1-On-1 With Jason Licht; GM Calls Jason Pierre-Paul “Phenomenal” & Says Watch Out For Alex Cappa, And More
August 6th, 2018
“Look, Glazer, I’ll say this one last time. Tell your friends to fly to Vegas or Jersey and take the over.”
Optimism is flowing like a mighty stream through the halls of One Buc Palace.
Ask general manager Jason Licht about what’s is shining brightly at training camp, and the man can barely contain himself.
Definitely enjoy this 1-on-1 video below of FOX-13 reporter Kevin O’Donnell and Licht diving into training camp. Heck, Licht tells O’Donnell he’s not going to single out any under-the-radar guys, but then Licht spills his excitement for rookie guard/tackle Alex Cappa a few seconds later. Great stuff.
Licht also says Jason Pierre-Paul has been “phenomenal” and he talks about some big-name Bucs, as well.
Enjoy!
#Bucs GM Jason Licht confirmed to me that he's had his contract extended awhile back (offseason). The Glazers clearly are rewarding him for his solid draft classes. Licht took time today to talk about what he's seeing in Training Camp. @Buccaneers #TrainingCamp2018 pic.twitter.com/LfQjUh7KFy
— Kevin ODonnell Fox13🟦 (@ODonnellFox13) August 1, 2018
August 6th, 2018 at 3:01 am
If he can stay healthy, Noah Spence is gonna be making some cheddar this year
August 6th, 2018 at 4:26 am
its kool aid time
August 6th, 2018 at 5:34 am
All of this gushing before the first snap is ever taken this preseason/season. AMAZING! Well this year’s circus starts on Thursday night. Preseason = season for the Bucs.
August 6th, 2018 at 5:40 am
If Vea. Rojo, Cappa and at least one of the two CBs drafted in the 2nd round wind up with starting jobs over the next couple of years – Licht will have hit yet another Grand Slam in the draft.
That would mean 3 Grand Slams in the last 4 drafts….
2015 – Winston, D. Smith, Marpet, Kwon
2017 – Howard, J. Evans, Godwin, Beckwith
2018 – Vea, Rojo, Stewart/Davis, Cappa
August 6th, 2018 at 6:29 am
He must have pics on the Glazers in order to be renewed. What is the teams record while he has been the GM? He has had more busts than hits in the draft, the biggest bust being the suspended JW…. and don’t forget the 2nd round kicker from the same JUCO.
August 6th, 2018 at 7:40 am
3 grand slam drafts and with Spence and VHIII looking sharp in camp and Benenoch and Smith developing the 2014 draft is starting to shape up as well.
August 6th, 2018 at 8:06 am
Glad to hear him mention Cappa as coming on. Still think that OLine could be our biggest limitation this year, especially if we get hit with the injury bug. Going up against our improved DLine every day in practice should toughen them up & weed out any weaknesses soon enough though.
August 6th, 2018 at 8:56 am
Wow that was a great juxtaposition.
Pickgrin followed by GoDeep
Pickgrin lists facts…actual draft picks and makes a point that Licht has done an amazing job.
GoDeep says…”He has had more busts than hits in the draft, the biggest bust being the suspended JW”
As usual I end up with Pickgrin. First of all the draft is generally considered a 50-50 prospect so Licht is way ahead of the game and as Pickgrin listed with some really good players.
It’s far too soon to call #3 a bust. He’s shown brilliance and stupidity. We have to hope this three game sitdown…his first REAL punishment will have the desired effect. This suspension COULD be the very best thing that’s ever happened to Jameis.
August 6th, 2018 at 9:22 am
My biggest concern is can Mike Smith coach defense at the NFL level still.
Jason Licht did a great job improving the roster, but Smith was far an away the worst Defensive Coordinator in the NFL last year. The year before that he was hot and cold.
August 6th, 2018 at 9:28 am
Joe,
Am I hallucinating or did you remove an entire article from early this morning.
Something about campers?
August 6th, 2018 at 9:29 am
what is Light’s record as gm?? he is in charge of coaching staff and players.. He is a loser and has NOT turned the team into even average so far.
August 6th, 2018 at 9:54 am
spbf – that 50/50 thing only applies to 1st and early 2nd rd picks.
Percentages of making it in the NFL drop from there pretty quickly.
Godwin, Beckwith and Cappa were all mid to late 3rd round picks (meaning all had about a 30-35% statistical chance of sticking in the NFL). We don’t know about Cappa yet – but Godwin and Beckwith are both future Pro Bowlers in all likelihood. Very solid starters at worst.
