Jason Licht: “It’s Incredible, Actually.”
September 23rd, 2018
It’s always fantastic when a young player blossoms like you didn’t expect.
And general manager Jason Licht talked about that recently.
The architect of the most dangerous offense in Buccaneers history hopped on the Buccaneers Radio Network minutes before the Eagles-Bucs kickoff and was asked to comment on how hard third-year running back Peyton Barber hits the hole.
“He does,” Licht said. “He’s come a long way. Sometimes, some of these running backs, it just takes them time. And from where he is now, compared to where he was when we first had him as an undrafted free agent, it’s incredible, actually.”
With a 1,000-yard season at Auburn, Barber wasn’t exactly an unknown commodity, as Licht has said previously. But Barber arrived in Tampa as a poor pass blocker and with typical rookie issues, and then was mysteriously stuck behind stuck-in-the-mud Doug Martin the following year.
The Bucs have done a great job developing Barber, who is ultra-serious about his craft and his body and deserves a ton of credit. But Barber still must prove he’s a true No. 1-caliber back.
As Derrick Brooks noted in the latest TAMPA TWO show with Ira Kaufman, Monday’s Pittsburgh game is the ideal week to get the running game going. That would allow more manageable down-and-distance combinations against the Steelers and subsequently keep them out of their exotic blitz game that can confuse quarterbacks.
September 23rd, 2018 at 10:37 am
Production has been minimal so far. Just sayin’
September 23rd, 2018 at 10:40 am
I would like to ask him what he saw in Ronald jones and didn’t see in Keryon and Darius
Not so much to call him but i saw something different and I just wondered again what he saw
September 23rd, 2018 at 10:43 am
As well as this offense has played. Imagine how dangerous it would be with a more productive running game.
September 23rd, 2018 at 10:49 am
Yeah ROJO is looking right now as a total bust
……that’s pretty bad that a pick that high can’t even get on the field
I can’t even remember when a buc’s player was picked that high at such a high pick that didn’t even get on the field when perfectly healthy.
Now I’m starting to wonder if he’s now mentally damaged like Roberto Flamingo (kicker)
……because if that’s the case, then you might as well stick a fork in hm cause he’s done
September 23rd, 2018 at 10:52 am
Most likely the drama that surfaced draft day led to them passing on Guice. As for Keryon Johnson I’d guess they were more enamouref with the fantastic homerun/big play potential Jones showed in college. Truthfully if not for the hamstring injury Jones suffered at the combine he might have gotten drafted earlier by some team? I think the guy has the physical tools to be a big time RB, but he obvuously needs to get the coaching staff’s trust to be active on game day in order to show it.
September 23rd, 2018 at 10:59 am
I’m with lots of people, I didn’t see anything great about RoJos college tape. Even with character flaws, I has Guice way higher than Rojo. Hope we were all wrong and he becomes a success.
September 23rd, 2018 at 11:05 am
Anthem they dress his for one he doesn’t play special teams. That why Wilson gets to dress. 2nd they need to dress more DBs An DLs cuz of injury. Tojo will be fine some players take a little longer to adjust to the nfl
September 23rd, 2018 at 11:08 am
ToesOnTheLine!!! Says:
September 23rd, 2018 at 10:52 am
Most likely the drama that surfaced draft day led to them passing on Guice. As for Keryon Johnson I’d guess they were more enamouref with the fantastic homerun/big play potential Jones showed in college. Truthfully if not for the hamstring injury Jones suffered at the combine he might have gotten drafted earlier by some team? I think the guy has the physical tools to be a big time RB, but he obvuously needs to get the coaching staff’s trust to be active on game day in order to show it.
———————————————————————————
Well how in the world is ROJO every going to inspire confidence when he’s averaging .8 yards per carry????????????????????
On almost every run you see hesitation on all of the preseason games………there’s no explosiveness like we saw in all of his college highlights
September 23rd, 2018 at 11:08 am
Fitzpatrick has been perfect against the blitz so far, and the Steelers are a blitzing team. And I mean they blitz almost constantly!
That said, Fitzpatrick is almost certain to get hit more often in this game. Given his knee injury (as listed on the injury report earlier this week), it concerns me.
My game prediction has not been popular around here. You can click my name to see it explained. I’m a Buccaneers Homer all the way, but even I know we cannot go undefeated the whole year. Read why I think this is one of our losses. There are a lot more reasons than you might suspect.
September 23rd, 2018 at 11:15 am
He will be fine give the kid some time that’s what he is a 21 year old kid give him some time what rookie RB is running wild in the league right now Barkley I wouldn’t say he’s running wild
September 23rd, 2018 at 11:16 am
Alphabucfan Says:
September 23rd, 2018 at 11:05 am
Anthem they dress his for one he doesn’t play special teams. That why Wilson gets to dress. 2nd they need to dress more DBs An DLs cuz of injury. Tojo will be fine some players take a little longer to adjust to the nfl
————————————————————————————-
Ok, I get the whole roster thing……but that’s just a giant excuse being used for “WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH OUR HIGH ROUND DRAFT PICK”
September 23rd, 2018 at 11:23 am
Kinda like Vita Vea. “incredible” isn’t exactly a word to describe him.
September 23rd, 2018 at 11:25 am
Can you imagine this offence with a running back like marshal faulk.. Greatest show on turf eat your heart out! We need our version of marshal
September 23rd, 2018 at 11:26 am
I’m pretty sure their exotic blitz look isn’t really there anymore… No more Dick Lebeau as D coordinator
September 23rd, 2018 at 11:26 am
You’d expect that ROJO would start picking it up in practice, but you don’t hear a word about him. Either he’s a secret weapon they’re waiting to unleash in the playoffs or he’s a bust. Really, he would least get a few reps in a real game if was showing anything to the coaching staff.
