“Not Really An Indictment”
April 27th, 2019
Don’t read between the lines, says Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht.
First, a step back a year in time.
In the first four rounds of the 2018 NFL draft, the Bucs selected two cornerbacks and a safety. The secondary proceeded to get roasted worse than a stuffed hog over an open fire at an LSU tailgate party. It was nothing short of a football atrocity.
Only thing missing was that one of the defensive backs last year wasn’t prone on the turf of the Den of Depression with an apple in his mouth.
One of the corners was so awful Licht announced in February that the corner, M.J. Stewart, is being moved to safety in what seems to be an effort to save his career.
Fast-forward to Rounds 1, 2 and 3 of this week’s draft, Licht selected two corners and a safety. But don’t fool yourself, Licht said Friday night. This is not throwing shade on the guys drafted last year.
Licht said Friday’s transactions were “not an indictment” on the current gaggle of defensive backs, though he said he was not happy with how the secondary played last year.
What else could it be? You don’t see Licht running out and drafting wide receivers or a quarterback, right? Other areas of the team that are, at best, thin if not barren could have been addressed if last year’s picks of corners and a safety turned out swell.
There are no special running backs currently on the roster. Offensive line is thin. The defensive line is thin and one year away from beginning to fully unravel, not that it was anything remotely close to a dominant force to begin with.
This has to be the most puzzling start to a Bucs draft that Joe can remember in a long, long time.
The kicker to all of this is the safety the Bucs drafted in the third round, Mike Edwards, was compared favorably (?) to — guess who? — M.J. Stewart. It’s as if someone at One Buc Palace has a perverse sense of humor and is toying with Bucs fans.
Please don’t tell Joe the Bucs this afternoon are going to draft a guard comparable to Alex Cappa.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:06 am
This was Bowles’ plan and these are Bowles’ picks….pure and simple…..
Bowles is essentially covering Licht’s previous mistakes….
Not just the secondary….
Ryan Smith…..Drafted as a CB….moved to S back to CB
MJ Stewart……Drafted as a CB…..moved to S
VH3 Drafted as an Outside CB….Moved to Nickel…..Back to Outside
Noah Spence….Drafted as DE…..Moved to Linebacker
Alex Cappa……Drafted as T…..moved to G….maybe back to T.
Todd Bowles is fixing this….and absolutely needed to.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:07 am
Agree that OLine needs attention
However,
Bowles defense uses 5 secondary players with only 3 down linemen alot – the idea is to confuse offense, blitz from multiple positions and rely on speed in secondary- depth is important.
That seems to be the plan, anyway…
April 27th, 2019 at 8:07 am
New England has a total of 8 DE/Edge guys on their roster.
They also have 7 corner backs and 7 more safeties on their roster.
Where do fans think that Tampa needed depth?
Green Bay drafted three (3) players for their defensive backfield in the 1st round and five (5) more players in the 2nd round since 2015.
Maybe we are finally catching up to the curve.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:08 am
Could it be, Joe, that the collective experience of Arians and Bowles might be a bit greater than your personal keyboard?
Maybe?
Just maybe?
Have you absolutely forgotten there’s an aspect of our game plan called SPECIAL TEAMS?
Do you think this collective of talent might also help that aspect of our game?
Or do you just selectively like to find things to complain about?
April 27th, 2019 at 8:10 am
My picks, as the JBFer GM/ no trade backs bc I ain’t assume:
1 Ed Oliver
2 Greedy Williams
3 Darrell Henderson
I can trust our selections this year, but why just pick two CBS and a S when you just did that last year, and you have a 2nd round pick invested in Justin Evans and a 1st in Heargraves. At what point do the fans get access to our sham of a draft board?
JBFers could be in the war room and do better!
No excuses this year! Draft picks better play well, or hire a president of football ops. You don’t see Tom Coughlin crapping all over himself with draft picks. Look at the Jags. That is how you build a damn roster. Did I mention they have Calais Campbell- when Licht preferred DJax and Swaggy 🌴 Baker!
Enough is enough! We fans deserve better!
April 27th, 2019 at 8:14 am
I don’t see how he was compared to MJ Stewart? One is a CB and the over a Safety. He was compared to Rashad Johnson of the Cardinals. I see Joe likes to stir the pot!
April 27th, 2019 at 8:14 am
There is absolutely no question our ST got much better…..
