CBS: Bucs Should Trade Up
April 15th, 2024
Advice from broadcast partner.
A man who has his nose fully up Kirk Cousins’ rear end already says he’s down on the Bucs because they did not make a “major” roster addition to their unimpressive team.
That would be Cody Benjamin of CBS. He’s one of these guys, like some fantasy twerp at BSPN, who laughingly dismisses a 36-year old quarterback trying to bounce back from a blown Achilles. The BSPN fantasy dude thinks an old quarterback can overcome a blown Achilles in a snap because said quarterback has weapons. LOL
Did anyone notice how having superior teammates helped O.J. Howard recover from a blown Achilles?
Benjamin wrote previously that the Bucs will not be a playoff team this fall because they didn’t add talent (Joe thinks Benjamin overlooked Jordan Whitehead, but OK).
So how can the Bucs satisfy Benjamin in the draft? Trade up and grab a quality defensive player in Round 1.
26. Buccaneers — Trade up
The Bucs are running it back with Baker Mayfield and the gang. But they haven’t necessarily made major upgrades on either side of the ball. A move up could help them land a difference-making pass rusher or cover man.
Well, if Benjamin thinks there is a difference-maker of a rookie edge rusher, good luck. Historically, rookie edge rushers generally struggle unless their names are “Bosa.” (This was another reason Joe was so mental about trading for Haason Reddick).
A cornerback? Joe could easily see that. Yeah, Zyon McCollum probably was promised the starting job to replace traded Carlton Davis, but Joe would like to see him play more consistently.
And how secure is Jamel Dean? So yeah, Joe could see the Bucs drafting someone like Kool-Aid McKinstry.
One thing Joe liked about Father Dungy as Bucs head coach (1996-2001) is that he made sure the team drafted a defensive back every year. Father Dungy argued you cannot have enough corners. That philosophy worked out pretty well, didn’t it?
April 15th, 2024 at 9:03 am
no
April 15th, 2024 at 9:10 am
Don’t look now, Bucs are drafting a difference maker wide receiver at #26. Greg Cossell said Ladd McConkey would be a perfect fit in Coen’s offense. His wide receiver coach is now our wide receiver coach. Projected to go in the bottom of the first round, McConkey could be the Bucs pick at #26.
April 15th, 2024 at 9:12 am
No trading up unless the Bucs really like an OL that they want to beat Jerry Jones to at #24. I’d rather trade down from 26 to the top of rd2 and get another pick.
April 15th, 2024 at 9:15 am
Koolaid would be good. Great in man or zone
April 15th, 2024 at 9:17 am
For those acting like Cousins won’t be effective this year.
Pro Football Doc aka SIC Scores:
On track to make Atlanta Falcons debut in Week 1 – tore right Achilles tendon in late October but has progressed to dropping back in sneakers – should be available for full work in training camp.
Cousins bigger problem is he does not have a receiver like he had on the Vikes or receivers like we have on the Bucs.
April 15th, 2024 at 9:29 am
Sure, he can be on the field and work. How’s he going to play in that first year back? Some have no problem. Too many do.
Will be interesting to see what Shaq Barrett does down in Miami in his second year back from an Achilles. That injury did O.J. Howard in and he wasn’t 36.
April 15th, 2024 at 9:38 am
Only trade up for a sure talent. Wirfs was a sure pick you know he was good and a chance of being great. He was great best tackle in the draft. I am not sure you can say that about anyone in this draft. Stay put or trade back. Thats just my opinion.
April 15th, 2024 at 9:40 am
No, if Bucs trade I hope they trade down and add another 2nd day pick or two. There are only 12 to 15 guys in this year’s draft with true first round grades.
April 15th, 2024 at 9:46 am
I prefer Cooper DeJean over Kool-Aid.
Cooper is bigger, bigger hands, bigger wingspan.
Kool-Aid a little smaller, in height, hands, and wingspan. He meets all the acceptable standards to be a solid outside corner. I just do not see anything in his makeup to make him elite as an outside corner.
Both Kool-Aid and Cooper were good in the return game. But Kool-Aid muffed 5 punt returns over the last 2 years. Maybe you overcome that at Alabama but you don’t overcome that in the competitive NFL.
