Easy To Spot Why Bucs Have Stunk
June 7th, 2020
With a new decade beginning for the Bucs, one reason fans are so jacked up is that on paper, it appears the Lost Decade will be a thing of the past.
The Bucs return a good defense with the NFL’s sack king, and an explosive passing game led by six-time Super Bowl-winning, park-violating, home-invading Tom Brady.
Could this be the year the Bucs finally win a playoff game?
In a series of articles where Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports looks at the best draft class of the 21st century for each team, DeArdo spells out why the Bucs haven’t won a playoff game since winning the Super Bowl in January 2003:
The Buccaneers have drafted only 10 players this century that have gone onto earn Pro Bowl recognition, with their first Pro Bowl pick (guard Davin Joseph) not coming until 2006. That being said, the Buccaneers have have a few decent drafts over the past two decades, with their best draft taking place in 2015, when they selected quarterback Jameis Winston, tackle Donovan Smith, center Ali Marpet and outside linebacker Kwon Alexander with their first four picks.
Winston, who signed a one-year deal with the Saints this offseason, led the NFL with 5,109 passing yards in 2019. Smith, a starter since his rookie season, has missed just one game during his first five seasons with the Buccaneers. Marpet has also been a starter on the Buccaneers’ line since his rookie season, while Alexander, a Pro Bowler in 2017, helped the 49ers win the NFC title last season during his first year in San Francisco.
Think about that. Since former Bucs general manager Bruce Almighty took over in 2004, the Bucs have drafted just 10 players that made a Pro Bowl. That’s in 16 years!
We’re just talking a Pro Bowl, where a guy who just played OK can make the game. Hell, fans couldn’t wait to run off youknowwho yet he didn’t even have his best season and he made a Pro Bowl.
That’s just abominable drafting for 16 years.
Now Joe doesn’t know if that is the front office whiffing on evals or the coaches not developing guys or a little bit of both. For example, Johnthan Banks had a solid rookie season and appeared headed for big things. Lousy Lovie Smith enters the picture the next season and Banks was never the same.
And to think that half the guys DeArdo cited as the best Bucs draft class this century, just five years ago, are no longer with the team.
June 7th, 2020 at 12:40 am
>>their best draft taking place in 2015<<
Pretty sure that our 2019 draft will soon take its place!
June 7th, 2020 at 12:42 am
Good article. Also very depressing. đ
June 7th, 2020 at 1:01 am
Lavonte Davis is living proof that Pro Bowls are for big market teams and winners. We have been neither in recent history. Nothing but a popularity contest.
June 7th, 2020 at 1:30 am
Another good metric is how many guys earned 2nd contracts…
Or look at how many guys drafted are still on the team even 3 years later…
Both are bad.
June 7th, 2020 at 3:31 am
Give Licht a lifetime contract now!
Heâs great.
June 7th, 2020 at 4:50 am
Clean House Says:
“Give Licht a lifetime contract now!
Heâs great.”
.
.
LOL =D
June 7th, 2020 at 4:51 am
Bad drafting was one of many factors…
You could add in:
Bad GMâs
Bad Coaching
Bad Scouting
Inexperienced and often clueless management leading to
Bad FA signings and Bad trades
June 7th, 2020 at 6:04 am
Yea I have to agree with Alanbucsfanâs sentiment. Bad teams donât get rewarded and it was more than just the âdrafting.â Start w qbâs when youâve had post-peak Jeff Garcia, Sleepy Freeman, both(!) of the McCown brothers and others you can see why some got confused and thought Americaâs 3rd string qb was a savior.
Then look at the coaches post Gruden (who you could argue was only good for us for 3 years of his tenure), Raheem Morris was picked from the vine 10 years early, Schiano never found a comfortable thermostat temperature in O.B.P., and I need not go further than say the words Lovie Smith.
Bruce Allen only did Grudens bidding, but Dominik and Licht found talent in between some very regrettable misses. Not to imply these GMs were all that bc they werenât, but you canât turn world class ingredients over to a contestant from worst cooks in America and expect greatness.
Oh by the way, anyone remember the Bucs spent the least money in the league between 2004 and 2009?
Ranking by pro-bowls misses the point, and these are just a few reasons why.
