In Their Heads
April 28th, 2020
It’s official. There’s a new fear factor for NFC South defensive coordinators, as explained yesterday by a current NFC South head coach.
Falcons head man Dan Quinn was talking on Sirius XM NFL Radio to hosts Alex Marvez and Gil Brandt and was asked about the big-name changes to the Buccaneers.
Quinn seemed most focused on the Bucs’ $10 million tight end, future Hall of Famer Rob Gronkowski, who has abandoned professional wrestling to join the Bucs.
“Certainly Gronk and the size matchups for him, those are always the thing that you’re looking for when you’re heading into a game, who are the unique players, who are the ones that, you know, you have to think about on the matchup side,” Quinn explained. “When Greg Olson went all the way out to [play for] Seattle, you thought, ‘Ok, there’s some space.” And all of a sudden here comes Gronk back into the division.”
Just imagine being a defensive coordinator facing the Bucs this season. You can no longer tell the troops all week to stay patient but aggressive because the eventual interception candy will be passed out by the quarterback. And now throw in a tight end who used to be — and perhaps still is — capable of putting a team on his back while he plays alongside two elite receivers.
Fun stuff. And just imagine rookie Ke’Shawn Vaughn is at least an average running back.
April 28th, 2020 at 12:32 pm
It’s going to a fun to watch, can’t wait, go NUBS
April 28th, 2020 at 12:33 pm
Go BUCS auto correct sucks sometimes
April 28th, 2020 at 12:34 pm
Yes, the new Bucs O is exciting to contemplate. And, not to belabor the RB point, but Vaughn seems to be a solid all-round back. Can be a power runner at times, can block well, can receive. Rarely (never?) fumbles. Maybe no outstanding trait, but because he is “good enough” at most things, he will play a lot. A well-rounded back in a well-rounded offense. Well, the passing game should be more than that. Outstanding is more like it.
April 28th, 2020 at 12:34 pm
“You can no longer tell the troops all week to stay patient but aggressive because the eventual interception candy will be passed out by the quarterback.”
Classic. Nuggets like this are one of the reasons that you are a professional sports writer, and I am not.
April 28th, 2020 at 12:35 pm
Or should I more correctly say, professional multi-media journalist?
April 28th, 2020 at 12:44 pm
“interception candy”! LMAO!
Imagine having to respect 2 WRs, a HOF TE, and a veteran QB that knows his own jersey color!
Oh, you already said that!!!
April 28th, 2020 at 12:56 pm
I love how is the people who hate Jameis so much yet bring him up over and over and over again. Why can’t you just let him go why can’t you let him move on, you people are sick.
April 28th, 2020 at 1:07 pm
Ndog says has to Be Winston’s burner account
April 28th, 2020 at 1:07 pm
Jamith sucked Ndog still sucks
April 28th, 2020 at 1:08 pm
Ndog is probably Jameis1of1 lets be real.
April 28th, 2020 at 1:12 pm
Ndog
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Joe constantly includes a line in most articles by bringing up Jameis…
If its about the RBs……Jameis is mentioned
IF its about the TEs …..Jameis is mentioned
If it’s about the Oline….Jameis is mentioned
If it’s about drafting OT……… Jameis is mentioned
This article is a prime example……the article is clearly about Gronk….has absolutely nothing to do with Jameis.
April 28th, 2020 at 1:12 pm
Ndog were sick but you comment 5 times on any story about him. And say outlandish things just to get responses and keep it going. So why don’t you move on and not comment about no rungame, defense sucked, kicker sucked, receivers ran wrong routes, offensive line couldn’t block but blame the guy that threw 30 interceptions routine.
April 28th, 2020 at 1:27 pm
Our success this year will be directly proportional to our ability to protect Brady.
Blitz pickup will be critical because Arians offense is tailor made for a blitz happy team.
April 28th, 2020 at 1:33 pm
Or ROJO is a 1500 total yards back.
April 28th, 2020 at 1:37 pm
Activating the TEs as a position you must respect every play is 1) long over due but I digress… and 2) freaking awesome! I just can’t imagine being a DC trying to game plan for the Bucs even if the RBs are sleep walking. If RoJo or Vaughn come alive at all… just wow!
Brady’s abilities to quickly read a D, quickly release the ball and accurately place the ball are going to make almost every play a wonder to behold. The Bucs are going to be must see TV. Someone posted Brady may play another 3-4 years… I agree because he’s going to have the time of his life throwing to a wide open receiver on almost every play. Just crazy.
April 28th, 2020 at 1:39 pm
The offense will be good.
The main question mark on this team is if the pass defense will be good because it’s a young secondary and the Bucs haven’t had a good pass defense for a FULL season since Greg Schiano.
I know we all like to assume the pass defense will be just just because they played decent for a handful of games and we like to blame Jameis for everything but the secondary is a HUGE question mark on this team.
April 28th, 2020 at 1:40 pm
If you think the secondary is fixed go back and look at the numbers.
April 28th, 2020 at 2:04 pm
Vaughn is bigger and faster then Emmitt Smith.Vaughn rushed for 2646 yds. in his senior high school season with 45 touchdowns. Emmitt Smith played on a team in high school that had a dozen or more college recruits. If Vaughn is half is good, the Bucs got a steal. Give the young man a chance before you trash the pick.
