“19 Shot Glasses Of Emojis”
April 30th, 2020
Draft-night texts, insight and strategy revealed by Jay Glazer
So what was Bucco Bruce Arians doing in the moments after selecting beastly Iowa offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs in Round 1 of the NFL Draft?
Joe has a verified answer.
NFL super insider and Arians friend Jay Glazer of FOX Sports was part of a live show during Thursday’s Round 1 and opened up after the Bucs picked Wirfs.
Glazer explained that he had pages of notes from teams about who they liked in the NFL Draft. When it came to the Bucs, per Glazer, he only had comments from the Tampa brass on one premier offensive lineman, Wirfs.
“These are my draft notes (holding paper). These are literally teams’ draft boards, ok, in my chicken scratch of what they’re going to do,” Glazer said. “And I do have the Buccaneers’ right over here. And they had rated these top-4 [tackles] and the only one that I have adamant notes about from them is Tristan Wirfs saying, “explosive, freak of nature, game-changer.’ He’s the only one that I have notes about here for the Buccaneers. They never ever thought this guy would be around at this time. So they were looking at other potential [positions], maybe a linebacker to plug in there. Of course, you know, they have Tom Brady there and obviously Gronk there. They never thought [Wirfs] would be there.
“And I’m sitting here texting with Bruce Arians who just sent me, I don’t know, 19 shot glasses of emojis or something like that with ‘Yeah baby.’ He is absolutely ecstatic.”
Great insight from Glazer.
So about that linebacker? Was versatile linebacker Isaiah Simmons their top target? It seems so after hearing Glazer.
Per NBC Sports insider Peter King, who was embedded via tablet with Bucs GM Jason Licht during the draft, Licht tried to trade up with the Cardinals at No. 8. Arizona GM Steve Keim ignored the call and picked Simmons at No. 8 overall.
Keim later told 98.7 FM radio in Arizona that his old college coach worked with Simmons at Clemson and there were very strong ties there for the Cardinals, who were a little stunned that Simmons fell in their lap.
April 30th, 2020 at 7:17 am
So BA was happy we got Wirfs, but is that who we were trying to trade up for, or would we have taken Simmons at #8?
April 30th, 2020 at 7:29 am
Nobody could blame Bucs for wanting Simmons…..and I don’t second guess Licht for the 4th round pick to SF……quite obvious now that Wirfs was the #1 tackle on our board……go get him.
April 30th, 2020 at 7:40 am
Yeah, I figured they would go for Simmons….a cant miss. But Wirfs was right there too as a cant miss if Simmons and Brown were gone. We did an awesome job….then grabbing Winfield fixed our Safety situation which is where I envisioned Simmons majority of plays.
April 30th, 2020 at 7:48 am
I think the fella from Clemson was their target….Like I’ve said, they’ll never discuss their target but instead misdirect with an obvious need. If the player they wanted wasn’t there, then draft the obvious and talk about him as if he’s the one you were seeking. The draft capital to jump from 14 to 8….not near as costly as getting into the top 5 which is where they probably thought he would be taken.
April 30th, 2020 at 8:20 am
I believe that would be a great Question for the Joe’s to ask ol buco Bruce, if Tristen Wirfs was our number one O,lineman on the Buc’s draft board.
April 30th, 2020 at 8:53 am
If Simmons was a target, I’m going to assume it was to play safety, which makes me wonder, who was there real 2nd round target? Simmons would have been nice. Really nice. But I’m glad we got Wirfs.
April 30th, 2020 at 9:07 am
To all you Simmons fans. The first time TB12 got sacked because of the RT not names Wirfs you would be screaming the Bucs should have drafted Wirfs first.
April 30th, 2020 at 9:18 am
Proud, they would never admit it if they had another tackle ahead of Wirfs. I think the only one that Wirfs was definitely ahead of was Thomas. Wills was generally regarded as the best of the group and Becton had the highest ceiling. Would be very curious to know if one of those two were ahead of Wirfs on their board.
April 30th, 2020 at 9:23 am
Wirfs was the tackle they eyed, you can read the peter king column but they’re fine with any of the Top 4 tackles.
April 30th, 2020 at 9:52 am
I believe they wanted Wirfs primarily, but thought they’d have to trade up into to the 8-10 range in order to have a shot at him, and that’s why they were trying to trade with the Cardinals at 8, then Jax at 9. I think they were pleasantly surprised when the other three tackles were selected because they clearly had Wirfs rated as the best tackle. So, when SF was o the clock at 13 and Wirfs was still available, with intel that a bunch of teams with tackle needs were trying to get SF’s 13th pick, they went all-in on grabbing that pick and selecting Wirfs.
I think Simmons was probably their Plan B for if they couldn’t get Wirfs so that they would still come away from the first round with a phenomenal playmaker who filled a team need. I think the top two rounds of the draft fell exactly as the Bucs were most hoping they would.
April 30th, 2020 at 11:52 am
The Bucs are modeling their defense after the 2013 Ravens.
Ngata – Vea
Lewis – White
Reed – ???
It makes sense Bucs would go for Simmons because he’s a big time play maker from the Safety position. They didn’t get Simmons so they grabbed Winfield in the 2nd.
FYI, the Ravens drafted Reed the year before they drafted Suggs, so expect the Bucs to draft a DE/DT in R1 2021 draft. LaBryan Ray is 6’5 292 and gets after the QB. He can play DT or DE. A great replacement for Suh.
April 30th, 2020 at 11:56 am
Isaiah Simmons was my wildest dream first pick for a mock draft. I envisioned him as the hybrid S/LB in the Todd Bowles defense. So it fascinates me to think that he might have been the Bucs number one target. Licht, and Arians certainly would have had to to be in harmony for that!.
Imagine the fury that would have been unleashed by the national pundits and many of our fans if we had traded up to 8 or 9 to get him. Try to picture who we would have found for to fill the need at right tackle. How would the rest of our draft looked?
April 30th, 2020 at 12:07 pm
Good observations, 541BucsFan.
They say defense wins championships and we certainly have the uber powerful offense to play complimentary football at its best. Everything seems to be falling into place to make our run at the Lombardi Trophy.
April 30th, 2020 at 2:13 pm
I still contend we’ll never know the Buc’s OL draft board rankings. Glazer’s notes don’t mean crap. Maybe Wirfs was #1 on their board or maybe Glazer was being fed a bunch of superlatives on Wirfs because they liked him least? Either way we got a good one and Lynch is a better poker player than Licht.
April 30th, 2020 at 3:07 pm
Sometimes you have to pick what you need. We definitely didn’t want to be scrambling around for a tackle later.
April 30th, 2020 at 4:14 pm
It’s not only that. Wirfs was a position of need and BPA.
May 1st, 2020 at 1:01 pm
Hey 541 do you think that de/dt will be available at pick number 32 in 2021 haha. GO Bucs!