High Praise From Veteran Coach
June 14th, 2017
Gushes over Chris Godwin.
As Joe has stated, Joe is scared to heap praise on Bucs rookie receiver Chris Godwin.
Godwin has looked like anything but a rookie in underwear football, and that itself is the rub. Too many times Joe has seen young receivers in underwear football shine, only to vanish like Jimmy Hoffa when the pads came on.
So Joe was taken aback when veteran NFL coach Mike Smith raved about Godwin this morning in glowing terms.
Joe asked Smith what he saw in Godwin from a defensive perspective and the Bucs defensive coordinator’s face lit up.
He “is a big, strong, athletic wide receiver,” Smith said. “He is a guy that is tough to cover because we are going to have match-up issues because of the size. I have been impressed with his ability to go up and compete for the ball. He competes for the ball as well as anybody I have been around. Yeah. The 50/50 balls, he is going to come down with.”
“Anybody” he has been around? That’s a mouthful! Let’s take a gander at some of the receivers Smith has been around.
First, Smith had damn fine receivers at Atlanta. Julio Jones and Roddy White spring to mind. While a linebackers coach at Baltimore, Smith was around a guy by the name of Shannon Sharpe. At Jacksonville, where Smith served four years as defensive coordinator, Smith was around a guy by the name of Jimmy Smith.
So to indirectly compare Godwin to some of those names, holy cow, Batman!
Joe understands this is underwear football and it’s wise to temper expectations. But if this doesn’t get a Bucs fan stoked, Joe isn’t sure what will.
June 14th, 2017 at 2:36 pm
Depth at WR. For sure.
June 14th, 2017 at 2:44 pm
I’m not worried about Godwin. Researched him after the draft and it appears he did WAYYYY more at Penn State than Kenny Bell did at Nebraska. The kid is a performer, he’ll be fine.
June 14th, 2017 at 2:46 pm
Ben the Ga Buc:
Go watch the Rose Bowl. Watch Godwin make plays going against Adoree Jackson.
June 14th, 2017 at 2:54 pm
Let’s not forget the other stud WR Mike Smith has spent time around… Mike Evans.
Really stoked the direction this team is headed! Godwin and Howard are rookies so I have very modest expectations for them this year, but damn- this team by 2018? 2019?
The offense will be a 6-headed monster!
June 14th, 2017 at 2:59 pm
Godwin has shown enough so far to assure us that he is the real deal…..sounds like Mike Williams in his prime…..without the stripper pole…..
June 14th, 2017 at 3:00 pm
Well they finally understood going to places like bumf@$egypt for wideouts like herron and afroman wasn’t the best idea. Instead went and got a guy that did work against actual quality competition.
June 14th, 2017 at 3:02 pm
He’ll end up being just as good or better than that guy davis that did his work at junior college.
June 14th, 2017 at 3:04 pm
The Mike Williams analogy is something Joe made previously and it is an interesting comparison.
June 14th, 2017 at 3:18 pm
Difference between those other guys Joe; is they did not have the same pedigree coming out. The guys you are talking about were late rounders or undrafted players who shined.
This guy dominated premier competition in college and has premier measurable’s.
On a team like Cleveland he could be their #1 potentially imo. He has the prototypical build / speed / ball skills combo
June 14th, 2017 at 4:04 pm
The best line in Mike Smith’s assessment of Chris Godwin IMO is … “I have been impressed with his ability to go up and compete for the ball.” Absolutely love that. As I look at our receivers, same thing could be said of Mike Evans. Same for OJ Howard & Cam Brate. Same for Adam Humphries. (DJax is kinda in a league of his own because of his speed IMO). Each of our RBs is also exceptional at pass catching … every one of them. Bodes well for Jameis this season. Pinpoint accuracy is great, and Jameis has that at times, but realistically no QB is pinpoint accurate all the time. Having receivers with the ability to “go up and compete for the ball” is awesome.
June 14th, 2017 at 4:05 pm
I think the Buccs may have hit another Grand Slam in this draft…..Howard at worst is a good football player, at best he’s an all-pro that is terrorizing the league for many years to come. Godwin is a stud and catches everything his way and will be the go to guy on third downs (mark it down) in the next couple of years as he matures and gets more PT. Evans,,,the guy Buccs fans asked why we took in the second will be great. the kid has the athleticism (like an Earl Thomas) that weve been missing on the back end for a while now. Beckwith is a second round talent who we got in the fourth round and will only blossom if fully recovered from injury.
June 14th, 2017 at 4:05 pm
I don’t think it matters how good he looks now. Or how good he looks in camp. Its tough but we will just have to wait til he gets his change to play under the big lights in august. Til then this is all just pop fodder.
June 14th, 2017 at 4:07 pm
Getting Godwin at #84 was outright theft. He was expected to be picked 30-40 spots higher according to many of the pre-draft predictions and in retrospect -now that we’ve seen him light it up vs professionals in underwear football – those assessments of being a projected mid 2nd rounder may not have been giving him enough credit. I think we’re sitting on another 1st round talent plucked by Licht from the draft pool for a much cheaper price.
Regarding the Mike Williams comparison – If Godwin can get 2700 yards and 23 TDs in his 1st 3 years – then he will be exactly what we needed from a #3 receiver working his way towards becoming a stellar 1b receiver.
As much as the Bucs apparently LOVE Adam Humphries – they are going to have a hard time keeping Godwin off the field this year. Nice problem to have….
Good Job Jason Licht!!
June 14th, 2017 at 4:09 pm
D. Jackson’s future replacement. Licht keeps hitting homeruns.
June 14th, 2017 at 5:10 pm
Pick you are 100% correct. I nearly broke my computer when they didn’t draft him in the second round. Can’t believe he lasted until the third. Watching him catch the ball his hands look like shock absorbers
June 14th, 2017 at 5:37 pm
Joe needs to get over his fear!!!!! Scared that because other players did not work out this one won’t either????? Their is a name for this fear, and its you’ve been dominiked!!!!!! For years you were so high on Jacques Smith but somehow, NS57 is injury prone and is only a situational pass rusher???? You’ve been dominiked!!!!!! Still think RJS is the den of depression??? You’ve been dominiked!!!!!
There is a new, real NFL GM in town!!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 14th, 2017 at 10:10 pm
I haven’t been this excited since Gruden’s first year.