T.J. Carrie And The Bucs
February 7th, 2018
CB expected to hit market.
Now here is a guy to keep an eye on.
Yes the Bucs need a corner. Perhaps plural depending on what Brent Grimes decides. Generally, not many decent corners hit the free agent market but one of them is Oakland starter T.J. Carrie.
Per long-time NFL writer Bill Williamson, unless he is franchise-tagged, Carrie has no interesting in re-signing with the Raiders before testing the free agent waters. So, it seems, he’s looking for a payday.
Last year Carrie, 27, started 15 of 16 games and is thought to be a rising star. Williamson wrote that Carrie is expected to be one of the better free agents available.
Back in November, here is what Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie had to say to Paul Gutierrez of BSPN about Carrie:
“He’s been the glue. He’s been there. He’s been available. He’s kind of held it together playing outside and inside. He’s done a lot of things for us, and he’s shown up, and definitely played a lot more this year than he’s probably ever played, so that’s different for him, trying to get his body ready for it week to week. He’s been really solid for us.”
This sounds all well and good but given how Bucs defensive coaches have non-developed young corners the past two years, is Carrie an established enough of a veteran to overcome this obstacle in Tampa?
February 7th, 2018 at 5:28 am
One could draw the conclusion from this that it takes time and experience
to develope a good corner. If it was true for Rhonde,then its should be similar for the young corners on the team. That said ,VH3 has to respond to coaching,
Mike Smith has said that there is leeway on the cushion,but Vh3 was giving too
much. I just wonder if he has the speed and physicality to stay with a Julio Jones
or similar type receiver.
February 7th, 2018 at 5:34 am
Probably is a good player Joe, but his starting 14 games in 2015 then only 3 games in 2016 and then back up to 15 games in 2017 raises some questions to me. Words like “and definitely played a lot more this year than he’s probably ever played, so that’s different for him” cause me to pause. Bucs have this history of paying guys who are just coming off ‘their best year’ (i.e., Verner, Collins … shall I go on?). Aqib Talib may be a head case, but he’s been consistent for many years … consistently good. Malcolm Butler has been consistent for the past 3 years. So has Kyle Fuller. And our own Brent Grimes of course. Bucs don’t have the CB depth to afford a FA miss this year.
February 7th, 2018 at 5:51 am
There was a lot of wisdom in the way that the Bucs built their secondary during
the Dungy ,McKay era. Some pretty good players were drafted with ample time to develope and inserted into the lineup when ready.
February 7th, 2018 at 7:00 am
Jasonville got players to go there because they overpaid. If there are players who are good and who are the future, then Tampa needs to overpay and stop being a nickel and dime organisation.
February 7th, 2018 at 7:14 am
Yup agreed
overpay is a must. Extra 1-2 mil on every good free agent available.
February 7th, 2018 at 7:31 am
I’ve seen a few Mocks and ranking with CB Denzel Ward near 7 or Bucs projected taking him….
February 7th, 2018 at 8:35 am
Given the Bucs history, drafting another corner high would be a waste of a good draft pick.
Go all in on upgrading the defensive line and running game.
February 7th, 2018 at 9:02 am
Just talking out of my butt, but much of what has been posted about the CB FA prospects indicates it is one of those positions that requires a lot of NFL grooming to master. 32 QB’s, A multitude of schemes, an endless number of talented wide receivers coming at you makes it by far one of the most difficult positions to master. It is easy to see why a player has up and down years, simply based of scheduling variations. I wasn’t sure how Brent Grimes would turn out and we see how one season and a little film impacted VH3.
That brings us back to candidates like Carrie and Butler. Fortunately we have the bucks to grab one of these guys, or for that matter a Talib. I think we should take a chance in FA, if we don’t we could be starting from scratch next year.
February 7th, 2018 at 9:39 am
“…but given how Bucs defensive coaches have non-developed young corners the past two years…” – J0E
Hold up. This time last year, EVERYONE was high on VHIII because he’d had a good year.
Newsflash, the entire team had a bad, injury riddled season. VHIII had a bad season, but he is hardly a bust (yet). Smith actually had his best season (that’s development).
