Jason Licht Says M.J. Stewart Is A Safety
March 1st, 2019
Telling
You can’t make this stuff up.
With the No. 53 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, our beloved Buccaneers shocked a lot of folks by selecting cornerback M.J. Stewart. He wasn’t that high on a lot of draft boards, and it seems the majority of gurus and personnel types had him ranked below cornerback Carlton Davis, who the Bucs selected soon after at No. 63 overall.
(No-fun fact: Stewart had no interceptions in his final two seasons at the University of North Carolina.)
Ok. Stewart’s an aggressive guy who was going to compete at corner and general manager Jason Licht said he could play a little safety. It was kind of like when Licht drafted Ali Marpet and said he could be a center one day.
But Stewart played cornerback, plenty of nickel, and he was bad — too slow for the show. And that lack of speed appeared before the season started. Whether it was injury-related is unclear, but now it appears it wasn’t. After self-scouting by the Bucs’ new coaches and personnel staff, Licht said this week in Indianapolis that Stewart is being viewed as a safety now.
What a colossal cluster that reality is.
If you’re playing at home, the Bucs let starting safety Bradley McDougald walk after the 2016 season; he’s been a star with the Seahawks ever since. That was the year the Bucs drafted cornerback Ryan Smith in Round 4 and thought he was a safety and a kick returner before scrapping those plans late in the season.
In 2017, they signed safety J.J. Wilcox for good money in free agency before drafting safety Justin Evans in the second round of the 2017 draft, No. 50 overall. The pass defense proceeded to spiral into the toilet, though Evans appeared promising while 2016 first-round pick Vernon Hargreaves was benched and moved to nickel before getting hurt. Veteran cornerback Robert McClain had three interceptions through nine starts and hasn’t been seen in the NFL since.
Last year, Evans took a step back while the Bucs completely imploded at defensive back with an inept group of cornerbacks led by Brent Grimes, who literally didn’t want to play before he took a regular season snap and pocketed millions of Team Glazer loot.
At least rookie Jordan Whitehead (fourth round) was a bright spot, one who can be expected to keep cornerback Stewart on the bench for years to come.
You just can’t make this stuff up.
Just imagine for a second if the Bucs traded up with the Stewart and Davis draft picks and landed a true No. 1 running back last season, like Sony Michel or Nick Chubb. They could have used the Ronald Jones pick … ahh, Joe’s getting a headache.
Everything above happened on Jason Licht’s watch, so the secondary mess really can’t be tied to Lovie Smith.
March 1st, 2019 at 11:13 am
JFC
March 1st, 2019 at 11:15 am
Somewhere Ryan Smith is shaking his head.
March 1st, 2019 at 11:20 am
What a joke. Btw, for those that think honey badger is coming to Tampa, think again. We now have Justin Evans, Jordan Whitehead, and MJ Stewart, all high draft picks, competing at the position. And now look incredibly thin at corner.
What position groups are set under Licht? WR? TE? That’s it. He should have been fired.
March 1st, 2019 at 11:20 am
Ive been asking for this scrub to get fired since he drafted Aguayo. How does this clown STILL have a job. And now has a chance to mess up another draf?!?! WTF are the Glazers doin?!?!
March 1st, 2019 at 11:21 am
I mean………. WHAT???????!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 1st, 2019 at 11:22 am
M.J. Stewart is another one of those draft picks by Backstabbin’ Jason Licht where he thought he was smarter than everyone else in the room. It’s that kind of hubris that led him to drafting Roberto Aguayo.
March 1st, 2019 at 11:24 am
What a complete embarrassment. Why should anyone at all be excited for April’s draft? Unless a guy is an obvious blue chipper like OJ Howard – what exactly has Licht done, as well as the whole scouting department, done to elicit any kind of optimism at all? One example of many as to why the Bucs are perpetually bad. Loser teams do loser things.
March 1st, 2019 at 11:25 am
Wtf
March 1st, 2019 at 11:27 am
The legend of Koetter and Smitty continues. Not putting players in the correct positions and being to stubborn to admit they were wrong about it. Stewart is a small, man coverage CB. He is not too slow. I’ve been saying he will be a good box safety for a while now. I could see him running down hill on running plays and lighting some guys up cus he’s a banger.
March 1st, 2019 at 11:28 am
Our scouting department sucks along with our medical staff.
