Lay Off Jason Licht!
April 30th, 2019
Unfair criticism.
Man, Bucs fans have their briefs bunched up in a bad way over Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht drafting a kicker in the fifth round.
As the great Mike North would say (no, not that Mike North), “Take it EASY!”
Now Joe gets it that fans still have a fresh memory of Licht trading up into the second round to draft Roberto Aguayo. To this day, mention the word “kicker” to a Bucs fan and a flow of colorful four-letter words usually begin streaming out of his mouth.
And just the thought that Licht, even potentially with a seventh-round pick, would draft a kicker, gives many Bucs fans bouts of PTSD. Even non-Bucs fans. Joe gets it.
However, let’s quickly look at the landscape:
John Dorsey, the man behind the resurgence of the dormant Browns franchise who also helped build the Chiefs into the AFC power they currently are, saw fit to draft Oklahoma kicker Austin Siebert in the fifth round. Joe didn’t see the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland burn as a result.
And none other than Bill Belicheat stooped to drafting a punter in the fifth round last weekend. A punter! Clearly, no one is going to question Belicheat. If anything, teams will now copycat him and start drafting punters.
Look, the Bucs kicking situation has been a circus here in Tampa Bay for too long. If this Matt Gay, who Licht drafted on the third day, does anything remotely good, the pick is a steal if it stops this broken damn that somehow the Bucs have been unable to plug for years.
Now, if you want to give Licht hell for not bringing in one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history for a tryout, Matt Bryant, that’s fair game. All of this kicking s(p)it began when former Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik decided to nickel and dime Bryant.
(How’d that work out? How many millions of dollars of Team Glazer loot has been thrown to the wind due to paying for garbage kickers over the years which added to losses which added to fewer season tickets sold, fewer luxury boxes sold, fewer concessions sold, fewer parking fees, fewer gear sales sold not to mention paying for awful coaches all because Dominik squeezed Bryant? Talk about being pennywise and pound foolish!)
And if you want to hound Licht for not trying to trade for disgruntled 49ers kicker Robbie Gould, who wants out of San Francisco, that’s perfectly fine.
Licht claimed on Saturday after the draft he will stop at nothing to fix this measles-like outbreak of bad Bucs kicking. Well, if that’s true, why hasn’t Bryant had a tryout? Why hasn’t Licht talked turkey with the 49ers?
Well, Joe knows why.
But freaking out over Licht drafting a kicker with the fifth pick is unreasonable. Just look at the Bucs’ draft history this century. It is positively horrid on the third day! The Bucs the past 18 years have had better luck with undrafted free agents than third-day draft picks.
Sad!
So Licht using a throwaway pick on a kicker doesn’t bother Joe one bit. And if Gay finally stops the bleeding at kicker, it will be a steal.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:07 am
Until they win on sundays everyone and everything about this failed organization is fair game for all the criticism that can be dished out… glazers have trained low standard bucfan well to accept losing its time to rise up and Make Bucs Great For Once….
April 30th, 2019 at 10:08 am
I don’t have a problem with spending a 5th round pick on a kicker…..they often lead the team in scoring and if not for the 2nd round blunder 3 years ago no one would be talking about it….
April 30th, 2019 at 10:08 am
Joe doesn’t blame you one bit. But trying to hang Licht for drafting a kicker with a throwaway pick is a bit harsh. Licht deserves rocks thrown at him for several reasons. This isn’t one of them.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:11 am
I keep reading on here the third day of the draft are just throw away picks, but if that is what the Bucs owners think of the GM’s ability to select 4th-7th round picks then it is ridiculous he is still employed.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:12 am
It’s not the kicker alone. I was a Licht apologist for YEARS. But the last 2 drafts have been a nightmare. Just incompetence on parade.
I’m tired of it. Hire me, hire ANYONE who knows how to run a draft and get out of the way. Licht is overmatched on draft weekend. Clearly.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:15 am
I love this article. Great one Joe. Great point.
I have seen so many people completely ignore the fail rate on 5th rounders. Kickers drafted in the fifth have a much much higher chance of contributing. Oh and good kickers can go down as the highest scoring players in franchise history. Don’t even get me started on how many games we lost by missed kicks.