September 23rd, 2018 at 11:32 am
Buccaneer Bonzai
I read what you wrote…..some points are valid but 90% are subjective
The game tomorrow night will be a dog fight
* The steelers are desperate and desperate times calls for desperate measures and we’ll see things tomorrow night that we will not have seen in the first two games
* I expect Big Ben to be excellent and I know Mike Tomlin has been telling him all week to attack the secondary cause they suck
* I expect the defense to blitz on almost every defensive series
……..if the Fitz can find the key players during the blitzes…..especially in the middle of the field, the steelers will not be able to stop the offense
Our defense though is very suspect
GMC will probably disappear again like he normally does in big games
I don’t expect JPP to make a big impact because he’s been average during the fist few games
…….and our secondary will definitely give up the booty for Antonio Brown and he’ll probably eclipse 150 yrds…….
It will be a slug fest no doubt
September 23rd, 2018 at 12:00 pm
Good, I hope they do blitz. Fitz has a 153 rating against the blitz, highest in the NFL.
September 23rd, 2018 at 12:16 pm
BucsAnthem great points and MNF game gonna be a tracke meet licht sucked on this draft, guice should have been the pick and derwin james should have been pick he is going to have more sacks than the bucs #1 DL pick
September 23rd, 2018 at 12:24 pm
@BucsAnthem
I’m in no way trying to argue that RoJo has been impressive this far with the Bucs. I’m just saying that he showed some game breaking plays at USC as well as the ability to handle a feature back role despite his weight/size. Most of his physical measurable were near the top of this past year’s RB draft class. The guy has a lot of physical talent upside and no reported character issues, so what else are the scouting department/GM/coaches supposed to use to evaluate? Maybe he turns out to be a bust, but without a crystal ball or time machine we won’t know until he gets some regular season work.
September 23rd, 2018 at 12:25 pm
Speaking of Peyton Barber (I think he was Joe’s focus in this piece, not RoJo), I don’t think all that many fans appreciate what he’s contributed to these victories. Certainly not Capt Blighe apparently: “Production has been minimal so far. Just sayin’.”
On the surface that’s true, but look a little deeper. Game 1 he was on the field for 73% of the offensive snaps (48 of 66). Game 2 he was on for 62% of the snaps (36 of 58). That tells me that he was out there for 2/3rds of the offensive plays (84) although he ONLY carried the ball 35 times total in 2 games. Koetter must have a LOT of confidence in not just Barber’s running, but also in his blocking.
Look a little deeper at Game 1 and Barber had 19 carries for 69 yds (3.6 YPC) against a decent Saints defense. Certainly better than in Game 2 when Peyton had 16 carries for 22 yds (1.4 YPC). But even his Game 1 are very misleading. Break his carries down by halfs for instance:
o 1st half: 8 carries, 50 yds (6.3 YPC) … 4 right & 4 left BTW.
o 2nd half: 11 carries, 19 yds (1.7 YPC) … 4 right & 7 left BTW.
In actuality, over half of his yardage in the Saints game (37 yds) came in the 1st quarter on just 3 carries. Impact? Allowed us to set the tone for the game & made the Saints defense respect the run while Barber was on the field. Does that ‘respect’ help the passing game? IMO … Yes.
As an aside, Barber (in the game) ran 8 times to the Right side (for 22 yds) and 11 times to the Left side (for 47 yds). Not hard to do the math to figure out which side he ran better behind.
September 23rd, 2018 at 12:39 pm
Has anyone seen Peyton Barber pick up blitzes and blowin up would-be QB killas? He’s worth the price of admission even without the stellar running. I think he’ll get better as the game goes on. He’s a marked man now as a starter but what he’s providing from a pass block perspective earns him the starting nod. I just want Shaun Wilson to get some more touches. Quizz is a waste.
September 23rd, 2018 at 12:57 pm
Joe you need a new pic. One with Barber, Rodgers and Wilson.
Or at least write a article on Wilson. He has earned it…….Earned more carries too IMO
September 23rd, 2018 at 1:18 pm
Lambchop…..You just gave Barber props for his pickups but then said Quizz is a waste. It just strikes me as off because when Quizz is in there is absolutely no dropoff in blitz pickups.
Everybody is up in arms about ROJO not playing and I think he’s not playing because of his inability to pickup blitzes. Once he gets that down he will see some action. I know many folks care less about blocking and more about running but let’s remember this offense is pass first which makes pickup much more important then other offenses
September 23rd, 2018 at 3:53 pm
The year is 2024
Barber , Jones ,Rodgers and Wilson will all be retired.
And Joe will still be referencing Doug Martin…
September 23rd, 2018 at 4:51 pm
Lindsey for Broncos undrafted rookie 4th in the league in rushing….
September 23rd, 2018 at 9:06 pm
Bring Bell to Tampa please
September 23rd, 2018 at 9:41 pm
Why focus on the run this week? Their pass “D” sucks, our O-line are better pass-blockers and right now we are a very strong passing team. Run when you need to and let the pass-game set it up.
September 24th, 2018 at 5:49 am
Joe, you dont run for thensake of running. You run because the defense isnt stacking the box, you run because the formation is spread, you run becsuse youve done a good job staying ahead of the sticks (trying to avoid third downs). You run when you can either pass or run. thats what successful and efficient offenses do.
September 24th, 2018 at 7:33 am
Speaking of Doug Martin, 20 carries, 87 yds. 4.4 yds per carry. No too bad. Lets see if he keeps it up. Maybe Doug was a victim of predictable play calling?
September 24th, 2018 at 8:16 am
Tampa Bay offense would be complete with a great running back and Bell fits the bill. I think we have the best WR core and with the best running back we will be hell. Bell (1) keep Barber as (2), Wilson (3), and Jones (4).