Perspective From Hargreaves
July 31st, 2019
Old man.
Holy smokes, it is hard to believe but 2016 first-round pick Vernon Hargreaves is now the oldest member of the Bucs secondary (not counting PED-popped Ryan Smith). And in a make-or-break final year of his rookie contract (unless he is extended), Hargreaves seems reborn.
After a solid rookie season — don’t give Joe this noise how he was targeted so much. No s(p)it Sherlock, Brent Grimes was playing opposite him, what sane offensive coordinator wouldn’t target him? — Hargreaves is best known for not being able to answer the bell. His last two seasons have been marred by injuries.
But if there was ever a player who seems reborn with defensive coordinator Todd Bowles it is Hargreaves.
In the third day of padded practices yesterday, Hargreaves shined against the Bucs offense with two picks, one while covering O.J. Howard. Hargreaves got in front of Howard, did his best Michael Jordan impersonation by soaring above the ground, and hauled in a pick.
It was beautiful.
One reason for the turnaround, said Hargreaves, is the style of defense Bowles employs. For fans who may be going to practice in the coming days for the first time, it is jarring to the senses compared to the last five years of dreck to see defensive backs flying all over the place like angry wasps.
And apparently, this style fits Hargreaves just fine.
Even though Hargreaves has had a nice first week of training camp, to paraphrase America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, Hargreaves mentioned to Joe yesterday it isn’t about that. Playing strong in July is good but it matters how you play in September and beyond.
“It is a long camp, you gotta finish out this camp strong and you know [Bowles is] just letting us have fun and we’re having a good time.”
Hargreaves was beaming after practice, as he should with the day he turned in. Hargreaves mentioned that while practice now is fun, it is also exhausting. And that’s the way he expects it.
“Practice is always gonna be hard, then again that’s what your goal should be,” Hargreaves said. “That’s how you should make it You should be dead tired of practice [when it ends] and that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to make practice as hard as possible. We’re trying to make sure practice is perfect.”
The thing that impresses Joe about the pass defense in the first week of camp is these guys, with three rookies, are making life tough for perhaps the best set of wide receivers and tight ends in the NFL.
In the pass-happy NFC South that is loaded with star quarterbacks and excellent receivers, the fact the Bucs’ secondary is often dictating play in practice is a good sign to Joe.
Vernon Hargreaves has been the best corner in camp. Another spectacular interception. Comes against Blaine Gabbert during full team. #bucstrainingcamp @VH3Sucs @#bucs pic.twitter.com/0fHmGlopLu
— Kevin ODonnell Fox13 (@ODonnellFox13) July 30, 2019
HIT GOLF BALLS WITH DERRICK BROOKS! For a small donation to Derrick Brooks Charities (less than $30), you can hit three golf shots with Derrick Brooks and get your picture taken Tuesday, Aug. 6, at Topgolf.
It’s part of the 727to813 campaign at The Identity Tampa Bay. Listen to Derrick tell you all about it and reserve your golf time with him right here.
July 31st, 2019 at 12:02 pm
VH3 was a confident cat in college …
July 31st, 2019 at 12:05 pm
Spectacular might be a stretch, it wasn’t the hardest INT to make, but on the bright side he didn’t wag that damn finger!
July 31st, 2019 at 12:14 pm
The way I saw it he got beat deep in man to man by a TE and if the ball wasn’t under thrown by 5 yards then….but wtfdik
Let me see him shut down ME13 bc he’ll be asked to shut down Julio Jones who’s on a mission for 3k yards then maybe I’ll buy-in
July 31st, 2019 at 12:17 pm
The real fans…(oops I meant the sheep) saw this coming a loooong time ago. YAAAAWN.
Its coaching!!!!!
July 31st, 2019 at 12:19 pm
DB55
Yup
July 31st, 2019 at 12:21 pm
way under thrown. OJ never had a chance. He was beat with a decent throw.
July 31st, 2019 at 12:25 pm
The under throw wasn’t VH3’s problem a play was there to be made and he made it. Good to see he still has those hops, just like he did back at UF. Ya see you ain’t gotta be 6’2 when you got that type of spring.