Unlike Roberto, this dude can kick it FAR. If he is an average kicker, he will still vastly outperform 90% of most fifth rounders.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:22 am
Also nobody seems to realize the influence bowles and Bruce had on this draft. People will rip Jason then when they realize bowles pulled the trigger on a lot of the d backs, they back off some.
No reason to discredit bowles logic in year one. If most these guys bomb then it’s fair.
Look how Mike Smith has effected this fan base SMH.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:23 am
Bucs last 5th Rnd draft picks (2009-2018): McNichols, Benenoch, Bell, Edwards, Pamphile, Means, Goode, Black, Fulton. Uhhh, Gay has good company IF he doesn’t make it … they’ve ALL been a waste.
Here’s a possibility: What if the Bucs carry TWO kickers this year? (Assuming of course that Gay does decently on long-range kicks while Santos keeps popping the close-in ones. Then if Gay shows BA & company that his close accuracy has improved, next year we go back to carrying 1 kicker. Let it play out.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:24 am
If I were Arians, I would cut Santos and sign Matt Bryant. Keep our freshly drafted kicker as a backup, since Matt Bryant has a few injury concerns.
The thought of Santos having more games to miss field goals in sickens me.
Kalind Says
“…the last 2 drafts have been a nightmare.”
Actually, last year was a pretty good draft. When you consider that most teams hit on 25%-30% of their draft picks and Licht hit on close to 50% last year (so far), it would be considered an exceptional draft.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:26 am
Perhaps Joe. But..He could have picked this guy in the 7th round. Although the 5th rd selection of a kicker was an improvement for Jason. His overall picks were not bad. He did take a gamble on the guy out of Auburn with the college knee problems. I don’t think they will heal in this NFL..Not with the kind of contact he’s gonna see.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:26 am
You were the first one to call it out joe your enabling the fans who can’t see to think rationally. Aguayo has nothing to do with this kicker. The losing culture has nothing to do with this draft and no one has even taken the field yet so I feel sorry for the new players who are already being subjected to the idiocy of buccaneers fans. These guys don’t know your losing mentality they’ve never worn the uniform and saying it was a bad draft is just ignorant before they take the field.
Childish so childish oh I’m so tired of losing this 0-0 record we have right now is breaking my heart lol it’s like trying to explain why a child has to wait until dinner for dessert. I hope licht gets a 10 year contract just so you nut cases would go root for another team. Go take a break from football until some real news comes out from rookie minicamp and save the prototype for the regular season it’s too early to talk you off the ledge
April 30th, 2019 at 10:27 am
• Vita Vea – Good Pick
• Carlton Davis – Good Pick
• Alex Cappa – Good Pick
• Jordan Whitehead – Good Pick
• Ronald Jones II – Unknown
• M. J. Stewart – Unknown
• Justin Watson – Unknown
• Jack Cichy – Unknown
50%.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:27 am
Blame Licht for the re-drafting of kicker, CBs and S positions. Why do we need to spend so many premium picks just to flush them down the toilet in the following year’s draft, all the while passing on better prospects on the trenches?
April 30th, 2019 at 10:28 am
Difference is the Browns now and obviously the Pats are teams that are playoff teams and unlike the bucs are a kicker away from a afc championship or a super bowl berth or a back to back title. The bucs are not close to being a kicker away. The bucs need OL, WR, RB, Edge…positions that dorsey and wild bill have always been grabbing
April 30th, 2019 at 10:32 am
Buccernutter:
Thank you!
April 30th, 2019 at 10:32 am
Dusthty Rhothdes Says
“The bucs are not close to being a kicker away.”
Teams are never just one position or player away, however, in 2017, Nick Folk cost us 2-3 games (defense cost us 4 games at least). Last year, our kicker cost us about the same.
5+3=8
So we would have been roughly 7-9 or 8-8 with a better kicker. The rest was on the defense….except for the two really bad QB games.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:35 am
Not that I’m saying 8-8 is acceptable.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:36 am
If Happy Gilmour tries his 4 step running start to kick a long field goal in the NFL, it will get slapped back in his face and returned for a TD 50% of the time.
