Household Name
July 8th, 2016
NFL Network talking head leads the Noah Spence parade.
Hey, rookie, Noah Spence. Yeah, you! You have a friend in Jamie Dukes.
And he was an offensive lineman for crying out loud!
In a segment on NFL HQ seen on NFL Network, a topic was rookies not drafted in the first round who will become household names. Dukes didn’t blink. He cited Spence as the next NFL stud.
“I’m going down to Tampa Bay: Noah Spence, ” Dukes bellowed. “Here is a guy who lit up the Senior Bowl! Dominated at the Senior Bowl.
“I look at this young man – he’s raw. Yeah, he’s from a small school but he went to Ohio State so that tells you he is a five-tool talent kind of a guy.”
Of course, Spence must play games and get some sacks before folks outside of Columbus and Tampa Bay know him by his first name. But Joe is optimistic.
First, Spence is being coached up by Jay Hayes. This man knows how to build pass rushers.
Second, Bucs defensive coordinator Mike Smith knows how to put people in the right spot to maximize their talents and, more importantly, get results.
Joe noticed more than once Spence in underwear football lining up at outside linebacker. Once when he did fire at the quarterback, man, the dude has get-off.
Raw? Maybe. But he has skills.
July 8th, 2016 at 10:22 am
He’s going to make everyone on the line better. He will have some rookie games but defensive rookie of year is not out of the question.
July 8th, 2016 at 10:28 am
I gotta see it..to believe it first. Ball out Mr Spence. Then comes the praise. Until then? He’s just a member of the rookie class.
July 8th, 2016 at 11:26 am
I only imagi e what this d-line would be had we taken Rankins in the first, and another CB in the 2nd/3rd where we took our K!
July 8th, 2016 at 11:54 am
That makes me feel really good bout our top draft picks. If this pans out, it will mean 2 incredible drafts in a row.
July 8th, 2016 at 11:56 am
I would love to know what the relationship between Ayer and Spence is like. From the moment Ayers was signed I believed his work ethic spreading to whichever rookie we added was a big selling point………Ayers, like Mankins probably means much more to this team then what he brings on gameday.
Call me crazy but I was never a big fan of us getting Mario Williams. Some may not believe in the whole ‘culture’ thing but I do. I question Mario’s ability to give a rat’s azz about establishing a culture.
I think of it like this………Ayers is an old man. Spence is a young energetic kid……..How could Spence lime up next to Ayers every day and let the old man outwork him? I sure as hell know I couldnt let an old man out work me!!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!!!!!
July 8th, 2016 at 12:19 pm
Could Noah be that guy?! Man, how gratuitous would that be.
C’mon youngster, go get that QB!
July 8th, 2016 at 1:33 pm
Stop talking dirty to me Joe. I’m so excited for Spence and to see this defense in action.
July 8th, 2016 at 2:22 pm
I’m telling you I think he gets to 10 as a rookie. A tall order but think he can because he has 2 things you can’t coach-
Speed and natural instincts.
Plus with Ayers and McCoy inside he’s going with single coverage this year.
July 8th, 2016 at 3:03 pm
great choice….GO BUCS!!!!
July 8th, 2016 at 8:28 pm
Jay Hayes was my favorite addiition to the team this offseason across the board. I like our draft picks but Hayes will make the entire defense better overall!
July 9th, 2016 at 12:06 am
I think of it like this………Ayers is an old man. Spence is a young energetic kid……..How could Spence lime up next to Ayers every day and let the old man outwork him? I sure as hell know I couldnt let an old man out work me!!!!!!
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Ayers bring a lot on game day. His age is old, but having been a back-up most of his career his still has a lot of tread left on his tires.
July 9th, 2016 at 2:13 am
We have two other speed rushers who can rest Spence when he gets winded. Also McCoy gets worn out at times fighting double teams so it is important to spell him at times with McDonald who can play the three technique and bring in our best run stopper in Spenser on the first two downs and let Ayers play there on third down. Put Smith or Jones in Ayers RE position. Sometimes Ayers will fake a sac and take out in coverage.
