“I Don’t Think We’re One Player Away From Anything”
April 18th, 2018
Ex-Buccaneer talks draft
Trade down!
That’s the edict from one prominent former Buccaneer.
Lots of Tampa Bay fans are feeling the trade-down vibe this season for two big reasons; they’re confident in general manager Jason Licht’s drafting, and they see the Bucs’ holes and lack of selections in next week’s draft.
It’s a cocktail that screams to trade down and acquire picks, they believe.
Ian Beckles is one of those fans. The ex-Tampa Bay guard (1990-1996) is known for his bold opinions through decades of local talk radio and was talking draft on his In The Trenches podcast this week.
He sees the Bucs as a work in progress and prefers quantity of picks this year because he doesn’t believe one specific stud rookie will push the Bucs over the hump.
“I’m hoping that they trade down.” Beckles said. “That’s me. Because at that seventh pick, are they going to have a difference-maker there? Nobody’s going to ever know that. You can still have a difference-maker at No. 9, 12, 17, 25, second round. Go and get more picks. I don’t think we’re one player away from anything.”
Beckles added that he doesn’t want “to waste” a top pick on a running back and said the Bucs should simply just hand the ball off more to their effective backs. It’s on Dirk Koetter, Beckles said, for sticking with Doug Martin far too long.
Joe’s certainly on board with Beckles’ draft thought. Licht and more draft picks is a good bet.
$20 all-you-can-eat buffet kicks off at 6 p.m. and runs all night long. Be there!!
April 18th, 2018 at 9:13 am
Man if we can get a extra s condo or even a 3rd I would be stoked
April 18th, 2018 at 9:14 am
Doesn’t take
Stevie wonder to see what he saying
April 18th, 2018 at 9:14 am
🙂 🙂 🙂
Go Bucs!
April 18th, 2018 at 9:15 am
I agree! I would take Nelson if he was still available.
April 18th, 2018 at 9:16 am
Absolutely, positively, no doubt about it, certainly, sure thing….no $ hit
April 18th, 2018 at 9:16 am
A move back a couple of spots to pick up a third would make my day. Package the third with our extra fourth to get another second and we can fill three holes with quality players expected to start year one.
April 18th, 2018 at 9:17 am
Nelson being there at 7 would make trading down more expensive for trade partner.
April 18th, 2018 at 9:18 am
I would love to see Luke Easterling’s mock draft trade for Pats 2 firsts and 2 seconds happen!
April 18th, 2018 at 9:19 am
AGREE!
April 18th, 2018 at 9:20 am
Again, some experts are saying this draft isn’t deep enough to trade down unless you’re getting picks in next years draft too…
April 18th, 2018 at 9:22 am
Oh but we are just one player away and that player is McIceCream. Cut the ice cream cut the losing. And I agree with Ian on Barkley, personally I think he’ll be avg at best if not a complete bust but wtfdik?
April 18th, 2018 at 9:24 am
It’s easier said than done finding that trade partner. Licht may have to be creative and force a team to trade with us by choosing a coveted QB at #7 then announce he’s up for trade. I’ll bet then we would get a 1/2 dozen calls and be able to choose the best deal offered. I.E. Miami @11, or Buffalo at @12 would be ideal
April 18th, 2018 at 9:29 am
I bleed
Thatd be a terrible move. Gets rid of all your leverage. Teams know bucs wouldnt keep qb, lowering price. Licht and trading back is no safe bet though. Trading up would be a safer bet. Hope not tho. Go back and look at all Lichts drafts. Definite pattern there
April 18th, 2018 at 9:29 am
Barkley, Chubb and Nelson instantly make this team better. Two of these guys are being called generational talents. The other has flashed more “dog” in him than #93 ever has. We need gritty, tough, talented, rabid dogs. Intimidators. If even one of these guys is available at 7 (which I doubt), nothing short of bounty of multiple 1s and 2s moves me off the pick. If I had to guess, I bet our GM loves what Chubb and Nelson can bring to this team. Barkley may be a slightly tougher value proposition, but damn, he’d sure bring excitement, flash and sizzle to a position of need. I worry a little about the hype, the brand, but if this guy is AP-Elliott-esque, its worth the risk.