July 31st, 2019 at 12:26 pm
Gawd I can’t wait, so many of you about to eat your lil dumb @$$ words.
July 31st, 2019 at 12:27 pm
you can’t fix short, slow and stupid…. julio jones will eat this kid up. wasting time with this guy simple as that.
July 31st, 2019 at 12:35 pm
Young VH3 really clicks to Bowles defense and stays healthy in the regular season would be awesome. Could be a great teacher for this entire young DB squad. Once again, believe it when I see it.
KEEP THE FAITH!!! GO BUCS!!!
July 31st, 2019 at 12:40 pm
And yes OJ would have to pull a 180 and slide into home plate to catch that ball, but nothing wrong with good defensive plays.
July 31st, 2019 at 12:50 pm
Ya, underthrown a bit, but the guy jump up about 4 ft. That’s what impressed me.
July 31st, 2019 at 1:02 pm
Small, and not good long speed but he has really quick feet.
Should have never been a first round pick but glad to hear he is playing better
July 31st, 2019 at 1:05 pm
It is no coincidence that BA is reversing the fortunes of most of the Buc Players that so many of our pollsters thought were busts and should have been cut before the season. That is how he has turned around the losing cultures in the first year everywhere he has been as an OC to a HC. I remember the star QB of the Steelers when he was a rookie and I couldn’t believe how quickly he developed into a Franchise QB and won a Super Bowl. It was miraculous! And it was no accident. It was BA as his OC! And BA was the miracle man the first year everywhere he has gone. I know of no other NFL Football Coach in history that has had that amazing success his first year everywhere they have gone. That is why I chose “BA Fan” as my name and BA still has that magic and has loaded this program with younger Coaches he has mentored so that our program can stay on top even when he has to retire some day. Every True Fan should be grateful we had Licht and Jameis and lots of players with undeveloped promise that Licht brought us and that got BA here as our HC! Those who have sneered at BA and made fun of him as stale biscuit, etc., will need to hide under a rock when this season is over! You hear less and less posts from them as this camp has played out so far. Jones is playing so well we should be happy we didn’t waste our third pick on small school Henderson and would have lost out on Bunting and Dean! BA and Licht knew best!
July 31st, 2019 at 1:19 pm
Lets give VH3 for making the athletic play, but on the real.
That ball was way underthrown and the receiver was wide open if JW would of led him.
We have seen time and time again with JW underthrowing his receivers and is enlarge part the reason for so many turnovers and the teams low YAC.
Just think Brees is not going to underthrow that play. Then there is no pick and it is either a big gain or a TD.
July 31st, 2019 at 1:28 pm
glad he made the play but a decent qb throws a td. Who was qb? Hope vh3 does pan out but if you look closely at his technique on man there it was horrible and he peeked in at qb then lost OJ which is why he was beat so bad
July 31st, 2019 at 1:36 pm
for the clowns talking about “lets see him do it against JJ or MT or ME”, you think a rookie could do a better job defending those guys?…lol….
better yet, name 5 CB’s that can shut down JJ, MT or ME……
VHG is finally playing in a scheme that fits his skill set…..
folks are right….we do have the dumbest and weirdest fan base in the nfl…..a player shines and folks bash him…..player doesnt produce and they bash him, the GM and the DC…..
i wonder what some of you would say if joe wrote an article saying VHG was been getting burnt…..lol….yall would probably be making the same comments you are now…..
GO BUCS!!!!!
July 31st, 2019 at 1:38 pm
folks saying he was beat….lol….nawl….more like he baited the QB…..
GO BUCS!!!!
July 31st, 2019 at 1:40 pm
It’s funny that so many of y’all are breaking down this clip trying to dissect it and shrug off the improvement of Vernon. Last I checked the article says he has done more then just this one play and has been standing out.
Maybe you were at the practice and disagree and that’s fair. If not I’ll take the word of the guy who watched him all week. Ira even mentioned Hargreaves looking good so it’s not just Joe.
I’ll have fun waiting for next week’s game and expecting Hargreaves to come as advertised. Y’all have fun film studying these mini clips that only even showed the last 1/4second of what Vernon did on that play.