June 7th, 2020 at 6:45 am
A fish stinks from the head…..so, I go with bad Owners & bad GMs……that’s where the bad decision making starts.
June 7th, 2020 at 7:06 am
I agree with Tbbf. Talent evaluation has been sorely lacking for too long in this organization. The only constant has been ownership (Culverhouse and Glazers). Malcolm Glazer brought a winning way to Tampa Bay. His sons are not their father.
June 7th, 2020 at 7:27 am
Bruce Allen (talking puppet for Gruden) and Mark Dominic pretty much cover that whole period. Coaching definitely played a part, we have had some turrible coaches. But I have to also agree with TBBF. Who hired ALL of those people?
June 7th, 2020 at 7:30 am
^^^This, all day!
Leadership starts at the top. This has been a poorly run organization for a long, long time.
June 7th, 2020 at 8:08 am
Many times the General Manager makes draft picks decisions on the coaches recommendations. We had terrible head coaches since Gruden. When it comes to drafting, everyone is to blame; owners, GMs, head Coaches and the scouts.
BA made a change in last year’s draft, he wanted guys with top speed and exceptional physical traits. So far last year’s draft is turning out to be a good draft. Wirfs fits the same mode.
Licht may have a terrible draft record, but he is very savvy at contract negotiations and the salary cap. I am hoping Licht has turned the corner with BA is tow. Both Free agent pick ups were good last year and the 2019 draft pick may be one of our best in years. Licht had the best FA pickups in the league this year. A good head coach can make or break a GM.
June 7th, 2020 at 9:25 am
Yep.
June 7th, 2020 at 9:29 am
The Bucs were doing well under Malcolm Glazer. But when he became incapacitated and the kids took over the Bucs went to “spit”. They nickel & dimed the team and Gruden while taking all the money for ManU iin England, then put the cheapest players & Coaches they could get for years. No one is more to blame for the Bucs bad rap than the Glazer boys. And if anyone thinks they hsve respect for Buc fans, just look back when the downslide began.
June 7th, 2020 at 10:49 am
Always talking about loser/lousy Lovie Smith but who moved back into the 1st to grab the Muskle Hamster when Kuechley was still on the board, plus if I’m not mistaken let Michael Bennett walk for no good reason??? Let’s not forget Talib either! Those three would’ve shored up that defense for years! Then of course this back sliding all began when Monte Kiffin stabbed us in the back and abandoned the team for his son and the defense threw the last four games in order to get rid of Gruden. As tmaxicon was known for saying, this franchise has been the basement dweller in all professional sports, even worse than the Ray’s. At least the Rays have a viable reason why as well as the ’76-’80 Bucs. From ownership all the way down to the water boys this team has never been able to field a consistently good enough team, but what can we do as fans, we love them regardless.
June 7th, 2020 at 10:50 am
And when the Brady and Gronk hype is finally dying down, the Licht hating bandwagonders show their ugly faces.
June 7th, 2020 at 11:07 am
I know that this post was focussing on bad drafting.
However, you also have to look at the many failures in free agency that would cost the team millions of dollars on unsuccessful players
June 7th, 2020 at 1:12 pm
David Smith, what are you talking about? Kuechly was the 9th pick in that draft and oh by the way Lavonte David was a fine consolation prize in the 2nd that year. Now if you want to gripe about the selection of Mark Barron before Kuechly, I wonât argue there.
Schiano ran of Bennet âbc of his knee surgeryâ (ahem coaches ego) so idk if youâre throwing shade at him or Dominick. I really donât know what your post is trying to prove tbh….
June 7th, 2020 at 1:13 pm
I think this could be a ’cause and effect’ kinda thing. We have had many guys who deserved to go to the pro bowl but since it is a popularity contest more than anything else nobody cares about the Bucs so nobody but Bucs’ fans vote for them.
June 7th, 2020 at 6:06 pm
Muscle hampater was not a bad pick
He had two seasons where he lit up the league
2nd in the league the year AP hit 2000 yards, so was overshadowed.
Plus he had a great rookie year. Was he consistent, clearly not, but I wouldnât call him a total bust by any stretch. He was a serious run threat when he was rolling.
