“Take The Local Kid!”
April 10th, 2024
Iowa State CB T.J. Tampa.
Man, this would drive broadcasters up a tree.
Imagine you are a play-by-play guy and you keep repeating a guy’s name and it just so happens to be the same name as the team. If prickly Pete Prisco would have his way, this would happen with the Bucs.
Why? Because Prisco thinks the Bucs in the second round should draft Iowa State corner T.J. Tampa.
During a Bucs mock draft on CBS Sports, on the screen was a scroll of available players for the Bucs at No. 57. A player caught Prisco’s eye and he immediately began lobbying for Tampa.
“Take the local kid!” Prisco hollered. “His name is T.J. Tampa and he’s from St. Petersburg!”
Prisco is right. Tampa played at Lakewood High School. And Prisco believes Tampa should play as a pro right up the road from his old high school, in part because Prisco thinks the Bucs are thin at corner.
“Carlton Davis is gone,” Prisco began. “Jamel Dean is gone. I think they need to get a guy who can play on the outside. I will take T.J. Tampa.”
Well, to the best of Joe’s knowledge, Dean is still with the Bucs. Joe saw him at One Buc Palace a couple of weeks ago.
But Joe fully agrees with Prisco. Yeah, Joe knows Bucs coach Todd Bowles believes Zyon McCollum can take over for Carlton Davis. And he may be right. Thing is, Joe has to see it first. So yeah, Joe thinks the Bucs are thin at corner.
Joe decided to see what Emory Hunt of CBS, the Czar of the Playbook, had to type about Tampa in his “Football Gameplan 2024 Draft Guide.”
Strengths:
– Lengthy corner who plays a lot bigger than his size. When tasked with playing press coverage, he excels greatly. Able to effectively get a couple of punches in, tying up the receiver at the LOS.
– Shows the spatial awareness to wall-off and pin a receiver on the sideline, using it as a help defender.
– Excellent at using his length to play the ball coming his way, able to reach out and close the passing window.
– Strong vs the run; willing to come up and make a form tackle.Areas of Improvement:
– Pad level is a bit too high, which causes some issues coming out of his break when he’s playing zone or off coverage.
– Takes him an extra step to transition out of his backpedal at the top of the route, yielding some separation between he and the receiver.
Hunt has Tampa ranked as his No. 6 corner.
Another reason Joe would draft this Tampa? Joe liked what Father Dungy used to do.
Father Dungy believed a team couldn’t have enough corners. He drafted one every year he was the Bucs coach. That didn’t turn out so bad, did it?
The play that sold me on Iowa State cornerback #2 T.J. Tampa (vs. Oklahoma 2023) pic.twitter.com/MdnGiVnjZT
— FIRST ROUND MOCK (@firstroundmock) April 2, 2024
April 10th, 2024 at 8:55 am
“Jamel Dean is gone”
He ain’t wrong. Just a year early.
April 10th, 2024 at 8:56 am
trade back into the 2nd and yea I would not mind it.
April 10th, 2024 at 9:06 am
TBBF & Joe like the Edge Rusher…..Larry Land O Lakes better.
April 10th, 2024 at 9:09 am
Definitely all in on CB T.J. Tampa! It is a win-win for all. Yes, take the local kid!
Remember CB Leonard Johnson, undrafted free agent for the Bucs? He was from Largo High and went to Iowa State. Good guy too. He moved around a lot. I believe he is still with the Bills as a coaching assistant.
April 10th, 2024 at 9:12 am
@Pickgrin
Yea Dean will have to have a great year to finish his contract but it’s more likely he will be traded like Davis was before his contract. Such a shame to get the big contract then fall off
April 10th, 2024 at 9:28 am
Jamel Dean is gone?????
Since when_????
April 10th, 2024 at 9:33 am
Nope. Wait for dY e to address CB. If McCollum is the starter we don’t need to draft depth in the 2nd round.
April 10th, 2024 at 9:34 am
Wait for day 3
April 10th, 2024 at 9:47 am
Edit : Dean is soft.
April 10th, 2024 at 10:05 am
Tampa picks Tampa
April 10th, 2024 at 10:06 am
He has everything but speed.