Kool-Aid has maxed out – he was number 1 CB out of high school with high level coaching in high school. Would be a fine pick.
DeJean is getting better. He was the best player in about every sport as a kid and never focused his attention on football until playing quarterback (and two way) his junior and senior year of high school leading his teams to state championship. His anticipation/recovery speed look better than Kool-Aid to get the pass breakups and interception.
DeJean with 7 Ints with 3 for pick sixes in 24 starts compared to Kool-Aid with 2 Ints in 33 starts.
IMO the elite tools are with Cooper DeJean.
Yet, Kool-Aid clearly has the coaching pedigree on his side. No one better than Saban on cornerbacks.
April 15th, 2024 at 9:50 am
All of these people saying the Bucs didn’t add talent clearly didn’t realize that the Bucs had the most snaps played by rookies last year and were the 5th youngest team in the league! If even half of those guys take a leap in year 2 the Bucs are already a better team.
Are the Bucs perfect? Far from it but in theory they should automatically be better with the growth of last years rookies.
April 15th, 2024 at 9:55 am
I only would feel good about a trade up for a DE. Otherwise stay or move back.
Regarding the Achilles injury – when it’s the QB position and it’s a non mobile pocket passer I don’t think it really compares to OLB / TE or positions where a slight drop in athleticism and speed can be a career killer.
If anything it’s just going to be about whether it has a mental impact on him. Missing a 1/2 season of reps and possible pocket jitters and not being able to get in early offseason work with his new team. I could see him being a bit rusty early on but it’s not like his sprint speed means much for the type of player he is.
April 15th, 2024 at 10:01 am
No CB before rd 3/4 or later. Only trade up for a top 3 Edge. With such a late pick, the Bucs need to let the draft come to them. I wouldn’t be upset if Bucs need to trade back. If so, Bucs should try to swap picks to try and get earlier 3rd and 4th round picks.
April 15th, 2024 at 10:05 am
Only trade up for the biggest, baddest, Center in the draft if he falls within reach . Otherwise stay put and take BAP .
April 15th, 2024 at 10:05 am
Interesting Joe, in the 5-6 years that I have been more actively posting on your site, about the only times you highlight my quote is when I talk about someone’s injury and disagree with you.
Understanding medical injuries and recoveries are complex and I know the biggest disagreements I have had with you concern two individuals.
1. JPP – that his fracture of his neck should heal fine and that he was likely to return to a high form of play.
2. Jensen – that without surgery on the ACL, I thought he would never come back and be an effective football player.
But on Cousins, I do not have a strong as opinion on his injury.
Right now, I am just going by the SIC Score experts.
If the readers want to accept your assessment over the Pro Football injury experts, so be it.
There is a whole video out on Dr. David Chao about Kirk Cousins.
In part it says:
He may not have 100% mobility in Week 1, but Cousins is not a quarterback who relies on escapability to make plays. He should be able to make every throw necessary for a pocket passer and our panel of docs have no medical downgrade for the 35-year-old this season.
I hope you are correct and that Cousins will suck.
I am glad I was correct and that JPP came back wonderfully.
I wish you had been correct on Jensen.
April 15th, 2024 at 10:10 am
Quarterback vs Tight End and their ability to perform after an Achilles is comparing Apples to Oranges.
Sure if the Falcons choose to use Cousins like the Saints use Taysom Hill or have him blocking on a reverse then Joe might have a point. Otherwise the QB has a great deal of control in the simple fact that he can throw the ball in the dirt or throw it away to limit contact. Doubt the Falcons have the Philly Special on their play chart.
Even in Flip Flops Cousins will be Apples compared to any of the Oranges behind center in the NFCS.
April 15th, 2024 at 10:19 am
No major upgrades on either side of the ball?
This dude does not pay attention.
April 15th, 2024 at 10:41 am
Now some fans are talking about moving up to draft a Center or Guard? Cannot be serious. God help us all.
April 15th, 2024 at 10:47 am
NOPE. Trade back and collect more day 2 picks. That’s where the meat of this draft is. So man excellent prospects on day 2, I’d gladly trade back for an extra few 2s and/or 3s.
