Ian Beckles Grades Jason Licht
March 30th, 2024
Gets props from ex-Bucs guard.
Hey, it isn’t only anal high school math teachers and the PFF tribe who can hand out grades! Others can too.
That brings Joe to former Bucs guard and current local radio personality Ian Beckles. Recently on his podcast “In the Trenches,” he explained a recent chance encounter he had with Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht.
At times, Beckles has been very harsh on Licht. But he has also praised Licht when Beckles found him deserving.
So Beckles explained where he thinks Licht now stands in his peer group of NFL shot-callers. Beckles believes Licht deserves an “A” grade for his 10-year tenure as Bucs GM.
“If you say what is Jason Licht’s grade as a GM to this point? In his whole career? He gets an ‘A,’ Beckles said. “We won a Super Bowl. We have relevance. We’re still relevant.
“[Licht] made a couple of big moves. You’re going to have some bombs along the way. And you are going to have some home runs. He’s had both.
“But if you look at the tenure, I’d say Jason Licht is doing one of the best jobs as a GM right now. And I didn’t always say that.”
Beckles nailed it. There is no such thing as a perfect general manager. Quietly, while the Bucs were losing and The Lost Decade continued to drag on, Licht was building a war chest of talent.
That talent was the very backbone of the Super Bowl-winning team in 2020, and some of the same foundation of the Bucs that nearly got to the NFC title game in January.
March 30th, 2024 at 7:24 am
Nah, he gets an F for not signing Reddick, right Joe?
March 30th, 2024 at 7:48 am
Well done Jason!
March 30th, 2024 at 7:49 am
Well, not my favorite guy. But he’s spot on.
Anyone who wants to complain, go cheer for the Vikings, Bills or Falcons. Wait on a Super Bowl.
March 30th, 2024 at 7:56 am
Show me the money!!! In this case the Titles! Based on that basic premise Licht definitely has earned Ians A.
March 30th, 2024 at 8:03 am
Yup. Agree with Beckles 100%
Brady, now MayField!
Job very well done, Sir!
March 30th, 2024 at 8:36 am
To me, the Super Bowl wins felt equally powerful and exhilarating. Winning the “division titles” “on going” for years now has me feeling Very Satisfied and as proud of what our GM has built in a new way because It IS new to us. I WANT MORE!
I’m not sure what the division wins records are “in a row” but the way Jason keeps talent on the field, we may have a shot at the title. Well, at least in the south. Just spit balling, but a team say like the Pat’s while Brady was at the height of his glory years and all those years the Pat’s were in a weak division, they might hold the record of consecutive division wins? I wonder what that “consecutive” number to beat is?
March 30th, 2024 at 8:56 am
Agreed 100%
March 30th, 2024 at 8:58 am
Gotta agree with Beckles on this one. The one true head coaching move that Jason could make he got Bruce Arians, had awesome offenses, then got Tom Brady and won a Super Bowl. For sure, Jason has a short list of who his next head coach will be when the inevitable becomes reality.
March 30th, 2024 at 9:21 am
If you judge a GM by the players he picks and the players he keeps….he certainly gets an A.
Evans, Godwin, Wirfs, Vea, Winfield, Mayfield
He’s done a great job with UDFAs also…….Brate, Humphries, Izien & others.
March 30th, 2024 at 9:25 am
Could care less about Ian Beckles worthless opinion. Why do the Joes even write articles about it?
March 30th, 2024 at 9:35 am
In the voice of Bevis, “Ha-ha…ha-ha…you said anal.
March 30th, 2024 at 9:36 am
Sure hope the current edge rushers and dlineman do not drag down that A after this year.
March 30th, 2024 at 9:40 am
It took 5 years for Licht to dig the Bucs out of the lack of talent hole that Dominik dug us into….
And having Lovie then Koetter/Mike Smith as coaches during that period didn’t help much…
March 30th, 2024 at 10:18 am
I will grade Beckles: A+ on flip-flops and hyperbole.