April 27th, 2019 at 8:14 am
This is really pretty simple. Jason said as much during his press conference. They needed depth in the secondary. Last year once VH3 went down and Grimes missing games, they had nobody that could cover. Ryan Smith and Stewart were not the answer. Nobody hits on all these picks but they need depth in this division.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:16 am
I didn’t think it was possible for our secondary to get any younger. Buy was I wrong.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:16 am
Why is Licht here still if he’s made that many damn mistakes? I’m terrified of his scouting talent opinion still holds weight.
This draft has been stressful as hell. We pass on a freak of nature- pass rusher for a Mike. We pass on Risner/Greedy for a CB from the MAC, and we trade down to pass on a stud RB (Henderson) to draft two more DBs?
What plan does Licht have? I hate how he always doesn’t draft a position of extreme depth in the draft-when we also have a need.
Just stupid ass GMing and I hate watching my team become the Browns. If we are worse than the Browns this year, do we get a new GM? Or do we see year 7!of Licht and year 6 of Jameis- 4th best QB in the division.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:16 am
The kicker to all of this is that safety the Bucs drafted in the third round, Mike Edwards, was compared favorably (?) to — guess who? — M.J. Stewart.
I love Joe just going to NFL.com and Lance Z comparison – not anywhere else.
How about this. MJ Stewart was compared by Lance to Micah Hyde. Maybe this year the guy we get is like Micah Hyde. I would take that all day.
STRENGTHS: Fluid athlete to flip his hips and stay balanced mid-transition…adequate range for the position…rarely allows himself to be beaten over the top…trusts his vision and has a feel for route combinations…posted 10 career interceptions (with 146 return yards and two touchdowns)…takes accurate angles to the football in run support…active blitzer, skimming blocks to make backfield stops…excellent tackle production (318), ranking second-best in Kentucky history among defensive backs…durable and his coaches speak highly of his toughness…two-year team captain and graduated with a bachelor’s degree (December 2018).
April 27th, 2019 at 8:17 am
Busting looks like a tall Brent Grimes where JoeJuan Williams looks like Xavier Rhodes.
Licht passed up Greedy Williams too, who you’d think would play well with Devin White, but what do I know?
Licht could have drafted Dalton Risner too, I would not have complained.
Took me a while to find a highlight tape of Busting where JoeJuan had 9 min tape and the first highlight was a tackle. He hit the rb so hard you heard it from the bleachers.
Busting first highlight was how nice he looks and all his swag. Weird that he only has one short highlight reel from his sophomore year.
Why did Licht trade down, give up a Rb (Darell Henderson), DE (Jaylen Furgerson) in the process and then draft 3 straight DBs?
Jamal Dean has 3 ACL injuries, wow! And he looks like a special teams players with all his holding and pa, but wtfdik?
Mike Edwards at least he can tackle
April 27th, 2019 at 8:17 am
BPA my butt
April 27th, 2019 at 8:19 am
Don’t worry Joe. I’m sure Licht is hard at work searching the NAIA for the next Alex Crappa.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:20 am
Everyone is freaking out because we did not draft a defensive lineman. Let me remind everyone, we are no longer a 4-3 defense. There is more emphasis on linebackers and DBs in a 3-4 than Dlineman. What is most important position is on a Dline in a 3-4 is a stout nose tackle which is what we have in Vita Vea.
Everyone wanted speed on defense. We got it in this draft. Devin White is the fastest LB in the draft and both CB we picked up are lighting fast. We are fixing our holes. If we can fix the right side of the Oline in the next few picks or after teams cut their roster, then we’ll be okay.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:20 am
So, when we lack depth in the trenches this year and get our assets killed on the field because of it, the Licht backers will tell
Me about how great then secondary is now.
What a passive ass way to build a roster. Draft, strikeout, re-draft… that’s a Buc life.
Can the fans start giving their consensus for a draft pick? And I don’t want to hear about how we know nothing because we don’t play football. Our front office doesn’t know a damn thing either- as proofed by the last 11 years. You better believe if JPP got less than 10 sacks last year, I’d be screaming at Licht for taking 6 DBs in the first two rounds and no D-Line. BS is over. Show me the wins or step aside!
April 27th, 2019 at 8:21 am
The kicker to all of this
Don’t say kicker when it comes to the Bucs draft!! You will tempt fate!
