Bond Market
February 25th, 2018
A changed role affected Devante Bond. (Photo courtesy of Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Prior to the free agency dinner bell ringing and prior to the draft, one can only guess what the roster may look like in 10 weeks.
There has been rumbling that perhaps the Bucs could use more of a 34 front — again, based on the roster — but when new defensive line coach Brentson Buckner had his introductory presser last week, it sure didn’t sound as if the Bucs have given up on a four-man front.
If the Bucs go to a three-man front, even part-time, one reason may be to unleash Noah Spence? Another reason would be to utilize the skills of Devante Bond.
The 2016 sixth-round pick has shown flashes that he can be a good linebacker. He certainly has the fundamentals of tackling down, which brings a smile to Joe’s face. Bond’s biggest issue had been injuries the past two preseasons.
Per Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com, Bond led the Bucs with 10 kick coverage tackles in 2017. So Bond is almost assured of a job just based on his special teams play alone.
Joe was talking with a Bucs assistant the week of the Shrine Game practices in St. Petersburg back in January. Joe heard that Bond may have played slightly out of position of sorts when he got a lot of playing time in December.
Why? The Bucs were so utterly horrid rushing the passer, the Bucs were having Bond play closer to the line than coaches normally would prefer. If Bond was playing off the line more, he would have had a bigger impact, Joe was told.
And this is a perfect lesson of what happens when a team shats over itself year after year after year after year trying to develop players at such a critical position (defensive end) and failing miserably.
Striking out like Joe at MacDinton’s on a Friday night in finding an edge rush every year means other dudes have to try to cover for the crater-like hole, and that drags the defense as a whole down with it.
It just makes Joe want to strangle the guy who threw Michael Bennett out the door!
February 25th, 2018 at 12:41 pm
Bond sucks. Hyping him shows how desperate we are for talent. He’s a sixth round pick, who can’t stay healthy, and misses more tackles then plays he makes. Again, stop depending on the undependable, and stop trying to make us believe guys like Bond can actually play.
February 25th, 2018 at 12:47 pm
I was saying this all season. The Bucs had their defensive players playing out of position. They wasn’t scheming to the players strength.
February 25th, 2018 at 1:00 pm
I don’t care where he was drafted, he and Blanton are quality depth, which we’ve lacked at most positions for too long. Unfortunately, barring injuries, quality depth is way more important on the DL AND defensive backfield. Oh Bucs…….GO BUCS!!
February 25th, 2018 at 1:05 pm
Wonder how the play for comp picks figures in? Let a bunch of guys go, sign little or nothing and get three or four comp picks. Instead of using the cap space for FAs, you extend all our key players with heavy front end cap hits. Jameis gets suspended for six games; clueless coaches, idiot GM work the last year of their contracts at minimum salary; team goes 3-13; and you bring in Podesta, Schwartz, draft in the trenches, get true studs in FA and roll from there.
February 25th, 2018 at 1:21 pm
“It just makes Joe want to strangle the guy who threw Michael Bennett out the door!”
Since when did Mark Dominic become like Voldemort? (He whose name shall not be spoken).
The report was that the Bucs and Bennett were only $500k apart from an agreement. But instead of giving in for that relatively small amount, Dom decided to release Bennett so that his ‘steal of the draft’ – 2nd rd pick Cheeseburger Bowers – could flourish in his new starting role.
Joe constantly writes about letting Bennett go “for no good reason” yet always states it in such a way that implies Dom was just following orders from either the Glazers or Schiano. But the facts seem pretty clear to me.
Do you really think the Glazers stepped in to say “NO” over $500k???? Of course not.
How likely is it that Schiano told Dom – “No I don’t want the guy who just got 9 sacks and 3 forced fumbles back on the team”??
There’s only 4 players left on this team from 5 years of Dominik drafting and 2 of the 4 are reserve/role players. GMC and LVD are literally the only 2 “good” players that Dom drafted in 5 years.
Its high time Joe acknowledged what a terrible GM Dom was. Not just bad – historically, devastatingly, team crippling for years kind of terrible….
February 25th, 2018 at 1:27 pm
Joe – Why is it hard for me to believe you don’t know the reason Bennett got dumped? Not saying it was for good reasons, just saying there is one. Enough time has passed, something must have leaked to you by now.
February 25th, 2018 at 1:45 pm
Regarding Devante Bond – I have yet to see much from him as a defender. Maybe a handful of “splash plays” since he got here 2 years ago – mostly all in pre-season. Perhaps if he stays healthy he will continue to develop. He’s already a valuable contributor on ST so thats got to be considered a successful 6th rd pick. But there’s a marked difference if you compare what Bond has shown thus far as a LBer – to say what we saw from Beckwith or Kwon in their rookie seasons.