April 15th, 2024 at 11:02 am
Gotta have something to talk about this time of year. A lot of s(p)it on a lot of walls this season
April 15th, 2024 at 11:11 am
Jason Licht has only traded up ONE TIME in his first round drafting history with the Bucs. And that was to draft Wirfs (future gold jacket guy). What he did to get Wirfs was move up one spot to protect the pick, and that’s an outlier for anyone who has followed Licht’s time as GM.
So unless a player looks like the second coming of a football legend, it’s not happening under JL. Do any of you see a guy who has that kind of potential from pick 15 down in the draft? I don’t.
April 15th, 2024 at 11:13 am
OK, now I am an official Dixie Chicks hater. Outside of NO, I really didn’t hate other football teams (well maybe the Packers), but all of this Kirk Cousins hype makes me hope they lose every game this year. The Bucs need to take them to the woodshed both games in 2024.
April 15th, 2024 at 11:14 am
Bucs will win their new normal. 8 or 9 games.
April 15th, 2024 at 11:14 am
SB Says:
Gotta have something to talk about this time of year. A lot of s(p)it on a lot of walls this season.
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x2 Yep – every team and all of their blog sites. They have to keep those advertiser view counts up on their websites. Pays the bills.
April 15th, 2024 at 11:17 am
I say stay put. This draft is one of the more deeper drafts for IOL, WR and CB. I day stay put and attack the strengths of this years draft.
April 15th, 2024 at 11:47 am
How can a QB NOT have some issues recovering from ACL repair to his plant foot?
I know players under treatment have access to HGH & other recovery enhancement meds, but the explosiveness still doesn’t come back for most players suffering this injury until year two, right?
Still not a believer that Cousins makes a complete recovery – especially early in the season. Even though he isn’t a mobile QB, I think he’s still going to experience some issues when he has to click that heal down to make his throws, and despite a really good o-line, the opposing defense will still force him into escaping rush threats. Not sure that ACL will have the explosiveness this season to allow him to do either of those things.
April 15th, 2024 at 11:52 am
Kirk gonna be Kirk. Mr one playoff game in how many years? Even at 100%, cousins wasn’t lighting it up. Its the run game that’ll be backing him that I see as a factor.
Speaking of run game, guess who should trade up to get the C we need to help get ours back on track. Baker and a good run game is where I’m at
April 15th, 2024 at 11:54 am
Jensen was told by doctors if he had surgery not only would his football career be over, he would never walk normally again.
April 15th, 2024 at 12:05 pm
White Tiger Says:
How can a QB NOT have some issues recovering from ACL repair to his plant foot?
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I think you meant achilles. But it’s a good question. For a guy his age even a full recovery doesn’t mean he’s recovered. The great Bill Walsh once said that hrowing a football is about 80 percent based on footwork (stance, push, follow through). How well does a guy get back in his old shape while at the same time changing teams, doctors and cities?
Dan Marino is the only other 30+ years old NFL QB I’ve found who had the injury and came back strongly from it. They aren’t the same people and the situation was easier for Marino coming back to the same team the following season.
Honestly I can’t see Cousins being as good as he was before it happened. IMO, serious injuries over 30 are a way that Father Time tells a player their time is coming to an end.
April 15th, 2024 at 12:26 pm
@Geno711
Great post regarding Kool-Aid and DeJean. I’m usually too late to the party to provide anything on this site. I do appreciate, though the posters who provide researched, insightful information on the subject under discussion. You Sir, are one of several posters on here that always provide value in the comments. Thank You!
April 15th, 2024 at 12:28 pm
SO: there’s 3 good edges, all of whom will be gone before #26.
We DON’T want to waste a first round pick on O line
We either draft a world -beating WR or trade down?
April 15th, 2024 at 12:38 pm
Beej it’s still a late 1st rounder.
I don’t see why O-line can’t be in play at 26.
Barton maybe or…. Powers Johnson if he’s still available.
April 15th, 2024 at 12:39 pm
I wouldn’t mind TE Brock Bowers in the first. This guy is a beast and would open up our offense.
April 15th, 2024 at 12:44 pm
The Bucs should draft a DE if one of three is left. Then the OL if one of the centers is there.The a WR is one is available or trade down
April 15th, 2024 at 1:05 pm
Pass Rush please!!