April 27th, 2019 at 8:22 am
The delusional Joe’s first article of the day….. is what a breath of foul, tired air.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:22 am
When the new GM and HC comes in , a year or two MAX, we can do it all over again…including a new QB……the 5th year building around Jameis drafting in the top of the top of the draft and this is what we have…..I really feel sorry for Mike Evans …he’ll never see anything with this team and will be traded in a year or 2
April 27th, 2019 at 8:22 am
What did Bruce Arains say a few days ago? Wasn’t it “if you draft for needs, you get fired”, bye bye Bruce! ALL of the Bucs picks were reaches! Much higher rated players all across draft boards. The more things change,the more they stay the same.😣
April 27th, 2019 at 8:22 am
Alabama,
Give me a pas rusher for crying out loud! No lore secondary pieces or a mike. I want the Bucs to have a guy that can put the QB on his ass. Not a guy who can cover as the QB has all day to pick his nose and fire a dime to beat us.
No more BS. No more DBs. No more Licht being worse than Dominik and still being employed.
Bring back Jon robinson!
April 27th, 2019 at 8:24 am
Ed Oliver, Greedy Williams/Dalton Risner, and Darrell Henderson could all be Bucs right now.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:25 am
I also appreciate how fans are saying that this is Todd Bowles draft and they’re picking what he needs for his defense. Then I think back to what Joe said the other day. “Something he didn’t do in NY”. Hard for me to not believe that Bowles is nothing more than a poor man’s Leslie Frazier and we all know how that worked out for us.
By far the best pick last night was Dean! Not only does he have 3 ACL injuries but drafting a ST guy in the 2nd is genius.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:25 am
In a 3-4, no need to have as many Dlineman as in a 4-3. More roster spots will be given to both DBs and linebackers.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:25 am
Head scratching going on for sure.
But our secondary was terrible.
You can’t count on Hargreaves to stay healthy
Ryan Smith is nothing more then a 5th dB at this point
Grimes will retire.
We got no one at DB
Licht did admit MJ was wasted pick though
April 27th, 2019 at 8:26 am
5-11 gm building a 4-12 franchise
April 27th, 2019 at 8:26 am
Joe can you at least let me participate in the discussion? Come on bro! Appreciate it. Ty sir!
April 27th, 2019 at 8:27 am
D-line rarely makes an immediate impact and we do have some actual talent there….JPP, Nassib, Vea, McCoy?….along with experience/role players in Spence, Barret and Gholston. What are the odds a rookie was going to come in and out play JPP?….1% chance…..How about Nassib or Vea?….maybe a 10% chance.
Now lets look at the secondary…..what are the odds these guys come in and out perform anyone in our secondary?….Probably a 50% chance. Add in the fact that we have no depth there….3 more picks make sense. That unit needs competition the most, they were by far the weakest link.
Everything from this point on in the draft is for development….o-line, RB, LB…even kicker.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:28 am
Licht is a terrible poker player though.
He doesn’t know when to get a guy at the right spot
He takes a half round or round to soon unless we are drafting high enough to get a mike Evans or Devin white.
Other teams no when to move up too
Like Steelers / jags / pats / eagles
They always take the guy you want
Those teams jumped us to get Risner and others
April 27th, 2019 at 8:29 am
They need to get a guard from Oklahoma or tackle from Elon or olineman from Wisconsin
Get the running back from Kentucky.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:32 am
While Sean Bunting and Jamal Dean may not have been as good as Greedy Williams in College both have better upsides. I am just happy to finally have more speed on defense.
Also glad to see that the Bucs are serious about transiting from a predictable, zone, passive 4-3 to an attaching, proactive, blitzing 3-4.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:32 am
Could it be that MJ Stewart Type loving Jason soon to be fired Licht is trolling Bucs fans one more time!? What a crap GM. Pure bogusness from the biggest boneheaded, bonehead of them all. But people wanna Blame Jameis…. Fireeeee Licht!
