Beyond Grading Players
April 8th, 2019
“Hey Dirk, you know where you can shove all those running back grades you handed me the last couple of Aprils.”
The new power broker at One Buc Palace, Bucco Bruce Arians, is all over Tampa Bay personnel happenings with a very heavy hand.
General manager Jason Licht served up a little insight.
The former biggest cheese explained to an Arians difference when it comes to player evaluation.
“He’s got a good eye, you know, not just telling you what he thinks of a player, if a player’s good or bad, but what he plans to do with the player,” Licht told Buccaneers.com at the NFL Owners Meetings last month. “He was very extensive in explaining that to me when he talks about players. And I think that’s very important and it gives you a nice outlook on, you know, what this guy could do for us and why it would be important for us instead of just grading players in a traditional way.”
Joe understood keeping Licht as general manager, when many fans and JoeBucsFan.com columnist Ira Kaufman wanted him ousted in December. What Joe didn’t really understand was why there wasn’t significant changes to Licht’s personnel team, which certainly isn’t among the best in the NFL.
Perhaps adding Arians to the mix, and the many different eyes of his large staff, will be a difference-maker this year in the draft and free agency. Joe’s putting plenty of hope right there.
April 8th, 2019 at 10:53 am
Would be a refreshing take from drafting a RB in the top 40 and barely having him involved in your offense
April 8th, 2019 at 10:54 am
GM Licht is now fetching coffee for BA. Hooefully he doesn’t spill it. Do you think BA would have been dumb enough to draft a worthless kicker in the second round?
April 8th, 2019 at 11:14 am
I think we’ll see BA’s fingerprints on the draft and all personnel moves. At least we hope. As Lord Cornelius states above, this GM has been less than stellar when picking in the 2nd round.
April 8th, 2019 at 11:21 am
We have one scout for the entire southeast….
I would have a position scouts in all regions but especially the southern region.
I would have a d line scout, a o line scout, a running back scout etc etc.
No wonder we blow so many picks
April 8th, 2019 at 11:24 am
marine
lol….i agree……
he’s a puppet right now and for our sake, it may not be a bad thing…..
#REALISTKNOWSNOTHING!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
April 8th, 2019 at 11:26 am
If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries.
Bill Parcells
Bruce Arians wasn’t coming to Tampa or anywhere else to coach a team assembled by someone else. Where ever he went he was going to have a say because he doesn’t need to coach. He’s 66 and could just ride off into the sunset.
April 8th, 2019 at 11:48 am
Hi Joe
Potential article for Morning cup of Joe – following up on the 80 year old great story from yesterday.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/british-woman-arrested-dubai-airport-14251564
April 8th, 2019 at 11:49 am
You can’t make this stuff up…
I have re-read Lichts quote above three times, and all I keep thinking is “isn’t that your job?”
People from other teams and cities must ROTFL
April 8th, 2019 at 12:12 pm
Many are forgetting Todd Bowles here……it is very likely our first pick will be a defensive player…..I believe as in the coaching, BA will somewhat defer to Bowles.
April 8th, 2019 at 12:16 pm
I’m glad someone else is trying to wrest this team away from Backstabbin’ Jason Licht’s 5+ reign of terror.
April 8th, 2019 at 12:16 pm
Just licht explaining how bad of a gm to people who want to hear….an HC and GM if its not belichek, then the other 31 should be like a hand and a glove and know what the coach wants in every position and what will help the team. Licht literally just drafted players that were not part of what koetter nor mike smith were doing and thus you have 5-11 team and still a 5-11 gm
April 8th, 2019 at 12:17 pm
“He’s got a good eye, you know, not just telling you what he thinks of a player, if a player’s good or bad, but what he plans to do with the player,”
I can totally see Koetter just telling Licht to get a player just because he had talent and not even thinking about scheme fits.
This is how you end up with press corners playing off zone. This is how you end up with tackles playing guard. This is how you end up with CBs playing safety and vise versa. The list goes on and on.
April 8th, 2019 at 12:21 pm
I wonder if having this much control was part of Arians hiring package?
April 8th, 2019 at 1:02 pm
I love everything about the hiring of Arians, BUT….Is anyone else afraid of his evaluation of college players? The draft classes he had when at Arizona are not the best.
April 8th, 2019 at 1:22 pm
You mean ASJ, Aguayo, Spence, R Jones, MJ Stewart & Carlton Davis were not good picks… LOL… Licht is aweful at draft & why we have cap & depth issues. Where has he done his job…. Free agency ( nope) Draft ( nope) he should be long gone…
April 8th, 2019 at 1:27 pm
There’s no way to know what goes on ‘behind the scenes’ at One Buc Palace. But IF I had to guess …
1 – Bruce Arians has been told by the Glazers to ‘Do whatever it takes to fix this blankety-blank mess of a team’.
2 – Jason Licht has been told by the Glazers that his vocabulary can consist of 2 words when talking to Bruce Arians about what BA needs from Licht to fix this blankety-blank mess that he helped create: ‘Yes sir’.
April 8th, 2019 at 3:41 pm
@noles Agreed on Licht’s day 2/3 selections. But Arizona missed on all of their 1st rounds picks under the Arians regime.
April 8th, 2019 at 6:10 pm
Started watching the All or Nothing show on the Cardinals – very noticeable the dynamic of the Cards GM, who worked for them for 16 years prior to becoming the GM -Bidwill trusts him and BA took a backseat in the war room footage, offering his input as an aside…they took David Johnson in Rd 3 after Abdullah went to the Lions – their GM wanted Abdullah badly, BA knew David Johnson was better…and he was right on the money
Somehow, I envision the opposite dynamic in the Bucs war room, I see Jason looking at BA and asking who he wants….and that might be the best thing that could possibly happen
Who knows talent better, the 30 something year veteran, HC or the GM who trades up for kickers….
April 9th, 2019 at 6:14 pm
All I hear from ppl inside & outside the Bucs organization is how their roster is pretty talented. So I don’t see why you should change Licht staff. This yr will show if coaching has been the problem.
I suspect it has been. No defense scheme to stop opponents consistently & no running game for basically 3 outta 4 yrs being the starter.
But ESPN sux off Dak, who has played w/ a top 5 running game basically every yr he’s started & a good x great defense the last 2 yrs. You put him on the Bucs & he’s finished lol