July 9th, 2016 at 7:14 am
“Second, Bucs defensive coordinator Mike Smith knows how to put people in the right spot to maximize their talents and, more importantly, get results.”
Maybe he does, but I also know it takes Mike Smith a lot of time to build his defenses normally.
Here are where his defenses ranked over his last 12 years of coaching.
Jaguars Defensive Rankings by Year Under DC Mike Smith (2003-2007)
2003 – 27th
2004 – 22nd
2005 – 27th
2006 – 31st
2007 – 21st
Falcons Defensive Rankings by Year Under HC Mike Smith (2008-2014)
2008 – 24th
2009 – 12th
2010 – 17th
2011 – 21st
2012 – 9th
2013 – 5th
2014 – 1st
Over 12 years, he had a top 10 defense 3 times…all in the final 3 years with the Falcons. It took him 5 years to reach that milestone…and he was getting to draft whoever he wanted.
In 5 years with the Jags, he never even broke the top 20 defenses. That’s horrible!
Frankly, I don’t see why the Falcons even fired him. He may not have been winning, but he was getting it done on defense, and Dirk was good enough on offense. I mean, their loss is out gain, right?
I’m glad we have Koetter and Smith as a team here, but I think expectations are far too high be some fans this year. Smith is supposed to fix our defense in one off season with only two good draft picks and free agent signings that Licht has a history of blowing?
It’s going to take at least another year. Spence has to acclimate just like any other DE. Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll do it quickly, but that isn’t the norm.
Vernon Hargreaves has a great chance of being good…but it still might take a season for him to get used to the NFL…especially since NFL rules are different for his position and refs like to call against secondaries.
Ryan Smith is a 4th round pick who not only is new to the NFL, but has to acclimate to a new position (safety). How can anyone expect him to play well this year? Heck, he might even struggle next year.
When it comes down to it, only 3 of 7picks this year went on defense…when that is the unit that needs the most work.
In free agency, Robert Ayers is a one year wonder. Just like George Johnson. Just like Ghost Johnson. In that signing, Jason Licht made the same mistake he always does.
Brent Grimes has a proven track record, but he turns 33 in ten days and he is good at pass defense, not interceptions…and turnovers are just as important, if not more so. He only averages 2.9 interceptions per year over his entire career and zero sacks. I like the signing, but come on…he isn’t THAT good.
Daryl Smith can tackle, and that’s about it. He is accustomed to a 34 defense too…and if he starts, it won’t be at his normal position on ILB.
The 2-3 draft picks were encouraging for the long haul…but you people are fooling yourselves if you think things can become great on defense this year. Yes, they will get better…but not at first and it will be gradual.
July 9th, 2016 at 8:00 am
@BucBonzai is bananas
Where are you pulling your rankings from???? What team stat are you using to judge defensive rankings!!!! They seem all wrong!!! I do not think the Coach Smitty was fired and having a #1 Defense!!!! And the Jag defense ranking are all wrong!!!!
LOL, we are used to reading your post and it being wrong, But this one is ridiculous even for you!!!!!
July 9th, 2016 at 9:04 am
Lol like Bonzai said, your stats are bogus. Dont know where u got those numbers from but there wrong. Here’s the correct stats…
2004: 7th ranked Defense
2005: 6th
2006: 4th
2007: 10th
Falcons HC
2008: 11th Gregg Williams as DC
2009: 14th
2010 5th
2011: 18th
2012: 5th
2013: 27th Nolan as DC
2014: 27th
As u can see when Smith was the DC for the Jags his defense was top ten 4 out of the 5 seasons he was there. And when he moved to ATL and became the HC his defense was still good until his last 2 seasons where he hired M.Nolan as his DC. I’ll take those numbers all day as a Bucs fan. I’m not even gonna bring up our ranking cause there embarrassing.
July 9th, 2016 at 3:40 pm
BuccaneerBonzai Says:
I’d be curious where these stats came from. Care to link?