Waiting For That “Gear”
May 20th, 2018
One to watch.
With the Bucs scheduled to begin official OTA practices on Tuesday, Bucs fans are latching onto anything interesting to tide them over for a few days. So Joe hopes the following gets some fans pumped.
Bucs coach Dirk Koetter is big on explosive plays. He’s a big believer that they often determine outcomes of games. Well, it seems Bucs rookie Ronald Jones just might be that guy.
The Bucs’ running game was terrible last year. Part of that is on Koetter, who clung to the hope that Doug Martin would snap into his younger self. As we all know, that didn’t happen.
Jones has the type of breakaway speed that can change games. And Field Yates of BSPN, on a recent edition of NFL Live, listed Jones a rookie to watch this fall.
“He is a big play looking to happen,” Yates said. “He jumped off the tape playing along side Sam Darnold.”
And like Darnold last year, Jones this year will line up behind another former first round pick of a quarterback, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston.
As Koetter said last weekend during rookie minicamp of Jones, “He’s got a gear that we don’t have on our team right now.”
As Hall of Fame baseball manager Whitey Herzog was quick to remark during his days in the dugout, “Speed kills.”
May 20th, 2018 at 8:17 am
i really am ready to watch this young man on the field, if he can duplicate what he did in college at this level, damni’tt man we should have one kick ass season, especially with our new Dline, go bucs please, try and not break our hearts again, it’s time, put up, shut up and get er done
May 20th, 2018 at 8:31 am
This is ROJO
See ROJO GO
GO ROJO GO!!!
May 20th, 2018 at 8:32 am
But it doesn’t really matter how many good players we have we can’t win as long as we have such a crappy QB right Joe and most clueless posters on this site.
May 20th, 2018 at 8:40 am
This guy is going to be left on the sidelines way to often. He should be a three down back if they want to keep defenses on their toes
May 20th, 2018 at 8:59 am
Just as a follow up to yesterday’s articles about JW. For those of you so intent on running this QB out of town, ask yourselves what the coaches and management responsible for this team did in the off season to improve this team, especially since they are likely on a very short leash and their jobs depend on it.
If the QB was the problem and they’ve had 3 years to evaluate, you can damn well rest assured they would have been looking at FA’s and draft prospects. They may have a lot invested in JW, but no coach will put his career and likely one shot at being a head coach in this league on the shoulders of a 23 year old if he just doesn’t have IT. Obviously, they must think he has IT.
So, what did they do? They addressed their OL both through FA and the draft and then added a running back in the draft. So, they must think the OL and the running game needed to be better.
What else did they do? They upgraded the DL both through FA and the draft. They then added much needed talent in the secondary. Wow! This must have been done to address the WORST defense in the league. Imagine that?
Finally, they added talent on special teams. New PK that should help instantly. Drafted players like Cinchy and Watson that should contribute immediately.
So, if you think JW is the problem with this team, the experts – you know, the guys that watch them play every day at practice and during film study, don’t seem to support your theory.
May 20th, 2018 at 9:19 am
Team looks awfully good. Once again (the cliché) on paper. If the draft picks come through I don’t see many weaknesses. Licht did a fine job. I think I agree with Joe that the likely additions may well be a veteran cornerback and a veteran RT for backup. Depends a bit on the recoveries of our RT and linebacker too. But not a bad situation for the Bucs roster.
May 20th, 2018 at 9:46 am
Ndog with respect maybe you need to get glasses that are not rose colored:>)) .anyway– . Who was the last rb the bucs had that had real speed ??? I can’t remember.
May 20th, 2018 at 9:57 am
RT will be fine. Dotson’s off season torn meniscus surgery requires 6/8 weeks recovery. Vets like him plan these maintenance procedures conveniently to miss some OTAs & training camp wear and tear. I think the depth is good too Celeb Benenoch played well in Dots absents toward the end of last season and Cappa provides future depth. I’m more concerned with Beckwith injury since we know so little about it’s severity. Most of the Lb depth is at WIL and MLB.
May 20th, 2018 at 10:49 am
Ben that would be Warrick Dunn, Cadillac a close second, please let me know whenever you have football questions as I am always here for you and the rest of the football knowledge challenged.
May 20th, 2018 at 11:24 am
A good running game will set up play action and keep linebackers and strong safety guessing – result will be more open receivers and then it’s on Jameis to be relaxed and accurate
May 20th, 2018 at 11:51 am
I love the addition of RoJo in the backfield but still feel like they need to add another back. Not necessarily a superstar but someone more proven and with more upside than what they currently have behind Rojo. If he goes down for a few games we’re looking at the same backfield as last season. I think they’ll probably cut Sweezy late in training camp and use that money to bring in a few players that were last minute cuts from other teams.
May 20th, 2018 at 12:23 pm
Joe do you have anything on the udfa out of Duke. Rb Wilson
May 20th, 2018 at 12:30 pm
Ben,
Jeff Demps!
May 20th, 2018 at 12:33 pm
Jaboo and Ndog, the two biggest FSU homers still trying to make excuses for their idol. What they have done is stack up the team so that has no more excuses and if he once again fails to live up to the hype (as many suspect will happen).
The Bucs will have a complete team ready and fully stocked for a real Quarterback to come in. You see all these pieces will work for any quarterback and a good defense got the great Trent Dilfer a ring. I’m not surprised that either one of you can muster the brain capacity to understand such things. If they thought so highly of him then how come he didn’t get a new contract just an extension for a year instead. Maybe they aren’t sold on him as much as either of you think. When you list your name as Jaboo you pretty much show you are incapable of objectivity.
