Albert Breer Believes Bucs Hit The Trenches Thursday Night
April 25th, 2022
In Bucs’ sights?
Joe understands this won’t be a true shock for those hung up on the defensive line. Those same people can go home tonight and rest comfortably as they squeeze their pillows tight, armed with the knowledge an NFL insider thinks Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht may fulfill their nightly dreams.
Albert Breer of SI.com admitted on Twitter to making loads of phone calls to teams’ shot-callers all weekend. His Monday previewing the draft includes his belief after talking with several NFL big-shots that the Bucs are going trench warfare on Thursday. (And Joe knows who Breer speaks with inside the walls of One Buc Palace)
While the Bucs may be tempted to pull the trigger on Georgia defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, Breer thinks the Bucs will lean on need and choose to protect their meal ticket Tom Brady and perhaps snag Texas A&M guard Kenyon Green.
It all depends, of course, who is on the board at No. 27.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
First round: No. 27
Total picks: 6
Needs: Interior DL, G, TE, LB, RB, SWhat you need to know: Because of Tom Brady’s presence, the picks here are likely to be used on guys ready to contribute quickly—and GM Jason Licht has been pretty adept at finding those sorts (Tristan Wirfs, Antoine Winfield Jr., etc.) the last couple years. This year, the bet would be a play to get younger on the defensive line (Georgia’s Devonte Wyatt?) and fill the guard need (Green?) early on. With just four picks in the first six rounds, the Bucs don’t have a ton of margin for error.
It’s hard to argue against Green. It makes all the sense in the world. You won’t do a damn thing without Tom Brady and the dude will be 45 and admitted (via his proxy Jeff Darlington) that his body was shot at the end of 2021.
Anything to keep Brady upright is a smart move. It’s all about this year. Looking past this year is taking your eye off the ball.
***If*** Ndamukong Suh is coming back, Joe just doesn’t understand the hype for drafting a defensive lineman at No. 27. ***If*** Suh is back, three starting defensive linemen are on the roster, guys who helped the team win 29 games the past two seasons and be ferocious against the run. How is that a need?
April 25th, 2022 at 11:16 am
Drafting defensive line and offensive line with first two picks would be my preferred scenario.
April 25th, 2022 at 11:16 am
Although I wouldn’t mind a CB…..note that Breer has omitted the Joe’s two top choices……CB & WR….
I could also go for a top OG…..a long & short term move.
April 25th, 2022 at 11:19 am
Suh is always referred to as a DT, but doesn’t he line up as DE in a 3/4?
April 25th, 2022 at 11:20 am
Until “IF” comes to fruition it’s a need.
April 25th, 2022 at 11:22 am
Bucs can easily get quality guard or Dline at 27 , however if you want a player to get real excited about , that guy is Devin Lloyd from Utah-if you have not watched his film please refrain from touching the keyboard as Lloyd is a freakishly athletic and high football IQ linebacker that will be the ideal replacement for LVD. Lloyd has a nose for the ball and makes tackles in space with surety. Lloyd can cover extremely well and that trait in a LB is rare. By trading away some picks and moving up Bucs will also spend less on draft. Pats can be coerced into a trade as Bucs and Pats trade regularly. Bucs drafting Lloyd is a no brainer. Ed Ingram at guard will still be available in 3rd and he is an excellent pass protector.
April 25th, 2022 at 11:25 am
BPA is the smartest way to draft, so just follow the board
In case of doubt, pass rush is the priority, so a DL makes sense
WR, S, G and TE depth can be obtained later
April 25th, 2022 at 11:27 am
Not against him (preferably Zion) at all IF his knee checks out. Supposedly there’s a red flag there and teams are looking into it for short and long term.