March 30th, 2024 at 10:18 am
The same Beckles who insisted Evans and Mayfield weren’t extending and were testing free agency? That take was solid for about 30 minutes. His only qualification is he played poorly for the Bucs. Maybe we can get Kenny Bell’s opinions too.
March 30th, 2024 at 10:23 am
Even though he didn’t trade for a overpriced edge rusher
March 30th, 2024 at 10:59 am
@Obvious
That ‘number’ would be 11, by the way… ELEVEN.
March 30th, 2024 at 11:17 am
Ian Beckles … ‘[Licht] made a couple of big moves. You’re going to have some bombs along the way. And you are going to have some home runs. He’s had both.’
Articles & assessments like this are humorous. So JL gets an ‘A’ for his 10-year tenure as Bucs’ GM, even though ‘you’re going to have some bombs along the way’. IMO Jason hit on some outstanding draft picks over the years, but apparently, when it comes to GMs at least, there’s ‘forgiveness’ from media & fans for boo-boos like snagging FAs like Swaggy Baker, and drafting guys like Roberto Aguayo (Rnd 2), VHIII (Rnd 1), OJ Howard (Rnd 1), JTS (Rnd 1) & Logan Hall (Rnd 2). No need to go into some of the others like Jameis (Rnd 1) or Devin White (Rnd 1) drafted with Top-5 picks.
The irony seems to be that the same ‘forgiveness’ apparently doesn’t to extend to Head Coaches or OCs or DCs in BucsLand. And yes, Todd Bowles is a prime example. In the past 2 years he’s been mocked & skewered by numerous JBFers … and media … for decisions made in the heat of battle that didn’t work out as well as couch potatoes looking in the rear-view mirror on Monday morning felt that they should have. And Todd didn’t have the luxury, like JL does, of getting multiple assessments on ‘What should we do?’ or ‘What’s the best route to take on this one?’. Heat of battle doesn’t allow that.
It’s always seemed like a double-standard to me. In JL’s first 6 years for instance he had 4 losing seasons. In TB’s 6 years as a HC, he also had 4 losing seasons. I wonder how many JBFers would give Todd Bowles an ‘A’ grade for his performance.
March 30th, 2024 at 11:19 am
That’s the big thing, “Jerseybuc” – They’re building through the draft and trying to get faster, & YOUNGER. Nothing about trading for (and then ‘extending’) Reddick made any SENSE… Especially, not in dollars and CENTS. Gotta score more points.
March 30th, 2024 at 12:15 pm
Defense Rules, The difference in JL’s credibility and TB’s credibility is he had 11-5 record in 2020 a 13-4 record in 2021 and a Super Bowl win with Bruce Arians. Now that TB’s is at head coach we are trying to reach those milestones. IMHO TB’s coaching has improved and we can see he’s learning from his mistakes. I personally am rooting for him to keep us playing at a high level and in the Super Bowl hunt every year.
March 30th, 2024 at 12:35 pm
Proudbucsfan … About the only thing that BA & TB had in common was that they both had the same DC … Todd Bowles. Their teams (2020-2021 for BA & 2022-2023 for TB) had considerably different personnel, they played different schedules, etc.
Come to think of it, they had 2 things in common: they both had Jason Licht as the GM. The Bucs’ roster in 2020 & 2021 was far more talented IMO than what we fielded in 2022 & 2023. It was also a LOT more costly (as one would expect), and we’re still paying the tab for those costs.
Don’t misunderstand though. I loved what BA accomplished here and the way that JL supported the ‘vision’ that BA brought here. After that 1st year with Jameis, Bucs became very relevant very quickly. Awesome Cinderella story IMO (winning the Super Bowl as a wildcard? Nice). Almost made it a two-fer.
But I also appreciate what Todd Bowles has done here since taking over in 2022 (under some very challenging conditions might add). I’m really HOPEFUL (Joe’s favorite word) that this team can continue to grow & improve this year, and I think the decisions that JL has made thus far in FA will help us to do that. I can’t say that I see this as another Bucs’ Super Bowl year, but I do feel that we’ve got a better-than-average chance to make the playoffs. From there, anything can happen.
March 30th, 2024 at 1:05 pm
What a ridiculous headline. Loudmouth guard that did nothing for the Bucs rates Super Bowl winning GM?
