Bucs Wanted To Keep Jeremy McNichols
September 5th, 2017
Spurns Bucs
Classic behind-the-scenes intelligence delivered on Hard Knocks tonight.
The Bucs cut their roster from 90 to 53 players this weekend, but the TV version aired on HBO tonight.
Behind the curtain at One Buc Palace, the release of running back Jeremy McNichols played out on television. It turns out, Dirk Koetter and general manager Jason Licht wanted McNichols to develop on the Buccaneers’ practice squad.
Koetter was very upbeat on McNichols’ future.
But McNichols turned them down and took a “fresh start” with the 49ers.
Licht appeared flummoxed on camera. “Fu*k,” he was shown uttering after learning McNichols passed on the Bucs.
Licht was seen expressing a we-don’t-want-him-anyway attitude, after implying that McNichols didn’t like getting pulled from a game. Frankly, that whole scene felt like creative editing by the Hard Knocks producers. McNichols was never shown pouting or complaining during the show.
What’s unknown is how much cash the 49ers offered McNichols on their practice squad compared to the Bucs. There is a wide variable in what those guys are paid. It can be as little as about $7,000 per game week, or about triple that amount.
Joe wishes McNichols well, but Joe doubts he made the right decision. The Bucs are weak at running back, and one would think Tampa Bay would be a great place for a back looking to break into the league.
Also, McNichols struggled to learn the Bucs’ playbook. Does he think he’s going to be a quick study in a totally different offense?
September 5th, 2017 at 11:37 pm
He wanted to be back in the West Coast. Not sure he will not make it in the league. You can just tell by the way he carries himself.
September 5th, 2017 at 11:40 pm
Nothing makes me dislike someone more than to know that they don’t keep their word.
“Oh yeah I think this is a good spot for me I definitely wanna come back.”
What a petulant child. Whatever. His new nick name should be Jeremy McNoD***ls. Hope the guy bust’s out now.
September 5th, 2017 at 11:43 pm
Joe will just sum it up and say, “Quitter.”
Other Joe can’t go there without knowing if the Niners offered him more cash. — Other Joe.
September 5th, 2017 at 11:43 pm
John Lynch can be a dynamic, convincing guy. One call from him and that was that I’m thinking. McNichols will be a fringe player at best…dime a dozen backs like him at the NFL level.
September 5th, 2017 at 11:47 pm
Cali soft.
September 5th, 2017 at 11:54 pm
Glad he’s gone. Rodgers, Sims, Barber are better oh and Doug is the best on the team, when Doug is back he obviously gives us the best chance to win. This dude was garbage from the jump, maybe snoop will coach him up back in Cali. Also Joe, Doug Martin whether you like it or not he’s the guy.
September 5th, 2017 at 11:57 pm
More like Cali Dreaming….
I look at it like Puff Puff pass on his ass
September 5th, 2017 at 11:58 pm
He just missed Snoop
September 6th, 2017 at 12:00 am
Our RBs are weak, thankfully our WRs and TEs are elite
September 6th, 2017 at 12:02 am
If he would rather be a part of San Francisco, then we don’t want him here anyway. He’s clearly not a winner. He’d rather play with whoever the SF QB is over Jameis freaking Winston? Really?
Licht seemed more upset that McNichols blew off the exit interview with him, and I don’t blame him. I assume he thought he was treated unfairly. Please – give me a break. He almost got his QB killed and he thinks he should get more time on the field? This is a classic case of expecting things handed to you instead of earning it. We are better off without him.
September 6th, 2017 at 12:03 am
Home Sick is not a lot of Fun.
Probably will catch up fast and be real good.
Heart wasn’t in it.
September 6th, 2017 at 12:05 am
The RB’s are very average after Doug Martin. There’s no guarantee which Doug Martin we’re going to get either. They need to add some “Juice” to that position.
September 6th, 2017 at 12:07 am
It feels like he thinks the staff was too tough on him. This isn’t Boise State. I’m pretty sure we don’t play New Mexico State this year. There isn’t an organization in the league that wouldn’t be on his arse for continually missing assignments – especially ones that leads to your quarterback almost getting decapitated.
September 6th, 2017 at 12:12 am
At the end of the day you have to do what you feel is best for you.
September 6th, 2017 at 12:41 am
“Home Sick is not a lot of Fun.
Probably will catch up fast and be real good.
Heart wasn’t in it.”
——-
If you have to be near home to have your heart into football, then I would argue you don’t have the heart to play football. You don’t have to live in Tampa. Many, if not most, of the players live in their home cities anyway. This guy found himself in a tough situation but didn’t have the heart to work himself out of it. That screams quitter, and we’ve got no place for quitters on this team. No way Jameis would let that fly.
