Bucs GM Talks Preseason Game Evaluation
August 23rd, 2024
Shame on you if you missed Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht on the Ira Kaufman Podcast recently.
You won’t hear that kind of interview with the GM anywhere else.
One question fired at Licht was how he and his staff evaluate players in preseason games versus practice. Is the standard different? How much more heavily weighted might preseason play be?
“I can’t put a number on it. It’s a little bit more, just because they have nerves and you want to see how they are reacting to their nerves and if they can calm them down, if they can go ahead and go out there and execute,” Licht said. “You also like to see them go against other players; you’re used to seeing them going against your own. We’re also, though, we’re trying to confirm what we’re seeing [in practice]. We kind of know how our team is going to shape up, but you see those [preseason] games sometimes … most of the time it confirms what you know. But when you see it go the other way, then you’re avoiding making a bad decision later.”
Great answer by Licht.
Joe’s takeaway is that preseason matters an awful lot for most players. It’s one reason Joe wants to see rookie edger rusher Chris Braswell have an impressive night tonight against Miami.
As rookies, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and YaYa Diaby had very impressive preseasons. Ultimately, August success doesn’t mean much, but it does legitimize hope that the player can succeed in the regular season.
Through two preseason games, Joe hasn’t seen enough from Braswell to be optimistic about his rookie potential (not overall potential, rookie potential).
August 23rd, 2024 at 11:33 am
Braswell has been invisible might be too small and not explosive enough just from what I saw
August 23rd, 2024 at 11:53 am
Jason Licht … ‘if they can go ahead and go out there and execute.’
Very insightful answer by JL. Obviously useful to see your players go against other players, but almost all of these guys have done that since they were 7 or 8 years old. Preseason games can probably give a reasonable indication of ‘can the guy EXECUTE his assignments in a game situation at the NFL level’ to guys like JL & TB.
Personally I’m not all that concerned about Chris Braswell. I watch all the Bama games & have seen him play at the highest college level for the past 3 years. He can hang with the big boys (and DS, at 6’3″ & 255 lbs he’s a decent size for an OLB, and he’ll get bigger & stronger & top out at probably around 265-270 by this time next year). I don’t necessarily see him as a double-digit sack monster though, but I do see him as a great fit for Todd Bowles defense as a decent pass-rusher but strong run-defender (who’ll hopefully get more than his share of TFLs and ‘pressures’ like Shaq did). He’s a lot quicker (and faster) than most give him credit for.
August 23rd, 2024 at 12:07 pm
Hoping that Braswell is going to be a secret weapon!
August 23rd, 2024 at 12:07 pm
BRASWELL WON’T BE A FACTOR … THAT’S A GOOD THING
EXPECT A PAULTRY PASS RUSH … THAT’S A GOOD THING
Every report from camp (in the last few weeks) has Braz making plays, yet he hasn’t done a thing in the preseason. Why? NFL opponents have ZERO (0) tape on Braz. They don’t know his moves or his counter moves. Week 1, OT will have to guess what Braz is going to do and that will set him up for early success.
SO DON’T FREAK OUT TOMORROW!
August 23rd, 2024 at 12:13 pm
“Joe’s takeaway is that preseason matters an awful lot for most players.”
Woah! I thought preseason games were worthless. Or is that the other Joe?
August 23rd, 2024 at 12:20 pm
Yea you forgot to mention veteran starter playing the entire first quarter every week, is he calm or does he have nerves too?
August 23rd, 2024 at 12:27 pm
I think the value of the games is different for each player. Obviously more valuable for young players, especially rookies; less so for veterans. Should be common knowledge. The games are worthless, potentially dangerous, for Mike Evans but very useful for Braswell. Quad erat demonstrandum.
August 23rd, 2024 at 12:33 pm
^^ Good one, PSL Bob. You beat me to it. 😉
August 23rd, 2024 at 12:48 pm
Damn, I should have bought preseason shares when they were worthless, now they’re gold!
August 23rd, 2024 at 12:53 pm
I see the opinions about Braswell are not good..I personally think Braswell will explode out of the gate this year.. Remember I called it!
