Gift-Giving Has Ended?
April 27th, 2022
Cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting
The Bucs entered the 2020 season handing starting cornerback jobs to three very young players. It was perhaps the greatest gamble of the Jason Licht-Bucco Bruce Arians regime.
And it paid off.
The Bucs won a Super Bowl without a player in their entire defensive backfield — on the bench or in the starting lineup — who had ever been to a Pro Bowl. You would have to go back decades to find another champion matching that pedigree.
After the Super Bowl win, it was no surprise that 2021 starting jobs were handed back to Jamel Dean, Sean Murphy-Bunting and Carlton Davis at cornerback. And the same went for Jordan Whitehead (now with the Jets) and Antoine Winfield, Jr. at safety.
But this year the competition is on after acquisitions of cornerback/safety Logan Ryan and safety Keeanu Neal, both accomplished veterans.
And per former Bucs QB Chris Simms, the NBC Sports NFL analyst, more competition is on the way. Simms seems to firmly believe the Bucs want to draft a guard or a defensive tackle in Round 1 — the Joe typing here agrees 100 percent — but Simms says all the ones Licht wants will be gone before the Bucs’ pick at No. 27.
So Simms officially has mocked Clemson cornerback Andrew Booth to Tampa Bay in Round 1.
Simms says the Bucs likely are thinking about replacing Dean in 2023, and he sees Booth as an upgrade. “There’s a lot of elite qualities here for this football team,” Simms said, noting that he agonized a bit about the Bucs grabbing Michigan safety Dax Hill at this spot.
Joe has written plenty about Booth, who also is likely a special teams coverage asset.
Perhaps the best part of drafting Booth would be the instant competition created, as well as the depth improvement. Cornerbacks depth kept the Bucs from the No. 1 seed last season, Joe believes.
April 27th, 2022 at 12:50 pm
I have a feeling Booth will be gone. If so, I would like to see Logan Hall as the pick.
April 27th, 2022 at 12:53 pm
His draft profile on NFL’s site says… “They run a lot of shell coverages (at Clemson) but I think he’s more of a Lovie Smith-type cornerback but with better twitch and speed.” — Scout for NFC team
Ouch.
I mean that’s not bad if you’re running a Tampa 2, but a Lovie Smith-type of corner is the anti-Bowles type of corner.
With that said, the profiles on the NFL’s website tend to have some of the worst takes on talent that you’ll see, so I don’t put much into it.
April 27th, 2022 at 12:53 pm
Agreed Thomas. I would love to see Logan Hall in bucs uniform
April 27th, 2022 at 12:57 pm
THOMAS PFALZ – I keep seeing Logan Hall’s name as well, and I don’t get it. Watching his ‘highlights’, there’s nothing there, he doesn’t test particularly well, doesn’t seem to have any sort of high ceiling, he doesn’t seem to have any traits of a 1st rounder – in addition most sites I’ve looked out talk about him a 3rd rounder. Seems like a huge overreach in the 1st if they went that route. As a 2nd rounder that’s fine as he seems like he might eventually become a dependable starter, but he has no star traits.
Of course I could be wrong, I’m not scout, but I think most fans would be shocked to hear his name when they look at their mock drafts and see him as a 3rd rounder.
April 27th, 2022 at 12:58 pm
Lovie Smith type cornerback. Does that mean he lines up 12 yards off the LOS?
April 27th, 2022 at 1:00 pm
Alontae Taylor….we can wait if this is really the route we go hitting CB early…I want that WR route though đ
April 27th, 2022 at 1:03 pm
Rod- it’s funny how we see different things. Personally I don’t really see what the fuss about Travis Jones outs about. To me it seems like Jones is a less explosive Jordan Davis. Of course I’m no talent evaluator but I like Hall better of the two.
April 27th, 2022 at 1:12 pm
I think Booth would be a good pick if JLs highest rated DLine players are off the board at 27. He has great measurables and ran a 4.38 at his pro day. Not sure about that “Lovie Smith” line – as other reports say Booth likes to play press – play the run – can play inside or outside – willing tackler – alpha mentality and has the skills to do well in the NFL. Main thing he lacks is experience as only a 1 year starter at Clemson….
That link to Walter Football’s last minute draft rumors in the Morning Cup of Joe today said that Dax Hill is not interviewing well and may have some mental issues…….
April 27th, 2022 at 1:17 pm
OMG, I sure hope we do not draft Dax Hill with our number one pick!
IMHO, he was a good to average player, on a great defense.
April 27th, 2022 at 1:23 pm
The CBs closed out the 2020 season with a great performance in the playoffs, but despite that I wasn’t sold. Football is a game that involves lots of moving parts, which means the CBs look even more fantastic if the pass rush is forcing the QB into making poor decisions and hasty passes. That’s what happened during that 2021 postseason campaign, which got magnified during the Super Bowl win.
Carlton Davis and Logan Ryan are solid, but the other two starters are just OK at best and are on the last legs of their rookie contracts. It can take a season for a rookie CB to get acclimated to the NFL level. For that reason I’d love to see 2 CBs taken, prior to the end of round 4.
April 27th, 2022 at 1:25 pm
Usually I am anxious for the draft and have a few guys that I want with the first pick, this year I am neither anxious or have strong feelings about who to pick.
April 27th, 2022 at 1:26 pm
Pick, yes. I mentioned that in a couple of other posts. Apparently Hill has been a terrible interview and there are some other questions as well.
April 27th, 2022 at 1:31 pm
Steven007 … Dax Hill bad interview? GTS. He had awesome interviews during the combine. The Steelers love the young man. You may be mixing him up with Devonte Wyatt.