July 31st, 2019 at 1:45 pm
Wise words BA FAN. Everywhere he’s been he’s produced early and fast. Facts!!!
July 31st, 2019 at 1:54 pm
It is still way too early and a lotta work needs to be done. But the results of this new coaching staff are looking very promising.
Hearing good signs from Hargreaves & Spence is encouraging. We are even hearing some things about RoJo. Could you even imagine if they could actually develope a OL player and give us a RG this year?
These are the exact things I wanted to see from the last staff that never happened. Now Bruce is taking these same players and getting early results. On top of that he is grooming his own drafted players and I’ve heard good things about Mike Edwards and Bunting so far………This defense could really make some strides this year and will hugely be due to coaching……..and I haven’t even mentioned the savior yet.
July 31st, 2019 at 1:58 pm
Okay first off, Blaine Gabbert threw the pass, not Jameis. Stop looking for reasons to blame Jameis, the desperative need to do so is getting sick. Second, if you look at OJ’s hand placement as VHIII’s jumped to make the play you’ll see he was expecting the ball to hit him right in the #s, which to me means the trajectory of the ball was just fine. Could the ball have been thrown a little higher, sure. But the ball was more than accurate enough for OJ to catch that and take it into the end zone. Give credit when credit is due. VHIII made one hell of a play, a play he probably wouldn’t have made in the scheme in year’s past. To end, Some of you are so anxious to see some of these players fail and it’s ridiculous. No quarterback in this league is perfect and all are prone to mistakes, even on completions. At least the DBs are attacking balls now and making our QBs and talented WR core work for every reception. None of you could probably make the same play anyway on your best day
July 31st, 2019 at 2:12 pm
Love it! Reborn! Stay healthy. Most important thing.
July 31st, 2019 at 2:14 pm
In college vh had issues with anyone with speed or moves.
Amari Cooper killed him to name one which is okay he killed a lot of people
Ive just never seen a high first round pick get crushed so much in college
July 31st, 2019 at 2:23 pm
“He’s letting us have fun!”
Can you imagine how depressing it had to be for aggressive football players to play a soft-cushion zone, play after play, completion after completion, score after score, game after game?
I’m surprised more Buc defenders weren’t on the NFL unauthorized drug protocol.
But then again, if Dirk Koetter (who I liked personally) hadn’t been loyal to Mike Smith, this team would not have The Alpha Bruce and his excellent staff today, the silver lining to a dark cloud.
And thank God not one coach was retained.
Maybe the Glazers need to bring back the “It’s a New Day in Tampa Bay” promo…
July 31st, 2019 at 2:25 pm
Diesel
All due respect, but my 15 yr old could’ve made that play running around in shorts….
July 31st, 2019 at 2:32 pm
We should all be hoping that VHIII has a great year. Extend that a bit … we should all hope that EVERY Buc has a great year.
I like the way that Zach described it in yesterday’s notes: “O.J. Howard vs Vernon Hargreaves: Hargreaves lines up in the nickel and keeps pace with Howard. Blaine Gabbert steps and zips it to Howard but Hargreaves skies for the ball and comes away with the pick! Incredible athleticism by Hargreaves, who continues to have a stellar camp. After the play, Hargreaves makes his way over to the crowd and spins the ball on the ground, getting them fired up.”
Kudos Zach. Not sure I’m down with this ‘spinning the ball on the ground’ act though (probably penalty in season?). Like my college hockey coach used to tell us about excessive celebrations after we’d score a goal … “Act like you’ve been there before”.
July 31st, 2019 at 2:33 pm
Destinjohny
“Small, and not good long speed but he has really quick feet.”
Agreed. He looked great in the nickel for the two games he played last year.
And this is gonna be a fresh ass rotation of this young crew that Bowles can probably make about a million plays with.
July 31st, 2019 at 2:41 pm
That was Blaine building VH3 confidence, because that ball was definitely under thrown. Not saying Vernon, couldn’t have closed and you make the play that is there, still though
July 31st, 2019 at 2:52 pm
nothing spectacular about that int but being that he didn’t get up and dance or finger wag was something special.