He has said himself that he won’t alter his style.
Someone should have scouted-interviewed this kid.
Depressive paralysis is a no-go for high pressure jobs like NFL kickers.
Great name, wasted pick.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:38 am
Joe, I propose the following trade…..tmax for a cheerleader and a waterboy to be named later….seems fair to me…!
April 30th, 2019 at 10:39 am
@Chris Simms 2020
I’m willing to wait to see how he does. As far as adjusting the way he plays, a lot of players claim that…but change anyway.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:39 am
Dorsey and Bill B (The GOAT) have proven track records of winning Licht has more loses than loser and awful GM Dominik he has to receive the criticism for the teams failures on and off the field
April 30th, 2019 at 10:40 am
Joe, I propose the following trade…..tmax for a cheerleader and a waterboy to be named later….seems fair to me…!
April 30th, 2019 at 10:40 am
Depends on which cheerleader and what she wants to do.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:42 am
Drafting a kicker in the fifth round was really all about the salary cap. The rookie kicker will make much less than Santos, which has been far from stellar. If Gay just matches Santos production, then it was a brilliant move. In addition, our punter is capable of kicking off. As far as those pining for a Matt Bryant reunion, been there and done that. His best years are behind him and he would not come cheap.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:42 am
-A 5th round pick does not have to be a “throwaway pick” That’s just what we have come to know with the Bucs drafting as of late.
-I don’t care that we drafted a kicker. What I, along with many others weren’t happy about, was the fact that we could have gotten Gay in the 6th, 7th, or even as an UDFA. That seemed to be the theme of this year’s draft plan for the Bucs: Draft guys that we could have gotten in later rounds. Someone earlier hit the nail on the head saying that Licht tried to find hidden gems, & got too cute.
Go Bucs
April 30th, 2019 at 10:43 am
Lol the browns have been put in the playoffs in April lol sounds like bucs fans are salty because they prefer to win the off-season every year. Why play the games just seed the playoffs, let us stay home and get the first overall pick in the 2020 draft. Who needs the regular season when you can just look at the roster and guess
April 30th, 2019 at 10:44 am
dang joe. your diction is getting positively trump like.
SAD!
lol.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:44 am
I’m going to hold my judgement until week 6 of the regular season. If at least a couple of these guys aren’t contributing I think it’ll be time to move on from Licht.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:44 am
Trading a perfect gentleman like myself still wont change the on field results most of you choose to ignore
April 30th, 2019 at 10:45 am
Licht is ok
But getting laughed at by everyone because we drafted a kicker is a real thing. Became a laughing stock all of the sudden.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:50 am
It was/is funny! 🙂
April 30th, 2019 at 10:51 am
This article is way off point. The fans aren’t mad at a 5th round kicker selection. We are mad because this draft was loaded in pass rushers and Light chose not to get one. Instead we replaced his previous 2018 picks. Last years corners were too slow and an early 2nd rounder has already been moved to safety never to be seen again.
Yes we traded up into the second round to get a kicker, we cut him after his rookie season now drafting another.We basically used this draft to fix mistakes and didn’t take advantage of what was there.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:51 am
Lamarcus Says:
April 30th, 2019 at 10:45 am
Licht is ok
But getting laughed at by everyone because we drafted a kicker is a real thing. Became a laughing stock all of the sudden.
.
.
Licht is getting laughed at because of his body of work….especially his FA bankruptcy decisions…
Jameis is still a HUGE question mark outside of the 813…..even if the reasons for failing are valid at the end of 2019….there will be no entertaining EXCUSES …I hope they can pull it off and turn the corner in 2019….I am not comfortable at all
April 30th, 2019 at 10:53 am
This would not even be an issue if it weren’t for the Aguayo pick……when you look at the pick in and to itself, there is nothing particularly alarming about it.
It is a 5th round pick on a need…..and if it works, it will be a steal….if it doesn’t, it won’t really cost us much….