April 27th, 2022 at 1:35 pm
Sly – its from Walter football – linked in todays Morning Cup of Joe
“Daxton Hill…poor interviews. Team sources from franchises that were excited about Hill said those conversations went so poorly they ruled Hill out. They worry about mental makeup issues and feel taking him in the early rounds is too risky.”
April 27th, 2022 at 1:36 pm
Trade up for Hamilton (Notre Dame) or Stingley (LSU). Itâll cost this yearâs 3rd rd but weâll have a Day 1 starter and upgrade in the secondary.
April 27th, 2022 at 1:48 pm
Booth Should be gone by 27…….
April 27th, 2022 at 1:57 pm
Pick, thanks. Beat me to it.
April 27th, 2022 at 1:57 pm
Sly, I don’t know about his interviews but obviously Wyatt is on the radar for several domestic disputes.
April 27th, 2022 at 2:00 pm
Personally I think Jordan Davis drops two at least 20th because no situation shows any kind of run on DTâs. If he does, I think the Bucs should trade up and get him. A great defensive line will do more to improve your back field than any rookie.
That said, I trust them in the first three rounds.
What I donât trust is Simms. I donât think heâs that good most the time. I think Dean is much much better than people give him credit for.
SMB is the one who needs to watch out for Delaney and a rookie
April 27th, 2022 at 2:03 pm
5th yr option picked up on D White…. Oh yeah. One of my picks.
April 27th, 2022 at 2:05 pm
If J. Davis drops and we trade up to the Pats for him, I would not be mad. But thats not gonna happen.
April 27th, 2022 at 2:08 pm
Booth isnt beating our top 3 starters out this season with all 3 healthy.
April 27th, 2022 at 3:12 pm
Tim – My guy would be Wyatt, but I don’t see how someone who looks that amazing on tape, and has the size and workout numbers he has, I don’t see how they fall that far in the draft. But if he falls, the Bucs and Bucs fans should be ecstatic.
With Hall, again, the issue is more about value and using a 1st rounder on him. In my limited research on him, it’s the lack of a high ceiling that knocks him down – for me, I want every 1st rounder to at least have the potential to be a star player. That can backfire, and sometimes it’s certainly better to take a player with a higher floor, in particular if the team thinks they can play early.
But that’s also why Wyatt would be such a good pick. He’s on the older side, already 24-years old, but that means he might be more physically developed (beyond the workouts, talking about functional strength) and ready to play early in his career. Again, I don’t think Wyatt will actually be there, but obviously he’d be my pick if he somehow fell. He does, on tape, remind me a ton of Warren Sapp – not saying he is Warren Sapp or will have that production, but on tape he appears to have elite quickness for a defensive lineman and could be really good. But who knows, lots of guys look good on tape, have good workouts, then flop. That’s why the draft, even the first round, is a 50/50 shot at getting a good player.
April 27th, 2022 at 3:26 pm
Dean had a solid year last year. If he takes another step forward he will be resigned and SMB will walk. If not we will be letting them both walk. I wouldnt be surprised if we drafted 2 DBs. 2 CBs or 1 S and 1 CB.
April 27th, 2022 at 4:14 pm
Somebody at 27 to beat out dean? Lol who believes that? Just because someone is good in college it does not mean it will immediately translate to beating out starters. Maybe they get more playing time later in the season but learn the technique to play nfl receivers and learn the defense?
If Bucs are âall inâ on 2022, I donât want to see a rookie corner getting picked on all game
April 27th, 2022 at 6:09 pm
Gentleman (and eventually ladies that are also interested in this website) understand something: the Bucs will select with the 27th overall pick someone that will contribute immediately!!
Why? Because this is the last year of Mr. 7 rings, Tommy!!
All these conjectures of drafting anyone for the future (like replacing Dean in 2023) is BS!
All in this year, that is all!!!
April 27th, 2022 at 6:14 pm
Gentleman (and ladies that eventually visit this website), the Bucs will draft a player that contributes in 2022!! They are all in the last year of Mr. 7 rings, Tommy B!!
All this talk of drafting for the future (like a 2023 substitute of J. Dean) is BS!!
Why? Because this is the only year Tommy B. is guaranteed to play for the Bucs!! This is the last opportunity for this Super Bowl window!!
This is it!! All else is a silly waste of time!!
April 27th, 2022 at 6:37 pm
I do think we need to draft for the secondary this year. Idc where we take one or two but I do think we should come out of this draft with 2 DBâs and 2 DL/passrush
April 27th, 2022 at 7:03 pm
I hear you Ruk! Thats why Im all about a TB12 weapon with our first….however its done…Olave or Dotson
April 27th, 2022 at 9:36 pm
Dumping Dean and keeping SMB? Thatâs a joke, right.
And drafting DBâs when we have no pass rush – just stupid.
April 27th, 2022 at 11:02 pm
Yes yes yes. Bin saying it before our super bowl. Does everyone really think SMB dean CD will all play like they did when we won it. I donât think so. Havenât bin sold on them. They need competition n not jobs just handed to them. When they get hurt our D went limp. Please get us help n comp. C.D is our only legit CB n heâs barely above average. Itâs a passing league beef up the secondary n trenches
April 28th, 2022 at 8:55 am
@dman thinking a rookie at 27 is going to fix the pass rush also has to be a joke right? I think anyone is an option at 27 from db to dl to wr whoever they have the highest eval on. Drafting for need at 27 is probably going to be a reach for the draft position and probably won’t have the impact fans think.
April 28th, 2022 at 10:53 am
TOTALLY AGREE WITH Dman….”Dumping Dean and keeping SMB? Thatâs a joke, right. And drafting DBâs when we have no pass rush â just stupid.” Bucs need to draft D-Lineman who have speed rush!!! BEEN SAYING THIS ALL ALONG!