July 31st, 2019 at 3:00 pm
Wow what a bunch of sad negative nellies here lol
July 31st, 2019 at 3:00 pm
had one of the rookies made that play, folks would be saying “trade/cut/release VHG, the rookies made a great play”….lol….
@diesel said it best:Some of you are so anxious to see some of these players fail and it’s ridiculous.
GO BUCS!!!!
July 31st, 2019 at 3:04 pm
My point exactly jmarkbuc, your son can make the play not you. And we’re talking pads. And since you’re bigging up your son so much, what high school is he playing at so we can all see where his “budding” career takes him? I hope he turns into something and doesn’t receive the same nonsense in threads like you’ve shown players in this team smh
July 31st, 2019 at 3:09 pm
Y’all are talking about an underthrown ball but none of you are likely to still make the play under the same circumstances. I swear I’d pay top dollar to see some you fools strap up and get on the field too. I don’t care what your kids can do in shorts btw \(-_-)/
July 31st, 2019 at 3:15 pm
RIP Nick Buoniconti.
I remember that perfect season like it was yesterday.
July 31st, 2019 at 3:29 pm
BA FAN, this is an example of how huge the BA signing was. No sooner than the ink dried on the contract river boat ron announced they were switching to a 3/4. ron a former member of the 85 bears has never been associated with a 3/4. Guess he trying to trash @$$ cam prepared for what’s coming.
July 31st, 2019 at 3:37 pm
Cobraboy Says:
“Maybe the Glazers need to bring back the “It’s a New Day in Tampa Bay” promo…”
I have a white T-shirt from the early 90s that’s still in good shape – from the Wyche era. Just wore it the other day. Seems relevant to this year’s team.
Its got dark orange/red print on the front that says – “A New Attitude – Tampa Bay Football”. And on the back in orange and dark orange – it says in big letters – “IT’S ABOUT BUC’N TIME!”
Is it ever….
July 31st, 2019 at 4:37 pm
To be honest that ball was under thrown.
July 31st, 2019 at 4:58 pm
Why isn’t JPP at training camp? Maybe he is…but I don’t think so. Seems he’d gain a lot being in the rooms, and could give a lot of sage counsel to others.
July 31st, 2019 at 5:06 pm
Diesel owns this thread.
We have idiots on this thread blaming jameis for what? I don’t know but he is probably the type to blame jameis for every thing so I guess thats par for the course.
Fyi….hargraves has had an int in three straight practices. So maybe not all of the ints were “gimmies” like some of you are claiming this one to be.
July 31st, 2019 at 5:10 pm
Yikes
Diesel got triggered… So much for “with all due respect”
July 31st, 2019 at 5:16 pm
lmao at people trying to break this film down when it’s from a terrible angle where you have no idea where he even is in terms of his coverage on Howard leading up to the INT.
One of the weirder comment sections in memory
July 31st, 2019 at 5:19 pm
Most INTs come from off target balls. Big deal, it great that he made the play.
July 31st, 2019 at 5:31 pm
Todd BA said just other day he saw JPP at the facility. Said he was in great spirits. You know the presser where he said JPP is “freak healer”. Don’t mind him, he won’t be seen by cameras until the week of kickoff Sunday.
July 31st, 2019 at 5:51 pm
Diesel
Your boy wears sport bras to practice and in 4 years has been owned by every single receiver he’s tried to cover. Lmao. Gimme a f’n break.
He probably likes his hair pulled too!
Your boy is a scrub!
July 31st, 2019 at 7:00 pm
Hargreaves is the best corner on this team, now that he is able to do what he does best. He looks like a first round pick so far. You can’t deny, he is getting ints. Has the most of all dbs if I’m not mistaken. This team is about to shock some of you so called bucs fans.
July 31st, 2019 at 10:53 pm
That pass would of hit OJ in the shoulder so it was a good pass. The QB didnt think he was going to be there. Thats what this defence dose disguising what there doing. VH3 is coming along nicely. Most consistent CB so far. Coaching and scheme change has shown what the real sheep new all along…………….It was the coaching. There is alot of tallent on this team. The oline is the weak link and BA will bring in guys if need be. Sit back and relax. Injoy the show you might learn something sheep herder.