Off Came Clayborn
November 13th, 2013
It was 3rd-and-16 on the Dolphins’ opening drive at Miami’s 14 yard line, a big set-the-tone play for the Bucs defense, and off ran Adrian Clayborn to the sidelines.
Yes, Joe realizes the Bucs added an extra defender in pass coverage, but Joe finds it very telling that Clayborn was not among the D-lineman chosen to rush the passer on the opening set of downs. Surely, he wasn’t tired. Clayborn’s allegedly Tampa Bay’s best defensive end and he was a first-round pick in 2011.
Just how far has Clayborn fallen?
He’s got five sacks in his last 16 starts, dating back to 2011. Keep in mind the guy he was drafted to replace, Stylez White, had 4 1/2 sacks in his last 16 games.
Joe’s got a close eye on Clayborn. These aren’t meaningless games coming up for No. 94. If Clayborn can’t produce, alongside a superstar defensive tackle in Gerald McCoy, then Joe can’t see how the Bucs avoid chasing a top pass rusher in free agency come March. When you fail in the draft, you have to make up for it when the free agency bell rings.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:27 am
We’ll always be bridesmaids if we cant put Cam, Brees and Matty on the turf.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:48 am
I never liked Clayborn when we drafted him. However, I did come to like his effort and relentless hustle. That said, he was drafted to put pressure on the QB and produce sacks. He’s doing neither.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:49 am
When is the last time we batted down a pass….or even deflected one….we are always almost getting to the QB but our hands are never up…..
Clayborn’s production has fallen off since his rookie year.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:50 am
If you are a ” high effort” “constant motor” “all hustle” Defensive End it just means that you cannon beat your man. He was slow when we drafted him, now with the injury…..
November 13th, 2013 at 9:55 am
Dominik draftee.
Poor evaluation of talent.
Serviceable starter… He’s Greg Spires. Still need to find Simeon.
“Rock star.”
November 13th, 2013 at 9:56 am
Should have drafted Kerrigan. (purdue)
November 13th, 2013 at 9:59 am
In the 2011 draft,I would have taken Cameron Jordan, who is on PFF’s All-Pro Cheat Sheet.
Dom strikes (out) again.
November 13th, 2013 at 10:01 am
Tomcin, Kerrigan was already gone.
November 13th, 2013 at 10:03 am
I reserve my judgment until he gets a Defensive Coordinator that know how to use him and stop the silly stunts. Plus he had a major knee injury last year so next year he should be even better
November 13th, 2013 at 10:04 am
Maybe it is the meaningless stunts that are coaching staff is using which has thoroughly been discussed here. It is amazing what happens when the players are just told to “get the QB” ala last drive of this game.
November 13th, 2013 at 10:11 am
Ala last drive in the game was against ” the worst O-line in the league.” with the most sac’d QB in the League,, and we get only 2 sacs??? Could it be that we run stunts because the D-Ends cannot get pressure on there own???
November 13th, 2013 at 10:16 am
The defensive end position should be addressed by the next GM. Dom has shown that he has absolutely no clue for talent for this position.
November 13th, 2013 at 10:30 am
No player at any level of football will perform up to their abilities if not used properly. Bucs coaches have him playing as much LB as they do DE. You can’t get sacks if you are dropping into pass coverage
November 13th, 2013 at 10:32 am
Cameron Jordan, NO, is a good comparison- taken 4 picks AFTER Clayborn (24th) he already has 6 sacks this year and 15 in his career; then there is Justin Houston, KC, 3rd Rd, 155 tackles, 26.5 sacks (11 already this year). And we did not swing and maybe (likely?) miss on just Clayborn. There is also Mr Bowers who Schiano and Rock Star bet their jobs on for this year to replace Bennett. How can you swing and miss on Bowers THIS YEAR when he in camp, at practices, right under your nose and you can see he doesn’t have it?
November 13th, 2013 at 10:32 am
The Bucs organization drafts the DE position as about as well as they have the QB position. Awful. The last good pass rusher we had was Simeon Rice (free agent acquisition). I have never been a Clayborn fan. I was pissed when we drafted him. He has done virtually nothing even though he has GMC on the inside of the line. Yeah he runs hard and looks wild with his dreads flying around, but the only thing he’s been good for is late hits and falling on the pile seconds after a gang tackle has been made. This DE issue is the fault of the GM… No way around it. The Bucs stunt, but not on every play, so that’s not a good enough excuse for consistently poor play. The GM has drafted horribly at the position, has let better DEs go elsewhere, has not brought any good free agents in, and has depended on unproven, often injured DEs to be on his starting D-line. He’s doing the Team and more specifically, the defense (in particular GMC) a disservice by continuing to be stubborn, ignorant, or incompetent in DE acquisitions.
November 13th, 2013 at 10:41 am
@Joe
What’s up with Dekota Watson? He only played 1 snap against the dolphins? Is he injured or just been replaced?
November 13th, 2013 at 11:32 am
We have #94 running to many stunts and coming down the middle to where he can’t be as effective. Although he comes down the middle he is constantly hitting the QB!
November 13th, 2013 at 12:02 pm
Part of Clayborn’s lack of production might be due to the way he’s being used. The line stunts don’t seem to be his strong suit. He’s more of a straight up the field bull rush type of player. He may also be less than 100% coming back from his knee injury.
November 13th, 2013 at 12:02 pm
Joe
You know I’ve been saying this for 3 years now, Clayborn is OVERRATED! I tried to tell the fans and media but they wouldn’t listen. Its easy to see the kid is not a dominant or good pass rusher
November 13th, 2013 at 12:34 pm
Hated the pick at the time…he was damaged goods ( arm issue-certainly not his fault ) and had an awful senior season. He flashed a bit as a rookie but seems a bit lost. In fairness…the rest of that first round draft class hasn’t exactly lit it up.
November 13th, 2013 at 12:36 pm
Well, if we drafted Clayborn to be Simeon when everyone knew he was Spires, that’s on Dominick. Again, I still say Bowers needs to be the right end, since he’s a better athlete than Clayborn, & isn’t that stout against the run. But our coaching staff is so borderline incompetent, I wouldn’t look at ANY player’s performance this year as evidence of anything. Heck, even Doug Martin was looking mediocre, & Josh didn’t start sucking till Greg got here.
November 13th, 2013 at 12:38 pm
Keep moving him to the left side….his speed seemed to work better there!
November 13th, 2013 at 1:28 pm
Its kind of hard to get constant pressure on the QB and sacks when the scheme is designed for you to drop back at the snap and pretty much run AROUND THE LDE.
I always find it funny how he always got a hit a second late on the QB when it takes him an extra 4 to get TO the QB.
November 13th, 2013 at 3:21 pm
good lord, i didnt realize Stylze was still in the league. Clayborn over jordan was a bad move.
November 13th, 2013 at 10:02 pm
Surprising that there still are this many Clayborn apologists