Jacquies Smith Hopes For More Starts
April 5th, 2016
Geeked about new coaches.
While offseason conditioning workouts begin in earnest next week, that hasn’t prevented players from coming to One Buc Palace and working out on their own. One such player is defensive end Jacquies Smith.
If Joe had to pick one player who finally could break the near-decade streak of no player with double-digit sacks, it would be Smith. Problem is, the guy can’t stay healthy.
In 2014, after getting picked up by the Bucs in mid-September, Smith played in 14 games, starting seven. He finished with 6.5 sacks. Last year, Smith started the season like a house on fire with four sacks in the first two weeks. He only tallied three more the rest of the way in 11 total starts as he was dinged up. Shoulder surgery came after the season, per Dirk Koetter’s comments at the NFL Owners Meetings last month.
In an interview on Buccaneers.com with Casey Phillips, Smith noted he changed both his diet and his workout regimen as a result, “so I can sustain playing 16 games or more.”
Possibly more important, Smith acknowledged he has met with his new defensive coaches, defensive coordinator Mike Smith and line coach Jay Hayes, and Smith is fired up to start working under them.
“All cool, they are great guys,” Smith said. “ Had a chance to sit down and talk to them about scheme and what to expect. Excited to get to work with those guys.
“Everyone around here has big expectations for me. And I have high expectations. I don’t need to hear [about] them.”
If Smith can find a way to get double-digit sacks, and Robert Ayers can come close to that, trust Joe, this defense will be a sharp contrast to last season’s debacle.
April 5th, 2016 at 8:12 am
Im a big Jaq fan, this guy certainly has the potential to become a double digit sack guy if he can stay healthy for a whole season. That’s the only thing that has been holding him back from breaking the spell.
I think he will benefit from the additions that we made with Ayer’s and and the potential draft picks that were gonna select. (Probably a DE or two, and possibly a DT as well.)
And I thunk we forget he was just a rookie when we signed him. He only has two years in this league so he still hasn’t reached his potential. And that kinda scary considering he average’s more than ten sacks over 16 games in his first two seasons.
The future is very bright for Jaq if he can stay healthy.
April 5th, 2016 at 9:09 am
DemBoyzFromDaBay727 Says:
“I thunk we forget he was just a rookie when we signed him.”
Except he played a whole year in 2012 with the NY Jets!!!! he was out of the league in 2013,,, Then the Bucs signed him for the 2014 season!!! I really hope that we draft 2 DE and Jacquies Smith is first in line of a rotational player!!! He gets into trouble when a lineman that is 50-60 pounds heavier really leans on him for several plays!!! and with 3 veterans QB in the division that can swith to no-huddle at crucial times makes defensive substitutions very difficult!!!!!!
April 5th, 2016 at 9:11 am
Added competition will get you the field too, if you want reps.
April 5th, 2016 at 9:24 am
hopefully someone will get 10+ sacks this year…I don’t care if kwon or grimes get em… just get em…GO BUCS!!!
April 5th, 2016 at 9:30 am
I get the challenges and the threat to the careers of NFL players. Their careers are short and it’s a tough nasty business.
Having said that, after yesterday’s threads on whether 20 million really changes your lifestyle as much as 18 million I’m just looking at the good parts of being an NFL player.
Like many, perhaps most of you, I enjoy hitting the gym to work out. Of course I have to pay and my facility while more than adequate is nowhere near OBP.
I’m happy that the players can come back to Tampa to train. Keeps them connected to the community and I believe helps tighten up the team. And what a benefit…a world class training facility as part of your benefit package.
Of course when you are talking about ten million dollars players can easily buy the best nutritionist, trainers, and gym facilities in the world. So for them I guess it’s not the same benefit I see.
April 5th, 2016 at 11:20 am
I like sacks as much as the next guy, but it’s easy to get a little too focused on it. Sacks are great, but any level of pressure gets the job done. QB hurries and knockdowns are just as disruptive to an offense as sacks are, and they’re rather easier to come by. Stats are a fair indicator of the overall pressure your defense is creating on the offense’s passing game, but it’s the pressure that counts – not just sacks alone. As for me, I’ll trade a sack for two QB pressures all game long and grin from ear to ear watching their offense jog off the field in embarrassment as our offense takes over.
April 5th, 2016 at 11:32 am
William Walls Says:
I’ll trade a sack for two QB pressures all game long and grin from ear to ear watching their offense jog off the field in embarrassment as our offense takes over.
You must have not grinned in 2 years then!!!! Hopefully now that lovie is gone, you will get a change to this year!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!
April 5th, 2016 at 12:03 pm
I couldn’t agree more joe. We will get one or maybe two decent players in the draft this year. In my opinion it is a weak draft. I can’t wait, however to see guys like Jac Smith, Banks, Gholston, et.al under the new Mike Smith Regime. I believe we are going to see vast improvements on both sides of the ball this year
April 5th, 2016 at 12:12 pm
Here’s hoping Jack Smith can stay healthy and have his best year to date. We need his speed off the edge and he has already shown how relentless he can be at “getting there” when he is on his game.
April 5th, 2016 at 12:32 pm
hope i’m wrong, but he just seems like he’d be at his best as part of a solid rotation. not everybody who gets 6 sacks playing 50% of a team’s snaps would get 12 sacks if they played on 100% of the snaps
April 5th, 2016 at 1:09 pm
Will Wall I’m wit you when you right. I’ve been saying as much for awhile now. Sacks are glorrifide tackles for lost. Now a sackfumble on other hand that’s a totally different conversation. Give me pressures, pressures make QB antsy. Afterswhich the pick six is soon to follow.
April 5th, 2016 at 1:35 pm
Has anyone noticed the personality comparisons of Jaq Smith and Lavonte David? I watched both of they’re offseason interviews on buccaneers.com and could swear they are somehow related.
April 5th, 2016 at 3:21 pm
I get what you saying Matt.
April 5th, 2016 at 7:35 pm
@ Realist: Yes, smiles have indeed been in very short supply. I supported the Lovie hire. I thought we were getting an excellent coach. By the time the first offseason was over, I was thoroughly confused by what I was seeing at OBP. By the second game of the second season, I was so exasperated with Lovie that I actually felt betrayed. I was every flavor of wrong on Lovie Smith. He’d probably only win half his games in a peewee league. He’s really that bad. Far and away the worst football coach I have ever seen, and I went through 0-24 *and* Leeman Bennett.
April 5th, 2016 at 7:37 pm
@ Nole/Buc: Thanks. You’re absolutely right.