As a late 4th rd pick – Kwon Alexander had less than a 25% chance of making it in the NFL. Yet has been a very good player his first 3 years – a starter from DAY 1 no less – went to his 1st Pro Bowl last year and more are likely on the horizon if this Buccaneers team can ever gets its fortunes turned around.
GM Licht and his staff are literally KILLING IT in the draft. No GM in the league has drafted better nor more consistently than Licht over the last 4 drafts. NONE!
August 6th, 2018 at 10:12 am
Pickgrin is spot on!!!
August 6th, 2018 at 10:19 am
Just like last season… and the season before that. And the season before that.
But we’ll finish 4-12 and 5-11 and most of the fans will buy the new garbage optimism in 2019 as well.
August 6th, 2018 at 12:32 pm
Saying that Licht is killing it in the draft is kinda inaccurate. Thats because he is not just drafting players he is supposed to be building a team. Really good drafting would have given the Bucs a turnaround in the W-L collumn. Instead we saw last year that our team was a complete pushover and we were one of the softest in the league…….Drafting a probowl LB and a record setting WR is nice but when they are not winning you games theres a problem.
In Lichts 2nd draft when he took Winston I was very happy when he took 2 Oline in the 2nd round to protect him. Since then Licht has botched most attempts to keep pieces around them to keep that unit strong(gone downhill since Logan Mankins left). The Oline is actively losing us games now, just go watch the last 4 Carolina games……..I dont even want to talk about the Dline. Licht has done absolutely nothing but bad for that unit.
You just can’t give the guy credit for great drafting unless the results come with it. But I do think patience can be taken here and Im glad hes gotten a one year extension. Licht cannot just draft a Lineman for the sake of drafting a Lineman. He has to get the right guy and they are not easy to come by. A lot will be riding on Vea and next years draft class figires to have a lot of pass rushers and Licht better be trading up.
If Licht cant build us 2 Lines that can win battles at the point of attack then he is not a good GM because we will never win football games.
August 6th, 2018 at 1:51 pm
JimmyJack Says:
“Really good drafting would have given the Bucs a turnaround in the W-L column”
It will – it just hasn’t happened yet.
Dom left this team in such bad shape that a near complete rebuild was necessary. If a GM is drafting for talent over need consistently like Licht has done a good bit of – it takes time to fill out a roster with talent when you are starting with about a half dozen legit NFL starters out of 22 needed.
Dom wasted multiple high draft picks on the DLine while completely ignoring the OLine’s future needs for FIVE years.
Both lines were in utter shambles when Licht got here.
Yes it took longer than many fans would have hoped to get more talent on the DLine in particular. And there’s still a real need to get younger there.
But a big part of that was because Jason was taking what the drafts give him.
For starters – when you take a QB #1 overall – you have no choice but to support that pick with OLine protection help and weapons to throw to.
Good DLine prospects who actually develop into good NFL players are NOT easy to find.
If Derek Barnett was available at #19 last year for instance, Licht would have likely seriously considered drafting him. But when your choices are OJ Howard who was a top 10 prospect on the Bucs board – vs Taco Charlton as the “best” available choice if you go with need for that 1st rd pick – that’s pretty much a no-brainer. Jason and the entire staff were VERY happy to land a talent like OJ Howard in last year’s draft – even if another TE was not a “pressing need”.
We still have a pretty big need at SS depending on how one feels about Conte – yet Licht chose Vea over the more obvious need choice of Derwin James in the 1st round this year. We didn’t need a big DT right away because Licht signed 2 pretty good ones in FA and we already have McCoy.
So yea – we wound up getting a DL player with a high draft pick this year – but it was because Licht felt he was the best player available – not because we were desperate for DL help as we obviously were before the start of free agency and prior to the JPP trade….
The future looks very bright for this Buccaneers team – largely because Jason Licht has done such a good job of identifying and procuring talented young players via the draft and UDFAs.
Its taken some time – but this roster finally has more star level talent on it than obvious holes.
Now its up to the coaches and those talented players to figure out how to WIN consistently.
Call me an optimist and you would be correct. I see big things on the horizon for this franchise and I believe we will get at least a taste of that this year.
Go Bucs!
August 6th, 2018 at 9:57 pm
I really like our chances of having a winning season this year. Defense looks dominant. But as training camp progresses I’m really worried about the O line. I wonder if cutting J R Sweezy was premature. I love Alex Capps but I don’t know much about the other new players.