March 1st, 2019 at 11:28 am
Maybe bucs can trade jason gump to the AAFL for a competent gm in orlando, how does this guy still have a job aa an NFL GM, only gm that took a last place team in the nfc south & build them into a last place team. The Browns are on the come while the bucs are closer to 4-12 than 12-4
March 1st, 2019 at 11:30 am
Caleb Bennoch is a tackle
MJ Stewart is a safety
And Jason Licht is not a GM.
March 1st, 2019 at 11:30 am
I am one of a dwindling amount of people that still believe in Jason Licht.
But this one is just……… wow.
The 2nd round is awfully high in the draft to be F’ing around with a pick like that, on what…. a hunch?
March 1st, 2019 at 11:34 am
“Everything above happened on Jason Licht’s watch, so the secondary mess really can’t be tied to Lovie Smith.”
Obviously not lol that’d be a weird delusional thought but what about the other Smith?
Either:
A) Jason Licht drafted guys like Hargreaves / Ryan Smith / MJ Stewart / Justin Evans without any influence from Mike Smith. He just picked sh1t players and mis-projected their positions… or
B) Licht was influenced by the coaching staff with the types of secondary players Mike Smith wanted. Mike Smith was the one thinking of Ryan Smith as a safety and MJ stewart a perfect scheme fit as a CB he could line up wherever.
I mean option B) is a lot more believable to me but I duno. Option A) would indicate an organization with complete disconnect betweeen GM/Coaching and an organization that should have fired the GM not the coach.
Writing on the wall says B.
In general I’d think when it comes to coaching influences; for defense it’d be mostly on the type of front htey want to run for the type of DL/LB, but that should be flexible. The secondary is more of a coach specific position for scheme IMO than front 7. I.e. zone CBs / press CBs / athletic CBs / strong CBs.
Mike Smith had a history of big 4ss DTs and small 4ss corners. Seems like we followed that. Also history of soft teams.
On offense I’d think the coaches would have influence on the types of WRs/TEs/backs they want more than the OL. I remember Koetter was enamored with Howard for example. Pretty positive he was a big influence on the Ronald Jones pick as well. If we aren’t involving our head coach on a highly picked RB then wtf are we doing.
March 1st, 2019 at 11:36 am
The one thing I really didn’t like about Koetter and continue to disapprove of with Licht is this mentality that we can just move players around and they’ll work out. Anyone who has played any level of football knows it is very rare that you can just flip a switch into a new position, it takes time and dedication to master specific roles. Sometimes a change in position works out but most times it does not. It was most alarming with Ali Marpet… Guy plays lights out at RG and somehow we get the bright idea to move him over to C? We draft a guy in the 2nd round to be a corner and we move him to safety a year later? Why are we spending 2nd round draft choices on hybrid type players? If it’s my team I am drafting guys I think can start if not immediately or the following year, not someone who is shaky at their current position in college. If they didn’t do their current role well in college what on earth makes you think they’ll improve in the NFL?
And I am not saying you no one moves players around and that it never works(see mark barron) but what I am saying is Licht continues to try to out-think everyone far too often. There is no reason to be moving multiple people around mucking up their skill sets. Stewart probably shouldn’t have even been drafted that early to begin with…
March 1st, 2019 at 11:39 am
Epiphany. Maybe these average players leave the Bucs and become all stars is because the talk of you fake a$$ fans that talk nothing but negative (even in an exciting OFFSEASON!) leaves a very sour taste in their mouth’s and they can do nothing but rise above from that point.
March 1st, 2019 at 11:39 am
I’m no actually sure who to blame here. . Was t smith saying he would work as a corner and convinced Licht to pull the trigger or did Licht just think this guy s a really good cror ner and selected him without input from defensive coaches? Not saying I’m a fan of Licht.. my faith in him has been dwindling. Jut not honestly sue who deserves thr blame or like many of these thinge it was a combination o incompetence from multiple people.
March 1st, 2019 at 11:43 am
If it is Licht’s fault, the Glazers must be saving $$$ to have him be both GM as well as DB coach.
March 1st, 2019 at 11:43 am
Biggest blunder and licht can’t blme it on anyone but himself and his scouts. How could you not see the guy was slow in college and if you thought you were drafting a corner that could potentially play safety it was already a mistake especially when you go draft another safety in the 4th. Licht you sucked the last couple years
March 1st, 2019 at 11:46 am
Successful switch to safety is possible-
Several NFL players switched positions and were very successful in NFL
Edelman was a college qb
Richard Sherman was a college receiver
Devin Hester was a college corner
Going back, Mel Renfro was a college rb and became a hall of fame cb /safety
Even Sapp was a high school TE
March 1st, 2019 at 11:50 am
Believe nothing the organization says right now.