Beyond that, yeah, it’s a total crap shoot from 7-12 and if there’s a deal to be made to move back, it’s b/c there’s something about the DBs that doesn’t quick click at that range. Maybe it’s residual Hargreaves syndrome? Maybe it’s value. I think you could just as easily argue that Vea could make just as big an impact as Fitz, James, etc. If we went: Vea, DB, RB, OL across the first four pics, that’d be a pretty solid haul.
April 18th, 2018 at 9:30 am
Pretty interesting draft for the Bucs. On one hand, if you want one of the big 3 (i think it’s really big 2 in Barkley or Chubb) then you want to see the big 4 QB’s taken in the top 6.
However, if you are in the trade down crowd which I agree with Ian about, then you want to see the big 3 off the board in order to increase our leverage. This is certainly going to be interesting to watch.
End of the day, i am hoping to have the Bucs select 4 to 5 players in the 1st 3 rounds. That would be ideal.
April 18th, 2018 at 9:31 am
Agree. Trade down is a good strategy – regardless of who’s there at 7. Get at least a 2 and a 4. Maybe better. Fill 3 or 4 holes with Lichtpics.
April 18th, 2018 at 9:31 am
Pass on the next Barry Sanders at seven? Saquon’s oline at Penn St. compares favorably to the crappy oline Sanders had in Detroit. Tampa has a top 12 oline. Plus, rb keeos your defense off the field….Barkley holds a lot of value as a receiver, and it keeps opposing defenses guessing as to whether or not you’re going to run or pass. Plus he can kick return if we need field position. lol
April 18th, 2018 at 9:31 am
We need a tackle, guard, safety, corner and running back. We have 2 picks in the top 100. Trading down in order to add enough picks to address all of our needs would be great. But at pick #7 that may be a difficult task. The best 4 QBs will likely be gone already.
April 18th, 2018 at 9:40 am
I think we are in favor of trading down, Though I do think that it will be harder to trade down then some think!!!!! And it is because of the teams behind us that they will not get a great haul offered if they do trade down!!!!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!
April 18th, 2018 at 9:40 am
I agree with him 100%. More picks = more chances to fill multiple holes. Its not that complicated.
April 18th, 2018 at 9:48 am
Agree with Beckles. When you are 5-11 you aren’t one player away from anything
April 18th, 2018 at 9:56 am
I know there is one player we can remove to get better.
April 18th, 2018 at 9:58 am
MarineBucsFan Says:
April 12th, 2018 at 2:43 pm
@ Marine Buc,
Change your name please.
Joe how about a name tag filter that don’t allow you to use a name already in use?? Your site is blowing up these days, might need one.
MarineBucsFan Says:
April 12th, 2018 at 2:45 pm
Just don’t want you to be mistaken for me and vice verse.
Semper Fi
Bucsfanman Says:
April 12th, 2018 at 2:56 pm
Agreed MarineBucsFan! You were here first!
“Marine Buc” as brothers we feel a new name is in order:
Leatherneck
Jarhead
JY-Rine
LifeTaker
OOO-Rah!
Semper Fi brother!
April 18th, 2018 at 10:18 am
Sgt. gunny
April 18th, 2018 at 10:20 am
If fans have been paying attention they would have seen Licht has put a lot of scouting into the mid 1st round through late 3rd round. I would not be surprised to see Licht trade back twice this year. The 2018 draft is full of Value prospects rather then top tier talent.
