Draft Choice On Display
November 3rd, 2018
“Ronde, dude, it’s going to look real bad if Donte Jackson balls out Sunday.”
Entering the 2018 NFL Draft, the Buccaneers needed cornerbacks and so did the Panthers. Both addressed their needs early.
Unfortunately, the Panthers possess the pick being talked about for defensive rookie of the year honors.
With the No. 55 overall pick, the Panthers chose cornerback Donte Jackson out of LSU, two picks after the Bucs chose CB M.J. Stewart from North Carolina.
Tampa Bay later took Carlton Davis (No. 63 overall, and Carolina grabbed Rashaan Gaulden in the third round from the University of Tennessee.
Jackson has three interceptions, a forced fumble and a sack this season; Stewart has none of those things and consistently has looked slow. He’ll miss tomorrow’s Bucs-Panthers game with a foot injury.
Jackson has been talked about on NFL Network as this year’s version of Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore, who brought home last year’s defensive rookie of the year honors.
So it goes in the NFL Draft. Every draft has winners and losers.
Joe’s not writing off the Bucs rookie cornerbacks whatsoever, especially Davis. But Sunday would be a great time for Davis to have his breakthrough game — and for the Bucs’ elite receivers to make Jackson look like a rookie.
Yes!! It’s a Bucs-Panthers preview on TAMPA TWO, the hot new all-Bucs show with Derrick Brooks and The Sage of Tampa Bay sports, Ira Kaufman, presented by Caldeco Air Conditioning & Heating. TAMPA TWO is a joint project of The Identity Tampa Bay and JoeBucsFan.com.
November 3rd, 2018 at 11:29 am
Licht needs to be demoted or replaced.
November 3rd, 2018 at 11:30 am
i’m sure Mr. Licht is a great guy but as the bucs gm not so much .
November 3rd, 2018 at 11:30 am
Thought Jackson was good but didn’t think he’d be that good right out the gate.
November 3rd, 2018 at 11:37 am
sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
November 3rd, 2018 at 11:40 am
Its been proven here since FOREVER whoever the GM is – Mark Dominick, Bruce Allen, and Jason Licht………..
THAT THIS FRANCHISE CANNOT DEVELOP OR DRAFT CBs!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
I mean, why the FREAK! is it so hard to do this?????????
Can someone please answer me this simply question???????
November 3rd, 2018 at 11:50 am
I Was questioning the MJ Stewart on draft day with so many bigger names /known players still on board at corner.
He is a rookie though so he gets another year to see if he can improve.
November 3rd, 2018 at 11:54 am
The knock on donte Jackson was his skinny legs …not big enough to play corner in nfl
Man we got to start hitting on these second round picks one of these years. We should just trade up or down out of this round in the future
November 3rd, 2018 at 12:16 pm
Rookie accolades don’t mean $hit. Michael Clayton got rookie of the year too. I want to see these MF’s compete man. That’s it! Give yourself a chance to compete and make a play.
November 3rd, 2018 at 12:18 pm
Sad to see so many second round draft picks wasted by us. I was happy with the Spence pick. Hasn’t turned out well. The kicker choice was pathetic. So many other needs at that time.. Rojo didn’t like contact or showed any signs of pass protection and receiving capabilities at USC but showed Game breaking ability. Stewert has safety attributes. Davis looks solid so far. He’s held is own with some very good WR’s. Missing out on Jackson was Big and living in Knoxville seeing Gaulden play very well every week against great competition was a miss as well
November 3rd, 2018 at 12:29 pm
I took some heat on this site for saying the day after the draft that this was the draft that would get Jason fired
November 3rd, 2018 at 12:33 pm
@Bird
Normally I’d be right there with you saying that you can’t judge a rookie that harshly. But that’s when a player has all the tools necessary but is just struggling mentally on the field.
But thats not the case with MJ Stewart. He has been getting burned by all comers since rookie mini camp against bums. He is a step slow and always will be. Dude is an Unmitigated bust.
November 3rd, 2018 at 12:46 pm
I listed Donte Jackson as one of my preferred 2nd rd CB prospects multiple times before the draft.
Couldn’t believe we picked Stewart over Jackson when both were on the board.