For all those saying we could have drafted him later…….how in the world do you know? That is the definition of “Armchair GM”
April 30th, 2019 at 10:53 am
“I’m willing to wait to see how he does. As far as adjusting the way he plays, a lot of players claim that…but change anyway.”
By “adjusting his style”, I’m being charitable to the poor kid. The truth is, without a running start, he can’t reach the goalposts. That’s why he doesn’t think he can kick off.
Just like in the movie, “Happy Gimour”, without the hockey stick, Adam Sandler’s “style” would result in massive failure.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:53 am
5th isn’t a throwaway pick. We had a lot of needs and only 7 picks to remedy them. The last 3 weren’t throwaway smh
Licht’s record is his record. Blame it on everything else if you want, but it’s still his W-L record.
April 30th, 2019 at 10:54 am
@Joe
Do we even know Licht’s role at this point? Completely serious question.
Who has final say on draft picks and who has had final say on picks the last 6 years?
For example – I read the other day that AZ’s structure requires Kleim to have final say on any given draft pick – it is in his contract. He didn’t start even looking at Kyler Murray tape till March and was sold on him through that. The coach (Kingsbury) never even pushed Murray supposedly, as this is their process in terms of Kleim having final say.
I can’t tell if Licht is actually pulling the strings, or if he is just some type of communications liason between the scouts and coaching staffs, along with a guy who has to be the face of those decisions / answer questions at press conferences.
Either way it has been obvious the coaching staffs have huge influence on personnel, but that’s kind of true of most NFL teams.
It just points to how important it is to nail both coach / GM. If not then you better have a GM that can overcome dumb coaches or vice versa and we have had neither
April 30th, 2019 at 11:00 am
If Belichick took over the bucs no way he would draft a kicker in any round.
Pat’riots have a super bowl roster. We don’t.
As for Clevelsnd they haven’t accomplished squat yet either.
Lastly , just because we historically suck at 5th rounders does not make it a throw away pic. Robert Mathis and Richard Sherman were fifth rounders and lots of f them throughout the league are starters or provide depth.
It was a bad move. But, I hope it works out.
April 30th, 2019 at 11:00 am
Going to be a lot of young guys signed over the coming days, but here is the list so far as I could find (on PR)
SIGNED
G Zack Bailey – South Carolina
RB Bruce Anderson – North Dakota State
DE Kahzin Daniels – Charleston
WR DaMarkus Lodge – Ole Miss
TE Isaiah Searight – Fordham
WR Contrelle Simpson – Richmond
S Lukas Denis – Boston College
WR Malik Taylor – Ferris State
LS Dan Godsil – Indiana
QB Nick Fitzgerald – Mississippi State
C Nate Trewyn – Wisconsin-Whitewater
WR Anthony Johnson – Buffalo
WR Jalen Allison – North Dakota State
OL Brock Ruble – Toledo
Tryout Invite
P Mac Loudermilk – UCF
QB David Pindell – UConn
QB Vincent Testaverde – Albany
DL Anthony Johnson – FIU
DE Ricky Holmes – Benedict College
DB Mazzi Wilkins – USF
April 30th, 2019 at 11:04 am
AlteredEgo Says
“FA bankruptcy decisions…”
There is no such thing on this team atm.
Licht could easily clear up 30-40 million in cap space with just a few moves. They are just choosing not to make those moves at the moment.
April 30th, 2019 at 11:06 am
The issue is that no one was going to draft this kicker, he could have been signed after the draft. The Bucs should gotten an O lineman or at least Patrick Willis in the 5th. They could have signed Bryant, now we have another potential unproven head case. We have the worst GM in the NFL.
Waiting to see how they screw up with GMC…..should be another epic fail.
April 30th, 2019 at 11:07 am
Dusthty!
April 30th, 2019 at 11:08 am
You SIGN kickers you don’t DRAFT them.
This was another boneheaded move by our FO.
Perhaps it was influenced by BA – he is not aware of the extreme amount of pressure on Bucs kickers – especially drafted ones
April 30th, 2019 at 11:11 am
Bucs should sign Cameron Frye from the Orlando Apollos who was a 100% FG kicker.