Also Stewart is a press corner not a man corner. He’ll do better in his second year.
And as I recall he was one of the stars in training camp last year.
March 1st, 2019 at 11:53 am
Fellow fans, all I’m going to say is this: We better hope and pray that personnel decisions will be HEAVILY influenced, if not taken over, by Coach Bruce.
There’s no one in the entire nation that can convince me that Licht should have retained his job. I’m sorry, it’s just ridiculous. That said, he’s here so I want him to succeed.
Remember that leadership always starts at the top; Bad owners, bad GM, bad coaching, bad players. I hope BA can break the cycle somehow.
March 1st, 2019 at 11:55 am
Scott Reynolds reported this prior to the combine.
March 1st, 2019 at 11:55 am
I rarely defend Jason Licht and it’s difficult to defend him on this but there is one mitigating factor here:
College defensive backs are developing…..and many are out of position in college…..they are sometimes not true CBs or Safeties…….
DB is a more difficult position group to evaluate……they are not like WRs, QBs, TEs, Oline, Dline….
So….that being said…..I do think when you are picking as high as the MJ Stewart pick….there should be absolutely no question as to the NFL position you are picking for. You want a CB….pick a CB….there were plenty there…..you want a S….pick a S…..
As far as Ryan Smith…..when you get down to round 4 that’s another matter….they tried him at S and it didn’t work.
March 1st, 2019 at 11:57 am
BA was asked at the combine by Steve Mariucci and Melissa Starke,
“So why Tampa?”
BA–“The ownership and the GM”
Left me SMDH……
March 1st, 2019 at 12:01 pm
When Licht drafts a guy, he’s a bum here, then goes somewhere else and has success, that’s not on Licht. That’s on coaching. Licht spotted the talent, coaches couldn’t develop it. Sure, Licht has swung and missed a few times, but he’s far from the “worst GM in history” as some here have called him. There’s not a GM in the League that hits a home run every time.
March 1st, 2019 at 12:03 pm
this just ells me how muxh power iwnership suggestednsmitty andnkoeter had influencing draft picks. Licht isnt the problem and the SHEEP WILL SEEN THAT THIS SEASON!!!!!
March 1st, 2019 at 12:04 pm
^^
The sheep will seen that this season?
March 1st, 2019 at 12:09 pm
If the Glazers were football people, Licht would of been fired years ago.
Do you think the owners in Pittsburgh would of allowed for this to continue?
March 1st, 2019 at 12:15 pm
damn …I guess it’s my duty to pile on. Hindsight is beautiful thang. You can literally beat someone down in the future after you already seen the past.
Stupid GM
March 1st, 2019 at 12:16 pm
@Tbbucs3…
Don’t forget too Noah Spence is now somehow a LB, not a DE as drafted.
And like @Dosshlarue said, I completely agree that our Scouting department does royally suck! They’re employed year round, with plenty of lead time to just get the 90% accurate fits and prototypes down to lead any decent GM to the water he should need on draft day…..they’re trash, buffoons, imbeciles! For sure, book it!
On a side note….from the Podcast this morning, I find it interesting how at the very end of it, Ira says….”why should Licht give you fresh material, you have to work for it Steve, you gotta work for it”!! YUP!! Gotta go work for it. That’s what this guy was saying Wednesday in another thread, referring to the Combine coverage. BUT….if the blessed Ira says it, wellll, then it’s ok 🙂
Go Bucs!
March 1st, 2019 at 12:16 pm
jason licht is the epitome of the law of diminishing returns. he is working in a position that exceeds his talent ability. i like him, i dont believe he is sharp enough to compete with the top tier executives in the league.
March 1st, 2019 at 12:28 pm
StoutGospel running off at the mouth like a petulant little child again.
Jesus, it is annoying. Posts are not even worth reading anymore.
March 1st, 2019 at 12:32 pm
Buccaneer Bonzai
“And as I recall he was one of the stars in training camp last year.”
I do recall this. I don’t know if it was the same game in PS but I remember him punching out two balls. The guy is strong. I also remember him blocking two TDs in a row with good coverage in the regular season.
PEOPLE ARE SO FAST TO JUMP ON THIS ROOKIE CB WHILE THEIR 10x FASTER TO JUMP ON HOW TERRIBLE MIKE SMITH’S DEFENSE WAS!!!