March 30th, 2024 at 1:50 pm
You get younger by signing a 30-year old receiver and a 34-year old linebacker?
Are the Bucs looking to build a daycare center or a Super Bowl winner?
March 30th, 2024 at 3:00 pm
Joe … ‘You get younger by signing a 30-year old receiver and a 34-year old linebacker? Are the Bucs looking to build a daycare center or a Super Bowl winner?’
Surely you’re not serious Joe. Bucs have exactly THREE players 30 years old or older … Mike Evans, Zach Triner & Lavonte David. One on offense, one on defense & one on S/Ts. We’re currently tied with the Rams for the THIRD YOUNGEST team in the NFL according to Spotrac (at 26.29 years old average). Interestingly 45 of the 65 players we currently have under contract are 26 years old or younger.
Got a hunch they won’t be starting a geriatric care unit at One Buc Palace anytime soon.
March 30th, 2024 at 3:10 pm
BTW, kudos to Jason Licht & his staff are in order.
Bucs have $2.6 mil of salary CAP space remaining right now and we have ALL of our players under contract. That’s currently 65 players accounted for on our roster.
Spotrac projects that our draft picks will cost us $7.4 mil in salary CAP hits, but that’ll be offset when they replace the same number of players at the bottom of the Top-51. That’d amount to about $5.6 mil in savings, meaning that we’d be left with about $0.8 mil in CAP space. Looks like a nice job by the Bucs massaging the salary CAP hits.
I’m guessing that they all believe in the old saying … ‘Math is fun and numbers are our friends’.
March 30th, 2024 at 3:21 pm
With the draft and rookie free agency coming, Jason is about to add a dozen or more 21 year olds to the Bucs, taking the average age of one of the youngest teams in the league and making it younger. I’m all for experience to counterbalance the youth, particularly having veterans that know what’s going on in the games, what their assignments are, etc.
Jason knows what he is doing. Patience, grasshoppers.
March 30th, 2024 at 3:56 pm
Tell me his W\L record without Arians?
March 30th, 2024 at 4:09 pm
Is Beckles on the radio? Thought he got canned years ago.
March 30th, 2024 at 4:51 pm
Amen Brother!!! 💯💯💯
I love me some Ian Beckles because what you see is what you get. And Jason Licht is owning the NFL right now. I mean seriously, Tom Brady, Gronk, Super Bowl, and now he grabbed Baker off the scrap heap, the roughest toughest walkinest talkinest QB in the game. Baker is a beast and he fears no man. If you’re going to try and tackle him while he’s running, you’re getting hit by a truck because he’s gonna lay the wood!!!! Go Bucs!!! Let’s go get another ring!!!
March 30th, 2024 at 5:32 pm
^ both things can be true lol.
Having a few guys over 30 doesn’t mean you’re not also getting younger in more positions overall
March 30th, 2024 at 5:33 pm
Thank you DR for posting those stats.
Lmao @ 3 total players over 30 equaling a daycare
March 30th, 2024 at 5:48 pm
Jasons got this, hes got me in his ear….sometimes he listens, sometimes he dont. Its worked out for the most part. We’ve had some misses, it happens. Im not good after the 3rd rd and thats where his scouts are pretty good. Now if I could just hurry up and retire from my job and come work for him as a scout.
March 30th, 2024 at 7:00 pm
Lightning Buc Says:
Is Beckles on the radio? Thought he got canned years ago.
———————————————————————
He has a podcast called “In the Trenches” on iHeart radio.
March 30th, 2024 at 7:14 pm
He’s built this team and has been keeping our players and drafting very well. And he is genuinely passionate about the Bucs. JL nails this draft again at Edge, C, RB2, WR4 and that makes us another reloaded Superbowl Team
March 31st, 2024 at 3:35 am
Use a 3rd, trade up to 19 for Powers
Braswell 2nd
Trotter jr 3rd
Estime or Bucky Irving 4th
Spencer Rattler if hes still there in the 4th in a trade up, so he can sit a few years behind Baker
and we’re done.