Underrated?
February 19th, 2018
Perspective.
This caught Joe’s attention.
Joe has noted respect for the Football Outsiders guys a few times because, though they traffic sometimes in made-up stats, they try to be objective and are not slaves to stats (unlike that three-letter outfit with a habit of hiring Irish college dudes masked as NFL experts).
Take Scott Kacsmar. He does good research but gets into a lot of Twitter squabbles because he’s not fond of Carson Wentz or Derek Carr. Eh, to each his own, Joe guesses. Anyway, Kacsmar threw out YAC (yards after catch) stats on wide receivers via Twitter last night.
Let’s just say, if somehow (even though the Bucs don’t need a receiver) JuJu Smith-Schuster, Amari Cooper, Jarvis Landry or Marqise Lee somehow found themselves on the Bucs’ roster, fans wouldn’t scream as if Jason Licht dug up blocking icon Michael Clayton to play again.
However, Bucs reserve wide receiver Adam Humphries (Rudy!) has better or comparable YAC stats to some of these guys.
Career YAC per reception (not comprehensiveness)
JuJu Smith-Schuster – 6.76
Cooper Kupp – 5.76
Amari Cooper – 5.63
Adam Humphries – 5.62
Jamison Crowder – 5.56
JARVIS LANDRY – 5.41
Marqise Lee – 5.33
Cole Beasley – 5.32— Scott Kacsmar (@FO_ScottKacsmar) February 18, 2018
Humphries was second in YAC for the Bucs last year, a hair behind Charles Sims. Joe previously used that to illustrate how bad the Bucs were with YAC. A backup receiver led his position group. That’s not good.
But perhaps Joe should be looking at Humphries’ YAC through a different prism? Perhaps Humphries is more valuable than we realize?
February 19th, 2018 at 12:13 am
I’m not a big fan of Hump…he brings very little after the catch…I just think he should no more than the number 5 receiver on this team! CONTINUE TO BUIKD A WALL ON BOTH SIDES OF THE LINE!!
February 19th, 2018 at 12:18 am
Actually he does a lot after the catch, hence the story.
February 19th, 2018 at 12:26 am
Hump is the most consistent.
We Need Evans and Godwin starting and hump as the reliable WesWelker position
In Hump we Trust! Minus one game
February 19th, 2018 at 12:57 am
Lock her up!
Um, errrr, I mean, lock him up … with a contract extension 🙂
February 19th, 2018 at 1:02 am
Get your head out of your BigHogHaynes.
February 19th, 2018 at 1:29 am
Get him under contract then shop him for the best CB they can get. Hump is good, cheap, and reliable enough to fit any roster, but easily replaced, especially since I see D-Jax moving inside in 2018 with Godwin on the outside opposite Evans. D-Jax should be the ultimate mismatch from the slot.
February 19th, 2018 at 1:34 am
@BigHog 🤣🤣🤣
February 19th, 2018 at 2:06 am
Hump gets YAC because of how he is used, plays designed specifically for him and
the Bucs have been woeful (Koetter and Winston) at designing and executing routes where guys catch the ball in stride. Lots of hooks and sit in space receptions, those yield little chance for YAC. Not a mystery.
February 19th, 2018 at 2:13 am
Humphrey with the right coach is a dangerous man.
February 19th, 2018 at 2:23 am
That’s nothing new. Hump was actually 7.3 YAC in 2016.
February 19th, 2018 at 3:03 am
still take every WR on that list over Hump except Beasley
February 19th, 2018 at 4:55 am
To say Hump’s name in the same sentence as WesWalker is down right asinine!! @ Piratic: he is MEDICORE at best…hey but so is our win/lose record!! @Joe: those numbers don’t mean a thing if you continue to lose! He may be the best that we have …but that ain’t saying much!!
February 19th, 2018 at 4:57 am
Underrated & Undrafted….what a bargain!!! So where does he stack up against UDFAs?
February 19th, 2018 at 5:46 am
The two people in Tampa Bay who realize how good Hump really is happen to be (1) Jameis; and (2) Dirk Koetter. Adam defines clutch player, and both Jameis & Dirk know that. As anyone should expect, ME13 was targeted the most (136 times) & DJax was next most targeted (90 times). Next in line? Yup Hump (83 targets) … ahead of Brate (77), Godwin (55), Sims (47) & OJ (39). And his number of receptions (61) puts him SECOND on the team to ME13 (71 catches). For a WR to bring in 73.5% of the balls thrown to him is superb IMO, as is his over 10 yds/catch average. If Licht doesn’t lock up BOTH Humphries AND Brate he should be fired for dereliction of duty.
