The Bucs & Diontae Johnson
May 16th, 2019
Draft lovers and hardcore fans love, love, love to know what their favorite team’s draft board looked like.
It’s rare to get a good glimpse.
Who did the Bucs like in the draft? Who did they not?
Well, perhaps a piece of insight comes from Jake Arians, the former NFL kicker and son of Bucco Bruce Arians. Joe went through the recent TD Fantasy podcast co-hosted by the younger Arians and, while he rarely talks about the Bucs, he did say he knows the team was very high on the University of Toledo receiver that went to the Steelers in Round 3, Diontae Johnson.
Johnson, was a standout returner in addition to his receiving ability. Pittsburgh traded up in Round 3 and snagged him four slots before the Bucs traded down and out of their third-round pick with the Rams, who proceeded to draft Memphis running back Darrell Henderson (Yes, typing that makes Joe a little ill).
Jake Arians is close with his dad, and Bucs general manager Jason Licht has said publicly that he is a good friend of Jake. So Joe absolutely trusts Arians’ sources.
Would the Bucs have drafted Johnson if he were there?
Another name to watch and think about as this 2019 season unfolds.
Derrick Brooks: “Clearly, Everybody At One Buc Place Was Not Happy About That Decision”
The dynamic TAMPA TWO duo is back! Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks and Sage JoeBucsFan.com columnist Ira Kaufman are talking about how the Bucs were dealt a blow last month and its impact going forward. TAMPA TWO is presented by Caldeco Air Conditioning and Heating.
Great stuff from The Identity Tampa Bay and JoeBucsFan. Enjoy!!
May 16th, 2019 at 1:48 pm
should have drafted henderson…. that cardinal braintrust has put the cardinals in the situation they are now as buccanneers west
May 16th, 2019 at 2:00 pm
Well now that P.P. got busted for ahem, bad pee pee, maybe we can get him for a song……
May 16th, 2019 at 2:06 pm
So far as kick returner, the Bucs should have gone after undrafted Kelven McKnight. Small school secret.
Broncos did get him.
According to his mother and uncle, who I see at least once a week, they are cross training him at multiple positions.
May 16th, 2019 at 2:34 pm
This Diontae Johnson is a local kid too, Played Highschool ball in ruskin for lennard, wonder if we do take him in the 3rd round if he is still there
May 16th, 2019 at 2:50 pm
Yeah Henderson was probably my favorite back after Sanders. ugh.
Would have been the worst case situation to take a WR though in R3. Give me 2 defensive players at any position over that all day
May 16th, 2019 at 3:31 pm
Why wait for Jake Arians when the day of the draft Bruce Arians called the Steelers to ‘discuss’ the pick…
Steelers WRs coach Darryl Drake on selecting Diontae Johnson No. 66: “I know for a fact that Tampa Bay was going to take him with their next pick. I got cussed out by Tampa Bay’s head coach (Bruce Arians) who called us some names for taking him. That was his guy.”
Jeremy Fowler
@JFowlerESPN
https://twitter.com/JFowlerESPN/status/1121969318932172801
May 16th, 2019 at 3:33 pm
He’s on another team.
Irrelevant to the Bucs.
Steelers grabbed him much earlier than any other team predicted (obviously).
May 16th, 2019 at 3:48 pm
Was a wideout the most pressing 3rd round need?
It’s hard to be positive going into this season.
May 16th, 2019 at 4:12 pm
R.I.P Steve Duemig……
May 16th, 2019 at 4:29 pm
I’ll take Dean & Edwards over a WR……for sure.
May 16th, 2019 at 4:30 pm
Just shows if they were going to take him, BA doesn’t draft for need.
May 16th, 2019 at 4:57 pm
well again a waszed offseason..
wgat could and should have been is not as important as:
Suckaneers are build the Licht-way, instead of the right way:
it is what it is..
Suckaneers suck because of the FrontOffice
they suck at talent evaluating and @ Roster building
join the
Fire Licht Tonight
movement !!
May 16th, 2019 at 6:04 pm
Fun anectdote…
The steelers GM tweeted about BA calling him immediately after drafting D Johnson in the 3rd and calling him a MF’er for selecting Johnson and then we traded down.
Steelers GM said he’s knows for a fact that we were taking Diontae Johnson with our 3rd rd pick if they didn’t…
I like how our draft ended up playing out, though.
May 16th, 2019 at 10:03 pm
Morgus the Magnificent Says:
“R.I.P Steve Duemig……”
.
.
Steve D died??
May 17th, 2019 at 11:56 am
Nice catch HFX Buc!
May 17th, 2019 at 12:03 pm
Has it ever occurred to anybody that Henderson wasn’t as appealing to some teams as you guys might think? He was passed over multiple times by 31 teams. Is he really that valuable? Really that of a can’t miss prospect? He’s a speed back that didn’t test especially speedy. He’s smallish straighline guy that got lots of free runs into the secondary due to scheme and blocking.
I’m personally not worried if fans don’t get the recognizable names they wanted. Bruce Arians has made chicken salad with chicken $3!+ far more times than you can remember. He resurrected Carson Palmer’s long dead career, created David Johnson from nothing and took one of the least talented teams (on paper) in the NFL and led them to 10 wins multiple times…. he took the Colts from pretender to contender (and back to pretender when he left) with next to no talent other than Andrew Luck. I trust the guy, I trust his eye for talent, and I trust his coaching. He has far greater trust from me than all the guys commenting here… the same guys that thought we should train up for Trent Richardson, wanted Mo Claiborne, loved Johnny Football, thought Adrian Clayborn was a good idea at the time, and all the other guys that really don’t what they’re talking about. Bruce Arians has a proven track record. The rest of you guys have opinions that are subject to change at the drop of a hat and are easily influenced by any/everything.