“One Of The Best Pure Tacklers That I’ve Been Around”
February 6th, 2019
Denied
Buccaneers linebacker Cameron Lynch dropped a couple of interesting nuggets during his media tour at the Super Bowl last week.
Yes, backup linebackers are celebrities, too.
First, (grab your barf bags) Lynch was talking about the Rams, his former team. Lynch was with them for parts of the 2015, 2016 and 2017 campaigns. He was exceptionally impressed with linebacker Mark Barron, the former Bucs safety and first-round pick, even after playing two seasons with Lavonte David and Kwon Alexander.
“Mark Barron might be one of the best pure tacklers that I’ve been around,” Lynch said. “Feet are always in the ground. He weighed about 210 [pounds] when the [Rams] first moved him from safety to linebacker, killin’ people. Right? Just demolishing people.”
Thanks, Lovie!
A top player at Syracuse and undrafted in 2015, Lynch shared a story on WTMM-FM about Bucs stud guard Ali Marpet. Part of the NFL rookie class of ’15, Marpet went to nearby Division-III Hobart college.
It’s common for a big school like Syracuse to allow a small-school guy like Marpet to attend its Pro Day, a courtesy extended because small college programs typically have no Pro Day event for NFL scouts.
Well, Syracuse wouldn’t cooperate. No Marpet allowed.
Lynch shared that Marpet asked him when they became Bucs teammates why he was snubbed by Syracuse.
The truth was known at Syracuse, Lynch said: Marpet’s Pro Day number would have crushed those of the Orangemen in attendance. “Our coaches didn’t let him come to our Pro Day because his numbers were insane, he’s a freak athlete, smart human being, humble guy,” Lynch said.
Pretty classless but understandable move by Syracuse. You want to help the Hobart kid, but you have an obligation to make your recruits look as good as possible. No Syracuse player was drafted in 2015.
February 6th, 2019 at 12:36 am
Barron was drafted in one heck of a draft class. If we are gonna beat dead horses here, let’s talk about the real mistake with Barron… drafting him.
Luke Kuechly was just sitting there and everyone and their mothers knew he was going to be great. But nooo, we had Mason Foster so no need for an elite MLB.
February 6th, 2019 at 12:52 am
@Alaskan
“Luke Kuechly”
Again, Lichtweight trying to be the smartest guy in the room. SMH
February 6th, 2019 at 1:00 am
I was there that day Snowman. Screaming at my TV. Been screaming ever since.
February 6th, 2019 at 1:17 am
So, You Miss Mark Barron?
November 3rd, 2014
shoulda, coulda, woulda
February 6th, 2019 at 1:48 am
Losing causes so much damage.
Next time we have a winning program, lets remember these days before we run another winning program out of town.
February 6th, 2019 at 3:33 am
Wait a minute Joe, undrafted Bucs backup LB Cameron Lynch on a SB media tour? Still trying to get my mind around that one. No wonder Sunday’s Super Bowl had the lowest overall viewership since 2009 … with ‘only’ 100.7 million viewers. Folks just don’t appreciate low-scoring games featuring great defense I guess.
Drafting Mark Barron in 2012 instead of Luke Kuechly was a major faux pas on Dom’s part IMO, but it looks even dumber when you see who else Dom passed over in the 1st round of the 2012 draft. New England’s CB Stephon Gilmore, DE Chandler Jones & LB Dont’a Hightower were ALL drafted later in that 1st round, as was the Rams’ DT Michael Brockers. Not a bad year for drafting defense apparently. But hey, Dom made up for it by moving up & grabbing Doug Martin later in the 1st round. Whew, talk about a save!
Besides, Barron really didn’t fit in Lovie’s defense (actually, it turned out that no one fit in Lovie’s defense, but I digress). Moving him to LB was a stroke of genius on the part of Jeff Fischer & Gregg Williams it turned out.
February 6th, 2019 at 6:00 am
Check the archives!
I called for us to convert him to full-time nickle LB!
I said, imagine Lavonte David and Mark Barron at LB together!
I said it first! Check the archives @joe
February 6th, 2019 at 6:11 am
Kuechly? The guy who is always out with concussions and will have a short career?