February 19th, 2018 at 5:47 am
Hard working Humphries strikes again.
February 19th, 2018 at 5:54 am
If the Bucs are going to shop anyone it should Brate.now he is a beast!probably a 3 day draft pick type of deal.
February 19th, 2018 at 6:41 am
Good number 4 or 5 nothing more.
If all these buc players are underrratted keepers why does the team spend so much time in the bucs safespace the nfc south basement
February 19th, 2018 at 6:51 am
For every flashy receiver you need a blue collar guy who works hard and just gets the job done. Think we need more hard workers with less talk more action!
February 19th, 2018 at 6:55 am
That less talk more action is especially for the defensive line! How those guys find and play up to the camera is beyond me. Guess what the camera will also find you when you make a play on the field.
February 19th, 2018 at 7:02 am
Hump gets his yards the hard way. I wish Licht could bring in the same quality free agents as he has in the UDFA players like Hump and Brate. they are both
unselfish team players .
February 19th, 2018 at 7:08 am
I still think about that fumble of his that lost us a game, people won’t be real about the situation because he’s likeable. His touches should be going to d Jack and Godwin should start on the outside but it’s ok there’s no way you can actually be better than someone and earn a starting role on dorks team. It’s probably gonna be thereason he’ll be looking for employment next off-season
This just highlights how pathetic dork is as a playcaller and coach. He’d be the type of guy to actually land leveon bell but still come up with some reason to play every single back that’s wearing a uniform
February 19th, 2018 at 8:09 am
Bucs should go ahead and lock up both Hump and Brate for 3 years instead of just tendering their final 1 year RFA offers.
February 19th, 2018 at 8:13 am
Come on tmax. You have been telling us for years why they staying in the basement. The cancer as infected them all and the Glazers . How could you forget??
February 19th, 2018 at 8:17 am
If we don’t resign Hump he will probably go to New England and become a superstar. Yes I know he is not the fastest guy on the field, but he knows how to get open and CATCH THE BALL, the most important thing about being a WR.
February 19th, 2018 at 8:33 am
Good post Defense. I agree those signings should be focus areas. Remember we are in the time of free agency where players and other teams get a vote, so I hope he pitches convincing arguments.
February 19th, 2018 at 8:37 am
Adam’s production will follow the growth and development of Winston with many years of great yardage output, along with Cameron Brate. Any thought of trading these players is foolish… Koetter and his coaching staff focusing on areas of need will be the best stride towards the post season.
February 19th, 2018 at 8:41 am
Hump could be used ALOT better if we had someone that could hit receivers…you know…IN STRIDE versus jump balls
February 19th, 2018 at 8:48 am
They’ll figure out how to use all these weapons, really really soon. Yep. Soon.
February 19th, 2018 at 8:50 am
No one bothers to cover Humphries. End of story.
February 19th, 2018 at 9:26 am
At present, Humphries is our best tight end, and our most reliable. Better even that OJ.
He has been consistent too, instead of just playing good on a contract year. If anyone deserves a deal, he does.
February 19th, 2018 at 9:27 am
theodore Says:
February 19th, 2018 at 8:50 am
No one bothers to cover Humphries. End of story”
Not true at all.
February 19th, 2018 at 9:29 am
Not Humphries. I meant Brate. Don’t know where my head is.
February 19th, 2018 at 10:38 am
Package Brate, and Humphries to the Patriots for their second, and fourth round picks.
February 19th, 2018 at 10:43 am
Ah what short memories we have. Was it just two short years ago at this time or last year that everybody was on here screaming #weaponsforWinston.
We had ONE genuine WR in ME13. Licht did a great job with UDFA’s in Hump and Brate and that helped…but we added DJAX as our top FA…we drafted Godwin who was a third round steal…and of course potentially the best TE in the game in OJ. We gone from famine to feast in a nanosecond.
I do not what to do anything to the current WR/TE combos. We have complementary pieces. Hump IS underrated because he’s a good possession receiver and does for us what Welker, Edelman and other little guys have done for Brady. We have a tall WR who can win jump balls…we have a massive TE who also brings size…we have a TE with great hands and the ability to get open…we have DJAX for speed and Godwin for terrific overall play.
