NFL Suits Back Jason Licht
May 6th, 2019
Applauded.
Pretty cool insight into what other NFL team execs think of the Bucs draft.
Of course, the draft will likely be made or crippled by how inside linebacker Devin White turns out. Fairly or unfairly, he will always be judged against how Josh Allen and Ed Oliver pan out, the two critical talents the Bucs turned the other way on in drafting White.
Hall of Fame voter Mike Sando of BSPN has a lot of solid contacts in league circles, specifically suits with teams. He talked to many of them for feedback on how each viewed other teams’ drafts. Let’s just say a couple had favorable remarks about the draft Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht had, versus how many Bucs fans view it.
One suit claims Licht skipping over Allen to get White was a wise choice.
“I love Devin White and think he is one of the top players in the draft,” a GM said. “I love everything about him — the person, how he plays the game. He is a better football player than Josh Allen.”
An exec from a team with pass-rush needs said Allen wasn’t as high on their board as outsiders might have suspected.
“He does not play violently and might just be a stand-up linebacker at the end of the day,” this exec said.
This makes Joe feel a little better. But this still doesn’t evaporate the gnawing feeling the Bucs passed up on needed pass-rushing help.
Now with Jason Pierre-Paul in who-knows-what condition after his one-car mishap last week (yes, the memory of Kendell Beckwith’s wreck is fresh in Joe’s mind, as is B.J. Askew’s), the need for pass rushing help is even keener.
May 6th, 2019 at 9:11 am
I Bet the Saints, Flacons and Panthers all LOVE our draft and Jason Licht
May 6th, 2019 at 9:14 am
Of course other suits love bucs and licht…. easy win year in and year out… bucs have never been a threat to nfl teams outside of grudens glory year
May 6th, 2019 at 9:19 am
White, Barrett, David – that’s a big upgrade over last year’s linebackers.
Bucs wanted to take an OLineman early, but Bills jumped them-
Defense will be better (couldn’t be worse- Falcons scored 34 in a little over a 1/2 in last year’s final game)
If they can replace Dotson and get one of the young players to play RG, run game has to be better.
Alot of ifs- that’s what off season is about, Arians and Bowles are big upgrades over previous regime.
If they didn’t take White, LB’s would be a mess…
May 6th, 2019 at 9:20 am
Josh Allen has one move, speed rush around the outside. He has no inside counter move. He got absolutely gobbled up when teams ran the ball his way.
It’s hard to rush the QB when teams are averaging 5 yards a carry on you and the middle of the field us wide open for short passes, but…..fast guy on one edge solve all problems.
May 6th, 2019 at 9:26 am
So when a nobody @$$ fan like myself says it you can’t comprehend what I was saying about one trick pony @$$ josh Allen but a suits says it and you feel better. Says a lot about your eye for football players Joe.
May 6th, 2019 at 9:28 am
Leave it to the JBFers to take a positive and turn it into a negative.
May 6th, 2019 at 9:29 am
The Dline coach said at his presser last week it is much easier to go from 3 point to standup and is hard doing things the other way around. Hate to sound down on the young man but josh Allen about to have hard time to playing primarily in the 3 point stance.
May 6th, 2019 at 9:31 am
Let’s not listen to real NFL GMs. I’d much rather hear the opinions of some draftniks that watch highlight clips to make their projections.
May 6th, 2019 at 9:32 am
The Bucs had one of the best drafts in the entire league. The Bucs got Bigger,faster and more atheletic. Add in they drafted high character football players. And got a lot deeper in the secondary where those in the know now know where you start building your defense in this new 7 on 7 pass happy league.
May 6th, 2019 at 9:32 am
I told you these same points with Josh Allen before the draft. He isn’t physical enough, and he just runs around. He isn’t dominant. Brian Burns to the panthers was a much better pick for a DE even.
May 6th, 2019 at 9:34 am
And don’t get me back started on ol Ed Oliver.
May 6th, 2019 at 9:37 am
Why not expect Devin White to outperform (difficult to determine because of different position)…..but expect him to outperform a host of other draft picks taken after #5…..
