ASJ No. 43
July 23rd, 2016
Stathead has ugly numbers.
No, it is not a good thing when a 2014 second-round pick virtually every football person believes has loads of talent is a No. 3 or No. 2 tight end entering training camp.
Such is the case with tweety Austin Seferian-Jenkins. Having missed exactly half of Bucs games since he was drafted due to an ailment of some sort (ankle, back, shoulder), one would be hard-pressed to think of a play ASJ has made without drama involved, whether he is trying to be Capt. Morgan in Tampa or Bob Gibson in St. Louis.
The University of Washington product is still looking for his first touchdown pass in a Bucs victory.
For some enlightenment as to why ASJ is not (yet) thought of as a starting NFL tight end, Scott Kacsmar of Football Outsiders crunched numbers and when ASJ is on the field, let Joe just say Kacsmar’s data on ASJ is not pretty.
Kacsmar has ASJ rated as the No. 43 tight end in the NFL with a woeful catch percentage 55.3 percent. It gets worse. Kacsmar, as statheads are wont to do, concocted a made-up stat called “C%+,” which he describes as catch rate and the adjusted rate (whatever the hell that means). He concludes ASJ is the fifth-worst receiving tight end in the NFL.
All of this gobbledygook can be found here.
So that may help explain why some at One Buc Palace are down on ASJ.
Either way, this is a big season for ASJ. The very first thing he needs to do is stay healthy.
For all of his stunts, Joe must give ASJ a pass, as he got hung out to dry last year by Lovie Smith, who kept conning fans and reporters alike that ASJ was nearly good to go, even though for weeks, he was never cleared by team doctors for full contact.
July 23rd, 2016 at 8:18 am
I don’t see A.S.J here for the long haul. He is going to want a monster contract after one stellar season. He’s more than capable of it, and I can see if having a great year and trying to cash in. Between being injured and not mentally prepared, I think Brate, Stocker will lead the way, and I’m really intriuged to see Vitale if he even makes the team. Maybe they keep him on the roster as a fullback??? Not sure. A.S.J just doesn’t seem to have that want. Reminds me of Josh Freeman.
July 23rd, 2016 at 8:27 am
Wow….how many times do we have to digest the negative ASJ news….(old news)……after all, his completion percentage is better than our #1 receiver and only slightly below Jameis’ average.
I guess every team has to have a villain.
I’m not saying anything here is untrue…..simply a repeat…..I guess it’s repeat season.
July 23rd, 2016 at 9:01 am
I wonder how many of ASJ’s injuries were caused by actual contact with another player.
July 23rd, 2016 at 9:10 am
ASJ has lots of potential, physically, but just can’t seem to get it together above the shoulders. Until he gets the mental side of football under control, I doubt he’ll ever have a ‘monster year’. Several injuries haven’t helped for sure, but most of it falls on ASJ himself. With the coaches that he’s got and with Jameis throwing the ball to him, and assuming he stays healthy, there’s no excuse for ASJ not to become an outstanding TE. If he can’t get it together this year, he’ll probably end up having a short career.
July 23rd, 2016 at 9:27 am
I see it as a wakeup call.Getting sent to the showers and being demoted,quite possibly temporary.ASJ needs to clean up the penalties and showboating,so he
be the best he can be on the football field and off.the team will be better and have more weapons if he succeeds.
In his defense,he did double his yards per game in 2015 to 48 yards.he also had a 16.1 yard per catch average which is a tad under our two starting WR’s.
Goes without saying,longer passes have lower completion rate than short passes.read on Pewter Report that we picked Jameis for his better downfield passing ability and Marriota was one,if not worst in the league.
July 23rd, 2016 at 9:34 am
@at Defense Rules
always enjoy your posts you are one of the more calm, thoughtful posters on this site.
July 23rd, 2016 at 10:01 am
I could talk just about ASJ, but I think this applies to all Bucs players. They all see Jameis every day and know how hard he prepares and how bad he wants to win. If a player is one that needs motivation, then the chance to play for a potentially great QB that will sacrifice his body and fight until the end is all of the motivation they could need. Now is the time when we’ll find witch players are playing for the right “why”. I’m giving the players and coaches a clean slate for the season and judging Koetter and Co. once it’s over. It’s year 1 of a new regime and I think they deserve the benefit of the doubt. In a few months we will know who stays and who goes.
July 23rd, 2016 at 10:30 am
Looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane.
July 23rd, 2016 at 10:44 am
Bob in Valrico … Must be that Valrico water we both drink.
July 23rd, 2016 at 10:51 am
It seem Joe like the stat geeks when they push his agenda smdh!!!!!
July 23rd, 2016 at 11:11 am
No matter how you look at it ASJ has a 50/50 shot to not make the team whether it’s physical or mental weakness that trips him up. Cant count on him
July 23rd, 2016 at 11:25 am
heres another thought, I read last year Lovie was frustrated with Doug Martin and wanted to either trade or bench him.Koetter told lovie that he wanted Doug
and let me see what I can do with him. so you might say Koetter resurrected dougs career.All for Koetter doing another ressurection on ASJ.
lets face it a TE with a plus 16 yard catch average should be asset.