IMO, and it’s just that……
He is concentrating on the following:
mid to late 1st round OG (Hernandez, Wynn)
2nd-4th round RB, DE and S
Late 2nd CB
Late 3rd-4th WR (Hamilton)
4th round CB (Campbell)
Doesn’t mean he will get them, but Licht is pretty easy to read as to what position he is concentrating on and which round.
just an opinion but, I predicted Howard, Godwin, and Stevie T to be 2017 Bucs and that we would go TE, S, WR, OG, RB, DT, LB
Licht pretty much spells out his draft in the first 3 rounds and shows whuch position he values in the later rounds.
April 18th, 2018 at 10:23 am
So are we just going to ignore the dime on the left?
Barkley, Chubb, Nelson, trade down, James in that order. I honestly may even prefer trade down over Nelson.
If we get 2 first rounders from Buffalo for example, give me Josh Jackson and davenport round 1 and Chubb round 2.
April 18th, 2018 at 10:24 am
agree
if we can trade back and get guice, wynn/will hernandez and davenport that would be great…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!!
April 18th, 2018 at 10:25 am
Somebody should ask former OG Beckles if there is EVER a reason to draft an OG in the top 10… pretty sure he’s smart enough to know the answer.
April 18th, 2018 at 10:28 am
One of the worst moves this team made (recently) was cutting Mark Barron. He is truly THE QB KILLA. That man has ended more than one season and or careers ie Carson Wentz.
And this is why the Bucs suck huge giant gorilla nuts. 🤷🏽♂️
April 18th, 2018 at 10:37 am
Brandon
I think you’ll find most of the top oline man drafted in the top 2 rounds with some exceptions.
Jason Kelce – undrafted
Alex Mack – 21st overall pick
Arguable the best centers in the league. Just build the line with monsters who cares where you find them as long as their effective.
April 18th, 2018 at 10:39 am
Beckles is right. The Bucs are not one or 2 players away from anything cept..a losing season. If Chubb or Barkley are there you take’em. If not you hopefully can find a trade down partner. Even trading down is not a guarantee. 1st you gotta find a partner!
Man, Beckles will do just about anything to get a wiff of the honey’s huh?
April 18th, 2018 at 10:50 am
DB55 you obviously don’t know what your talking if you want to cut GMC our best defensive player cuz that’s a great ideal let’s just open up more holes to fill. You don’t have to like him but as a Bucs fan you should respect that he puts his body online for money but most importantly for us as fans. GMC played at the end of the season with torn biceps no other players do that wen there’s no chance at making the playoffs. Let me see you tear your biceps an go do anything physical
April 18th, 2018 at 10:50 am
@DB55,
Gunners Sergeant!!! Lol
April 18th, 2018 at 10:52 am
Damn Auto correct, Gunnery Sergeant
April 18th, 2018 at 10:54 am
Did Ian Beckles shrink or are those chicks just really tall?…lol
April 18th, 2018 at 11:01 am
Nelson is a “Generational Talent” i.e. that means once every 20 years. Of the top 10 rushing teams in the NFL last year , 9 of them were in the playoffs. You cannot gamble by trading back when you have a lynch pin Guard at 7 , if available. Draft Nelson and keep your jobs Licht and Koetter.
April 18th, 2018 at 11:06 am
Alpha must be new, welcome and WAKE TF UP!!!
April 18th, 2018 at 11:19 am
Negative Nelly! He was on Nobody teams but yet he seems t Think he knows EVERYTHING! I tune him out!
April 18th, 2018 at 11:59 am
This is bad logic. It’s assuming ALL picks pan out.
The truth is that the lower you go in the first round, the more likely a player is to bust or not pan out.
Also – with the QB hungry teams at the top, the Bucs are well positioned to grab a top 3-4 talent with the 7th pick. That’s multi Pro Bowl territory.
The more time passes, the more it looks like Nelson will be there. Don’t be short sighted Bucs – grab the ten year starter. Finish the trench warfare remodel.
Grab Nelson.
Grab a young DE in round 2
FIX THE TRENCHES, FIX THE BUCS!!
April 18th, 2018 at 12:00 pm
@Pete
Who knows what the picks will be however I am definitely on board with this idea.