The Bucs are in an enviable position at LBer. LVD, Kwon and Beckwith as starters is easily top 5 in the NFL. When you add Glanton, Bond and Joe Dirt as reserves – that’s a pretty talented group – all young and still developing as well (except for LD54 who is a stud veteran locked up contractually for 3 more years at a very reasonable price).
February 25th, 2018 at 1:50 pm
A good Defensive coordinator Takes a long look at the pieces he has in place. He tweeks his system constantly throughout the season. That is..a good DC. I’ve always thought our Defense could play much better. They are Pros and many have certain strengths. I just never saw Smitty utilize those strengths. I never witnessed him doing setups on the D line to help others get sacks. i simply cannot wait, Perform Mr Smith this yr or..Pack your bags.
February 25th, 2018 at 1:58 pm
In one of Mike’s miss first press conferences one of the first questions he was asked was what kind a defense are we gonna rock. I believe his response was that we would play to the strength of our Personnel. If this were true we should have seen a lot more different looks then what the Bucs have shown in the last couple of years. There’s Lots of ways to get to the QB and they didn’t look very creative at all. There was nothing exotic it was pretty vanilla
February 25th, 2018 at 2:02 pm
Bond is a solid special teams player and nothing more.
February 25th, 2018 at 2:09 pm
He looked behind the play most of the time he was on the field to me…
February 25th, 2018 at 2:23 pm
The two players on the D-Line that stands out to me.
Will Gholston 6’6 280
Will Clarke 6’6 275
I know the Bucs can get more from these guys
I see flashes where they uses their length and size
Then I see them disappear
It has to be technique and schemes
February 25th, 2018 at 2:50 pm
No reason to pull your hair – we’re an even front defense (4-3), with odd front (3-4) principles.
Does that mean our front seven is schematically close to a traditional 3-4? Nope, not really. Does that mean we have the personnel to run a 3-4? For the most part, we really don’t.
The basic thinking here is that Gerald McCoy plays “one gap” w/relentless penetration. While the Nose Guard plays “two gap” and outmuscles the offensive lineman and stumps-out any running attempts.
Guys like Noah Spence & Bond would play LEO or weakside edge rusher.
The same way Seattle utilized Bruce Irvin & Chris Clemons.
February 25th, 2018 at 2:56 pm
Lakeland, agree wholeheartedly about Gholston & Clarke (Russell impresses me too). Snap counts generally provide a picture of a player’s relative worth in relation to others in his position group IMO (at least from the coaches’ perspective). The three mentioned all were generally in the same ballpark in terms of defensive snaps: Russell (456), Gholston (447), Clarke (313) in their 14-15 games.
BTW, didn’t recognize this until digging into the snap counts, but Beckwith actually had the most defensive snaps of anyone on the team (846) … on the field 80% of the total defensive snaps (more than Kwon, LVD or even Grimes). Beckwith & Conte were the only two on defense to play in all 16 games. Beckwith also added over 100 ST snaps to his resume, meaning that he got some outstanding experience last year. Would still love to see Smitty move him to MLB & let Kwon play outside (personally think it would benefit the defense as a whole).
February 25th, 2018 at 3:00 pm
LUVMYBUCS … Had never looked at GMC’s role that way but I can see where that could be the case. Very possibly why Akeem Spence did better against the run than Baker did.I’d be interested in your take on drafting Vea (or Payne) to play that same role.
February 25th, 2018 at 3:11 pm
Bond is garbage. What contribution does he make?
February 25th, 2018 at 3:11 pm
Theodore, it’s not a secret. He dumped the undrafted guy for the guy he drafted, cause that’s what guys who think they are smarter than everyone and want to be proven right do. If he was a “real” GM, he would have went with proven production over potential and saving face. That’s what I like about Licht. He might swing and miss, but he’ll also admit his mistakes, like McPlaybook.
February 25th, 2018 at 3:18 pm
Defense Rules
Sure If Quenton Nelson’s off the board – I’m all for it.
But there’s guys in the later rounds that can fit the same role.
Nose Tackle Prospects
• B.J. Hill, N.C. State
• Trenton Thompson, Georgia
• Kendrick Norton, Miami
• Folorunso Fatukasi, Connecticut
• Deadrin Senat, South Florida
LEO’s
• Kemoko Turay, Rutgers ← Kid can bend the edge
• Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, Oklahoma
• Marquis Haynes, Ole Miss
• Uchenna Nwosu, USC
February 25th, 2018 at 3:26 pm
(NT) B.J. Hill aka “DeeBoo” – N.C. State
2018 Senior Bowl Practice Analysis || Day 3 OL vs DL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2BtBhEg3Eg
February 25th, 2018 at 3:31 pm
Cleveland south in baseball and football
Sad
Sorta males sense I suppose as half of Ohio lives in the tampa bay region
February 25th, 2018 at 4:14 pm
Mark Dominik was the worst GM in Bucs history. Check his team winning %. He still sucks. It is laughable the guy has a job commenting on other GMs. They must laugh their arses off hearing him comment on anything. He couldn’t draft the trenches to save his life or job lol.