It’s no joke when they say secondary is hard to learn coming into the NFL. Think for a second with Stewart coming in being coached by Koetter and Smith. Bowels has been a secondary coach and player all the years that have lead him to be a good DC. This secondary is going to look different and it would be super sweet if he turns all these youngsters into a smokin hot crew.
March 1st, 2019 at 12:48 pm
In case you have not heard, the Bucs are a Cluster. They have been just about the entire time they have been in the league. But maybe one day the team will be sold and hope can really be restored that the team could be a winner.
March 1st, 2019 at 12:52 pm
Oh Licht Weight…you’re approaching Matt Millen levels of ineptitude with every passing comment/press conference.
March 1st, 2019 at 1:02 pm
😂 😆 😝
Hahahahahahahahahhaha!
#LaughingstockOfTheNFL
You can’t make this stuff up.
I’ve been saying: should’ve drafted: Isaiah Oliver and Kerryon Johnson over RoJo and MJ.
It’s sad how obviously bad our scouting/GM are. Especially with second round picks. Aguyo-Spence.
Jason strikes out more than Adam Dunn, and doesn’t hit nearly as many homers.
March 1st, 2019 at 1:05 pm
SOEBuc,
We are lot getting on the players- just getting on the GM for overdrafting-obvious to casual fans- and passing on MUCH SUPERIOR talents.
Not sure what Jason is thinking? This is the same guy who wanted Fatty 🏝 Baker and DJax- while not even giving Calais Campbell a phone call.
More inept than Dominik- and that speaks volumes.
March 1st, 2019 at 1:07 pm
Where have you seen all the talent licht has acquired go and be successful elsewhere? ASJ? Aguayo? The pothead RB? not only not successful here but not playing anywhere
March 1st, 2019 at 1:08 pm
@Z31BUCS
🙂
The jealousy is really unbecoming of you. It jumps off the screen. That’s okay, I’ll add you to the fan club kitten.
🙂
Go Bucs!
March 1st, 2019 at 1:10 pm
Dusthy,
Great point. Forgot about ASJ!
Licht’s second rounders, outside of Maroet and Smith (year one draft picks) have been dreadful.
What’s worse: last year’s second round selections, our our first three selections in 2016? Hahaha this is why we suck- thanks Licht.
March 1st, 2019 at 1:12 pm
I wish Jason Licht read the JBFers comments section. We can’t be worse than our current scouting department. I wonder if the Glazers would hold a “Top. scout” public challenge?
Whomever gets elected from the JBF community surely could not be worse. Surely.
March 1st, 2019 at 1:12 pm
Winning will put an end to all this complaining, kvetching and negative nancyism.
Jason Licht is drafting above average and we will all see that come to fruition over the next couple of years.
And as soon as that happens, a bunch of you will “disappear” from jbf – because if you don’t have something to b!tch about – you ain’t “happy” – and your life feels somehow incomplete…..
March 1st, 2019 at 1:20 pm
Pickgrin Says:
March 1st, 2019 at 1:12 pm
Winning will put an end to all this complaining, kvetching and negative nancyism.
considering the bucs had 1 good year under McKay and 1 great year under Gruden…. Not a lot of hope that the bucs will ever win consistently. 42 years of history proves the bucs are losers and always will be…. being an optimists is admirable being a blind delusional fool is laughable.
March 1st, 2019 at 1:23 pm
There are no stars in practice. Remember how enamored the Joe’s and Ira were about Brent Grimes’ practice habits during training camp last season? How did that work out again? That’s right, he complained about not being paid enough to cover Antonio Brown.
March 1st, 2019 at 1:24 pm
LC
i think option B is correct…..and the same goes for rojo…..licht mightve knew guice was the better player but dirk told licht he needed a slasher/speed type back….so thats what licht got….
ive always thought licht was getting screwed over from the staff by not developing players and playing them out of position or in the wrong scheme….now that dirk and smitty has left the building, we’re finding out more and more why players werent performing….
#REALISTKNOWSNOTHING!!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
March 1st, 2019 at 1:26 pm
Jason Licht is drafting above average? That’s a LOL and I never type LOL.
March 1st, 2019 at 1:27 pm
I am obviously in the minority but last year after the draft I was livid we selected MJ Stewart before Carlton Davis…..but I was relieved when Carlton fell to us. So that led me to find out nore about MJ Stewsrt immediately…..like right after the Dahis pick was in. And before we even got around to selecting Jordan Whitehead in the 4th rd, I had come to the conclusion that MJ Stewart was going to be a safety and we were getting rid of Chris Conte. Well…..I was again surprised again when we did pick Whitehead in the 4th and Dirk Koetter said MJ Stewart was going to be used at Cornerback….wtf!!