April 27th, 2019 at 8:35 am
I no longer have the same good feeling about Bruce as I did before this draft, it appears the Bucs are drafting for need and are good with how bad our front lines are both offensively and defensively. A middle lineback and 2 corners wow, leaving loads of talent on the board to draft for need paying top 5 money to a MLB will create additional Cap problems for years to come. The gift that keeps on giving fir a non impact players yay it’s a bucs life for sure SOS from this organization hey maybe get some high school corners to add to the mix reminds me of the failed younger ugggh I see more meaningless games in Nov and Dec
April 27th, 2019 at 8:36 am
@TBBF … “This was Bowles’ plan and these are Bowles’ picks….pure and simple. Bowles is essentially covering Licht’s previous mistakes.”
i agree TBBF. Jason Licht has been relegated to ‘Jason, put down the eraser and just hand the card to the Commissioner’. BA & Todd Bowles did their assessment and guess what … with no money, the draft was the only real way they could address our NEEDS. They obviously felt the LB corp & Secondary needed to be addressed BEFORE our other NEEDS (and we have a bunch).
Will it work? Lord only knows, in 2019 at least. Another very young back 7 (or back 8?) probably doesn’t bode well for 2019 Super Bowl aspirations. Despite all the verbiage in past months, the Bucs ARE in a rebuilding mode, at least on defense & S/Ts. And we needed to be. Passing on some desperately needed talent upgrades in other positions stinks, but apparently BA & TB felt it was necessary. If they’re not here in 2021, we’ll know they were wrong.
Until we see how it all unfolds though, let’s just chock it up to the cost of playing ‘musical coaches’ since 2009 and hiring incompetent GMs with no real vision for TEAM-BUILDING. And oh ya, hope for the best.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:37 am
Typo youngry
April 27th, 2019 at 8:43 am
I think a lot of Bucs fans thought it would be Devin White of LaVonte David covering Kamara or McCaffrey out of the backfield…
I wonder now if it might be one of these guys from our defensive backfield that have a great speed.
It also seems like you need a lot of defensive backs to cover these Jet sweeps that have taken the NFL by surprise these last two years.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:45 am
All you people screaming about passing over Greedy do realize he was at one time slated a top 10 pick but was passed over by every team at least once. Now why is that?
Well, doesn’t like to tackle for one. Also, suspect character. Talks the talk but doesn’t back it up. Not a great team guy.
Fact is, Bunting is probably just the better player. Had to work for it and is hungry. Measurables were just as good as Greedy if not better.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:46 am
Glad I did not renew my season tickets after supporting the team for 40 years!!
April 27th, 2019 at 8:46 am
“There are no capable running backs currently on the roster.”
Not true and a huge exaggeration.
“Offensive line is thin.”
We have the starters and the guys who will replace the right side starters.
“The defensive line is thin and one year away from beginning to fully unravel, not that it was anything remotely close to a dominant force to begin with.”
Huge exaggeration. Jason Pierre-Paul is under contract until 2021, at which point he will probably retire.
Carl Nassib is in a contract year…and has to prove he can get better. Clearly he will have the chance. If he does, expect him to get an extension next year.
Vita Vea is under contract for years to come.
Gerald McCoy is under contract until 2022. It has only been media and fans who have said he will be cut, but he IS under contract. To me, it is now obvious he will remain a Buccaneer…whether he restructures or not. My guess is that his get-off is so good that Bowles wants him around.
So the defensive line is not thin.
It’s still possible we’ll see a DL pick today (actually I won’t see it because I have a reWedding today), but not anyone who will replace McCoy.
Will he be traded? Unlikely now, but possible. Considering we will be in Nickle 70% of the time, we need the position filled with a good player, and we didn’t invest one of the first two picks in one, so he’s staying.
Unless…
Last year Jason Licht acquired JPP in a trade (he became expendable to the Giants because they drafted a replacement, even though he was still a great player). It’s possible he expects another good trade for a great DT, or expects a good DT to be released because their position was drafted.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:51 am
Its funny how some of you give up on players after 1 season. Every year we see players break out in their 2nd 3rd and 4th season but with this team, they sky is falling after 1 year. Aparently Jared Goff should have been cut. Kyle Fuller, get rid of that guy. Kawann Short, cut that guy. Ronde Barber, Warren Sapp, John Lynch, Bryan Kelly cut those guys. All of them didn’t perform early and some for the first 3 years.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:52 am
Jason Bonzai Licht, you are by far THE WORST GM in the NFL, thank you once again for drafting a 5-11 team
April 27th, 2019 at 8:52 am
I loved every pick once I figured out what they were doing. Our greatest weakness was pass protection and I believe last night they went a long way toward fixing it . One thing for sure, Arian could care less about our unprofessional opinions, he is going to fix this mess and I for one support him 100 percent. And trust me Licht has very little to do with it.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:53 am
Most here kinda slow but it’s okay. The game is constantly changing or morphing like Jason Licht said. See,when I was saying months ago off the strength of what Mark Sherleth said on NFL live about defenses are being built from the back forward now and not from the front backwards I’m pretty sure I sounded kinda stupid right.. Right. Fantastic work thus Jason Licht. If anyone has Mark Sherleths twitter handle tweet him and ask him what thinks.
