Dye Not Yet Cast
August 25th, 2016
Special teams key to job security.
The first round of cutdowns are five days away. At 4 p.m. on Aug. 30, teams must trim rosters to 75 players.
Don’t expect wide receiver Donteea Dye on that list of cutdown victims.
The misplaced Calgary Stampeder still is an inconsistent wide receiver, but he should make the 53-man roster, which speaks to how terribly thin this position is. The reason why Dye quite likely will make the roster? Special teams. Bucs coach Dirk Koetter explains.
“Well, he’s battling,” Koetter said of Dye. “And you can see, not only his work at wide receiver, but he’s doing good things on special teams. And when you’re talking about your fourth and fifth wideouts, they’ve got to play on special teams as well, so he’s making a good case.”
So far, it seems the best kickoff return man is Dye. Yeah, that’s based on one play,, maybe two. And that also speaks to a position the Bucs, traditionally, for which the Bucs struggle to find answers.
If the Bucs, like last year, are banking on key contributions from Dye for the offense to click (Dye had a woeful 36.7 catch percentage last year) then, like last year, this offense will be in trouble.
August 25th, 2016 at 6:15 am
One of your more clever story titles Joe.
Good work.
August 25th, 2016 at 6:17 am
How about “Dye not dead yet”
August 25th, 2016 at 6:31 am
@joe
You should call him the misplaced Hamilton Tiger cat. Then he would be playing with another past buc WR in Tiquan Underwood.
August 25th, 2016 at 6:32 am
If the second round pick kicker gets s chance to develop why can’t Dye!?
August 25th, 2016 at 7:43 am
Anyone else think we should trade a 3rd round pick for Josh Gordon?
Seems like a risk worth taking..
August 25th, 2016 at 8:04 am
Unfortunately, Dye at some point in the season will be starting a few games (because of injury) and will see lots of action all year. For whatever reason our smart GM thought it was better to have a kicker than take premium picks and spend it on a speedy reciever for our franchise qb.
@tvd Gordan is one false move away from a lifetime ban… more importantly, he wants to stay with the brown and will be a free agent after the year.
August 25th, 2016 at 8:05 am
Seems like he may of found his niche on this team, cause he sure can’t catch the ball. He looked good the couple times he returned, the question is can he be consistent and protect the ball. Hope they give Bell a chance to prove himself and make sum plays these last 2 games. It’s not looking to good for afro thunder.
August 25th, 2016 at 8:28 am
Although last year he was inconsistant at best, I’ve noticed his name quite a few times in the training camp notes, which to me indicates that maybe he’s gaining more of a comfort level with the offense. Do I expect big things out of him? No. But perhaps he could be a decent option at WR4, with Reedy at WR5. Unless Humphries has the slot WR position locked down, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Russell Shepard splitting time with him. But if not, then Shepard would move to #4 with Dye at #5 and maybe Reedy on the practice squad. JMHO
August 25th, 2016 at 8:29 am
I don’t see Bell making the squad at all. I don’t know if it will be in the first round of cuts, but eventually.
August 25th, 2016 at 8:41 am
“If the second round pick kicker gets s chance to develop why can’t Dye!?”
——————–
You answered your own question.
August 25th, 2016 at 8:53 am
Read an article last night about how the man responsible for delivering Jameis, none other than Tavares King, has performed been a bit of a standout at Giants camp. My fear with Dye is that if we cut him loose, he will develop elsewhere. Once Lou Murph comes back Due will be the sixth receiver on the team; given his ability to contribute on special teams that seems to be a perfect role for him at this time in his career.
Kenny Bell on the other hand….
August 25th, 2016 at 9:43 am
Who’s going to be our punt returner? Not Humphries, I hope. Too valuable at RW.
August 25th, 2016 at 11:41 am
The Bucs are not known for stand out kick returners ever. That experiment will be decided on a find the right player as the season progresses.
August 25th, 2016 at 12:36 pm
Dye has actually been playing much better this year, his hands seem better.
But that doesn’t fit joes narrative, so he’ll keep bashing on him.
August 25th, 2016 at 5:00 pm
One thing is for am certain..Kenny Bell’s bags are packed!
August 25th, 2016 at 9:58 pm
Kenny Bell, UPS Driver
Dye, Bucs third wide receiver
August 25th, 2016 at 11:38 pm
Kenny bell needs at least 2-3 catches tomorrow to have a chance on this roster. He simply looked outmatched in man coverage vs jalen Ramsey last week. Bell still has a slim chance to be turn out to be good but even without him our receiving depth is fine. Most NFL teams have a huge drop off at receiver after their #1 and #2 guys.
August 26th, 2016 at 2:17 am
Trade a 3rd round pick for Gordon.
It’s pretty simple.
It makes no sense to go into the season with maybe the best offensive line we have had since the Chucky years, along with a stout running game and a true franchise qb, and have such a ridiculously thin wr corp???
August 26th, 2016 at 11:00 am
Have they used Josh Robinson at all in PR/KR practice or in the first two pre-season games?
He ran a 4.33 at the combine a few years ago, dude has some wheels.
Just curious.
Pistol