How about let’s expect Jameis to outperform all those taken with the #2 pick on?
May 6th, 2019 at 9:44 am
Personally, I loved the Devin White pick…
Every year everyone talks up these DLinemen, Pass-rushers in particular…But honestly speaking how many of them picked in the top 10 actually come in the league and dominate…they actually have a higher bust rate than many people realize…
On the other hand, when you have a LB highly rated, they usually come in and make an instant impact…I can’t even remember the last time a LB was even rated in the top 5 of a draft…
With White you get the trifecta…a big fast kid with a ridiculous motor while can run sideline to sideline, put pressure on the QB, and drop into coverage…Top it of with Todd Bowles as the DC and it’s a no brainier…This kids has DROY potential…
Hats off to BA and Light for have the gonads to make the pick despite all of the other options and outside noise…
May 6th, 2019 at 9:52 am
only time will tell
May 6th, 2019 at 10:05 am
Regarding White. He was a very good pick. A convergence of a top 3 player on the draft board and a direct team need. Saying if Allen becomes an impact end that means the pick was bad is like saying Mike Evans’ pick was horrible because Aaron Donald is the best interior d-lineman since Sapp.
May 6th, 2019 at 10:10 am
passthebuc
i agree….only time will tell
GO BUCS!!!!
May 6th, 2019 at 10:16 am
“Birds of a feather stick together”
May 6th, 2019 at 10:19 am
Of course the do…the fraternity is lifetime unless to you something legally off field to embarrass “The Shield”…on field embarrass NO Problem!…someone has to lose so another can win… makes NO difference the the League …Licht is just a member of the cast
May 6th, 2019 at 10:24 am
Jpp had a VERY weird Instagram post. That situation could be worse than we thought.
May 6th, 2019 at 10:48 am
So whoever this GM was using the term “love” to describe his admiration for Devin White speaks volume of how I’m sure many felt about him as a prospect entering the draft. I missed the beginning but I saw the pic of the players on that stage. They placed Devin White front and center in the middle for a reason.
May 6th, 2019 at 10:59 am
It’s funny man I just made it to my job,I overhear a co-worker that I know is a giant fan say “if we woulda got that linebacker that the Bucs picked up we woulda been alright”. 😊what part y’all missing.
May 6th, 2019 at 11:14 am
A few things here…
First, wasn’t it @Joe who pined and pined and whined and salivated and vouched for this Josh Allen “DE” for MONTHS leading up to draft night Buc faithful?????!! Yup! Now, conveniently, @Joe “feels a little better”, by supposed “suits” giving their personnel opinions again disproving @Joe’s pre-draft player preferences dead wrong! Lol. Yup. Kinda like Manziel, no??..
Next, anyone in top 10 in the personnel draft world could see with obvious clarity that a wise person would select White OVER Allen, so that discernment doesn’t make Licht…anything. At all.
Lastly..while JPP had a good year last year for sure and I dig the dude’s overall impact on our team, could you all imagine if we had to release/trade JPP AND GMC, how much healthier out cap situation would then BE?!? While then subsequently trading for a mid-tier DE/LB to replace 60% of JPP’s influence.
That would be sage…there.
Keep an eye on player activity starting Wednesday, May 8th. No longer does player acquisition factor into the Comp Pick formula! Eagles, Rams, Patriots will go nuts then. So should Gump Stump Licht!
May 6th, 2019 at 11:23 am
Again we go to the poker analogy, the other players have nothing but praise for Gump. They do anything they can to encourage him and make the Glazers believe he is doing a stand up job.
Then when ever they can they steal his lunch money.
Fire Licht tonight!
May 6th, 2019 at 11:39 am
Suits from other teams are supposed to hate the draft. Fireeeee Licht!