They also had a pretty good CB named Rainey I think, defensive MVP with great ball skills against real NFL talent.
April 30th, 2019 at 11:15 am
Bonzai
How can you say Alex Cappa and Jordan Whitehead are good picks. They are both unknowns. Alex Cappa hasn’t done a single thing with the Bucs and most of whiteheads tackles came from an inability to break up passes. Unknowns and let’s give it up on Ronald Jones folks.
April 30th, 2019 at 11:21 am
I can also tell you what Jack Chichy And MJ Stewart are going to be, BUST. I’m willing to wait on Justin Watson though.
April 30th, 2019 at 11:27 am
Can we criticize Licht.for having a do over draft heavy in the secondary because his previous choices in that area apparently aren’t good enough?
Sad.
April 30th, 2019 at 11:32 am
The kicker wasn’t the problem. The problem was neglecting the trenches. Games are won and lost in the trenches. I thought you were taught this in Pee Wee football!!
April 30th, 2019 at 11:41 am
You people that say you don’t draft kickers are just wrong and dumb. Stephen Gostkowski, NE Kicker, was drafted in the 4th round by, you guessed it, Bill Bellicheat.
You draft the best kicker in the late round so that you get your choice of the kicker you want. If he turns out to be the real deal, he is your starting kicker and will win games for you hopefully right away. If you draft a RG with your 5th round pick, your hope is that he can make the team and maybe provide depth. Anything more and you are over the moon.
April 30th, 2019 at 11:42 am
A linebacker with two bad knees.
April 30th, 2019 at 11:48 am
This draft was an indictment of Licht because of who we drafted in the second and third rounds. Last year two corners and a safety. Turn right around the following year and draft the same positions in the same rounds is mind blowing. Licht really should have been fired that night after the third round was completed.
April 30th, 2019 at 11:53 am
I have said this before and will again, if i had a complaint with Licht and his scouts it is that they seem to get fixated on some lesser known prospects from small schools when there are perfectly legit prospects from larger winning programs available.
Cappa would be a good example of this. He was chosen in the 3rd round when there were many other possible good G or T prospects available. His measurables were pretty bad so not really sure what the thought process was other than his tape looked good against really bad competition. He was not Marpet who had good measurables and looked great at the Senior Bowl.
Likewise, while i like Bunting as a prospect, there were others like Mullins from Clemson (taken the pick after) that certainly played against better competition. However, at least in this case, the measurables are there with Bunting.
All in all, i still think it was a good draft and I think Bowles had more of hand in this than anyone else.
April 30th, 2019 at 11:58 am
let me first say, I had huge issues with Licht drafting any kicker in the second. Even if Aguayo had turned into Matt Bryant, I had issues. This is in regards to what how much better the very best kicker is versus the middle of the league kicker. Watching his videos, post draft, I was pretty sure he would never be the best and hoped for middle of the road. There was a youtube of every kick Aguayo took in college and his mechanics were just all over the place. Water under the bridge.
For the fifth round selection… I am a bit middle of the road. I believe he probably could’ve got the guy with the 6th or 7th but I would’ve taken Godwin in the second round in 2016 and had no idea he would make it back around to the pick in the third. At any case, for this draft.
I have zero problems in taking Devin White at 5. I think he will make the defense better, immediately. The step down between he and Bush is significant regarding the film. White is much, much better at shedding blocks. I liked Bush and wouldn’t have minded him if the Bucs had dropped down to 15 or so (I know he went at 10), but I see the difference on film. Plus 2 inches in height and 15 pounds is important. ZERO issues with White at 5.
I also like Bunting as a player, in fact I like a lot of this draft class. My issue is that it felt like after the first round selection, Licht was out of position. Maybe he just couldn’t find the trade partners, but I felt he could’ve gotten Bunting or a very comparable player by moving back a little, been able to retain the early third round pick (maybe pick up Henderson from Memphis), and still picked up either Dean or Henderson later.
