Filling The Trenches
April 6th, 2023
Auburn OLB Derick Hall.
So the crowd over at BSPN has gone through each roster and determined who should be targeted in the draft three weeks from tonight — three weeks!
Jordan Reid took the role of Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht and said the Bucs need help in the trenches, first and foremost: tackle and edge rusher. Joe knows this will excite most fans.
Reid threw out the names of a couple of tackles like Tennessee right tackle Darnell Wright and Oklahoma left tackle Anton Harrison as good plug-and-play guys.
Joe’s already written about those two. Joe leans to Harrison only because that would checkmate a silly move of Tristan Wirfs to left tackle. Let the best right tackle in the game be.
Now as far as edge rushers, the first name Reid tossed out is Notre Dame defensive end Isaiah Foskey. A couple of weeks ago Joe asked JoeBucsFan.com draft guru abd Bill Currie Ford general manager Sean Sullivan about him. Sean believes Foskey is more of a 4-3 defensive end.
Reid also mentioned Auburn’s Derick Hall. Two years ago he had nine sacks. But last year that was down to 6.5. Hall did have eight more tackles in 2022 than in 2021.
Here’s what Emory Hunt of CBS Sports, the Czar of the Playbook, had to write about Hall in his 2023 Football Gameplan Draft Guide.
Strengths: Does a really good job in condensing or collapsing an edge in the run game. Takes on pulling OL rather well, while being able to keep his outside arm free. Good core strength to hold his own at the point of attack, and to also free himself from an offensive lineman’s block to get in on the play. Solid run defender that makes an offense work for every yard gained.
Areas of Improvement: As a pass rusher, doesn’t particularly have the twitchiness or burst off the edge to threaten in that way. Also lacks any creativity as a pass rusher. When tasked to quickly change directions, he’s a bit tighthipped an stiff athletically in that regard.
Hunt’s analysis on Hall doesn’t get Joe all heavy panting. Maybe working in an NFL weight room with a good defensive coaching staff might set him loose?
The crowd at Walter Football believes Hall is a true outside linebacker and is a second-day draft pick.
Pass rushers generally — not always, but generally — don’t show up during their rookie season when they have to stop fighting children in college and switch to grown-arse men playing tackle.
So if Licht drafts an edge rusher, what is that saying about the confidence he may or may not have in Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and/or Logan Hall?
Great fun ahead at the brand new Big Storm taproom in the heart of Ybor City! Upstairs in Centro Ybor with public parking all around. It’s big, bold and beautiful.
…Courtesy of Florida’s Elite Restoration, you can win $500 in our “Pick The Pick” contest, which was a huge hit at the 2021 NFL Draft party, plus another $500 in an additional contest. Hang with great Bucs fans, Ira Kaufman and Florida’s best craft beer and food.
April 6th, 2023 at 8:12 am
Tristan is moving to LT. One Joe doesn’t like it, but it is going to happen.
April 6th, 2023 at 8:27 am
If we draft an edge rusher it says the Bucs are not confident in Shaq returning to form. Which by all accounts, he won’t because injuries like his end careers the majority of the time.
April 6th, 2023 at 8:38 am
If Hall & JTS fail, both the first Buc’s pick in the last two drafts, what does that say about Lichts ability as a GM to evaluate pass rushers.
Two years in, we still are looking for a pass rusher…
I still say Licht blows more picks then he gets right, especially at critical picks of #1 & #2.
Sure, he hit on one or two drafts, but over the entire term of his management, he has wasted more premium picks then he hits.
April 6th, 2023 at 8:40 am
A pass rusher who can consistently sack the QB? Yes, please! I’m not sure about this guy, but somebody (probably in the 2nd Round).
April 6th, 2023 at 8:42 am
Edge trench ench tredge big uglies
April 6th, 2023 at 9:09 am
This is probably out first round pick, unless one of the top three OT prospects falls into their lap after they trade down.
April 6th, 2023 at 9:48 am
Wright and Harrison look like 2nd round prospects to me.
April 6th, 2023 at 10:26 am
One of these five would be great fits: Anton Harrison, Broderick Jones, Andrew Voorhees, Will McDonald IV or Andre Carter please.