April 27th, 2019 at 8:54 am
😊y’all so slow.
April 27th, 2019 at 9:00 am
Duthsty Rhothdes Says
“Jason Bonzai Licht…”
You have no idea how much that hurts coming from a no account, bad spelling loser troll like you, Duthsty…
April 27th, 2019 at 9:04 am
Ill never bad mouth new guys. Always give them a shot. But Licht. That trade was terrible. Dropped that far for the 99th pick. Gota stand pat on 79 and 99. They say no then you take the RB they took. The one who averaged 8.3 ypc his college career. Im guessing then theyll send u those picks for him. Got hosed on that one.
April 27th, 2019 at 9:04 am
The silver lining is the schedule, by the time the team gets back to the Den of Depression week 10 we will be talking about another high draft pick next year maybe we can get another MLB in the top of the draft at this point I’m not even sure if we are going to play on the offensive side maybe do peewee style defense plays offense as well
April 27th, 2019 at 9:06 am
Why are you people even fans? lol.
Oh wait, some of you aren’t.
April 27th, 2019 at 9:07 am
Again
Go get a guard from Wisconsin or Oklahoma
Maybe the tackle from Elon
Running back from Kentucky
We still can address needs
As far as secondary goes , we do have a taller secondary now …that can run too …and prefers to play press coverage like Bowles wants
April 27th, 2019 at 9:08 am
4-12
Licht gets fired
Ariana re-retires
Jameis leaves in FA
April 27th, 2019 at 9:09 am
Good post Bonzai. Keep in mind we will play a base 3-4 but in nickel probably 50% of the time. We now have LBs that can fly and tackle. We have CBS’s that can fly and tackle. The DL of McCoy, JPP, Vea and Nassib is not a base 4 in nickel. If Spence can actually contribute as an outside backer which is what he was built for, they we have speed on the edge.
Everyone should know that talent will become available after the draft as teams thin their rosters. I would argue this defense is in much better shape than it was a year ago.
April 27th, 2019 at 9:10 am
Admin will take it as a personal slap in the face that Licht drafted a LB instead of an edge, the one position admin thinks is more important than any other. Then, by God, they don’t trade McCoy, someone they have annointed as dead. I expect virtually every article to have a negative slant because the actual GM didn’t agree with them and this will become, if it isn’t already, negativeBucfan.com.
April 27th, 2019 at 9:11 am
Coming soon. A kicker almost as 9ood as aguayo
April 27th, 2019 at 9:14 am
Licht’s press conference sounded like one after a Bucs loss. This guy contradicts himself every other sentence out of his mouth.
April 27th, 2019 at 9:16 am
NOSBOS Says:
April 19th, 2019 at 6:49 am
Ain’t no GM about to draft a player with technique as poor as Oliver’s in the top half of the draft in less he knows he’s on his way out the door real soon. Another quick first step interior D linemen. Film,watch it and show me where I’m wrong. I don’t care about some analyst or scout report. Film.
Speaking for us slow people you genius……..
FTR…..I didn’t want Oliver and am happy with White…….
BUT
Brandon Beane doesn’t look like he’s on his way out anytime soon either.
In fact, he did pretty well with his first 3 picks, check it out yourself NOSMAAL.
I’m pointing out one of your many over the top and incorrect declarations in hopes that you will do your annual disappearing act a little early this year.
April 27th, 2019 at 9:17 am
Danr you are hilarious and original. That’s only been said about 2000 times in here.
April 27th, 2019 at 9:18 am
The safety from Kentucky was interesting pick
Especially when deionte Thompson from Alabama was there and Chauncey Gardner Johnson from Florida.
April 27th, 2019 at 9:19 am
The running backs from Texas Am , Oklahoma , Kentucky and Stanford still available
April 27th, 2019 at 9:19 am
Can someone please explain what Licht’s job description as GM of the Bucs?