We gave up our seats because we are spending the money on Lightning close to the ice. I’ll watch this sinking of the Titanic and Cpt Winston on TV.
February 25th, 2018 at 4:24 pm
Bond, Ryan Smith, and Gholston suck, especially Smith. His technique in coverage, instincts…both horrendous. When we cut Gholston, we could use those funds to pursue Vinny Curry in PHI w/compensation.
Let’s keep the articles coming on draft scenarios and FA projections…
February 25th, 2018 at 4:33 pm
I’m no Dominick fan by any means, but anyone who calls him the worst GM in Bucs history must not remember Bruce Allen.
February 25th, 2018 at 4:43 pm
Berry, comparing Dominick and Allen is like getting shot in the heart or stabbed in the heart. Both will kill you.
February 25th, 2018 at 5:05 pm
The absolute last thing I want to hear about is the need for somebody to play further off the line. Yeah, that’s not gonna help
February 25th, 2018 at 5:05 pm
Release David off the edge, that’s where the money is at. However Bond had impressive speed for a LB, but I don’t know if that means if he’d be a good rusher or not. He was a backup in college so he was always a project player, so those writing him off I think are doing so way too early, he was never meant to play early.
February 25th, 2018 at 5:28 pm
Pickgrin says:
Since when did Mark Dominic become like Voldemort? (He whose name shall not be spoken).
_____________–
Lol……No that is my original username that invokes Voldermort status. 🙂
February 25th, 2018 at 5:37 pm
Bond is a good depth and a quality special teams player. He’s not a superstar, but that’s alright. You need guys like him on the team!
February 25th, 2018 at 6:46 pm
Phil Krueger was the worst GM in Bucs history and probably the worst in NFL history.
February 25th, 2018 at 6:54 pm
Defense Rules
My bad – for half-ass answering the question.
The little one had my attention.
Vita Vea 6-5/340
• He has the strength to hold the point of attack as well as the quickness to penetrate in one-gap schemes. On the other side of the coin, his long arms are a critical trait for two-gapping schemes because defensive lineman is asked to stack (with either arm) and defend two gaps.
The fact he’s extremely versatile…
He can play
• 1-Technique (4-3 NT)
• 0-Technique (3-4 NT)
or
• 3-Technique (4-3 Pass Rush Tackle)
• 5-Technique (3-4 DE)
….Makes him the prototypical Hybrid-Defensive Lineman for our system.
February 25th, 2018 at 7:04 pm
What’s good LUV!? Hope you and the Fam are doing well!
February 25th, 2018 at 7:33 pm
I’ve always said. The closer to the line of scrimmage, the more important you are to the team
February 25th, 2018 at 7:53 pm
Luvmy. Thanks for sharing link.
NC State is poised to have one of its most successful NFL Drafts in school history this year. Seven former Wolfpack players are ranked among the top 2018 NFL Draft prospects according to CBSSports.com
Defensive end Bradley Chubb is No. 1, defensive tackle B.J. Hill is No. 83, tight end Jaylen Samuels is No. 84, offensive tackle Will Richardson is No. 104, defensive tackle Justin Jones is No. 130, running back Nyheim Hines is No. 156 and defensive Kentavius Street is No. 226.
February 25th, 2018 at 8:22 pm
@SB – We good brotha – Hows that Caldera treatin’ U & the Fam?
@Stanglassman – No Worries Bruh. Checkout Day 2 in the same series. It’ll give you a little more intel. And I agree hands down its the best draft class; they ever had.
February 25th, 2018 at 10:07 pm
David has proved his prowess in getting to the QB while blitzing and he would be even more lethal than a healthy Noah Spence as an OLB in a 3-4 and we have three LBs who are strong ILBs. You know our new DL Coach was coaching a 3-4 at the Cardinals and can coach Stevie T at 340 pounds to play NT even if we don’t land Vea and McCoy himmself should at last be a double digit sacker with no double teams to burst through from the DE position in 3-4 and Gholston has proven he is a good run stuffer and can be taught by our new DL Coach how better to fight with his hands and either sack or pressure the passer or knock down his passes from the other DL position. Our DC said he would scheme to his players’ strengths; well he best be going to a 3-4.
February 26th, 2018 at 4:18 pm
i think he may have led the team in special teams penalties too hahahaha but i’m going to agree with you that he most likely makes the team next season.