Down On The Rookies
December 16th, 2017
Ignoring the obvious.
People need to get their freaking heads out of a spreadsheet.
Sam Monson is one of these drips from Ireland who thinks he’s a football savant because he can use a calculator and run an Excel program and types for one of the greatest con jobs this side of Bernie Madoff, the PFF tribe.
These guys like to hoodwink folks into believing they are the second coming of Bill Walsh because they can slap numbers on things — and if they can’t, it’s dismissed as nonsense.
Well, here is some nonsense for you:
This Monson character decided to rank NFL teams by their rookie class as we inch towards Christmas (Dec. 26 — not a typo — is one of Joe’s favorite days on the calendar). And he has the Bucs as the NFL’s No. 25 team in rookie impact.
The Bucs have gotten solid playing time from their rookies, with 2,349 snaps on offense and defense coming from first-year players, though much of that play has been substandard. O.J. Howard has been a small factor as a receiving weapon. His strength coming into the league was run blocking, which he has yet to get a handle on at the NFL level. He has five touchdown catches, but has also fumbled three times. Safety Justin Evans has made some plays, but also surrendered five scores and seen some ugly days at the office.
First, notice no mention of Kendell Beckwith? He’s only fourth among rookie linebackers in tackles (60). Dirk Koetter believes O.J. Howard is a powerful blocker. If he wasn’t, not only would he be playing less, the Bucs would not have cut Luke Stocker.
Sure, Justin Evans has growing to do, but he has proven to be a playmaker. Hardly a reason to throw him to the curb. Chris Godwin? You could make a solid argument that the way he produces, he belongs in the starting lineup.
Hell, there is serious chatter that the rookies have made a significant enough impact, it just might secure Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht with a new contract.
But in the mind of an Ireland stat geek, nah, move on. These rookies of the Bucs are borderline trash.
December 16th, 2017 at 12:19 am
winning cures everything ….let’s play spoiler!
December 16th, 2017 at 12:49 am
Pewter Glasses…Stevie T could be someone to replace Baker.
December 16th, 2017 at 5:52 am
OK Joe, I’ve gotta ask: ‘What’s Jason Licht got on you?’ Article after article attacking guys most of us have never heard of (yes, like Sam Monson “one of these drips from Ireland”), yet never a word about Licht. Is he still in the front office or did the Glazers secretly fire him & you’re hiding it from us? My personal guess is that he provides you with your Bucs’ Licht Craft Beer and you don’t want that source to dry up, but still, we deserve to know. You’ve thrown Dougie under the bus. You ran Smitty over a looong time ago. Dirk may not be long for this world either. And yet, nothing of any significance about the architect of this runaway train. I’m just curious, ‘What’s Jason Licht got on you Joe?’
December 16th, 2017 at 7:09 am
“People need to get their freaking heads out of a spreadsheet.”
This is hilarious coming from Joe after a week of diving into the minutiae to tell us how great Jaboo is. The spreadsheets tell us Winston is 82.3% on 3rd down conversions in the 4th quarter of 28 point defeats on Sundays after a full moon.
December 16th, 2017 at 7:58 am
All these debats are friutless until glazers sell or nfl contracts… bucs are destined to remain in basement. bucs have never been consistent winners or contenders and never will be with glazers in control… and to be clear bucs were a 1 dimensional joke under the ignorant fool dungy… 2 playoff wins in six years with that defense is failure anyway you slice it. Bucs have never contended nor won consistently in franchise history… what buc fans call glory years every other team considers failure… tampa is not a defensive town its a losing town and will remain so for the next decade or until glazers are out of picture
December 16th, 2017 at 8:12 am
Yes Joe I completely agree. While the 2016 was down right dreadful, the 2017 is looking like a grand slam for Licht. OJ is playing very well for a rookie TE and looks like he is going to be an absolute stud for the next decade. Evans is starting to look like he is going to be a force at safety in the league. Godwin is really impressing in the little time he has been given the opportunity. Beckwith was a steal and has been starting all year and playing well! I haven’t seen this clown’s article but I don’t know who out there got 3 starters and a very good player that will be starting very soon out of the draft. Seriously, did anyone do a better job last year than the Bucs? Sucks that the defense sucks so bad that they cant win yet, but there is no denying last year’s draft is looking like an A+ for Licht.