April 18th, 2018 at 12:06 pm
beckles is a loser. 1 good player is better than 3 average players that will be cut or traded in 2 to 3 years. Who are the bucs effective backs that beckles is talking about? i haven’t seen him yet.
April 18th, 2018 at 12:06 pm
MarineBuc- At least he’s got some decent takes! It’d be real bad if he was a “troll”!!!
DB55- re: Barron- Some guys don’t come into their own until later in their careers. It took a scene and position change for him to become this guy.
April 18th, 2018 at 12:54 pm
Bucsfanman – there is some logic to his point of view agree with that. But they are not mines and that’s not cool. Plus some of things I would never say, specifically the stuff about Winston. I absolutely love Jameis!!
April 18th, 2018 at 1:40 pm
Time and time again real champions tell us what it takes to win yet you guys wanna talk about how “good” ice cream is, child please. Listen and learn…..
https://twitter.com/dwyanewade/status/986592134290657282
April 18th, 2018 at 2:16 pm
Trading down makes sense if a team is salivating for our pick and offers a great deal to us. Otherwise, I’d rather take the BPA. Something tells me that will be Nelson and it would be tough to trade down with a surefire stud guard there for the taking. If all 3 of the non-Qb’s best players are drafted then , we might have the opportunity for that trade down to a QB needy team. I think it will play out where we take the #7 overall. I would be shocked if Barkley is still on the board, so here’s hoping that Nelson is the guy.
April 18th, 2018 at 2:17 pm
Very few teams are put over the top by a single player unless all they are missing is a qb… which means they usually would have to trade up. I think yoy are more likely to compete with a team mostly average across the board and a few strengths than a team with a few elite players but a bunch of holes. Trading down is almost always worth it if you get decent value. Even stocking q bunch of 2nd and 3rd rounders you’d fill out a lot of weaknesses and depth even if yoy didn’t create a strength. Chances are out of a few of those players one or two could be one of the bettwr players at their position
April 18th, 2018 at 2:18 pm
Not new bro just decided to make comments I agree with a lot about what you say just not about GMC I just don’t get why you an a few others hate him so much dude plays thru most injury’s if he can an gives it his all. Hasn’t had very much help in a long time since Micheal Bennett an how long ago was that. I can almost guarantee the few that don’t think he’s good will see what he can do wen he has help 10+ sack this coming season
April 18th, 2018 at 2:22 pm
Not new bro just decided to make comments I agree with a lot about what you say just not about him I just don’t get why you an a few others hate him so much dude plays thru most injury’s if he can an gives it his all. Hasn’t had very much help in a long time since Micheal Bennett an how long ago was that. I can almost guarantee the few that don’t think he’s good will see what he can do wen he has help 10+ sack this coming season
April 18th, 2018 at 2:25 pm
I like Ian Beckles, that being said hes always a little bearish on the Bucs and for good reason the last few years. In some ways I agree with him that trading down makes more sense for us. If Barkley or Chubb is there maybe not.
April 18th, 2018 at 2:27 pm
My NFL mock draft
#1. Browns: QB Sam Darnold
#2. Giants: DE Bradley Chubb
#3. Jets: QB Josh Rosen
#4. Browns: OL Quentin Nelson
#5. Broncos: QB Josh Allen
#6. Colts: RB Saquon Barkley
Now this is my mock based on offseason moves, meetings, and press conferences from team officials of the following franchises.