April 28th, 2020 at 2:09 pm
The secondary will do a better job simply because they will not have to take the field and play as much as they did last year.
Last year the defense was on the field way too much. and had to play from behind and inside their own 20 way too much. This is a more experienced unit then the extremely green rookies we had last year.
April 28th, 2020 at 2:18 pm
I think Ronald Jones lights it up this year. As joe said nobody is going to wait for interceptions because they just aren’t going to happen too often with Brady. With all the weapons at WR and TE, I think Ronald Jones is being overlooked. He’s the clear cut number 1 back, along g with an upgraded RT in wirfs… the kid is gonna surprise a lot of people this year.
April 28th, 2020 at 2:21 pm
@Joes
Im genuinely curious. Are you just out on Rojo? All the articles leading up to the draft seemed to suggest that Rojo needed to be replaced. And now in this one you mention Vaughn as if he will be the lead guy. So are you just out on Rojo?
I might sound like ot over the past few eeeks, but im not a Rojo truther. BUT the kid took a major step forward last season. I think he can take another step this year.
Keep in mind, Rojo is going into his 3rd NFL season and is still 3 months YOUNGER than Vaughn
April 28th, 2020 at 2:24 pm
Ndog keep speaking the truth man. All these good ol’ boys are squirming and angry. I love it, all the veiled racists going nuts over a 25 year old who isn’t even on the team anymore.
April 28th, 2020 at 2:26 pm
eventual interception candy will be passed out by the quarterback…
Ndog
Is that what has your panties in a bunch…. Its a double edge sword you either produce or u get the AXE …period…. happens to veryone sooner or later…
April 28th, 2020 at 2:30 pm
I think our front 7 is about as good as any team. Only issue is depth. Time to correct that in the next few months. Plus we may add an experienced DB for depth. Whole team is in pretty good shape – sans injuries.
April 28th, 2020 at 2:36 pm
I think RoJo will be better than the Joes are giving him credit for.
April 28th, 2020 at 2:52 pm
He’s below average. He was awful his rookie year and *rarely* do backs that have that bad of a rookie year rebound to have decent careers (Joe has done the research). If a team is not trying to improve on a position that’s below average, especially at a major skill position, that tells Joe either the organization doesn’t give a damn about that position or is not completely serious about making any sort of run. Or, as Pat Kirwan said, the Bucs are just living in denial.
April 28th, 2020 at 2:57 pm
See the Saints squirming in the draft to get OL help? I think they saw how hard Suh hit Matt Ryan and saw how that ruined his whole day. It was a panninck move and the best part is they ignored the defense yet again which is why they can’t never finish in the playoffs.
We are coming right at them and they running out of resources to hold us off. Getting Winston was probably another pannick move hahaha. I think they know they are in a dogfight and scared they aren’t getting another Bucs doormat defense to count on.
GO BUCS!!!!
April 28th, 2020 at 2:58 pm
I really don’t care how fast he reads the DEFENCE…does he have the chops to get it downfield because that is the only way this team can become more explosive than the team lead by Mr.5,000, it’s not going to happen because that is not his game and we as of today have no proven running back!!! His elite skills are eroding…we paid him for his past performances …bad move, news alert New England paid him handsomely for this accomplishments and now he comes to Florida to graze on that Bahia Grass while we get nothing in return…losing is losing be it by missed field goals, interceptions or the inability to get the ball downfield. 4,000 naw 3,700 yards passing will be hard to come by this season!!!
April 28th, 2020 at 3:01 pm
If we can Earnest Graham production from either of our backs, we’ll be good to go. This team has enough playmakers, we just need a back who will keep the defense reasonably honest.
April 28th, 2020 at 3:06 pm
Agreed Swampbuc……The Joes are buggin lol! There are going to be games when we run the ball down an opponents throat because of the concern for our receivers. 21 personnell is going to be our staple and we can get great run/play action out of it! And consider…We gave the ball away 41 times…….the Saints gave it away 8. Even if we didnt get 1 player this offseason, if we cut that giveaway number in half, we are a 11-12 win team…..seriously!!! Now, our offense will be so efficient that our rushing attack will be completely overlooked. RoJo, Vaughn, and Calais (yes, he will make the team), will have our running attack in the top 10!!!
April 28th, 2020 at 3:17 pm
sad truth Do you want to see racism? Look in the mirror! I can’t believe how many “racists” use racism to try and further an argument. Aren’t you capable of stating your case without using the race card? It makes you look uneducated when you use the race card for no other reason than you are a racist yourself. Think about that!
April 28th, 2020 at 3:22 pm
Tbb..yeah…by the end of the year, the secondary was playing well. But what do you expect from mostly first and second year players. There is an adjustment to the pros. But this year, expect them to pick up pretty much where they were the end of last year. And that should be plenty good enough.
April 28th, 2020 at 3:30 pm
Regarding the running game, I don’t really know where we are. Was it the backs themselves? Was it poor O line play? Was it the play calling and the way the offense was run? Was it a combination of all of them? I don’t know. But with Brady running the plays, a motivationally elevated culture, and a new talented RT, the play should be better…no excuses. We will see.