All that being said…..I believe MJ Stewart is going to start at Safety and be very effective at doing so. His college tape showed me that last year so i am ot the least bit surprised that has come out. That’s why I believe this was a Todd Bowles re-assignment and not a Jason Locht one.
March 1st, 2019 at 1:33 pm
Stout,
Jealousy? No.
Embarrassed for you the last couple of days.
March 1st, 2019 at 1:43 pm
@ Pickgrin
I love it…..kvetching…..here are some synonyms.
beef, bellyache, bitch, bleat, carp, caterwaul, complain, crab, croak, fuss, gripe, grizzle, grouch, grouse, growl, grumble, grump, holler, inveigh, keen, kick, maunder [chiefly British], moan, murmur, mutter, nag, repine, scream, squawk, squeal, wail, whimper, whine, whinge [British], yammer, yawp (or yaup), yowl
March 1st, 2019 at 1:49 pm
Sorry, I meant not a zone corner.
I hate not being able to edit these things, lol.
March 1st, 2019 at 2:03 pm
Jonathan Lipnicki Says:
“I never type LOL.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Me neither, LOL 😉
March 1st, 2019 at 2:10 pm
Steve K…. I GUARANFRICKINTEE… that if you put 5 joe buc fan posters making the draft choices past 5 years the bucs would be a playoff team, Im saying sticking w Jameis & maybe mike evans but every single pick aside those 2 the bucs would be better and be a playoff caliber team, I know for a fact if i was in charge, i would have picked laremy tunsil in round 1 and also lael collins round 6-7… the OL woulda been set for 10 years. But the bucs are 5-11 w a 5-11 GM…and although arians was the best hire of available HCs… i hope the bucs got arians the hands on HC like in Indy, not some delegator
March 1st, 2019 at 2:13 pm
Disagree old school athlete
Light got rid of mcdougald
I was saying all day long he was a keeper- from the stands
March 1st, 2019 at 2:17 pm
Lord C … Jason Licht held the hammer while Koetter was HC (Koetter even said so). I would hope that a GM & scouting department get input from the coaches, but he who pulls the trigger owns the shot. In case no one’s noticed, Jason seems to do a LOT better signing FAs & drafting players for the OFFENSE than for the DEFENSE or S/Ts. Easy to speculate why that is given his background.
@SOEbuc … “PEOPLE ARE SO FAST TO JUMP ON THIS ROOKIE CB WHILE THEIR 10x FASTER TO JUMP ON HOW TERRIBLE MIKE SMITH’S DEFENSE WAS!!!” What does that even mean SOE? Smitty got pummeled in the media day-after-day, EXCEPT for 2016 when we went 9-7 thanks to the 5-game streak led by the Bucs defense. Right after that LOTS of folks seemed to be onboard with him getting extended (remember how so many were worried that he’d get a HC job?). No one pummeled Stewart … he was a rookie thrown into the fire & folks don’t expect all that much out of rookie CBs IMO. The only reason he was on the field at all was because our Secondary sucked royally.
Reality to me is that I would dearly love to have the RoJo pick & the Stewart pick back again, and used to fill some of the holes we’re now seeing in our roster. Personally I’d like to have the Cappa pick back also. None of the three exactly lit the world on fire.
March 1st, 2019 at 2:19 pm
I betcha one of RoJo or Stewart will pan out. I never dwell on draft picks because I listen to the great advice I’ve heard 1000 times that you gotta give any rookie three seasons.
Players start to hit their potential in years 2-3 all the time in this league. Y’all start ripping on rookie players waaay to early…….Guess what? VitaV wasn’t drafted for one year of service. And while y’all were crying for Derwin James VitaV was finishing his season in probowler stlye…….maybe even All-Pro level……If you don’t believe me I defy you to tell me how them last 5-6 games are not pro-bowl numbers. You cant.
Quite crying and start rooting for M.J. to show off his skills from the S position. He gonna be on the field this year, remember.
March 1st, 2019 at 2:28 pm
Given that ……VHIII and Spence have given us 3 seasons and verdict is in. Bust, Bust.
That’s six seasons of no production from your top two picks. And Argariuo and make in nine.
The only possible polish for that turd is 2017 was a pretty lousy draft class overall(Awful draft to need a CB BTW).,…………..But that is no excuse at all. This scouting department couldn’t pull out one decent player from that entire draft class…….This is embarrassingly bad. Our scouting department didn’t do their job.PERIOD………. maybe they was out partying too hard like the players tend to do sometimes.