December 16th, 2017 at 9:00 am
@TouchDownTampaBay … “Sucks that the defense sucks so bad that they cant win yet, but there is no denying last year’s draft is looking like an A+ for Licht.” This is EXACTLY how Licht has gotten by here for 4 years now … looking at INDIVIDUAL pieces of a puzzle doesn’t tell you what the whole picture will be TDTB.
Last year we DESPERATELY needed a 1 or more DLine additions (preferably DE). A total of 18 teams passed on OJ before Licht snatched him up with our 1st pick. Was OJ the best player available at that point? IMO, yes. Was he our greatest need? Not really. Same thing with Chris Godwin … I love him as a player, but was he our greatest need at that point? Not really. Licht finally fills our greatest need in ROUND 7 when he picks Stevie T. Now Stevie MIGHT end up being a solid player in the long run, but from what I saw in preseason he’s not going to displace GMC any time soon.
Same thing last year with FA pickups. Bucs DESPERATELY needed several DLine additions, at both DT & DE, as well as CB help (despite Joe & others bragging how deep we were at CB). So Licht snatches up Fatty Baker and Robert McClain but passes on several other much better players. Here’s a full list of his 2017 transactions (http://www.espn.com/nfl/team/transactions/_/name/tb/tampa-bay-buccaneers) . Take a close look at his prowess at adding quality personnel then tell me again that Licht deserves an A+. His job is much bigger than just snatching up individual BPAs during the draft.
Reality: Koetter & Smitty have been set up to lose by Licht’s ineptitude. I’ll even go one step further: so was Lovie. Since 2014 Bucs have had THREE DCS: Frazier, Lovie & Smitty. All three were highly experienced defensive coaches before coming here who’d had some decent successes in the NFL, and all three have produced defenses that rank in the bottom third of the 32 NFL teams. The common denominator is mediocre talent on some key elements of the defense, talent provided by … tada … Jason Licht. The NFL is BigBoyVille … scheming to counter your weaknesses might work in the short term, but in the long term, talent is what REALLY counts.
December 16th, 2017 at 10:10 am
Dead man walking if for not other reason it would be using your first overall pick mainly to block for a sorry run game. No other coach would have thrown more passes to Adam Humphries than oj Howard
December 16th, 2017 at 10:50 am
Dirk Koetter suck. Anything else said about the Buccaneers is rubbish.
December 16th, 2017 at 12:12 pm
That is funny Joe. Dude didn’t name our top two rookies out of our top four. What an ass.
December 16th, 2017 at 12:51 pm
SOE:
Tells you about the guys’ research and credibility, no?
Defense:
Not sure what you want Joe to write about Licht. Joe thinks he’s done well in the draft. If you are asking why Joe hasn’t spoken to Licht on the record, Licht first has to be made available by the Bucs media relations department. Licht rarely speaks publicly during the season.
December 16th, 2017 at 1:33 pm
Joe – nonsense,
Last season without these rookies, the Bucs were 9-7.
This season with these rookies, the Bucs are 4-9z
Evans did make a lot of mistakes. Howard has turned the ball over and been substandard at fun blocking. Look at the rushing stats when they run the hall to his side of the line when he’s in the game.
Godwin has barely played.
Beck with started out hot, but look at his last 6 games. Major regression. He’s on the field for all these plays where opposing offenses are scoring at will.
Don’t mistake snaps with quality snaps. Big difference. Look over at the Saints if you want to see what a superb draft class looks and plays like.
December 16th, 2017 at 1:49 pm
We talking about rookie play or talking about team record? If you are going to go that route, then Mike Evans, Gerald McCoy and Lavonte David are also garbage players.
Again, Joe pointed out he has growing to do but he’s a playmaker. One of the very few on the Bucs defense.
Not his fault. When he has played, he’s produced. Who has been more of a factor on offense the past month, DeSean Jackson or Godwin?
Early in the season Beckwith played so good, you didn’t even miss Kwon Alexander. Has played multiple positions and done well. Wouldn’t call it “major regression,” but that teams are scheming for him now.
Monson acts like the Bucs draft class is trash. Now *that* is what is nonsense and either tells Joe that Monson has no clue to what he is typing about (very likely) or simply hasn’t watched Bucs games (equally probable).
December 16th, 2017 at 11:22 pm
I’m Irish.
We’re usually drunk and say things we feel, that have no basis in fact.
Leprechauns and stuff.