I love ALL of those pieces and want to hang onto to all of them. We finally got our #weaponsforWinston. Let’s enjoy them in 2018. They are the ONLY position group that could be the best in the NFL…the LB”s are very good but not quite like our weapons for Jameis.
February 19th, 2018 at 12:22 pm
This a prime example that Dirk is truly on the hot seat! Humph has regularly performed and outside the blunder in Buffalo last season, he definitely has a niche in the offense.
If Dirk is heralded as this offensive genius, we need to see our offensive game plan consistently attack and expose the opposing defense’s weaknesses. We have the pieces to put fear in every defense we line up against. The front office needs to tighten up the O-line and the coaching must continue to raise the expectations of the players on the roster.
We need our entire organization to adopt an “We will win” attitude!
February 19th, 2018 at 12:35 pm
Why would someone ever like Hump. He has great hands, He is tough, he is dependable, he is smart, he finds the soft spot, when led properly he is very tough to bring down, and he is a great teammate.
Why would anyone want someone like that on their team?
February 19th, 2018 at 1:17 pm
@StPeteBucsFan
I feel ya. #WeaponsforWinston. Licht is drafting and getting too many good UDFA receiving weapons and DJax in FA! All this talk about trading Brate makes me so sad cus he’s so good and such a nice guy. Lots of people keep saying send him to NE. That makes me want to spend the rest of my years with my head buried in the toilet using the seat as the bar. But we do have a lot of very good talent that is going to get paid in the next four years if we want to keep them. Pewter Plank said we might not have enough for Brate because the Bucs may potentially want to re-sign Donovan Smith. Just punched a hole in my mirror and am on my way to the hospital now. Scary thing is that really sounds like a Bucs FO move.
February 19th, 2018 at 2:31 pm
SOEbuc says:
“Pewter Plank said we might not have enough for Brate”
BS. Brate and Hump are both guys you make sure you find the $ for. Both have been happily playing for floor scraps the last 3 years. I would be shocked if both these guys didn’t get rewarded handsomely by the Bucs for all their efforts for this team – either this year or next.
UDFA’s who turn into high end performers are often times the LAST guys you ever have to worry about not putting in enough work or being problems in the locker room.
Hump and Brate have both pulled off the near impossible – together.
Coming from literally last on the depth and pay chart as UDFAs in 2015 – they worked harder than most and played harder than most – play in – play out.
You couldn’t help but notice them – even that 1st training camp. Because they seemed to ALWAYS snag and hang on to the damn ball. They hitched their wagons to the Jaboo train – developing into two of Winston’s favorite and most trusted targets when he needs a play made. Its been a wild ride thus far and I imagine this grouping of weapons for Winston will achieve some amazing things once the Oline and running game gets shored up. And aside from DJax – will probably all be together for some time as well…
February 19th, 2018 at 9:31 pm
Hump is used at or near the line of scrimmage a lot because he’s got good agility (not to be confused with speed) – it’s very obvious why Sims, who runs a ton of screens and Hump are in the same category, because they are both guys who play underneath or behind the LOS when everyone else goes deep and Hump catching at the LOS on 3rd and 10 gives and gets 7 yards, well that’s a 7 yard yac. Meanwhile Evans is being double covered and pulled down from the second the ball is snapped, so expecting much in terms of yac is out of the question – and D-Jax seemingly ran only two routes, a curl and a fly and the fly never seemed to connect. Humphries is perfect as a 4th WR because as we’ve seen when he goes up the depth chart his on field play goes in the toilet, but against LBs, 2nd string safeties and 4th string corners, he’s an effective player.
February 20th, 2018 at 10:05 am
We should stay put with all the WR and TE….let’s see how the offense works with a real running game…..Don’t trade nor bring anyone…………
February 22nd, 2018 at 11:26 am
The only reason that HUMP has a decent Yac rate, is because we use him onlyly for screens, which are designed specifically for YACs. He never gets any Yac on any routes that go beyond the line of scrimmage. He never gets a vertical push and gets open in space. If you are used primarily for screens, like cole beasley in dallas, you are gonna have a decent YAC average. If he gets his catches like a normal traditional receiver, meaning he catches passes downfield not just at or below the line of scrimmage, he has no YAC. There’s nothing “special” about a one-trick pony.