April 28th, 2020 at 3:31 pm
TBBucs3-
The secondary will be good if the front 7 stay healthy
Opponents won’t have alot of time to pass without feeling the heat.
That’s why re-signing Barrett, JPP and Suh were priority.
April 28th, 2020 at 3:40 pm
Joeypoppems
Joe is (was) a Dotson fan -a good pass blocker but can’t run block
Joe blamed Rojo for getting stuffed when WR whiffed on block (WR was cut next day)
Bucs haven’t had a decent run blocking TE last couple years, since Luke Stocker
Joe has overestimated OLine every year
That’s ok , nobody’s perfect
April 28th, 2020 at 4:20 pm
I wonder, what would the narative be if Brady was black? How would the race baiters be acting? BigHog wouldn’t have a crutch to lean on and NDog would be lost.
The only people on this site that care about race seem to be the people screaming at the rest of us and calling us racist. They seem to be the only obviously blatant racists on this site.
Here’s why I don’t like Winston anymore, and it has nothing to do with skin color. He gave me hope, and then he spit in all of our faces with the Uber incident and his play on the field deteriorated.
Enough is enough, please “Joe” stop invoking this nonsense by inserting Winston into every article. The comments turn into a train wreck.
April 28th, 2020 at 5:13 pm
@ The sad truth: “veiled racists?”
Really?
Does that chip on your shoulder ever get too heavy?
It’s football, man. Had Jameis Christ not thrown 30 ints and taken the Bucs to the playoffs a few times, those “veiled racists” good old white boys would sport a #3 tattoo and name their first male child after him.
If Buc fans are such rayssis, why is Winston the only black player “disrespected” by fans?
Football is a way to get away from the crap you’re selling. Take it somewhere else, and drag Ndog with you.
April 28th, 2020 at 5:13 pm
Ndog and BigHog need to take their stained posters of JayMiss off their bedroom wall… I’m sure their parents will be happy they did that too!
April 28th, 2020 at 5:31 pm
hahahahaha
April 28th, 2020 at 6:35 pm
@Cobraboy
I know, I’ve been here for long enough to know how they operate. They love to light a fuse and sneak away and watch the fireworks.
April 28th, 2020 at 7:08 pm
It doesn’t matter who is throwing and who is catching the ball if our rushing attack poses zero threat to opposing defenses. There is not a single legitimate starting running back currently on our roster, much less an average one. Rojo or Vaughn might end up being the answer, but going into the season without knowing for sure is ignorant, foolish, and also irresponsible to the other players on the team and us as fans. Sign a proven vet or two Licht!
April 28th, 2020 at 7:32 pm
I loved it when the article used the phrase ‘interception candy’. Surprised I never heard that one in the 5 years JW was here. Those expectations by the other 3 teams are now gone unless they are playing the Saints and Brees goes down hurt.
April 28th, 2020 at 7:33 pm
The Joe’s seem to have blind spots regarding this team. They relentlessly defend the offensive line and this Joe is still focusing on a bad rookie year for Rojo. Why would you do that unless you have an agenda, even if you don’t realize you have one. He had a good season and showed tremendous growth and year two. His stats would have been even better if not for several holding calls that negated long runs. Maybe he had a bad year in high school or college too that we could focus on as well.
April 28th, 2020 at 8:58 pm
Racism might be a factor if you are still bringing up an alleged incident from over four years ago. No witness. No charges. No arrest. No trial. No conviction. No rape. Not even any mention of use of force, or attempted rape. Unwanted advances……probably, but nothing more than an accusation. The lynch mob mentality among some here is reminiscent of a different era in our history. Jameis Winston is not a criminal. He is guilty of having too many turnovers, but he has never even been locked up overnight for anything he has done. For five years Jameis busted his ass for this team. Nobody ever was critical of the effort. He even played with injuries that would have put some players on the bench if not on IR. People with any class at all would at least show some respect and appreciation for the effort. People with no class will continue to take potshots at him. I wish him great success and a career as long as he wants in professional football.
April 28th, 2020 at 9:54 pm
What’s the status of Kareem Hunt?
April 28th, 2020 at 10:00 pm
What’s Kareem Hunt’s status?
April 28th, 2020 at 10:50 pm
Busted.
April 29th, 2020 at 2:13 am
If our line can be dominant and open up holes then our Running game shall be more than adequate.
April 29th, 2020 at 2:18 am
Why are idiots talking about “racists?!?”
Holy shiiiite.
Everything is not about race. Unreal.
It’s about being a fan of a team and watching a QB Enter the league as a rookie with poise in the pocket.
Then watching him regress over five years to the point of panicking in the pocket constantly and throwing 30 interceptions…. and leading the nfl in turnovers over those years. …. singlehandedly costing the team 2-3 games each year.
Nah! None of that matters…. he’s black so everyone must be racist.
Whatever
April 29th, 2020 at 2:20 am
Funny how all the “racist” Buc fans worship #55 … and even love Sapp and all his nonsense.
It’s about winning.