Derius Davis & The Bucs
April 20th, 2023
Yeah, yeah, Deven Thompkins is the Bucs’ returner. Joe is over the experiment.
Joe is looking to the NFL Draft. Maybe, just maybe, this is the year Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht finds an electric returner.
Tampa Bay’s special teams have not been a strength of the team and Joe is not quite sure why Keith Armstrong, the team’s special teams coordinator, is entering his fifth season on the job. Regardless, there are strong returner prospects in next week’s draft and Texas Christian University receiver/returner Derius Davis is among the them.
The little guy (5-8, 165 pounds) has played in huge college games. So Joe sees that as a plus versus little speedster types drafted previously like Robert Herron (Wyoming), Scotty Miller (Bowling Green) and Jaelon Darden (North Texas), among others.
Davis also unleashed a 4.36-second 40 yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, and he has taken his share of punts/kicks to the house.
Joe almost can’t imagine what it’s like to have an electric, full-time returner.
Davis should be on the board when Day 3 of the draft kicks off.
https://twitter.com/MrMatthewCFB/status/1565905659622735874
April 20th, 2023 at 10:49 am
January teams have EXPLOSIVE players…I don’t know if this is one but you better keep searching for the ONE
April 20th, 2023 at 10:52 am
Did the Joes get the 4:45 AM Wake Up call ?
Lol….Grrrrr
my phone is silenced between 11PM and 7AM and I rolled out of bed with my AK-47 😉
April 20th, 2023 at 11:31 am
Armstrong is straight out garbage as a coach and if Bowels and the bucs are serious about being good then, allegedly special teams is the best coach on the staff and he is terrible. You could get devin hester on the bucs back deep and that isn’t changing that Armstrong since his Falcon days has been garbage. Pretty sure Biasaccia was available earlier this year. Special Teams is a big deal especially this year with the huge Question mark on defense
April 20th, 2023 at 11:31 am
Achane – whose also a RB (3rd rd)
Jayden Reed – whose also a WR (5th or 6th rd)
But I like this kid too…Nice find!!!
April 20th, 2023 at 11:32 am
SB~LV
That is AWESOME
April 20th, 2023 at 11:33 am
I’m with you Joe, I don’t know how Armstrong is still a coach. His teams were garbage in Atlanta and his teams have consistently been the worst of the three phases here. He talks a good game but that’s where it ends. IMO he’s just as bad of a coach as Leftwich.
April 20th, 2023 at 11:37 am
Armstrong must be Bowled buddy just like Harold Godwin running back coach still here after Lefty and the other running back coach was fired.
April 20th, 2023 at 11:37 am
Until we fix our return blocking Devin Hester himself could not return much better than Darden or Thompkins……
Our blocking is flat out sorry……totally sucks. And we aren’t much better at covering punts or kickoffs…..if it weren’t for Camarda kicking touchbacks and booming punts with hangtime, it would be much much worse.
April 20th, 2023 at 11:46 am
Does he automatically run towards the sidelines and out of bounds or will he turn upfield?
April 20th, 2023 at 11:48 am
I take that back….Achane will go in the 2nd, probably near the last 10….
We seriously need at least two 2nds and a top of 3rd for D. Washington/Achane/Avila
Trade back, trade back, trade back from 19….well unless we unload the diva, then use 19 on Simpson.
April 20th, 2023 at 11:49 am
And we’re probably getting a QB….go for Stetson with a late rounder…..WHY NOT?
April 20th, 2023 at 11:56 am
Totally didn’t think Armstrong was still on the staff.
April 20th, 2023 at 12:17 pm
Not to burst any bubbles, but punt/kick return TDs have pretty much gone extinct since the rule change and you’ve got to have a pretty talented player to making the expectation for a returner being “score or you stink”. Unless you’ve got a Cordalle Patterson level athlete with the skill set to consistently be a threat with the ball in his hands whether it be run, receive or return.
April 20th, 2023 at 12:17 pm
SB LV, you can have your toys, just don’t go shooting the kid from down the street when she rings the doorbell selling girl scout cookies! Or the other neighbor looking for his little brother’ friends house, or some other kid retrieving his runaway basketball!!!! Please!!
April 20th, 2023 at 12:22 pm
SB LV, also be careful sleeping with your automatic… you can get your ding ding shot off!