September 6th, 2017 at 1:28 am
This guy is never going to make it in the NFL. He’ll bounce around those Cali teams for a year or two and then never be heard of again.
September 6th, 2017 at 1:37 am
His lack of effort on those blocking assignments, particularly the cut he absolutely botched show exactly why we won’t miss him.
September 6th, 2017 at 2:44 am
Slow witted.
He might improve or he might smoke himself out of the league.
Weed is fine if done in moderation.
But it is not good for studying/concentrating/memorizing a playbook.
It is great as a pain-killer and anti-inflammatory but it is not good for memorizing a playbook. You need clarity to focus.
McNichols definitely looked half-baked at times.
At least we don’t have to pay him anymore.
Wasted draft pick, but at least his contract is voided now.
September 6th, 2017 at 3:31 am
Had high hopes for the kid initially based on his College productivity.
Now I’m glad he’s gone if he’s gonna pull crap like that. JMacs heart was obviously not set on being the best football player he can be or helping this team win Championships.
See ya dude – we only want players here who are committed to doing whatever it takes to improve their game and help the Buccaneers win Championships. Its why DJax came here. Its why TJ Ward came here. But you’de rather be in San Fran on a loser team… SMH
Hope the West Coast provides you with plenty of “safe spaces” Jeremy. You are gonna need to seek them out regularly with that wimp ass mentality.
Licht was pissed and I don’t blame him. Mostly at himself probably for not being able to identify ahead of time that this kid didn’t have the internal fortitude nor love of football required to make it in the Bigs – at least not on this team.
Coach K told JMac that he had him penciled in as making the squad – but he blew it by not knowing/performing his assignments. All the kid had to do was show up – do what would normally be expected of someone as a drafted rookie just coming to the NFL – and they would have found a spot for him on the 53. But he couldn’t even pick up the most basic blitz blocks and was way behind on knowing his playbook. Its just inexcusable.
And yet the Bucs still believed they could mold him into an NFL player with good coaching and wanted to get him on the PS.
But wittle Jeremy got his feewings hurt because he wasn’t gifted a roster spot so took off to be on the PS of a sh!t team instead.
Good riddance. That “mistake” solved itself in a timelier fashion than the Bucs even could have imagined.
That’s OK – I think we got 4 good players out of this draft if J. Evans comes around which I think he will – the other 3 (OJ, Godwin and Beckwith) were all excellent picks and will all play important roles – even as rookies.
September 6th, 2017 at 6:06 am
At the end of the day football is a business, and each player … and each team … makes the decision they think is best for them at the time. That’s all Jeremy McNichols did. Had he joined our PS he might’ve been released tomorrow if we had a chance to bring on someone with a higher up-side. Wish him well, now next man up.
September 6th, 2017 at 7:07 am
Love all the prognosticators of JMc’s NFL future. We have have a snippet of this guy from Hard Knocks, but his productivity in college says different. We do not know what San Fran offered and he would be a fool not to listen as any of us would do if we had multiple job opportunities. His goal of being an NFL player is being realized, no matter what coast.
September 6th, 2017 at 7:36 am
Ok – so lets say JMac got an offer for more $ with the 49ers on their PS. Or just thought it was in his best interest for whatever reason after “sleeping on it”. Fine. Im OK with that.
In that case – be a man. Directly tell the coach and GM that you made some assurances to what your decision is and why you feel its in your best interest.
If its a question of $ – perhaps the Bucs would be willing to pay more for the potential. Why not give us the chance to beat their offer.
If it was a situation of feeling unwanted somehow – give the coach an opportunity to reinforce that “yes – we do want you – we do have plans for you. But your not ready quite yet and we intend to fix that.”
Don’t just slink out of the building like a scared little wuss without even talking to the bosses you made a commitment to….
September 6th, 2017 at 8:49 am
Stop the nonsense….bottom line….We made the commitment to draft him. He didn’t respect that. He didn’t do the homework to know his A from a hole in the ground when he stepped on the field. So he is either stupid or he didn’t care to be here. In either case, good riddance….
September 6th, 2017 at 8:51 am
BTW…if it was a matter of his function on the field after the shoulder surgery, I’d cut him some slack. But it was a lack of mental prep or mental ability. Case closed.
September 6th, 2017 at 8:53 am
We’ll draft or sign a replacement by next year.
The important thing is that we didn’t get stuck with him for several years. His football IQ is horrible.
September 6th, 2017 at 8:56 am
I knew he would suck from the start. Figured they would have kept him on the roster at least until Doug came back, but we had TEs that could block and run that needed to make the team.