June 7th, 2020 at 6:24 pm
Bruce Allen and Dominick were horrendous drafters. So many examples of stupid picks. Cadillac Williams over about 15 pro bowlers in the 2005 draft. Clayborn over Cam Jordan. Barron over Kuechly. Licht is a FAR better talent evaluator sans the VH3 draft.
June 7th, 2020 at 7:30 pm
I mean big market teams or teams that have to win more then 6 games a year on average get to pro bowls.
Lavonte should have been in as many pro bowls as Mcicecream but nope. Unlike McCoy Lavonte rarely stroked his image. also imo Marpet should have made a pro bowl. Last year Jensen should have been in a pro bowl. It was insulting he wasn’t in that game. Also can someone explain to me how in gods name Lavonte didn’t get in or how Shaq leading the NFL in sacks being an outright game wrecker last year didn’t get first team all pro?
Don’t get me wrong the drafting has outright SUCKED until the last few years around here. Why that is idk, I hope it isn’t flukes.
June 7th, 2020 at 7:34 pm
Just wait til this year. We will have a ton bc of exposure which we havent had much of in those 16 years you speak of and all the hype this team is getting. I will all but guarentee you we will have 6+ pro bowlers this year. Evans ,Godwin, Brady ,Gronk David Shaq and possibly Vea, white and marpet. Thats possibly 6 drafted guys along with brady gronk shaq. Exposure and what media spews runs the world. We were an afterthought for the past 20 years. That changes in 2020 IF theres a season!
June 7th, 2020 at 7:53 pm
Let’s examine the “lost decade”. I am not casting stones just stating the obvious.
The Glazers are great businessmen…their father leveraged his way into the Bucs and when that value exploded he leveraged the Bucs into one of the top two professional franchises IN THE WORLD.
And so Man U was awful for Bucs fans but great for the Glazer family fortune.
So does anybody really blame them? Not me.
Still…the move pretty much assured the Bucs of the “lost decade”. Players and coaches hired on the cheap.
Now that ManU is on it’s own the Bucs can flourish once again. Let’s hope this is the year the kids figure it out.
June 7th, 2020 at 7:58 pm
Lovie was awful but joe – licht deserves way more criticism. Horrible drafts, canât find a kicker and doesnât know how to sign free agents. This year will be better ( we hope) but his record is awful and forget the first year under lovie it is still bad. Sure call him a great guy but we talk about production but he has YET to produce. A 2020 super bowl would erase all of that. Hey, crazier things have already happened in 2020 and weâre not even half over yet!
June 7th, 2020 at 8:49 pm
The Pro Bowl is a joke. Players no longer earn it. Getting in strictly depends on how popular your team is.
So long as fans are permitted to vote on who gets in, it is a pretend award.
We’ll get some guys in this year, because of the national coverage, but regardless, it’s a total joke.
June 7th, 2020 at 8:52 pm
stpetebucsfan Says:
“Man U was awful for Bucs fans but great for the Glazer family fortune.
So does anybody really blame them? Not me.
StillâŠthe move pretty much assured the Bucs of the âlost decadeâ. Players and coaches hired on the cheap.
Sorry buddy but I have to disagree with you there. Those were the years leading up to the lockout and all the teams except 3 were operating on the cheap.
June 7th, 2020 at 8:54 pm
Bucamania Says:
“Cadillac Williams over about 15 pro bowlers in the 2005 draft.”
.
.
IDK. Caddy was the shizzle before he started falling apart. Who knew he had tendons like cheap guitar strings?
June 7th, 2020 at 9:47 pm
Pa fan Says:
June 7th, 2020 at 7:34 pm
Just wait til this year. We will have a ton bc of exposure which we havent had much of in those 16 years you speak of and all the hype this team is getting. I will all but guarentee you we will have 6+ pro bowlers this year. Evans ,Godwin, Brady ,Gronk David Shaq and possibly Vea, white and marpet. Thats possibly 6 drafted guys along with brady gronk shaq. Exposure and what media spews runs the world. We were an afterthought for the past 20 years. That changes in 2020 IF theres a season!
is what I was saying a few posts above you. David deserved to go to the Pro Bowl many times but no exposure and a losing culture Won’t get you to the Pro bowl on a losing team. Many other instances but you obviously get the drift.