As much kvetching as we hear around here regarding the 2017 draft, Licht did a great job of positioning the Bucs. Great job. What he did with that positioning was questionable, in the Stewart pick. If he’d have picked up Isaiah Oliver (Falcons starter this season), Jackson or Guice versus Stewart, the draft this year and last might’ve looked a lot different. Ronald Jones was misevaluated and misused. No dispute. Shouldn’t have been drafted, to play in that running scheme. Will see if he can get fixed. I have a big feeling he will get an opportunity this preseason.
Whats funny… This year I hear, “Linebacker!!!! Awful pick, you have to address the trenches!” This year, “Defensive Tackle!!!! Awful pick, you have to pick the safety!”.
April 30th, 2019 at 12:00 pm
C’mon, we all know is the worse GM in Bucs history, maybe the NFL.
April 30th, 2019 at 12:10 pm
Freaking out over a kicker in the FIFTH round wasn’t as big an issue as selecting multiple CBs in the 2nd round and it being guys who were further down on the value chart (Bunting)! Some head scratching picks and not the first time! If the previous ones worked out then we would be a little less critical…but they haven’t!!
April 30th, 2019 at 12:11 pm
Exactly BECAUSE the Bucs’ kicker situation HAS been a circus is all the MORE reason to NOT draft a kicker, because if/when he fails, the misery is exacerbated and the jokes explode. ESPECIALLY WHEN you NEED an edge rusher!! What’s better in the 5th…a freaking kicker, or a potential edge rush sleeper? Some say RB’s are a dime a dozen? Kickers are a PENNY a dozen!!! Dumb and dumber.
April 30th, 2019 at 12:16 pm
Joe…thats one thing out of many. Licht sucks.
27-53…defend that! Zero playoffs.
I’m tired of the idiots defending a bonafide loser.
He sucks.
April 30th, 2019 at 12:20 pm
Lets also remembet that lovie dirk and mike al had say on who gets drafted. The only thing that can be soley pinned on licht is contracts and salary cap. Other then that anyone eho blames every pick on him is clueless
April 30th, 2019 at 12:30 pm
Fire Licht – the guys an idiot.
April 30th, 2019 at 12:30 pm
@TDTB … “This draft was an indictment of Licht because of who we drafted in the second and third rounds”. Are you ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE TDTB that those picks were on Jason Licht? Personally I very much doubt it. All of our first 4 picks have Todd Bowles fingerprints all over them … they perfectly match what he NEEDS to make his hybrid defense work.
April 30th, 2019 at 12:35 pm
@Joe…YOU ARE DEAD WRONG, that this was a throw away pick; It would only constitute as a throw away pick if there were NO ONE WORTH WHILE to choose from. Go look at who we could have had after our 5th round pick! Wow, your delusion is real!!!!!!!!!!
April 30th, 2019 at 12:42 pm
First off you cant judge a draft or draft picks yet. Second it wasnt Licht who made the pick. I have no problem with the kicker pick. All ya gota do is go back and look at his previous drafts. An Olinemen who is gona take 3 years to develop is the last thing we need again. Its simple. If he wins the job and keeps it all year it was a good pick. If not oh well.
April 30th, 2019 at 12:52 pm
People can spin our talent level till the cows come home but it doesn’t change the facts..
Our gm is awful and our talent level and record shows it
April 30th, 2019 at 12:59 pm
Here’s the situation:
They ignored 3 massive areas of need, and got cute with a bunch of no names.
I didn’t think it would be possible to do worse than the 2016 draft, but this one will indeed be way worse. I’m off the Licht train. One more crappy under achieving season and we can get rid of him.
Prove me wrong or walk the plank!
April 30th, 2019 at 1:01 pm
now it has come down to defending Lichts terrible pics. why are you defending the worst GM is football? The reason we are in this dilema is because of Licht. FIRE HIM and we wont have to defend his terrible work record.
April 30th, 2019 at 1:06 pm
I think it comes down to this – this 5th round kicker has only 1 guy to beat to make the final 53. 1 guy. And if he can beat him, we got a starter in the 5th round that can put points on the board. Not many instant 5th round starters out there.
April 30th, 2019 at 1:09 pm
We will ease up on Licht the day he is shown the door at one Buc! And then start again the day he starts making rounds on JBF as a source for football intel the way Dominik does on JBF! For the life of me I will never understand why Joe thinks Dominik has ANYTHING remotely worthy to report!