They have openly acknowledge the drafting of Chubb by trading JPP to us. Licht tipped the hat on it in his preser as well. Joe Thomas just retired from the Browns so they are in the hunt for another stud lineman and I think they go with Nelson plus they just gave grade A money to C. Hyde. The Colts have too many picks late to draft an offensive lineman but they don’t have the position to get a RB later on so they will take Barkley. That leaves #7 and Imho 3 first round projected QBs left( Mayfield, Rudolph, and L. Jackson) for the Bills, Cards, or even the Patriots to get seeing as those are the rest of the teams that are QB needy and the teams that are drafting in front of them ( Buccaneers, Bears, 49ers, Raiders, and Dolphins) are not looking to go QB in particular. The trade down possibility is out the door and there just is no incentive for it to happen with the Bills, Dolphins, or Patriots because they can wait on there man where they are at. I see the Dolphins drafting C. Ridley to replace Landry instead of going QB but they are the only threat to draft one which is beyond when we pick @ #7. I said when the offseason first got underway that we were going to be in a position where we trade back up into the first with the Patriots. I still feel the Patriots would be an ideal to do a deal to climb back in but what’s now changed with the Patriots is they have two first round picks. If we can include our second round pick with our two sixth round picks to make a deal with the Patriots for the two first round picks they have to get our RB of choice and a RT which I think will suit us just fine to replace Dotson or maybe get a guard.
Who we draft @ #7 considering the scenario we are at currently within my mock of the top 6 I honestly really feel either D. James or M. Fitzpatrick should be that pick for us plus it is the only point in this draft we will sure 🔥🔥🔥 talent in the secondary and I ve said it to many times before I think personally we should draft D. James. He would be game changer and has gotten nothing but praise Joe. I think you are gonna be angry draft night because according to the way the workouts and visits were gone D. James was the only one who had to take down his social media coverage of his workouts. That means the Buccaneers officials are likely gonna draft him as they didn’t want him to give away anything inside their meeting. He impressed them enough at his pro day as well leaving Licht angrily wanting to see more leading to that private workout. After James worked out they only brought in two RB and none of them was Barkley or N. Chubb but another native in S. Michel and backyard burner K. Johnson and I think the Bucs will find a way to draft both of them too. Koetter said at the combine and at Orlando meetings that they are looking to draft two RB and they are gonna address the secondary early as well.
With that being said let’s go back to our trade scenario with the Patriots let’s say we trade our second round this year, second round next year and our two sixth round picks to get this deal done which is fair because the Patriots have a ton of picks anyway and could use early round equity for next season as well. Buccaneers draft goes like this and get ready to disagree to the bank but if we move back up with the Patriots this is how it goes
Rd 1 # 7 : SS Derwin James
Rd 1#21(from Patriots): RB Sony Michel
Rd 1 #31( from Patriots): RB Kerryon Johnson
Rd 4 # 2( from Giants): CB Anthony Tolliver
Rd 5 # 7: dline depth that JBF keeps calling for
Rd 7 #7 : OT Rick Leonard
April 18th, 2018 at 2:38 pm
All conjecture and wishful thinking Fellow Buc Fans. The Bucs draft war room has already rehearshed countless scenerios..I hope. Meanwhile, I’ll take 2 of what Beckles is trying..to hold in the pic.
April 18th, 2018 at 3:45 pm
The Bucs aren’t one player away, but they also need a #2 starting corner or they are one player (Ryan Smith) away from being in last place. Just have to see how the board plays out and what offers there are. Passing on Ward or Fitz when you need a kid to come in and start day one, a position the team has put themselves into it, it’s not going to be easy to just pass on that. Not saying not to do it, just too early to tell at this point since we have no idea what the value of the pick will be when the Bucs are on the clock.
April 18th, 2018 at 4:34 pm
Now we know that Demar Dotson’s has a major injury, we know we are even more desperate to add strength to the oline. Nelson is the most sure thing of any projected top ten player. But if we could trade back and still get Hernandez or Wynn in the second, I might just be equally happy with one of those guys plus an extra pick(s) compared to Nelson at #7.
April 18th, 2018 at 4:41 pm
Jason,
Your post was really long and its happy hour. Did you say Pats would give us two firsts for our 2nd and 2 6ths?
April 18th, 2018 at 6:21 pm
Yep…..trade down! Please, to the teens and land Vea or Landry. Dline-Trenches! Still a need guys.
April 18th, 2018 at 7:23 pm
EIGHT DAYS 🙂