Still “Looking”
June 17th, 2016
Hunting more talent.
Bucs coach Dirk Koetter seems to like the makeup of his team. This offseason, Tampa Bay sure added critical depth.
On defense, the Bucs improved at every level, especially at defensive end and secondary. But like any coach, Koetter isn’t totally satisfied. Don’t be shocked if the Bucs, per Koetter, sift through the bargain bin this summer when other teams are slashing rosters before finalizing the regular season-53.
“You’re never exactly where you want to be,” Koetter said. “Every team has depth at some positions and not at others. We’re looking to add some pieces at a couple of spots, but you’re not going to add them this time of year. Some of those things aren’t going to happen until final cut-downs.
“Think about it, when you start going down from 90 to 53 and every team lets about 40 guys go, that’s a lot of good football players on the streets and there will be some guys out there at that time. Of course, we have a couple of spots, but for now our guys are our guys and we’re going to coach them up and they’re doing a good job of soaking it in.”
Koetter did not elaborate what the “couple of spots” are. Joe’s going to guess wide receiver is one. Perhaps depth at defensive tackle is another?
One thing is clear: Joe would sleep a lot better if Kenny Bell, once the pads are put on and he’s not practicing against short-order cooks and school crossing guards, could show something, anything. Joe really wants the guy to blow up. Seriously.
June 17th, 2016 at 4:13 am
WR and Safety help please.
June 17th, 2016 at 6:08 am
Joe–did I miss observations from yesterday’s practice?
June 17th, 2016 at 6:52 am
My guess is he is talking about depth at DT and LB.
Bucs need to target a receiver in the first two rounds of the draft next year.
June 17th, 2016 at 7:49 am
Bird;
Not from yesterday, no.
June 17th, 2016 at 9:07 am
WR is the biggest need. Evans should be improved and hopefully Vjax has one more year left and more importantly hopefully he does not miss more than a couple of games. I am pulling for Humphries and Bell but they have done little to scare any defensive coordinators… dye & Murphy are useless. WR is a need. DT would be the other need since every DT on the roster is injured every single year and has missed games or significant time every season. GMC, Akeem, McDonald all coming off injuries.
June 17th, 2016 at 9:29 am
Never know what gems may be laying around in the bargain bin, elbow your way in there and grab some finds.
June 17th, 2016 at 9:48 am
Safety is most important. We have depth guys being used as starters and little behind them. We should bring some young guys in for depth and to push the players ahead of them.
WR depth is a need, but not as big. Evans should be good this year. VJax probably has another year in him. Bell is looking good so far. They’re going to give him his shot. Humphries is alright. Nothing special but a good depth guy. Murphy was a little better than him, although that was pre-injury. We’ll see. Shepard isn’t bad as a bottom of the bench guy and he’s a great special teamer.
I see the WR need as needing a new starter to move into VJax’s position more than needing more depth guys. That isn’t happening until next offseason.
June 17th, 2016 at 10:31 am
good. we are back to the “i will tolerate you until i can replace you” mentality of john gruden & mike tomlin (and less famously\successfully, coach morris). if you are not a star, you will be working every day for your job, and if you are a star the guys behind you are good enough and working hard enough take your job if you start slacking
June 17th, 2016 at 10:51 am
“Kenny Bell, once the pads are put on and he’s not practicing against short-order cooks and school crossing guards, ”
Joe you can be real funny at times! Without a doubt I he shows something too. If he take the top off defenses ME13 and Action Jackson will have very good years!
June 17th, 2016 at 11:02 am
For the depth at LB, I’d like to see what UDFA Luke Rhodes (William & Mary) can do. Apparently he’s making a name for himself in mini camp. I couldn’t find any highlights on his play but the dude is beastly in the gym
June 17th, 2016 at 2:06 pm
Sounds like Bell and Humphries are both stepping up huge this offseason. I just don’t see them sacrificing any of their young receivers for a journeyman or an old dude on his last legs. Humphries and Bell aren’t going anywhere. Competing for a 5th and (maybe) 6th receiver you’ve got Shepard (your special teams ace), Speedy Reedy, Evan Spencer (another young guy they like), Donteea Dye (who Joe gets off on belittling), Andre Davis, Louis Murphy. I honestly don’t see where a guy cut from another team fits on this roster.
The positions I could see maybe grabbing depth at would be DT, LB, and S. I seriously doubt there will be anything available at any other positions that would upgrade the team. This is a good sign that other teams’ castoffs aren’t going to easily displace many of the guys at the bottom of our roster.
June 17th, 2016 at 3:01 pm
He hasn’t been able to show anything….as he was hurt last year. He’s talented, and wasn’t Nebraska’s all-time leading receiver for nothing. If were going to give winston and other rookies a couple years to pan out, let’s do so with Bell.
June 17th, 2016 at 5:30 pm
When you have been a bottom feeder for 5 consecutive years
, you have many holes to filled.
June 17th, 2016 at 7:26 pm
Kenny Bell will get his shot to play up to the majority opinions hope. To me he seems a bit slight of build, speedy works though.
June 18th, 2016 at 12:21 am
At this point Kenny bell is a myth and humphries looks like a 5th reviewer to me. Dt is a huge need. We have 3 players total who have shown they can play. So we need to add a dt and wr minimum. I’d guess lb is a weak spot too. The jags who we scrimmage have a lot of talent at dt. Maybe we can get somebody from them. I think it’s the medusa job to bring lack of depth up at these spots since the media represent the fans. What do these guys think. They should put their opinions on record for accountability.
June 19th, 2016 at 7:26 am
Can’t be done I guess but still wishing big Mo Wilkerson from the Jets would somehow find his way to us. Instant terror filled defence. Hard to complete passes when you’re constantly on your backside!