April 6th, 2023 at 11:01 am
Highlight reels are the worst evaluation tool of college prospect because they don’t give you the full view of a given players strengths and weaknesses and it makes it easier to overinflate expectations cause all you can remember are 120-240 second cut ups of just the good stuff.
April 6th, 2023 at 11:12 am
He’s more of a tweener than Hall.
April 6th, 2023 at 11:16 am
Buc Enough
Dead on point…
Bud Licht is an imposter.
April 6th, 2023 at 11:58 am
It says nothing about Logan Hall. It say JTS has not shown it yet. But what it really says is that you can’t have enough pass rushers.
April 6th, 2023 at 12:24 pm
JTS underwhelming and Shaq coming off a horrible injury don’t give me a lot of confidence in our edge.
April 6th, 2023 at 12:37 pm
So if Licht drafts an edge rusher, what is that saying about the confidence he may or may not have in Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and/or Logan Hall?
———
Hall and DTS play two different positions – OLB vs DE – but as you’ve said for many years, Joe, you can never have too many pass rushers.
Also, if the Bucs take a new guy on the edge, while it might be about JTS, I think it’s more a statement about Shaq. He’s due a ton of money in 2024, and is going to have to have a big year to stick around.
As you pointed out, rookie pass rushers rarely do much, so you’d want to have someone else ready to go for 2024 if Shaq isn’t going to be out there.
April 6th, 2023 at 12:37 pm
Sasquatch, thank you!!! You can never have enough pass rushers, the Eagles draft one every draft, and when guys leave in free agency they have their replacement already on the roster. We need a pass rush, and maybe JTS and Hall show improvement this year. Some guys take time, be patient….
April 6th, 2023 at 1:29 pm
Sasquatch. I disagree. It may just be a realistic not to rely Shaq on a 30+ coming back from a torn Achilles. Like cornerback back you can never have too many DEs.
Now if they use a premium pick on ILB, which they should, it could be telling us how they feel about giving DWhite a huge contract next year. Either way they need more depth at ILB.
April 6th, 2023 at 1:50 pm
“It says nothing about Logan Hall. It say JTS has not shown it yet. But what it really says is that you can’t have enough pass rushers.”
Sometimes it’s really as simple as it seems. We’ve got 3 OLBs with regular season experience one of which is bouncing back from an otherwise debilitating injury that is known to change players. Then we’ve got Charles Snowden & Hamicler Rashed as two players our front office gave futures deals to at the position.
There are, last I checked 19 OLBs projected to go in the top 100, compare that to other positions like TE w/3 players projected to go in the top 100 or CB with 12-15 players expected to go in the top 100.
It kind of paints the picture, do you want the best of a class that’s kind of deep or would you rather wait to pick from OLBs/CBs to address a prospect in a not so deep group of TEs. It’s all dependent on who the drafting team likes the most and can put to use, but going into a draft expecting to get starters right away is kind of the set up move to be disappointed, but also plays against the patience you should have for developing your newly acquired talent. All that factors in building a roster, fleshing it out, and having a system in place where you can fill a gap on the depth chart before the need for bodies even arises. Preparation is the most underappreciated aspect of football, just like studying is to testing.
April 6th, 2023 at 3:09 pm
Pass rush, run stuff, run block pass block. Not in that order necessarily but all that. Please.
April 7th, 2023 at 12:21 am
Again…All I see at edge this tear re undersized guys or projects or both. Pass!
“Joe’s already written about those two. Joe leans to Harrison only because that would checkmate a silly move of Tristan Wirfs to left tackle. Let the best right tackle in the game be.”
Nailed it Joe!
April 7th, 2023 at 12:29 am
Question: Could Logan Hall be moved to another position of need?
I personally think it is too early for fans to judge last season’s rookies…but…
April 7th, 2023 at 2:36 am
AB9…Anybody but Plan 9.
April 7th, 2023 at 7:17 am
I hear the GM at Outback likes Will McDonald IV, but also admits the coconut shrimp and bloomin’ onion are both overrated.