I still wanna trade back and gain valuable mid-round picks. That’s my preference. I was on the Wyatt train (w/ Suh not re-signed, plus we need more penetrating speed on the D-line anyways and as the organization has already alluded to), but these anger and violence issues are becoming more alarming and more incidents are now being discovered. DV not just for the arrest a few years back, but on “4 other occasions” apparently, plus some other baggage. I trust in the Bucs to vet that and make best decision IF he’s turned the corner and those issues are behind him. We as an organization under Licht have typically brought in good culture and locker room fits, good people and leaders too…not just good players on the field (albeit that’s still a must).
However, if true and it’s occurred that many times ALREADY in his young life, I’d rather trade back, get extra picks and pick a Travis Jones, Uwazerike type on Day 2. IF Suh is not re-signed.
I’ve liked Joe’s Booth Jr. pick if we stay put @ #27 a lot, but was slightly more in the Wyatt camp w/o Suh signed up to this point. Not so sure now. If all this off the field and repeated DV issues are true, I might need to reconsider Booth or Wyatt there.
And what do you do if Booth/Wyatt & Johnson are all there @ #27?! Such an interesting Draft this is shaping up to be. Can’t wait for Draft night and this weekend 🥳
April 25th, 2022 at 11:27 am
DT and TE in the first two rounds – if top talent is available.
April 25th, 2022 at 11:28 am
The “trenches” is where we need to draft, OL or DL. That’s my two cents.
April 25th, 2022 at 11:30 am
I’d like to see the Bucs pick up OT Daniel Faalele and convert him to a guard. The guy is 387 pounds, 6’8” with a 85” wingspan. Maybe Jason can get him in the second or third round? I’ thinking that he would be ideal for our run game.
April 25th, 2022 at 11:38 am
Even if Suh comes back for one more year DT is our number one need!!!!! The only problem is there are only two DT in this draft that are 1st round worthy. Stinnie, Hainsey, & Leverett can compete to start at LG and give you plenty of depth at Guard.
April 25th, 2022 at 11:40 am
Jason Licht had been more successful in drafting OL/DL in the first round than other positions. It’s not necessarily a knock on him. But these positions are more of a sure thing than a CB/WR/QB. It’s what smart managers should always do.
April 25th, 2022 at 11:44 am
@ SKBucs
Marpet, Smith, Cappa and Hainsey were all drafted in rounds 2-3.
Wirfs is the only O-line drafted in the 1st round (and your right – this was a successful pick).
One of JL’s strengths is drafting O-line. I trust his judgement and ability to find solid lineman in rounds 2-4.
I would rather draft defense with pick #27 – IDL, DB or OLB…
April 25th, 2022 at 11:47 am
I want a DL and OL in the first three picks.
Football games are won in the trenches, period.
April 25th, 2022 at 11:54 am
Needs should be based on next year after these rookies develop a bit. DS, LVD, Gholston, Suh, dean/smb probably represent positions to fill in 2023.
April 25th, 2022 at 11:55 am
Whos going to rush opposing Qb ?
April 25th, 2022 at 11:58 am
Oline is out of the picture/draft. We already addressed it with resign jensen, stinnie , wells and trading for shaq. We also have heainsley and levertte that played well in a few games.
1st rd is pass rush ,trade down or best ready dline player available.
April 25th, 2022 at 12:04 pm
Joe, since you asked… The same logic applies to the D line as mentioned at CB and safety in other articles… You have 2 guys on one year deals… One is 31 and the other is 35… And you have nobody behind them. Nacho is nothing to get excited about. Plus, Vea does tend to miss some time with various injuries… So I say, again: HOW IS DL NOT A NEED, even with Suh?
DL is a far greater need than OL, where we have 4 out of 5 starters solidified and multiple years remaining… and the 5th spot has 3-5 guys that they really like competing for 1 job, which also leaves solid depth.
WR? Not really, except for the early part of the year before Godwin returns.
TE? Yes, we need a TE or 2 regardless of what Gronk decides. But they’re not drafting a TE in round 1, unless they’re totally in love with Trey McBride.
