHING WRONG. THAT IS MY NEW YEARS PROMISE. HOPE I DONT HAVE TO KEEP IT . I LOVE FOOTBALL AND AM A TAMPA NATIVE BUT CONTINUING TO BE LOYAL THIS TEAM IS LIKE STAYING MARRIED TO A WOMAN WHO IS CHEATING ON YOU. THE BUCS HAVE BEEN CHEATING ON THEYRE FANS AND HONESTLY I HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING OTHERE TEAMS MORE AND MORE EVERY YEAR. ITS GETTING TIME FOR A DIVORCE IF THEY DONT CHANGE THEYRE WAYS
January 1st, 2016 at 12:31 pm
At the start of the season after the Saints game there was an article on this site about how the stat geeks were high on Banks. “From PFF – Johnthan Banks played pass coverage 36x, targeted just twice and allowed only one rec. 36 snaps per rec ranks 5th Week 2 CB’s”. Banks just has not looked the same after the knee injury in Houston. Off topic but would anyone be interested in a trade for Megatron? According to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, if Matt Stafford is not gone then Calvin Johnson could be the odd man out. After having another quiet game against the New Orleans Saints, it is clear that while the receiver is still one of the best at the position, he is no longer worth the $24 million cap hit to his name next year. Rapoport writes that Johnson is not likely to agree to a pay cut either which could be the deciding factor in his future. The Bucs shoulkd go after him if he is available.
January 1st, 2016 at 12:31 pm
I will bet my house and property on if Banks goes to another team he will be a stud lockdown corner creating big sexy play highlights every week on nfl network…probably the reason we will get rid of him. We dont keep those types of players around these parts…
January 1st, 2016 at 12:42 pm
Lovies problem is he cant bench someone he brought in or has ties to. He doesnt have the balls to face them and say “you know what, you gave it your best shot but your not as qualified as some of our other players.” He doesnt have the balls ….simple as that
January 1st, 2016 at 12:48 pm
He’s gone. So is Verner. Could have had a starting 3 corner list of Revis, Verner and Banks. That’s a top 5 NFL corner unit. Instead going into next year we’re likely to have the worst group of corners in the league. Lovie has exiled a significant portion of the defensive talent from this roster.
January 1st, 2016 at 1:06 pm
#FIRELOVIE
January 1st, 2016 at 1:27 pm
1987.. Nah it could not be George Bush’s fault. Nothing was his fault simply because he has no brain. Burnt that out way back when.
January 1st, 2016 at 4:04 pm
Lurker you show how little you know. You clowns up here like to say Lovie has the final say on the players on defense so it’s his fault it sucks. Lovie wanted Fameis from the getgo last year from not hiring an experienced OC after Tedford but instead promoting Oroyo instead then keeping McClown as the starter even though Glennon gave us a better chance to win. The final game of the season proved it even more when he tanked the 2nd half of that game. Lovies whole purpose when he came here was to build the offense first. That’s evident by his last two drafts. Once he knows he has that where it needs to be he can and will concentrate totally on the defense. We have had poor drafts since the beginning of the Jon Gruden era began. There were only 3 good players on this team when Lovie got here and only two were healthy. So he has to rebuild this team. We have experienced the birth pains of that rebuild.
January 1st, 2016 at 4:05 pm
@Bonzai, cmon man really? All we’ve ever heard about Banks is how much of a high character, high class guy he is.
January 1st, 2016 at 7:24 pm
ok david,,,
so you are saying that lovie tanked the whole season? i believe that the last game was tanked, it is obvious, but the whole season? lmao that says a lot about his character then. also, licht wanted jameis from the beginning, not lovie. and lovie chose those crappy free agent defenders and wasted time and money…failure. i thought alteraun verner was the perfect fit for lovie’s defense…why is he not starting. his personnel choices are failures.
it is your opinion that we only had 3 good players on defense…what did schiano have? he was a new nfl coach and has a better record than this retread. revis was on this team, was he not good? did lovie get rid of him?
i give the credit for the 6 wins to koetter and jameis…lovie has cost us wins.
January 1st, 2016 at 7:57 pm
Lovie tanked from week 5 on last season…..which makes it even MORE pathetic that his defense still makes 3rd string qbs look like hall of famers this year. His defense sucks we all know he is to stuborn to admit it. Banks probably told lovie he was out dated and needed to let him and verner play press coverafe on the outside. Thats why hes on the bench and mike jenkins is our starter. Fire his sorry asz!!!
January 2nd, 2016 at 8:19 am
Lovie needs to blow the ego fog out of his head. He’ll finally be able to see clearly. Banks is a very good player, a class act on and off the field. Frazier needs to start him Sunday, and just let him play. Screw Lovie. His ego blindness is what I hate about him. If his stamp ain’t on a player, that player’s garbage. BALONEY!
Sunday’s game will be interesting. Koetter is a much smarter and better OC mind than MShula will ever be. Our O is at full strength except for V-Jax. Go Bucs!!
January 2nd, 2016 at 8:56 am
My guess is even though Banks is our tallest CB, he may be our slowest CB. Last year he was our best CB, and now he can’t keep his starting position. I too believe we should give him a try at Safety. He may need to add a little weight, but his ball hawking abilities would really show up. This guy was the J. Thorpe award winner. He has had decent INTs his first few seasons. Put him at safety before you think about cutting or trading him.
January 2nd, 2016 at 9:00 am
im with you joe.. not even a clue what happened with banks. from what i have seen on the field since he has been in the nfl, he should be arguably our number 1. if not def starting opposite moore.