September 6th, 2017 at 9:01 am
BB… I thought he might make it until Martin came back, as well. And by that time it would be obvious whether he really wanted to learn his playbook responsibilities or not. But seems as he didn’t care to sign with our PS and went to SF, he obviously didn’t care that much about being here.
September 6th, 2017 at 10:15 am
Weak of heart, thin-skinned, and slow of mind.
That’s a tough way to go through life.
He never loved football.
I look forward to Snoop dissing the Bucs.
September 6th, 2017 at 10:35 am
D.R.
As always agree completely. Ownership/management holds the vast majority of the cards…the players have very little leverage. When a player uses that leverage I’m not going to pile on for a variety of reason.
First…we do not know how HK edited this for drama. McNichols sadly does not seem to be the brightest bulb in the chandelier and was not a good advocate for his position. I honestly do not know SF’s RB situation…perhaps he saw more opportunity there.
First impressions are critical! Maybe McNichols believes he had already achieved a horrible rep with the Bucs and that would be just another hurdle to overcome…a fresh start would negate that.
Whatever…there are a variety of legitimate reasons for McNichol’s decision.
Not sure what we really expected him to say to DK in that meeting? No coach I feel like I’ve messed up so badly already I’m not sure I can overcome my bad rep?
The real question for me is how did DK misread this player so dramatically. I LOVE DK but he is the Godfather…the founding father of the Boise State football program. He still goes back every year for their annual get together. There is NOBODY in the NFL more wired into BSU football than DK. What did the BSU coaches tell DK that led to this mistake? Will he trust their opinion in the future?
September 6th, 2017 at 11:04 am
My hunch is that he is a west coast guy and probably feels more cool comfortable playing closer to his home. It makes a big difference for a lot of guys.
September 6th, 2017 at 11:31 am
He didn’t want to be here. Oh well, see ya’!
September 6th, 2017 at 12:07 pm
I don’t blame him for leaving. He had been publicly exposed as a retard, and his coaches knew that he was retarded. A fresh start is better for him.
September 6th, 2017 at 3:00 pm
Man..McNichols looked slow and acted…somewhat slow. He jumped at the opportunity to go back to the west coast with his Hommie..Snoop Dog where he can..smoke a few bowls with his mentor. I wish him the best of luck though. He’s gonna need it. Thus far, he looks like a practice squad player for a couple of years.
September 6th, 2017 at 4:24 pm
He looked dazed and confused every single time I saw him. Slow thinker, couldnt process the emotionless. Dude is really athletic, and could be an awesome back, but something was off with him.
Told ya they shoulda taken Perine in the 4th, that guy would have been a thumper up the miiddle.
September 6th, 2017 at 5:30 pm
LOL, he thinks Koetter’s Offense was complicated, wait till he see’s Shanihan’s Playbook in San Francisco.
September 8th, 2017 at 3:49 pm
St Pete’s last paragraph!!!
As I understand, THE NFL scouting report on Mc was that he was WEAK at pass protection. Yet, pre-draft, the Bucs rated him highly there. Why such poor intel / scouting on our part?
September 13th, 2017 at 12:20 pm
Nicholls sucked. He is a good looking kid with an athletic Herculean body but a dime brain. He looked completely and totally lost. He would and could not make it in our system. He needs a dumbed down here is ball there is goal line go play type of offense to be successful.
September 14th, 2017 at 1:19 pm
closer to home and probably better money to crack a weaker roster. i know Joe remains very vested in this “weak RB room” narrative, but the bucs clearly plan to ride 2017 doug martin, koetter seems to love Sims, and rodgers is a longtime koetter guy who also happened to lead this 9-7 team in rushing last year. In SF, their starter is in a contract year and there’s nobody of consequence coming in behind him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes on to good things under kyle shanahan, but he was the 5th best RB this offseason and an asset a playoff-seeking team could not afford to sneak onto the 53 man roster. good luck to him
September 16th, 2017 at 6:04 am
Jeff Fischer took heat for putting Legarrett Blount on his practice squad. But Blount couldn’t pass block for his 2-3 years here and it telegraphed if he was n the field it was a run. McNichols seems like he has a similar work ethic.
September 16th, 2017 at 6:06 am
Oh… but the point of bringing Blount up is that Fischer acknowledged the”mistake” of putting him on the practice squad. He couldn’t have said publicly, “Well, Blount is a punk, a bad citizen, and won’t block for the QB on 3rd down.”
I’m guessing Licht would be in the same spot if he ends up having any rookie success running or catching the ball on the SF roster.
Too bad.