How about why in the hell are we getting rid of good.players? They got lavonte in the second who has also been misused. Arians is going to show everyone it has been coaching all along
February 6th, 2019 at 7:09 am
Thanks to Dominik for drafting a 2 down lb who can’t cover in the Top 10
Not a Lovie fan but not having Kuechly is on the Rockstar
February 6th, 2019 at 7:15 am
I find it interesting that the common thread that runs through MarK Barron, Matt Bryant, LaGarrett Blount & Michael Bennett (and others)…..is Mark Dominick…..we can blame Lovie but somehow Dominick always gets a pass.
Of course, we received a 4th round pick from St. Louis for Barron that helped Licht in the 2015 draft to move up to get Marpet & then draft Kwon Alexander…..so, we didn’t end up with nothing for Barron.
February 6th, 2019 at 7:25 am
Furthermore on Dominick, of his 6 drafts of 42 players…..we have only 4 on the current roster.
GMC, Gholston, Evans & LVD……that’s it folks……4…..and two of those may not be signed for next year.
That is far beyond poor…….
February 6th, 2019 at 7:35 am
@Tbbf
When your nice to the media and a source for info the media tends to absolve you of blame
Dominik was here for years and built up a lot of good Will with lazy sportswriters
February 6th, 2019 at 7:56 am
When you draft a player at #7 to be a S……and he gets shipped off to another team to become a very good LB…….something wasn’t right for sure.
February 6th, 2019 at 8:40 am
joe
so when the bucs let spence walk and he becomes a sack machine, you’ll bash dirk & smitty every time noah gets a sack right?…lol….
we needed a safety not a LB….screw barron…..LB’s come a dime a dozen..and if he was stillon the team, smitty wouldve made him look ike sh!t…..
#REALISTKNOWSNOTHING!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
February 6th, 2019 at 8:43 am
i agree with most on here….how does dom NOT get bashed as often as lovie….lol…he ran this franchise into the ground….
#REALISTKNOWSNOTHING!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
February 6th, 2019 at 10:11 am
I’m with Jean Lafitte on this one.
I’m as sick of “woulda, coulda, shoulda” as TBBF is of DJAX stories.
Hindsight is infamously 20-20 and it’s also a total waste of time.
Is it time for me to drag out the cliches…they exist for a reason.
Don’t cry over spilt milk! The Cow is out of the barn! That ship has sailed!
Feel free to add your own but I grow very weary of who we COULD have drafted….who we COULD have kept.
I’m far more interested in who we ARE going to keep or cut…DJAX and GMC and there are others. Who ARE we going to add in the draft and FA.
February 6th, 2019 at 10:33 am
RE: DeSean Jackson stories.
Joe is not about to ignore the most important story about the Bucs out there. That’s just stupid. This is, at worst, the No. 3 story in the NFL! If you think Joe is going to look the other way and not write about a coveted receiver who may bolt the team, a guy who has an outside chance at the Hall of Fame, you sadly do not understand news or news judgment in any way and maybe not even football.
And Joe didn’t get to where he is by not knowing what is newsworthy.
There are literally thousands of stories on this site you can choose to read (or read again). To ignore what will happen with DeSean Jackson is grossly irresponsible.
What do you expect Joe to ignore next, free agency?
Let Joe guess, you want Joe to write about how Leonard Wester is pumping weights in some deep freeze of a public gym in snow-covered Iowa? Trust Joe, there are lesser sites that will write about such things.
February 6th, 2019 at 12:34 pm
Barack’s Crack PIpe Says:
February 6th, 2019 at 12:52 am
@Alaskan
“Luke Kuechly”
Again, Lichtweight trying to be the smartest guy in the room. SMH
____________________________________________________
Well clearly you’re not the smartest guy in the room, cuz Barron was drafted by Dummynick and Schiano, not Licht.
I’m also not sure why Joe only blames Lovie for having Barron play safety instead of linebacker. Schiano did the same thing. There’s tons of blame as to why he was a bust in Tampa and then excelled for the Rams.
In fact, there was even several of us around here (myself included) who were adamant that he should be a hybrid linebacker instead of a safety. Funny how Jeff Fisher was able to see that, along with a bunch of us arm chair GMs, but not a single person on the Bucs coaching staff could.