April 30th, 2019 at 1:12 pm
A bad holder can cause a lot of kicks to be missed without it being obvious on film that the hold was a tad off….
This has never been “officially” discussed or acknowledged by anyone from the team – but I’m willing to bet there’s something to it.
The one common element to all of the Bucs kicker woes the last few years (holder Brian Anger) – is GONE!
Regarding drafting a kicker in the 5th rd? If it potentially fixes the kicking “problem” – and we get a young guy with a big leg on a 5th rd rookie contract for the next 4 years – why the hell not take that shot? Even if it doesn’t work out and Santos wins the job – it was worth the shot to fix an important position that has been broken and cost the team losses for far too long.
April 30th, 2019 at 1:13 pm
Stop it, Joe! Matt Bryant is closer to his AARP card than his rookie year, and is coming off muscle injuries, just like similarly-aged Jankowski, who saw the writing on the wall and retired. I didn’t see the kicker-starved Bears giving him a tryout…maybe they know he’s toast at his age! Also, Lynch said Gould isn’t going anywhere. I was good with Santos along with the new punter kicking off, but if this kid Gay lives up to his tape, the Bucs got a good one. Let’s just agree and hope that whoever the PK is, that he’s kicking more extra points than FGs…let’s get in the endzone more often!
April 30th, 2019 at 1:32 pm
Defense, if those picks from last year were good Bowles would have made it work and would have addressed other areas of need. So yes, the fact that we had to draft two CBs and a safety in back to back years is an indictment of Licht.
April 30th, 2019 at 1:36 pm
It’s not just drafting of a kicker that would have likely been available in round 7 that is the issue. It’s all the other trrrible picks and blunders Licht has been responsible for that have upset me. He has not been able to turn this franchise into anything other than the laughing stock of the league. Which in hindsight is something ….I guess.
April 30th, 2019 at 1:49 pm
TDTB … I agree, except that Todd Bowles defense will (probably) be radically different from the one those guys were drafted for. Thus it should require SOME different skillsets. That said though TDTB, last year’s draft was a jaw-dropper to me. No way to know, but it looks like there were major disconnects between Smitty & his coaching staff and Jason Licht & his scouting team (Davis AND Stewart in 2nd Rnd?). Also appear to have been disconnects between Licht & his scouting team and the offensive coaches (using a 2nd Rnd pick on RoJo & 3rd Rnd pick on Cappa didn’t make sense to me).
I would’ve gone a different way this year (after picking White that is) with the draft picks, but I understand what they were trying to do. At least there’s some rationale behind it this year. I’m just hoping it works.
April 30th, 2019 at 1:52 pm
The Bucs fans that defends Jason Licht
Deserves Jason Licht
Life of the Bottom Feeder!!
April 30th, 2019 at 1:59 pm
Chris Simms told Mike Florio on PFT yesterday, “Some GM’s were playing chess in the draft, some were playing checkers.”
Licht was playing a very rudimentary form of checkers, wiping out all of his previous moves from last year.
BUEHLER???
BUEHLLER????
April 30th, 2019 at 2:08 pm
Lakeland … Look back through my past comments and you’d see that I’m one of those who led the charge to get rid Jason Licht as GM. Huge mistake hiring him (THAT’S on Lovie IMO) & a bigger mistake not firing him when Lovie was fired (we should’ve cleaned house & just admitted that 2-year experiment was a dismal failure). BUT … once BA & Todd Bowles were hired, I’m still convinced (without any inside information admittedly) that the Glazers issued new marching orders to Jason: ‘Do what BA tells you to do’.
IF that’s true, Licht’s role as GM has changed to one more of negotiating contracts & managing the salary Cap, and further away from player selection. Personally don’t mind using Jason as the scapegoat this year because we’re now living with the aftermath of several of his PAST mistakes. But I’m good (at least in my own mind) as long as I can stay convinced that BA is in charge. At least now there’s an adult in the room.