March 1st, 2019 at 2:32 pm
@ncbucsfan … “All that being said…..I believe MJ Stewart is going to start at Safety and be very effective at doing so.” And all that being said ncbucsfan, I believe the Bucs will sign a veteran safety who’ll start. Our 3 other safeties will be Justin Evans, Whitehead & Stewart (because they’re all cheap & that’s all we can afford).
However, there’s one more name in the safety mix who the Bucs HAVE TO KEEP: Andrew Adams. He and Nassib were the UFAs of the year IMO. Adams played in 13 games but only started 4 of those; he had 4 INTs (3 more than anyone else in the Secondary) & 9 Passes Defensed (3 more than anyone else in the Secondary). Bucs list him as a Safety, but for some reason I keep thinking that he played a lot of Nickel (or maybe they were just playing 3 safeties). In any event, he’s a LOT better than Stewart far as I’m concerned (Stewart also played a lot of nickel, with 0 INTs & 3 PDs in 5 starts/11 games played in … he was out for 5 games with a foot injury).
March 1st, 2019 at 2:38 pm
^^ Defense Rules,
No doubt, man. What more can a guy do to make a statement than Andrew Adams did, at the end of last year?
March 1st, 2019 at 2:59 pm
@DR
I think you get caught up in the stats too much sometimes – especially for such limited sample sizes.
I like Andrew Adams potentially but he literally got ~90% of his stats in 2 games. 3 interceptions and 3 passes defended in a single game; and his other int and another 2 passes defended in another single game. No interceptions and only 4 PD in the other 9 games.
Also I don’t recall thinking this guy was dominating in one on one coverage or or shutting down a side of the field. Most his picks came in odd formations with a ton of CBs/S where he was in the right place at the right time. If we are going to go with a more pressing scheme and want to keep him it’s hopefully at S. At least this is just what my eyes remember. In general the pass rush and aggressive confusing coverage seemed to produce results, and he was the primary beneficiary in 2 games to an extreme degree.
I do agree with you that Licht has to be responsible for his picks in the end still, I just have to assume/hope coaches are still pushing certain decisions. I.e. maybe he had Guice rated slightly higher than Rojo but Koetter was slamming the table for Rojo. Or Licht just loved Rojo. We will probably never know. He had the power like you said tho.
March 1st, 2019 at 3:03 pm
Per PFF – andrew adams listed as a S – 78th best S last year with a grade of 59.1
Ryan Smith 63.1
Carlton Davis 61.2
Justin Evans 67.6
Jordan Whitehead 64.6
Not sure wtf these grades mean – they were all generally bad lol. I do like Ryan Smith & Justin Evans as potential break out type players next year tho.
Ryan Smith had the best CB performance of anyone all year at one point, and then didn’t get playing time the next week lol. Genius staff
March 1st, 2019 at 3:13 pm
Adams looked like a solid football player to me. I had noticed him before he had that big game vs Carolina. Looked like he was always near the ball and always in position.
Maybe I’m too high on him but my prediction is he is our 5th DB in nickle if the keep him. Hargreaves out.
March 1st, 2019 at 3:52 pm
I’m not going to sing Licht’s praises but much of the naysayer’s criticism has reached hyperbolic levels. Seems to me that Licht does well every other year and then sucks the next.
Shouldn’t judge a draft class until 3 years later. And as far as players playing different positions than drafted for how do we feel about Mark Barron. Was he a bad pick? Or a pick the coach didn’t know how to use.
IE. MJ Stewart has two more years to prove himself…as does ROJO btw. But if Stewart becomes as good a safety as Barron has an LB he will be a feather in Licht’s cap.
So Licht’s first draft got us a genuine superstar in Mike Evans.
I get it…at the 7th overall pick you can’t whiff but Licht did far more than simply not whiff with ME13. The rest of that draft was abysmal.
His second draft was SUPERIOR. The verdict is still out on JW as justifying the #1 pick. We can have that argument after this season when many of us believe he will finally reach his potential. But in one draft Licht grabbed 40% of our starting OL and found Kwon in the 4th round. If he drafts this well next April we’ll be celebrating.
But then came the odd year off draft Licht has been turning in.
Bowles may yet resuscitate VHG and Noah Spence’s careers but clearly VHG is not ever going to justify the 11th overall pick! He may at least start and Spence MAY contribute but this was not one of Licht’s better drafts.