August 23rd, 2024 at 12:55 pm
In the draft Saban had a lot of support for Ala. players, but when Braswell was drafted he had little to nothing to say good or bad about him. I wonder why.
August 23rd, 2024 at 1:36 pm
MAYFIELD REGRESSION TOUR BEGINS
August 23rd, 2024 at 1:40 pm
Defense Rules
That’s not a complimentary evaluation of Braswell. That basically sounds like mr missed sacks JTS.
August 23rd, 2024 at 1:52 pm
Trask To The Future Says:
August 23rd, 2024 at 1:36 pm
MAYFIELD REGRESSION TOUR BEGINS
Massive 🤡
August 23rd, 2024 at 2:39 pm
In other news Kyle Trask=Mike Glennon He’ll leave Tampa and never be seen on tv again not even holding a clipboard
August 23rd, 2024 at 3:01 pm
Like I say to my son all the time: let’s watch the game. They actually bother to play it for a reason.
August 23rd, 2024 at 3:39 pm
If Kyle trash does not stay with the Buccaneers he will go to another team and be a starter for sure let’s not forget our screw up with Steve Young
August 23rd, 2024 at 3:55 pm
Pewter Power … I didn’t take what Jason said in that interview as an evaluation of Braswell at all. Sounded to me like JL was talking about younger players in general (ie, Can they go out there & execute their responsibilities?).
Todd Bowles & George Edwards may be looking for some very specific things during these preseason practices & games from Braswell, Diaby, Ramirez, etc. None of us know at this point what ‘responsibilities’ they’re trying to focus the younger guys’ training on.
Some fans get so down on players because they don’t make WOW plays in practice or preseason games. I’d think that coaches like Bowles are more interested in ‘Can Player X make plays within the TEAM concept?’ Personally I think that was one of the biggest issues with Devin White (he lost his focus on his responsibilities to the TEAM in favor of focusing on SELF). LVD is the exact opposite, and that’s what’s made him great IMO.
August 23rd, 2024 at 4:16 pm
You heard Barber on TV last week during the game throwing Bowles and his Camp Cupcake under the bus, talking about all the nonsense about guys not tackling in practices, guys not even putting on pads in practices, not playing in preseason games. We all know Barber is tight with Licht – so what does that tell you about what Licht thinks about Bowles’ Camp Cupcake?
Also, ESPN has a list of how rookies have done so far with their teams. It’s remarkable as you go through the list how many guys are injured. Maybe players and teams should get to work on redoing that CBA, it’s pretty obvious all the rules that have been put in place for ‘safety’ are leading to more injuries as guys have less chances to ramp things up for the regular season, and because practices are so infrequent (compared to past years) guys are going from 0 to 100 without being ready for it. I know for the dummies out there the concept is hard to understand, but just like cutting taxes actually produces more revenue for the state, having more practices (real ones not underwear ones) would actually make players more healthy. I’ve heard a lot of former NFL’ers say the same thing – at some point you’d think someone would listen.
August 23rd, 2024 at 4:32 pm
Joe: “Ultimately, August success doesn’t mean much, but it does legitimize hope that the player can succeed in the regular season.”
Bingo!
2024 sacks: 50 total with 36 coming from OLBs-
Ya: 10
Joe T: 7
Braz: 6
Nelson: 5
Watts: 4
Ramirez: 4
Both Joe T & Nelson re-sign
Bucs draft another day 1 or 2 DT next year (even if they re-sign Hall) & possibly an OLB if needed
August 23rd, 2024 at 5:42 pm
In other words: “worthless” right? 🤣
August 25th, 2024 at 8:47 am
“I can’t put a number on it. It’s a little bit more, just because they have nerves and you want to see how they are reacting to their nerves and if they can calm them down, if they can go ahead and go out there and execute,”
When I played nerves where not a problem for more than the first two or three plays. If I knew the playbook and had practiced and been coached up, it was easier and more fun than practice by a long way. Guys who were not winning their assignments might have some problems though.
Go Bucs!