We would be set for the future at outside corner right now with Jackson and Davis. Woulda, shoulda, coulda
Davis was a very good late 2nd rd pick. Stewart – not so much…
Hope MJ improves substantially and makes this all a moot point – but as of now – the Stewart over Jackson decision looks like a very short-sighted one for GM Licht
November 3rd, 2018 at 1:03 pm
@Pickgrin
The thing I don’t get the most. Is when I watch MJ Stewart’s college tape, I struggle to find any possible reason as to why Licht would think that taking him over Jackson (and frankly several others like Isiah Oliver, Derrius Guice, and Justin Reid) would even come close to being an acceptable decision.
Oh well wtf do I know.
November 3rd, 2018 at 1:08 pm
Still don’t see why MJ Slowfoot was the choice. Licht has missed on so man high draft choices, that it is tough to justify keeping him if Koetter is canned.
November 3rd, 2018 at 1:08 pm
Just a test… nothing getting through.
November 3rd, 2018 at 1:53 pm
Jackson is playing with a bunch of elite players on a team that’s consistently had top defenses. Davis and Stewart are playing for Mike Smith’s defense, one with a poor pass rush and inexperienced safeties.
That said, defenses have played 400-600 snaps. Judging by the big plays doesn’t tell the story. I’m not saying that 4-0 in creating turnovers or 5-0 in big plays doesn’t matter. I’m just saying that there’s a lot of other work that counts. I knew when we passed on Derwin James that a lot of people would pine for him mid-season because he’ll make some big, highlight reel plays. He also neglects his assignment or gambles and get beat. He fell to the late teens because his tape at FSU was pretty mediocre.
Nevertheless, I didn’t like the Stewart pick either At cornerback, I’ll take speed and quickness over size every day of the week.
November 3rd, 2018 at 1:56 pm
Logically speaking, The Panthers defense has been great for years. Our defense suck for a over a decade.
With that said. The fact that we have corner backs that are younger and isn’t getting consistence great defensive play from their teammate. This isn’t a fair comparison. The Panthers was already great on defense before they drafted him. That will make Jackson job easier.
It a reason why we are in the top 10 in the draft consistently.
November 3rd, 2018 at 2:24 pm
Having one of the NFL’s best front 7 on defense doesn’t hurt either. I feel you’re comparing apples to oranges. A great pass rush gives DB’s an advantage and opportunity. I thought we talked about this all last season Joe?
November 3rd, 2018 at 3:06 pm
The NFL draft profile on MJ… not good since it literally describes nearly exactly how he’s played so far….
Weaknesses
-Will get caught flat-footed while sitting on routes before break points
-Hips are just average when flipping to run
-Has decent recovery burst, but has trouble catching up with real gassers who get by him
-Lack of long speed could prevent him from staying outside full-time
-Will wait for the throw rather than shade from zone
-Has no interceptions over last two seasons
-Slow to transition from hand usage to footwork as route progresses and will default to some mauling
Slow shows up quite a number of times… and so far I’d describe him as a slow Ryan Smith – which is about as bad as it gets. BUT, and it’s a huge but, he’s still just a rookie and shouldn’t be playing already. BUT, and it’s a more realistic but, he has looked really awful so far. Hopefully his play speed increases as he gets more comfortable in the NFL.
To be fair and balanced here’s his positives…
-Good build and overall toughness
-Has had success in off-man and press-man
-Rarely takes a bad loss against press release
-Opens hips and connects with hands to the receiver
-Can cover inside or outside
-Makes it a point to drape himself over slot targets as early in the route as possible
-Can counter move tight ends with physicality
-Pattern reader with 41 passes defensed in three years
-Can transition forward from bail or pedal without many false steps
-Sinks into chests of boundary targets and gets head around to find the ball
-Instinctive and cautious not to bite on double moves
-Has early acceleration to recover
-Maintains contain responsibilities against run
-Roughneck by nature with “see it, hit it” attitude
-Strike and wrap tackler
So basically he has good size, and can tackle, and can hit, exactly what you want from a corner…
November 3rd, 2018 at 3:09 pm
Swiftybucs,
Licht viewed all picks thru the filter of character and love of the game. This is a reactionary move predicated on last year’s events. It’s hard to run a business into the future if your looking backwards. The “change the locker room culture” with physically limited but great guys is a neon sign that reads “I’m lost”. Winning changes a culture. Great guys losing games never made a contribution to a culture change.