April 27th, 2019 at 9:20 am
Get guard Dru Samia from Oklahoma with next pick
April 27th, 2019 at 9:24 am
3-4 doesn’t require a lot of emphasis on the line? Tell that to wade Philip’s and the rams… had no problem resigning Aaron Donald (3tech) to a huge deal to play DE, then what do they do? Give Suh (another 3 tech) a giant deal to line up next to him. Was Von Miller, Malik Jackson, or Demarcus Ware just a waste? We’ll be content with Just JPP/Vea/Nassib and possibly McCoy? Who’s our Rushing LB/DE again??? Spence and Barrett as starters? Do we even have back ups for them?? Well at least we have a bunch of DB’s….
April 27th, 2019 at 9:27 am
For those saying that these are Arians and Bowels picks….that’s not much better considering their draft picks didn’t pan out very well in Arizona either. They got success from what was there and with free agency.
The Bucs have horrific talent evaluation….some of the worst in the league. Our draft picks rarely pan out. Look at our drafting history for the last 15 years, especially on defense. It’s a horror show.
This team does not draft good. That’s reality. Nothing has happened to suggest anything different this year.
April 27th, 2019 at 9:29 am
Jason Bonzai Licht, keep defending your 5-11 moves maybe in 2023 when your running the iowa barnstormers into the basement it will click that you are HORRIBLE at being a football guy
April 27th, 2019 at 9:30 am
I’m not at all happy with the positions or at least one of the picks. I have to wonder if Licht is intentionally NOT addressing the D line and O line so he can say it will take time and another draft (and buy him at least one more year as GM) as the new defensive backfield and LB corps he put in place this year gels. After all, they won’t fire Arians after just one year, right…and he may not last longer than two as HC.
As I’ve said. This isn’t a rebuild year only because the Bucs can’t afford to rebuild. Worse, it is looking more and more like a bridge to rebuilding. Next year’s needs will be QB, OL, DL, and RB. Year after it will be LB and WR again. I hope I’m wrong.
April 27th, 2019 at 9:32 am
I guess. Unsure about 3 dB. But I guess. Arians told Todd come to Tampa. Todd I’ll go if I get to pick all defense in the draft. Arians do whatever you want in that defense. Jason I drafted good dbs last couple of years. Todd sure… let me try again.
April 27th, 2019 at 9:43 am
BA told everyone this week he’s good with the front but work is needed on the back end. Licht told everyone last week that draft is deep for DBs. Todd Bowles is known to develop secondary. Maybe people can disagree with their assessment but they have been honest.
April 27th, 2019 at 9:45 am
Oh no! The sky is falling! We drafted two tall corners with speed and a safety! OMG! How dare they address a position of need! How dare they improve overall team speed!
Breathe people. Take the offseason in it’s entirety. Between the FA signings and the draft, we got better on defense. That doesn’t even take into consideration the epic upgrade in coaching.
April 27th, 2019 at 9:51 am
Bucsfanman, it’s not that we selected 3 DB’s that has me pissed. It’s the fact our current GM has spent 5 years trying to built a secondary and a new coaching staff came in an basically replaced it in 4 hours. Doesn’t make the Gm look to bright.
April 27th, 2019 at 9:54 am
D$&@ Douche,you got me.. Not! His name was one of the headlining names in this class not surprising someone actually took a chance early on the young man. Just delighted in the fact it wasn’t us.
April 27th, 2019 at 9:57 am
Dewey that’s not an “indictment “ of Jason Licht bro. Coaches want they’re guys so when draft time comes around in less you’re all pro anyone subject to being replaced or lowered on the Dept chart.
April 27th, 2019 at 9:59 am
@Bucsfanman,
Ok, so far through the Fa and the first 3 rounds of FA we still haven’t addressed the JACK/EDGE/OLB (whatever you wanna call it) position on defense. We might have 2 in Barrett and Spence (who I’ve barely see On the field since his rookie season). So my question to you is… are we not running any type of hybrid 3-4 at all? Are we staying a 4-3?? That’s fine with me but if they planned at all to sprinkle in a 3-4 then we have only 2 bodies none could be considered reliable starters. If that’s not a position of need then what is? Are we gonna ask JPP and Nassib to play with there hands in the air (something I have never seen them do)? Idk… lots of questions… and a paper thin DLine to go along with it.
April 27th, 2019 at 10:00 am
@BFFL….those are good points. Maybe some of us just disagree with the coaches and GM. I’ll add though, Licht it is truly drafting more guys in the same position as last two years, who have missed…so let’s hope he’s getting better input from the new guys.