April 10th, 2024 at 10:50 am
This sentence tells me he is NOT a Bowles kind of CB, “When tasked with playing press coverage, he excels greatly.” Play 12 yards off the ball on 3rd and 5 and make the tackle 14 yards down the field. Now we’re talking!!
April 10th, 2024 at 11:06 am
A Bucs Fan Says:
April 10th, 2024 at 10:06 am
He has everything but speed.
____________
Not a problem.
Pasco county is very close and will happily keep him supplied.
April 10th, 2024 at 11:14 am
Dean is a health liability. We need to start grooming another starter at CB. I highly doubt it, but definitely pick T.J. Tampa if he is still available when Bucs pick in the 2nd.
April 10th, 2024 at 11:22 am
Todd could make Deion Sanders look like Myron Lesis
April 10th, 2024 at 11:23 am
A lot of GM’s shy away from picking the “local” kid because that often comes with the problems of now having a young guy with money who is surrounded with the posse he grew up with, which isn’t always the best influences.
April 10th, 2024 at 11:36 am
If they give him #2 I’m buying a Tampa 2 jersey.
April 10th, 2024 at 11:43 am
Tampa 2
Now that’s clever.
April 10th, 2024 at 11:49 am
He’s already Tampa 2.
Says “Tampa Jr” on his jersey!
DoooshLaRue… nice comment!! Gibsonton and Sefner (Methner) are solid supply options as well.
April 10th, 2024 at 11:51 am
Excellent point, Cyber.
April 10th, 2024 at 12:07 pm
sick of hearing of CB’s when we have total $hit for OL and DL
did we all forget the seal clubbing the lions gave our lines?
I haven’t. The score did not reflect it, but they tossed the bucs around like stormy daniels at a frat party
April 10th, 2024 at 12:10 pm
We need a top shelf corner. Maybe he’s the guy. By the way, we really need a top shelf corner. That is the weakest position on our defense right now and it would help us to have a top shelf corner.
April 10th, 2024 at 12:18 pm
Would the Detroit 3 we got for CD3 plus our #26 be enough to trade up to grab one of the 2 good edges?
April 10th, 2024 at 1:10 pm
Boss – that was effing funny. LOL
April 10th, 2024 at 1:18 pm
Yes, TJ Tampa has been under the radar. He is a fantastic corner. Would love to get him but he will go early second round. No way he makes it to 57.
April 10th, 2024 at 1:27 pm
Shagrus Piltz can play CB.
April 10th, 2024 at 2:02 pm
Whether Dean is around long or not you need more than two decent corners.
April 10th, 2024 at 2:30 pm
Mr. Tampa got turned around on that route yet recovered in time to make the play. That’s bad and good.
April 10th, 2024 at 3:43 pm
Tampa the player would be a welcome addition to the roster but there are too many players who would make a bigger impact available to the Bucs in the neighborhood of the Bucs’ first three picks. Mike Sainristil out of Michigan is my favorite CB for the Bucs to pick in round 3. He is a little small but is as physical as anyone else on the field. He is a converted WR with amazing hands and ability to track the ball which translates to him being a ball hawk with the ability to not just make INTs but return them for serious yardage. This team needs INTs out of its CBs. A player who can provide that is a fond hope of mine for this draft. His film at CB and WR are very impressive. Dare I say watching him has echoes of Ronde Barber in his prime.
April 10th, 2024 at 5:54 pm
WalterFootball has him as their #17 CB. NFL dot com has him as the #11 CB… I don’t see where the value for this guy is until maybe mid round 3… which is where the NFL dot com slots him overall. Also described as more of a zone corner.
April 10th, 2024 at 8:05 pm
Cool update on Dinario Boschmann. He’s probably declaring for the draft. Another UDFA gem for Licht.
April 10th, 2024 at 10:14 pm
Tampa in Tampa. Meh.
April 11th, 2024 at 1:27 am
Think Gabriel threw that late. He was beginning to scramble but think better QB makes that throw as soon as he sees the DB, Tampa Jr in this case, get turned around and have to give chase. Looks like Tampa Jr caught up nice but the receiver wasn’t led much by the throw. That was good by Gabriel, though, because it seems any further into the middle right gets squirrely.
April 11th, 2024 at 10:05 am
He’ll be there in the third