Then back to a good year…OJ has the chance to become the top TE in the entire league! Evans has flashed some decent play at safety. Godwin is an amazing 3rd round pick and Beckwith was ready to blossom before the car crash. Licht gets an A for this draft.
It’s still waaaay to early to grade last year’s picks. Vita is improving rapidly…ROJO has the potential to be a bust…but there are plenty of NFL RB’s who didn’t blossom until their second year. Too soon to call it a total waste. We’ve already discussed Stewart and Davis and again too soon for a final judgement. Whitehead shows real promise…Watson as well and the verdict is still out on Cappa. In short this draft has the chance to be truly solid…perhaps not…too soon to tell.
So Licht is about 50-50…that’s average to above average when measured against other NFL GM’s. NO GM has consistently drafted well..even the superstar GM’s.
Has Licht drafted well…perhaps…has he sucked…NAH.
The other argument some would make here that I pay attention to is that it’s not just the quality of draft picks…it’s building a team…drafting the right positions at the right time in the team’s growth. That’s a whole other debate.
March 1st, 2019 at 4:09 pm
@ Joe. people have been saying the same thing for 2 years. Licht is inept.
March 1st, 2019 at 4:18 pm
@Lord C … “I think you get caught up in the stats too much sometimes – especially for such limited sample sizes.” LMAO LC because I often think the same thing. But then again, when 1 DB has 4 INTs & his closest competition has only 1 INT, I have to think that he’s doing something right. Even if that’s just ‘being lucky’.
Ryan Smith falls in the same category IMO as Bradley McDougald did. It took McD awhile to ramp up, but he did keep getting progressively better & better. Ryan’s the same way IMO. Given some good coaching this year, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Ryan Smith do very well this year. I’m certainly rooting for him.
March 1st, 2019 at 4:22 pm
The NFL is hard enough….when you move young guys around who are already not the most athletically gifted, it just gets harder to operate in game speed. We blow more premium picks on failed projects. Why is it so hard just to draft a guy to play the position the person knows. We got Marpet playing RG, LG, and C….our RG is now headed to RT. We got corners playing safety, then back to corner….and vice versa. A DE who now may be a LB….its such a Mickey Mouse show with Licht.
March 1st, 2019 at 4:42 pm
Good argument you put forth St Pete. But ‘building a team…drafting the right positions at the right time in the team’s growth’ IS THE GM’s MISSION, his reason for existence. SOMEBODY has to be responsible for the BIG PICTURE, and if not the GM, then who? Ownership? Not hardly. Coaches who change every 2 years? Nah.
Bucs have accumulated a plethora of weapons in these past 5 years, similar to what New Orleans did for years (although the Saints’ OLines generally did a much better job of protecting Drew Brees over the years). But creating a T-E-A-M with this thing that I call BALANCE is what the Bucs have lacked for years & years. At one point in time we had a great defense, lousy offense. In recent years we’ve had a decent offense but lousy defense. In my world, that’s lack of BALANCE. And all it’s won for us is multiple ‘Cellar Dweller of the NFC South’ awards.
In my opinion, there’s no excuse for any GM to NOT hit on the 1st Rnd pick as a starter. And they damn well better hit on the 2nd Rnd picks also as at least key rotational players. The 3rd Rnd & beyond gets iffy admittedly, but you still have to hit on at least some of those. If you don’t, no way you can build through the draft … the numbers just don’t work out. And if you’re constantly ponying-up for FAs, it’ll be hard to build a championship team IMO (not enough $$$ in today’s system to keep buying quality FAs who can start).
That to me is where Jason Licht has fallen down (and Mark Dominick before him). Coaching turmoil (poor selections were partially on the owners, partially on the GMs), inadequate balance as a result of not focusing on TEAM-BUILDING in the drafts, and having to spend too much on too many FAs to fill holes as a consequence. Hopefully BA rights the ship and we get to kick some ass this year.
March 1st, 2019 at 4:50 pm
There are waaaay to many idiot haters on Jason’s drafting abilities and FA.
-First off almost every team is going to get a bust or player that don’t end up projected from where they were in college or projected in the draft. Jason has the one big one with Aguayo. We can’t certain about RoJo yet. Got our two starting productive DE for peanuts. Nassib (don’t know how much but it aint a lot) and JPP (A FREAKIN THIRD ROUND PICK!!!)