May 6th, 2019 at 12:31 pm
been saying the whole draft process that josh allen is way over hyped by media and fans. he doesn’t have that elite bend and flexibility that premier pass rushers have. and you watch the tape and you see most his sacks come from free runs to the qb or just terrible technique from the o linemen. montez sweat falls into that same category. way over hyped by media and fans and it all basically started because a 40 time. but apparently according to an article written on a different site, the bucs values sweat as the 2nd best edge pass rusher in this draft and would have been the pick if white was gone. that’s down right scary. i’ve long suspected that jason licht struggles to evaluate edge defenders and this draft class basically confirms it. between having sweat ranked higher on their board than guys like burns, ferrell, allen & the fact that licht and their staff of scouts believes anthony nelson their 4th round draft pick can play the OLB/ edge role for them? yikes. makes sense when you really think about it though. why else would licht consistently refuse to draft edge rushers when the bucs had one of the worst pass rushes in the nfl his whole time he has been GM?
May 6th, 2019 at 12:39 pm
Look at the bust rates of DE’s taken in the top 15
Compare that to LBS.
It’s startling.
Bucs made the right choice.
Pass rush comes in many different forms.
May 6th, 2019 at 12:45 pm
It does kind of suck for Josh Allen that he’s going to a 4-3 team since he’s a much more perfect fit at OLB in a 3-4. Will be interesting to see how that goes and if they end up Noah Spencing him in Jacksonville.
When I watched his tape it did seem the vast majority of his sacks or tackles for losses came on completely unblocked speed rushes.
But his speed rush is not like Von Miller in terms of the bend IMO. He’s more lanky / rigid / upright in his approach. He can do decent fighting blocks in the run game but is not a force or anything in those situations.
He didn’t show many counter moves other than a little power to speed but it was mostly speed. But didn’t see many rip / spin moves/ etc at all in his tape compared to a guy like Brian Burns who won his battles in so many different ways (pure speed / pure power / power to speed or vice versa /spin move / rip moves / general hand technique)
We will see. It’s going to be an entirely different look on defense this year with everyone being used differently pretty much. Can’t wait to have my sheep questions answered whatever those are.
May 6th, 2019 at 4:08 pm
“This makes Joe feel a little better. But this still doesn’t evaporate the gnawing feeling the Bucs passed up on needed pass-rushing help.” – J0E
The fault in your point there is that White actually is pass-rushing help. I’m thinking he will rack up some sacks this year.
He’s a blitzer, and Bowles defense is heavy blitz…meaning most of the time.
Very little 3-4.
Very little 4-3.
Lots of Dime.
May 6th, 2019 at 4:13 pm
@Jackwagon
Whatever it takes to steer Joe away from being all negative, I’m all for.
The past few months has been one extreme or the other with very little balance.
I miss balance.
May 6th, 2019 at 4:42 pm
Joe why don’t you send the intern on a road trip to get the scoop on JPP
May 6th, 2019 at 5:55 pm
Of course other execs are going to say Licht nailed it. They want the Glazers to keep him around a long time so we never succeed. They probably said the Browns were the best managed teams in previous years as well.
May 6th, 2019 at 6:13 pm
“Yeah dude good job”
Lmaoooo this is how you keep bad teams bad.
May 6th, 2019 at 9:01 pm
Now go sign Jacques Patrick. 6’3 225 RB.
Give the kid a chance. We need more tough running backs who can run between the tackles and catch the ball. H’es a 3 down back in the NFL.
Come on Bruce
May 6th, 2019 at 10:21 pm
@firethecannons…
Awesum! Lmao. Just awesum. The intern, who doesn’t capitalize “Intern” in his title.
Lord knows @Joe won’t get the 411 on JPP so someone better…
May 7th, 2019 at 12:51 pm
In the end, Licht will be judged on his 2nd-4th Rd draft picks; high first round picks are not that difficult. Last year’s pick of Senior bowl “slow-star” M.J Stewart over Duke Dawson (Patriots) and this year’s picks of small school Bunting over SEC Greedy (Browns) at corner, as well as taking safety Edwards over safety Chauncey Gardner (Saints) will be the picks in my opinion that will determine this GM’s fate. Not going to even mention the damn kicker we took in the 2nd, oops, couldn’t help myself.