April 20th, 2023 at 12:24 pm
Joe, you are right about one thing…Armstrong should have been let go along time ago. He must have some real good blackmail stuff on somebody high up in the organization!
April 20th, 2023 at 12:31 pm
Deven Thompkins is the Bucs’ returner. Joe is over the experiment.
======
The guy had 6 returns and averaged 10.2 yards per return, which would have lead the league in 2021 and 2019.
Not sure why you’d say you’re over the ‘experiment’ when the limited results have actually been quite good.
With that said I don’t have any issue with getting a dedicated returner to compete for the job. I don’t know why teams are always so afraid to spend late round picks on dedicated returners. While I don’t know anything about this Davis guy, I’d have no issues with the team bringing in someone and letting him and Thompkins duel it out. But I don’t understand throwing out Thompkins when he’s shown promise so far.
April 20th, 2023 at 1:00 pm
ACHANE
April 20th, 2023 at 1:08 pm
165 lbs is a deal breaker. You can probably count on one hand how many guys that size have accomplished anything in the NFL.
It’s the NFL, everybody is fast and knows how to take angles. Speed only matters if they’re big enough to not get blown over by a sneeze. One big hit and their career is over, ask Peanut Smith.
Besides that, the return game is being phased out of the NFL. Only thing that really matters is kickers and punters.
April 20th, 2023 at 1:27 pm
Gibbs rd 1, RB/WR and kick returner. It’s not that complicated, don’t over think it
April 20th, 2023 at 1:28 pm
Do you think that the Bucs will re-sign Darwin Thompson now that he has been released?
April 20th, 2023 at 1:42 pm
The return game is as dead as Dillinger. Punters will simply kick the ball out of bounds.
April 20th, 2023 at 1:54 pm
The NFL has destroyed that part of the game.
It’s for safety sake. I get it but the days of Devin Hester are unfortunately long gone.
April 20th, 2023 at 2:02 pm
Sly is right. In 5-10 years they’ll just place the ball at the 25, or give the offense an extra down. Then the return game will truly be dead.
April 20th, 2023 at 2:08 pm
KEATON MITCHELL — EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY……bigger, stronger started at RB and ran 4.38…..electric player
April 20th, 2023 at 3:08 pm
@Jp09 I 2nd your comment only adding can trade down a few, picking
up draft capital the team can use
April 20th, 2023 at 5:08 pm
We could always get the electrifying Jolene Dardon back again.
LOL jk
April 20th, 2023 at 6:00 pm
Pretty blatant block in the back on that return… just sayin.
April 20th, 2023 at 7:39 pm
No thanks.
Devon Thompkins showed plenty in limited opportunity. He absolutely should be the return man, Plus he gives you a 5th-6th receiver.
April 20th, 2023 at 7:49 pm
I saw 2 blocks that would draw flags. I wouldn’t mind trying for a returner in the last 2 rounds though.
April 20th, 2023 at 11:19 pm
Isn’t Spurlock the last Buc to take one to the house? Meanwhile, Bucs special bus teams always seem to be threatening to give up a return TD to whoever they’re playing.
April 21st, 2023 at 12:05 am
Seattle Buc – I saw the same thing too . Yeah maybe bring in some undrafted players for that.
@ Dusthy Rhodes – You sound like a 12 year old , go back and read your comment before you post it. Go Bucs
April 21st, 2023 at 1:39 am
You got three 6th rounders, and while I still say, in honor of Brady and his pact with the devil, we should honor him by drafting three QBs in the 6th, but if the team refuses to follow my advice, I have no issue with taking a flyer on a guy who you think might be a great return man.
But I still like what I’ve seen from Thompkins so far, not that I’d hand him the job or anything, but at this moment I’d be perfectly fine going into the season with him as the primary returner.
April 21st, 2023 at 2:50 am
Can he catch the ball? 44th WR ranking…
Carry a clipboard you say?
Sign him up before someone else grabs him!
We need better special teams period! Not just at the glamour positions.
We have a great punter lets take advantage of that fact. I too can’t for the life of me figure out why Armstrong is still here.
April 21st, 2023 at 2:58 am
A bit off topic but…
Anybody else watch the late great Freddy Solomon play at UT. That dude had moves that I still to this day haven’t seen anyone else make.
April 21st, 2023 at 3:25 am
garro – I didn’t see that, but I did see the new Ant-Man movie, and I must say Jameis Winston did an amazing job as Kang. Who knew he had those acting chops.