Jason’s Drafts:
-Jameis Winston
-Mike Evans
-Ali Marpet (Hobart College)
-Kwon Alexander
-Cameron Brate (UDFA)
-Adam Humphries (UDFA)
-Peyton Barber (UDFA)
-Chris Godwin
-Vita Vea (shows much potential)
-Kendall Beckwith
-OJ Howard
-Carlton Davis (shows potential)
-Jordan Whitehead (shows potential)
-AND I HAVE TO ADD THESE DRAFT PICKS HAVE HAD NOTHING BUT SH!T FOR COACHING THEIR ENTIRE CAREER’S IN THE NFL.
-FORGET THE NEGATIVE AND JUMP ON THE POSITIVE TRAIN SO WE CAN BE EXCITED TO SEE IF BRUCE AND BOWELS CAN TURN US AROUND!!!
#GO BUCS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#DEVIN WHITE ROUND ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 1st, 2019 at 5:22 pm
SOE…. all them players you named are losing players. No positive train exists outside of rabid fans.
We can argue all day about how good they are but it will never be enough if we can’t even win 5 home games. Til then none of these players are good enough.
March 1st, 2019 at 6:08 pm
JimmyJack
That’s why I had to throw in the terrible coaching remarks. I think it’s half coaching and half players and we got some very good, young players that have proven themselves with some great stats. Coaches call the plays they drew up to get them into the endzone. For instance. Not only did I know it, but the other defenses knew it every time Koetter would stack the box and the RB run up the gut. That was seriously the only play in that guy’s book when he stacked the box. No screen, no razzle dazzle ever. I would be like, “Oh no, here it comes.” continued by Bucs losing yardage continued by me pulling my freaking hair out!!! Let’s do it BA!!!
March 1st, 2019 at 6:12 pm
Well that explains JW. He’s really a right tackle.
March 1st, 2019 at 6:25 pm
This effectively wastes the trade back. Another blown second round pick for Licht is just laughable at this point. It is quite obvious that he is overwhelmed on draft day.
March 1st, 2019 at 7:17 pm
How can you spend a whole column discussing our safeties and leave out Licht TWICE passing on the All-Pro safety just sitting there (Mr.James). Or even the starter in the Super Bowl Mr. Barron.
March 1st, 2019 at 7:40 pm
Is anybody really surprised?
Just another bumble by Jason Licht
March 2nd, 2019 at 7:28 am
Bucs need to fire the entire scouting department.
March 2nd, 2019 at 7:43 am
I literally was in my kitchen last week cooking and when Jason Licht came out and said MJ Stewart is a safety I damn near dropped my glass.
I gazed into the ceiling – so wait you traded back for extra picks to pick up a GotDamm corner convert to safety project when you just drafted a second round safety and 4th round safety last year. Man you just fired yourself….
I’m like oh boy the pitchforks and witch-hunt is about to begin.
What a complete mess Jason Licht has been with personnel.
March 2nd, 2019 at 11:26 am
Don’t forget without Licht we would not have BA! Also don’t forget that Licht came here as a rookie GM. When he arrived his drafting formula was simply BPA with no concern for need. Finally last year when he knew his neck was on the line he realized he had to draft BPA in our need categories first. I suspect he talked to the Coaches first in terms of what they wanted. That created a problem because we had terrible coaches. After getting their inputs he set out to get players they needed for a change. That was a mistake. However, this year BA is going to give much better input and I expect a much better draft out of Licht. My only reservation I have on BA’s wants is he is leary of a rookie LT from spread teams and that might result in his keeping D. Smith. He has a player who outplayed Smith—Liedtke, and now is the best time with our high draft position to get an inexpensive LT from a drop back pocket passing team that his Coaches can develop quickly. More colleges are moving to spread offenses so this is the perfect time to grab our LT for the next decade who will protect Jameis’ blindside to stop strip sacks and injury to Jameis. If BA gets that right he will have an extra 14 million dollars to grab Honey Badger and Claiborne to fix his backfield on Defense.
March 2nd, 2019 at 12:27 pm
Poor assessment of talent by Licht and the college scouts. Probably need to include M. Smith and his staff in this.
March 2nd, 2019 at 8:28 pm
Licht also said Aguayo was a kicker
March 2nd, 2019 at 10:13 pm
Yep, GM is the reason we suck not Hc Dirk. Hopefully he will be just a money guy and the new coaches have a say…
March 3rd, 2019 at 2:04 am
Jason Licht is a bigger clown than Goodell. Fireeee Licht!
March 3rd, 2019 at 1:02 pm
Oh Jason. Your such a genius.