April 30th, 2019 at 2:12 pm
Look back at his drafts and look at our record, then look at the fact that we are in salary cap hell with NO results and explain why I should lay off our GM. When we had one of the NFL’s best TE’s, we drafted a TE (and I love him, but where was the balance). When we had a solid DT and needed a Safety, he drafts a DT from Washington (who said on TV that he hated th heat and wanted to play in a cold weather city like Seattle) and lost him for half the year. We spent 3 pick son the secondary last year, but should be happy that we had to do the same this year? Were the ones last year bad picks? Who picked them? He didn’t trade D Jackson when we could hav gotten compensation, I hate to say he should have traded C Brate to a needy team for compensation and cap space, didn’t beef up the OL, missed a top DE in the draft (although I love D White) when that wa a need and best available. I hear we shouldn’t draft for need by the coach, but then we do just that with kickers and corners). No help with RB’s…the rich get richer (New England, Pitt, Rams, Bills…). Sorry, it’s tough to see this and feel good about the team. I do it every year, but this one…?
April 30th, 2019 at 2:34 pm
No it’s not. If there’s one thing Backstabbin’ Jason Licht has proven over SIX years is that he is inept at finding a kicker via draft or free agency.
He is the worst GM in the NFC South and one of the worst in the NFL.
April 30th, 2019 at 2:39 pm
Joe, there should be no such thing as a throwaway pick for one of the worst GMs in the NFL. A couple of years ago we all expected Jeremy McNichols to make the team as a 5th round pick. You cannot convince me that the kicker was the best player available. What was it that Bruce Arians said about drafting for need?
April 30th, 2019 at 3:00 pm
If the Bucs win a superbowl this season, the haters would STILL want Jameis and Licht ran out of town.
April 30th, 2019 at 3:08 pm
I wonder who the Bucs would have drafted with the DJax pick if he was traded last fall…another Licht BLUNDER !…or how he could have used to pick as a trade up option
April 30th, 2019 at 3:09 pm
^^^^^^
Super Bowl? LOL. Drugs?
April 30th, 2019 at 3:40 pm
Hey Joe “A linebacker with two bad knees.” Didnt you say we should have tried harder to keep Kwon, then he signed a multi million dollar contract with the niners with a bad knee. Lynch didn’t worry about that. Maybe we need a GM like that?
April 30th, 2019 at 3:59 pm
Bucemup
I will happily resign Jason Licht to another year on the incredibly far off chance the Bucs win the Superbowl with him as GM. Maybe that senario is possible in some fairy tale land where bargain free agent players like Vinny Curry thrive and the goal post are extra wide.
The reason that Bucs fans attitudes toward Jason Licht have become so sour is because he has over stayed his welcome by about 2-3 years. I used to be a Jason Licht supporter and the evidence of that is in the archives, untill I realized this guy is just not good at his job. Same stuff different coach.
Amazing how the Glazer’s are so clueless as to how to run a football team, they are clearly just business men who happen to own a pair of professionalism sports teams.
April 30th, 2019 at 4:38 pm
T REX Says:
April 30th, 2019 at 3:09 pm
^^^^^^
Super Bowl? LOL. Drugs?
closer to baker act territory
April 30th, 2019 at 5:02 pm
I have not one problem with the kicker but he just lacks value in so many areas for a man making 7 figures it’s comical but so was the Raiders not getting value out of there # 4 ……. actually worse than Licht !!!
April 30th, 2019 at 6:42 pm
What round was Tom Brady drafted?…no such thing as throw away picks. Only in pick up football when your bff sucks arse
April 30th, 2019 at 7:48 pm
FIREEEEE LICHT!!!
April 30th, 2019 at 9:12 pm
Do people not realize the 49ers drafted a Punter in the 4th Round??!!
April 30th, 2019 at 10:00 pm
Agreed. A good kicker is extremely important.
May 1st, 2019 at 5:42 am
27-53 does not deserve the benefit of the doubt and had no “throw away” picks.
May 1st, 2019 at 6:17 am
Doesn’t matter if Licht only had 10% of the say in this draft… which excluding was deven white was the rest and a kicker. Firreeeeee Licht!