I’m not saying we should not bring in competition, but let’s not rewrite history. It’s one bad year for most of the team…and with good reasons. They’ll bounce back this year.
February 7th, 2018 at 9:45 am
The whole “what have you done for me lately” mentality sucks. It discounts continuity, history and development. Mike Evans has a down Sophomore year and most of the fans here wanted him cut (although now the hypocrites deny that).
Players have down years. The most common year in their careers to have bad ones? Their Sophomore year.
Maybe VHIII will be a bust. Or maybe he will take a good look in the mirror (like Mike Evans did) and come back stronger than ever.
Maybe Noah Spence will be an injury prone bust. Or maybe he will put his first two years behind him and have a stellar career.
Do we count on one over the other? No, of course not. We cannot count on them turning things around…but we also cannot assume they won’t. We wait and see, and in the meantime, its up to Licht to bring in more players to take up the slack if the worst happens.
I cannot believe how quickly the Tampa fans (or the trolls who follow other teams) give up on their players, coaches and team. The 12th man has a strong role to play. Step up!
February 7th, 2018 at 10:16 am
Joe you lay too much blame on the coaches. Again it’s a team sport and if we do not develop a pass rush this off season it really doesn’t matter who we get at DB.
They’ll get toasted and skewered by QB’s with all day to pick us apart.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:08 am
good player….couldn’t hurt….
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!!…..GO BUCS!!!!!
February 7th, 2018 at 1:14 pm
@AlteredEgo
“I’ve seen a few Mocks and ranking with CB Denzel Ward near 7 or Bucs projected taking him….”
I’m going Mike Hughes in the second.
February 7th, 2018 at 2:45 pm
The Bucs are so desperate at corner–I say do it.
Other years, I’d say stay away from a one-year wonder who has been a career nickel safety/corner.
February 7th, 2018 at 4:04 pm
Corners that have a lot of tackles is generally not a good thing, unless they’re really involved with the run game or an exceptional tackler. For example Ryan Smith was 5th on the team in tackles, was that a good thing? NO! It was because he was constantly tackling people from behind he left WRs running wide open.
Anywho I don’t know much about Carrie except he played on a terrible defense, had a TON of tackles and when you look at the locals they’re basically rooting for him to leave town. That’s generally not a good sign.
February 7th, 2018 at 6:07 pm
Denzel Ward…for those that don’t know he is one of the fastest players to ever on the field…5’11” is his only knock…but he is a tough guy and will stick his nose in there….fast sub 4.30
February 8th, 2018 at 12:19 am
If anyone can get Carrie to regress it’s Mike Smith’s staff.
February 8th, 2018 at 7:45 am
VH3 will be just fine. Line him up close to the line and let him play. He is not a guy who you constantly line up 12 yards off the ball. He was totally misused and I expect a big turn around this season.
Smith also has some potential and a guy like Carrie would be a smart move. We need a couple of guys to help push the guys here.
We need to worry about our d line more than anything (besides RB). This will help out our secondary more than anything else
February 8th, 2018 at 3:53 pm
T.J. Carrie (6-0 205) is a very good corner. He has good size and moves into the slot when the Raiders go to nickel, but he remains on the outside in base. No CB has more tackles resulting in an defensive success while defending the pass than Carrie’s 14. Carrie has been used to blitz off the edge, creating several sacks for his teammates and causing confusion in the pocket and has been efficient against the run, amassing 84 tackles last year. At times he was rarely targeted because of his blanket coverage and it looks like he quietly has put together his best season last year. Oakland will have a tough decision on their hands, having to pay to keep him. The Bucs should make a run at him and see if they can sign him.
As far as the draft I really like Denzal Ward (5-11 190) Ohio State. Ward has speed to burn and is very good at blanketing receivers. He covers like he is in the opponents pocket and is the best CB in the draft and some say the best prospect in many years. With Brent Grimes return in question the Bucs need to possibly draft a CB and sign one in FA. Even if Grimes signs, the chance to draft a CB of Wards caliper is one which this team should not pass up. Lock down CB are difficult to come by.