May 20th, 2018 at 1:39 pm
We all need to be smarter bucs fans and stop trying to run of the best bucs qb in its history. He is still young and no matter how great he plays you still need a complete team around him ROJO will help if Koetter stops being so stubborn with his play calling. Jameis could play like Brees but he didn’t get over 8 wins throwing 5000 yards 30+tds 10picks or less without a complete team around him. I’m not saying he’s Brees by any stretch. But in this division you need a complete team. That’s why Damn near 3 teams went to the Superbowl in the past 3 yrs. COMPLETE TEAM EFFORTS!
May 20th, 2018 at 2:36 pm
Eric your kind of a hater aren’t you. Winston has been pretty dam good these last 3 years .Why? Lets start with rookie year he started from day one. He played every snap that year. Think about that, if he sucks as bad as you say,he would have been pulled from some of the games for bad play. He threw for 5 tds against philly with no ints in that game. I think you have to have a little talent to do that in his rookie year don’t you? He holds records for numerous nfl tds and yards records for a rookie QB. But he sucks right? His second year he led the bucs to a 9 and 7 record .He had his 2nd strait year of over 4000 yards passing , threw for 28 tds and his passer rating went up. He did that in his second year with a bad running game.His third year he apparently played most of the year with a bum shoulder. He played most of the year with no running game,no defense, or field goal kicker. Not to many QBs who aren’t named Brady or Rogers are going to win with that stacked against them. So obviously no matter what Winston does is going to be good enough for you. Are you sure you aren’t a Gator fan? That would explain the hate…
May 20th, 2018 at 3:17 pm
Guys just quit trying to educate these “fans” on the game of football. You see outside of winning every game they will say Jameis sucks cause they never wanted him here in the first place so they are just trying to justify their opinion. They can’t wrap their minds around the fact that football is a team game no matter who’s at QB. Is Jameis perfect no but he had us in position to win 9 games last year despite a absolutely horrific defense and a running game that was just depressing, and oh yeah the worst kicking in the league. Like a said last week please someone name a QB that would have won 9-10 games with the worst defense, worst kicking game and a poor rushing attack. And BTW the best part of our team last year was our passing game?
Yeah so let’s focus on the ONLY part of our team that actually produced. Hey smart guys one question why do you think the offense stalled last year in the redzone? Do you think that maybe had something to do with the fact that defense knew we were going to pass cause we could not run the ball? So that takes away the passing lanes and makes the throw in the redzone nearly impossible? But see to understand that you would have to actually have to understand the game.
May 20th, 2018 at 3:17 pm
Nice try could care less about the Gators or any other college team. That would be childish and similar mindset as the two guys I mentioned. I view it objectively with no college bias whatsoever. I doubt Mike Florio went to UF either. I just care about my Bucs and while he has a few records during to his age because he left college early, I’m still not impressed from what I see with my eyes. I’m sorry but when you say something so stupid and follow it up by sucking your fingers you are an idiot in my book. Bottom line is you record is what you are and by that measure he is below average with spikes of good and bad sprinkled in but he always sounds like he cant even speak English despite attending a top college. As a minority myself it irritates me when other minorities go out if their way to sound hood or
from the streets. I grew up poor and managed to learn to speak properly what’s his excuse? Is that how FSU operates? I’d be embarrassed if I went there and people like JW and even worse Bobo Wilson (bobo means dummy in Spanish) how fitting!
May 20th, 2018 at 3:41 pm
Man Eric that is some top notch football evaluation.
“I’m sorry but when you say something so stupid and follow it up by sucking your fingers you are an idiot in my book.”
Thank you for making my point that most fans on this site know nothing about football clear for me. I really appreciate the quick validation.
May 20th, 2018 at 4:14 pm
Eric – ahhh, and there it is! The true indicator of someone incapable of rational thought. He can’t be good because he doesn’t talk like me or act like me.
Let that sink in everyone. I wonder if Eric might be able to draw any parallels throughout history. I suppose white people were justified in thinking blacks were inferior because of the way they talked, never mind the fact they received little if no education.
Maybe you should go back and watch Hard Knocks to gain a little more perspective from where Jameis comes from. For me, it was eye opening in that I didn’t get the impression Jameis had much in the form of role models when it came to education.
As for the “you are what your record is” argument. You can’t be that dumb can you? It’s a team game with a 53 man roster. The passing game, the part he was most responsible, ranked in the top half of the NFL and he was the top rated passer in the league during the last month. So…I could claim he was the best at playing QB at the end of last year. However, I would not be so bold to say that as I can admit he has room to grow. He’s 23 for Pete’s sake. He has room to grow and is far from a finished product. With that said, with what he’s put on the field thus far, I feel confident he will guide this team to be a consistent winner in the years to come.
By the way, as for why they haven’t offered him a long term extension yet. Why would they? They hold the cards and can afford to see this play out Your not nearly as smart as you think you are.
May 20th, 2018 at 5:29 pm
No Eric is a Gator fan i know it. Oh by the way Winston was accepted to Stanford but chose FSU instead. I guess dumb people are getting accepted to Stanford now. Just saying.
May 20th, 2018 at 6:07 pm
Jgiles87
“Joe do you have anything on the udfa out of Duke. Rb Wilson.”
I was just watching his highlights. He’s a damn fine looking back. Has a running style like RoJo with his moves and “a rocket up his ass.” And Duke has been a better team the past few years so you could maybe give him some props for that. I like Quizz but he’s getting older and this guy might be the better option if it comes down to it. No doubt needs to be the fifth if they keep five.
May 20th, 2018 at 6:42 pm
Hey guys. During the slow times it would be interesting to get to know more about the background staff. Trainers, doctors, security, food preparation, uniform people,etc.
Just a suggestion about the unseen people behind the athletes!
May 20th, 2018 at 8:28 pm
Looks to me like whitehead is faster but WTFDIK