One thing I read zero about, why does licht place so high a value on post season showcase bowls. East west..etc. every year He has a verbal diarrhea bout post draft about how this guy from Tibet college was man handling and schooling the players from top programs.
Every stinking year, the bucs beat reporters fail to pick up on this strange method of evaluation. Great job …..
November 3rd, 2018 at 3:15 pm
Licht always wants to show that he is the smartest guy in the room. He is always looking for diamonds-in-the-rough, in ALL rounds, so he can show how much smarter he is, instead of taking a consensus good player. He treats every round as if it were the sixth round. How about taking the best player available at a position of need-PERIOD!! His cuteness has cost this team, dearly and it should lead to his firing!!
One last time: The Aguayo pick was the worst pick- EVER! Why?…a soccer player is NEVER worth a second round pick in an NFL FOOTBALL draft. To add insult to injury, in the same draft, New Orleans found their kicker, Lutz in the sixth or seventh round out of Southern Georgia or Valdosta State. He has been good since he got to the league.
Licht has learned a lot on the job. Yay!
November 3rd, 2018 at 3:57 pm
Rod Munch. MJ Stewart is a bust. He’s a slow undersized linebacker who cant cover. End of storyt
November 3rd, 2018 at 4:02 pm
I wanted Jackson.
Never understood taking Stewart that high. I thought I was wrong after watching his preseason play, but he’s looked horrible in real games. Too slow and out of position all the time.
Carlton Davis is looking good. Imagine if we had him AND Jackson…
November 3rd, 2018 at 4:08 pm
Side note, LSU is a factory for NFL talent. Alabama May have more players drafte out of last 10 years (not sure), but it feels like LSU has better quality pro players. maybe we should draft all LSU players for Defense lol
November 3rd, 2018 at 4:17 pm
I say we move Stewart to Safety and see how he fairs there. I mean it can’t hurt. If he is slower, then put him there. He has good size n weight for that position. Plus, he is athletic enough to make plays there…at CB not so much
November 3rd, 2018 at 4:27 pm
Danati74
I agree, he could end up being a great safety. Chasing TE’s is closer to his speed level anyway. With the incredible amount of long passes these days you need really fast corners to match-up man to man.
November 3rd, 2018 at 4:29 pm
To follow that up Danati74 it would be interesting to see if Jordan Whitehead would make a better corner.
November 3rd, 2018 at 5:17 pm
@Jean
MJ Stewart sucks and will get burnt no matter where they play him. And no. Whitehead would not be a good corner. He struggles in coverage as well.
November 3rd, 2018 at 5:17 pm
I hope they replace Jason Licht with a better gm that can pick winners the dude has made alot of mistakes in free aagency and draft
November 3rd, 2018 at 5:23 pm
It’s time to promote dirk and licht to full time spectators
November 3rd, 2018 at 6:01 pm
Thanks COACH SchwiftyBuc. What ever would we do without all your inside information. smh
November 3rd, 2018 at 6:06 pm
Yes my Stewart has looked slow more than allot of times , Davis has played prettydam good !!!
November 3rd, 2018 at 6:57 pm
Bro you can think what you want. Im just going by what I see.
November 3rd, 2018 at 7:26 pm
Why does Pittsburgh get and develop players like Conner and we get Barber, Rodgers and OHNO? What is so complicated about what they are doing and what the Bucs are doing? The level of failure is reaching comical levels.
November 3rd, 2018 at 9:19 pm
MJ is a safety at best… Licht sucks so does Vea. Should have picked Derwin & Jackson this team would have been better in secondary. Speaking of safety Bates Evans old teammate who got the pick 6 would have been ok too. Licht is way out of his league…
November 3rd, 2018 at 9:38 pm
Martha J. Stewart was a curious pick at best. The Licht Era is on a ventilator but I suppose the Bros. Glazer continue to unnecessarily and foolhardily extending him. The reset button should have been pushed last year. Week 17 win was fool’s gold on both the draft board and coaching/GM front.
November 4th, 2018 at 12:53 am
@joe
Thx for the hat tip.
Check the archives.
I called this!
November 4th, 2018 at 6:35 am
The whole 2018 draft was so strange. Skipping on every consensus best player for someone who only the Bucs (that we know of) graded so highly. Other then Aguayo the previous drafts were pretty ok.