April 25th, 2022 at 12:06 pm
Think again if you think you’re replacing a pro bowl guard with an ex- practice squad, undrafted career backup player.
April 25th, 2022 at 12:06 pm
With Licht’s ability to draft solid guards in the later rounds I don’t see him drafting a guard in the first. My vote here (depending who’s on the board) is see if they have any takers and trade back. Four picks in the first six rounds isn’t ideal. If they could scoop an extra 2nd and maybe a 4th (especially if they’re early in the rounds) I say pull the trigger.
April 25th, 2022 at 12:07 pm
Excellent point… however, would that guy be ready to plug-and-play right away? It’s all about this year.
April 25th, 2022 at 12:15 pm
The only guard worth drafting this year would be a plug-in starter. Any guard drafted after round 2 is unlikely to be better than the guys we actually have… For us, an O-line pick that isn’t an immediate starter is a wasted pick. The whole point of picking a guy is answering the question — how does he make us better? I don’t give a crap what his grade is. If he doesn’t have a chance to make your team better, then why draft him?
April 25th, 2022 at 12:22 pm
Did the PFF mock draft simulator after reading all of my fellow Joebucs fans thoughts. It seemed too easy.
On 1st try, I traded down three times. The extra picks I got seemed too good.
Ended up with
Travis Jones – DL
Jamaree Salyer – Guard
Traded again down with Cincinatti
In the trade also got
Joseph Ossai – Edge
Then picked
Jelani Woods – TE
Jalyn Armour Davis – CB
Apparently, I like guys with J’s in their name. Maybe why I come to Joebucsfan so much.
April 25th, 2022 at 12:24 pm
Excellent point… however, would that guy be ready to plug-and-play right away? It’s all about this year.
—————————————————————————————–
Joe: That is also a great point, I guess it depends on how they feel about the guy. Nobody really knows but its fun as hell to speculate. The best part about this is we haven’t been speculating since Halloween like in years past. Sometimes I still can’t believe what’s happened to this franchise the last 2-3 years.
April 25th, 2022 at 12:29 pm
@ Joe
Marpet was a 2nd rounder and he started his rookie season. He struggled a bit but was still pretty solid that season.
So it can be done…
April 25th, 2022 at 12:35 pm
@ geno
I like the PFF draft simulator. I pretty much did the same thing – traded back a few spots in both round 1 and 2 and picked up an extra 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th plus an extra 7th…
And still ended up the players I wanted in rounds 1 and 2.
I doubt its realistic but I wouldn’t mind seeing the Bucs trade back in one of the earlier rounds and collecting a few extra picks.
Plenty of solid players in the middle rounds this draft.
April 25th, 2022 at 12:55 pm
If Z Johnson or K Greene is available at 27 then ok. If not trade down and pick a DT even if Suh comes back hes 35. He will lucky to play 50% of the snaps. Vea always seems to miss a few games each year. And the rest of our defensive lineman are average at best. And the guy we got from Atlanta is injured 90% percent of the time. I believe I would call DT a need.
April 25th, 2022 at 12:58 pm
@geno711
You may want to change your name to “J”eno711 instead, w/ your apparent love of “J” names 😂🤷♂️
I really like your idea of trading back AND still getting Travis Jones (Winfrey and Uwaruike not bad trade back options either)!
April 25th, 2022 at 12:59 pm
Joe … If*** Suh is back, three starting defensive linemen are on the roster, guys who helped the team win 29 games the past two seasons and be ferocious against the run. How is that a need?’
Great question Joe, but the way it’s phrased sorta kinda leads me to believe you’ve already made up your mind on the answer. From my perspective, the answer is in the numbers, ASSUMING of course that Suh re-signs (BTW, if we don’t draft a quality DT, Suh has all the leverage come negotiation time; Bucs would have nada, and our SB dreams could go up in smoke IF we don’t re-sign Suh).