April 15th, 2024 at 1:07 pm
Why in the world would we blow a 1st on a CB? Considering Bowles’ scheme asks CBs to sit 20 yards off the line of scrimmage, wait for the WR to catch the ball, then tackle…any UDFA can do that. We had the highest paid duo of CBs in the league last year and the result was the 29th-ranked pass D. Quit wasting valuable draft capital on a position where it’s impossible to shine in this soft cover 3 zone scheme.
April 15th, 2024 at 1:07 pm
Its really stupid to get a CB on 1 round when you need Pass rush, DL, OL and WR….just stupid to get a secondary or a RB on 1 rounder, with the only exception you have a CB you can´t miss….. Of ourse Kool-Aid McKinstry is not the case…..he is good, but not a game changer, as most of CB. Get a pass rush, thats an URGENCY on a VERY important positiion
April 15th, 2024 at 1:07 pm
A more compelling case could easily be made in favor of trading back, particularly if the Washington Commanders emerge as our potential trading partner.
Washington Commanders Trade:
* No. 36 overall
* No. 67
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Trade:
* No. 36 overall
* 2025 5th Round Pick
April 15th, 2024 at 1:09 pm
Welp. The talking heads dissed Brad Holmes and the Lions because they didn’t add talent. They basically did the same thing Licht is doing; hold onto the players who bought in and they value. It’s still a sneaky way of throwing coals on Mayfield though. Pro-tip, Kirk C doesn’t show up on the Big Stage. Baker does. Especially when he has guys line Big Mike and Crusader Chris to go to war with. Bucs win the NFCS again 25
April 15th, 2024 at 1:14 pm
With a shadow of doubt, it’s evident that we have more than just one position of dire need to address. So, how does forfeiting the opportunity to acquire additional talent aid us in achieving our goals?
April 15th, 2024 at 1:27 pm
@Luv
I’d love a trade back Luv lol.
Could see it from a team wanting to get back into R1 for a QB, or a team like the Chiefs/Bills that want to go after a WR.
Also a good chance no one wants to trade up at that point but I love the idea of more draft picks.
Especially since we have needs at all these positions:
DE
OG
OC
RB
WR
CB
ILB
Right now our best case scenario is maybe hitting on like 4 impact players on those positions since that’s how many picks we have R1-R3.
April 15th, 2024 at 1:29 pm
Seen some mocks recently with the Bucs taking Xavier Worthy.
Please tell me these are the guys that look at speed in the 40 and automatically believe they are 1st round talents.
He looks like the wind could blow him over. John Ross ran 1/100 slower and where is he? Probably working construction.
I know they want speed but surely they aren’t seriously considering that.
April 15th, 2024 at 1:44 pm
Like most of these casual fan writers, Cody Benjamin doesn’t know his ass from his elbow. Wisco Joe nailed it, we should automatically be better because of the amount of rookies getting work last year. Added Whitehead, eliminated major needs by resigning our own pro bowlers and hopefully can fill a need or 2 in the draft.
Someone mentioned no Jefferson for Cousins and that’s true but the weapons are comparable. London and Pitts likely to have better years and Bijan is gonna go nuts. Doesn’t mean they are strolling to a division win but we better be getting pressure on old won nothing Kirk.
April 15th, 2024 at 3:52 pm
Quantity or quality? Both,. One strong, talented mauler of a center can make up for a couple of positions of need, imo. That’s one example of losing a pick, but gaining what could amount to 2-3 picks worth of talent and need. I’d trade up this time.
April 15th, 2024 at 5:36 pm
Fanman’s family crest reads:
“You can never have enough competent DBs”!
Dean can’t stay healthy for more than a game and Zyon is largely unproven as a starter.
April 15th, 2024 at 8:45 pm
Whitehead was an upgrade, and that other Jets corner may have been a sneaky good move. Gholston was a great signing. Other than that, he’s correct.
Trade up for Verse 100%
Verse Kancey and Vea would be insane
April 16th, 2024 at 2:04 pm
Move the draft up a week.
April 16th, 2024 at 2:23 pm
Please, someone help me understand how we are supposed to “get better” with the salary cap the way it was and needing to resign our own guys? Corny Braodcast Sports 🤦🏻♂️
April 16th, 2024 at 3:47 pm
Well to be fair, a statuesque QB and a receiving TE are quite different in terms of the they need to use their bodies to play their positions…