April 27th, 2019 at 10:03 am
First 3 rounds of the draft*
April 27th, 2019 at 10:06 am
The kicker draft joke is pretty old now, there are plenty other reasons to criticize JL. Personally, these guys are Bucs now, so I will support them. The theme is simple, production. Last years DBs had no production coming out of college, these guys did not create turnovers and it showed last year.
April 27th, 2019 at 10:09 am
ManzielMadness- I get you. We are far from a complete football team right now. It’s just that we only have so many picks. We’re not going to flip a roster in one offseason. We are staffed as a 4-3 and attempting to convert to a 3-4.
I’m with you guys in that we are not yet complete. I’m just simply stating that we got a lot better on the defensive side of the ball from where we were last year.
I also believe that this staff has evaluated this roster differently. It might be someone or something we haven’t seen yet.
I’m not alarmed by this draft. Plus, we still have a few rounds left. It begs mentioning that we have found late-round gems in the past. Perhaps that’s where we get our guy.
April 27th, 2019 at 10:15 am
Dewey- Perhaps. It’s also a new staff so like NOSBOS said, they want “their guys”.
I am on record as not understanding why GM Licht was retained. This situation is different. This is a strong coaching presence with a lot of say and sway. I want to see how this pans out.
April 27th, 2019 at 10:18 am
@Bucsfanman
Let’s hope so, it just looks more and more like we’re gearing up for a 2020 run. Praying I’m wrong lol.
April 27th, 2019 at 10:18 am
Nos, we have the largest staff and an all star staff at that. Shouldn’t they be able to coach up the players they inherited?
April 27th, 2019 at 10:28 am
ManzielMadness- Hey man, you’re not the only one crossing their fingers!
I come from a Hokie (Virginia Tech) family so I have probably a lot more faith in Arians than most. Still, it’s a far better coaching staff than last year. Keep the faith brother!
April 27th, 2019 at 10:32 am
@ManzielMadness
Just a thought, but why do you assume JPP, GMC and Nassib can’t be edge rushers in a 3-4?
McCoy has a fast get-off and has been cross training at DE. He’s a big, fast guy. JPP can do the job obviously. And Nassib proved last year he at least has potential. Now, Joe or someone might say Nassib has been in the league for years, and if he had anything, he would have shown it by now.
And I would counter that by saying he was playing his third year last year, and the third year, to those of us who understand the concept of player development, is when a player is expected to take a leap forward.
So the edge in a 3-4 is covered.
The only reason I saw to draft DL was if McCoy was released or traded, which they clearly do not intend to do now.
April 27th, 2019 at 10:42 am
Todd Bowles had a couple if good years with the Cards and completely failed with the Jets. Why would anyone put a lot of faith in his ability? Especially to give him control of day 1 and 2 at the draft?
April 27th, 2019 at 10:57 am
Next draft pick Jones Smith from Whatsamatta U ! Problems solved .Frustrated.
April 27th, 2019 at 11:00 am
11-5!! Here We Go!! I mean that’s 11 CB’s and 5 S’s…..right? Am i right? I’m right……right?
April 27th, 2019 at 11:12 am
NOSBOS;
So in essence what your saying is we are about four years away from playoff calibre football.
Wins are made in the trenches,some things just dont change !!
April 27th, 2019 at 2:29 pm
@Dewey … “we have the largest staff and an all star staff at that. Shouldn’t they be able to coach up the players they inherited?” Excellent question Dewey; some would answer YES while others would pick NO. I’m in the middle … IT DEPENDS. Mostly on if the players they inherited fit their defensive scheme. Also on obvious weaknesses; weak links tend to get picked on by offenses & DCs end up compensating, which screws up the whole defense IMO. But even beyond that, do our starters have an injury history where they rarely finish the season? Do we have adequate depth if our starters seem to be injury prone? As I said … IT DEPENDS.
In the Bucs case, I think we’ve got a decent group of starters. Our key rotational players have been mediocre IMO, and our depth players seem to lag way behind. Part of the depth issue is probably coaching (I’m sure it’s hard to get everyone on a 53-man roster up-to-game-speed each week with limited practice time). BA’s concept of ‘2 practices going on simultaneously’ combined with his large staff intrigues me, and it may well be the answer to getting as many as possible ready for the season & games. Only time will tell I guess.