Bucs’ defense was on the field for a total of 1093 defensive plays last season. Theoretically, in a 3-4 defense the 3 interior guys would’ve thus gotten a TOTAL of 3279 defensive snaps. Of course we know that some of the DEs (like JPP & JTS) took some of those snaps, but no way to know how many. That starting threesome you mentioned had a TOTAL of 1831 defensive snaps last year (Suh-717; Vea-607; Gholston-507). Two key rotational big uglies contributed another 668 defensive snaps (RNR-415; McLendon-253) … bringing the TOTAL for those 5 interior guys to 2499 defensive snaps last season.
Now here’s where the math gets tough Joe. For starters, RIGHT NOW we’re missing TWO of those guys (Suh & McLendon). But even if we count all 5 guys, that’d still leave us short by 780 defensive snaps. Chances are pretty good that in those instances Todd Bowles was having to go with TWO interior DLinemen, not 3. Would that impact our pass rush? Personally I think it would.
April 25th, 2022 at 1:03 pm
….Uwazurike **
April 25th, 2022 at 1:20 pm
“Hit The Trenches” – Amen!
I won’t complain about an OLine pick – but I’m hoping Day 1 and 2 selections are all about Defense.
April 25th, 2022 at 1:46 pm
Just because you can trade back on PFFs website doesn’t mean the Bucs will be able to trade back in real life. The word out is that many teams want to trade back from first round, if nobody wants to trade up then we are SOL.
April 25th, 2022 at 2:32 pm
I say sign hightower for the low , use logan ryan as a CB …and draft needs from there
April 25th, 2022 at 2:48 pm
How is guard a need? We have Stinnie and Hainsey competing for a job. That’s a better situation than most teams tbh.
April 25th, 2022 at 3:40 pm
I’m dumb. That video would have been more interesting to me if I had any idea what number Green was playing in.
April 25th, 2022 at 4:40 pm
Defense Rules Says:
I espescially look for your posts …. where do you find all the statistical data… it is unbelievable
April 25th, 2022 at 6:24 pm
2022 Year of the GOAT RETURN … There’s so much statistical data out there on NFL football it’s unbelievable. My favorite site has long been Pro Football Reference. You can find just about anything you’d want there, to include detailed career stats on just about any player who’s ever played. Another favorite though is nfl.com/stats. They provide very detailed Player Stats, Team Stats & Next Gen Stats, as well as details on individual player career stats.
I know that lots of fans aren’t into stats; I get it. I’ve done a lot of analyses in my life, and stats are very easily abused. But if used properly, they can paint a picture that can be very worthwhile. Just my opinion.
April 25th, 2022 at 6:59 pm
Why would the Bucs need to spend a 1st rounder on a guard? We got a borderline every year all-pro guard in the 2nd, and Licht got another quality starter in the 3rd (and in the 3rd Cappa was way overdrafted if you believe the rankings, he was more of a 7th-UDFA talent). Point being, those 1st rounders should be spent on premium positions. If Wyatt is there, unless he has some serious off the field issues, then I don’t see how you pass on a guy with his numbers and his size and his tape. Maybe Wyatt doesn’t work out, but you’re a lot more likely to get a quality defensive lineman in the 1st than in the 2nd. Meanwhile you can find guards elsewhere.
April 25th, 2022 at 10:13 pm
Olave/Dotson
Logan Hall/Karlaftis
Ed Ingram
Matt Araiza
D’Marco Jackson LB/Special teams.
April 25th, 2022 at 11:42 pm
Now that JPP has given us the middle finger on his way out the door we need to draft an edge rusher. Trying is not a proven commodity. We need to get to the quarterback. We must apply pressure. It is what won the Super Bowl. We have a big question mark at DE without JPP. We need to rotate in guys who can all get after the QB and resign Suh.
April 25th, 2022 at 11:43 pm
Tryon =???
April 26th, 2022 at 6:30 am
Thx D F