July 23rd, 2016 at 12:26 pm
Last dance, last chance
July 23rd, 2016 at 12:43 pm
Great point Bob in Valrico..
And yeah, another ASJ negative story..counting the days this will be a non-issue..
July 23rd, 2016 at 1:01 pm
Great Article that should open our eyes to the crap receivers we have
no explosive separation run after catch receivers. * except for chuck simms but he he only plays half the game
**If we drafted Sterling Shepard, we would have been playing deep into the playoffs next year. Jameis + Shepard whould have loosen the deep ball to molasse Evans…Damn! what could have been. Instead we get project Spence who wont even be on the field much because he cant play the run and expose our defense
“I wanted to be drafted by the Tampa bay Bucs and play in front of poster Kobe Faker” Sterling Shepard
July 23rd, 2016 at 1:55 pm
Who cares where Jenkins is inthe depth chart? TC hasent even started yet. Jenkins knows whats expected of him. I will love nothing more then to read about ASJ making plays and wowing his coaches once they start playing. If he doesnt then the offense has less potential……his young career hasnt given much confidence to us fans.
Time to move on to 2017 and see if this guy can help us beat the Panthers and the rest of the league. The sickly moments hes given me to cheer for were on a bad team and only a memory, no point to dwell on that garbage anymore.
July 23rd, 2016 at 2:25 pm
thanks,life of a buc,
maybe defense rules is right .I do have a glass of Valrico well water in front of me.
@ defense had to laugh when I read your post
July 23rd, 2016 at 2:34 pm
@kobe Fakir
gaping holes in our defense rules needed to be addressed immediatly.free agent receiver help may be available,during cut down day.
July 23rd, 2016 at 3:18 pm
trying to draft a useless pass rusher in the 2nd round who cant stay in the field because he exposes our run defense instead of drafting Sterling shepard will be the worst decision in the 15 year Jameis winston/Tampa era
July 23rd, 2016 at 4:01 pm
BuccaneerEric75 summed up the coming season and perfectly.
July 23rd, 2016 at 4:42 pm
a full staff built to evaluate and draft players for the next 15 years is in place
and there judgement has been pretty good so far.YAC yards is just one way to evaluate a receiver.Fade routes,red zone routes, sideline toe tappers are not routes designed to get you YAC yards.Now I value average yards per catch
as good guage of what a receiver can do for his quarterback.Now that Winston will have all the plays in koetters playbookWinston and his receivers should improve and their larger target zone has worked to his advantage.
July 23rd, 2016 at 7:38 pm
Bob, if anyone can fix asj and evans….its koetter and winston!!!
July 23rd, 2016 at 8:23 pm
@kevin
agree
but I will take it a step farther on Evans,personal fouls and staying in the game mentally might be an issue for Koetter,and Montgen.Evans did have some drops that are easily corrected.but it will take both Winston and Evans to
improve the chemistry between them.Winston was not as accurate at times on
the left sideline pass and Winston can’t force passes when nothing is there.And
of course Evans needs to focus more.some of his drops were on good passes where he tried to make a move before he looked the ball all the way into his hands.Both players are young and I look for this connection to improve a lot.
July 23rd, 2016 at 9:33 pm
1. Joe has no “agenda” with ASJ. If he did, he wouldn’t be critical and/or give him a pass which Joe did both in this post. Some would say that is being objective.
2. Joe tries to keep an open mind about stats — how many times has Joe written this, 20 times? If something jumps out at him that interests him, Joe writes about it. Always has. Always will.
July 23rd, 2016 at 9:35 pm
A lot of people, given the fact this guy is a second round pick.
And as always, if you didn’t care, why did you comment?
July 24th, 2016 at 8:35 am
Given the fact that McCoy played with a similar injury most of the year.I would
venture a guess that it would not take much for Lovie to consider him Good to
Go.The team doctors prevented it.
July 24th, 2016 at 8:58 am
@Joe
did find the chart for wide recievers interesting on site,just some observations:
The wide receivers with top grades were paired some of the most accurate
deep passers in the game.
1.Russell Wilson to Baldwin,Kearse,and locket were all three highly rated.
2.Carson palmer to Larry Fitzgerald also rated highly.(very impressive)
So my take is good hands and accuracy go hand in hand.
July 24th, 2016 at 9:02 am
edit: meant that for all three of Russell Wilsons targets to be highly rated was very impressive.Not that Larry Fitzgerald hasn’t been impressive through the years.
I would rate him as the ultimate good hands recieiver.
July 24th, 2016 at 3:38 pm
To any of you so call BUCS fans that are down on this guy for what he has and hasn’t done…. I submit this FAIR ENOUGH…
TO THOSE OF YOU WHO DONT WANT HIM ON THE TEAM FOR THE ENTIRITY OF JW3 CAREER…. I submit this…. Thank You for you opinion!!!
Now as far as the rest of us real FANS…. Lets pray that God lets this young YOUNG young man realize his talents…. Can you imagine Brady with a young Randy Moss and Gronk to start his career???? Well guess what??? We dont have to imagine… The tables set the team and fans are hungry… AS FANS, LET PLAY OUR ROLE OF THE 12TH MAN and support our team POSITIVELY LIKE OUR ROLE REQUIRES