Licht: Banks And Jenkins Will Start
March 25th, 2014
Bucs general manager Jason Licht already has an idea who will be starting in the Bucs secondary.
Last week when Bucs general manager Jason Licht inked toasty cornerback Mike Jenkins to a lavish one-year, $1.5 million deal, it seemed more of a safety-valve move than anything. Licht had suggested Jenkins would offer competition for talented second-year corner Johnthan Banks.
Joe thought the notion that Jenkins would supplant Banks to be a stretch. Banks showed a lot of promise last year and got better as the season grew. Jenkins was all but run out of Dallas, and the Raiders, who had loads of cap space, waved Jenkins goodbye as he walked out the door.
But it seems that Jenkins will actually start. And so too will Banks. And so too will Alterraun Verner. That’s what Licht said today from the NFL Owners meetings in Orlando, noted Buccaneers.com multimedia type Scott Smith.
@ScottSBucs: Because so many DEF snaps are in nickel, Jason Licht says CBs Alterraun Verner, Johnthan Banks & Mike Jenkins are all considered starters.
Joe can understand that being the case. Jenkins may be a decent nickel corner. Joe is anything but impressed with Jenkins as a starter. So perhaps this is Jenkins’ forte.
Time will tell. Training camp should be interesting in so many ways, one of which is the makeup of the secondary.
March 25th, 2014 at 4:32 pm
Unless they draft a CB in the first 3 rounds, which could happen.
March 25th, 2014 at 4:33 pm
Jenkins is a solid nickle.
Great tackler. Blitzer. 60 tackles in Oakland. He will hit people. He is a huge upgrade over Leonard Johnson.
He will be fine. Dj Moore backin up. Gaitor, Gorrer and Johnson will hope to make the team.
I hope we draft one more.
March 25th, 2014 at 4:35 pm
Could happen, drafting a CB that it is, but shouldn’t. I think upgrades/depth at OL, DL and WR are significantly more pressing.
March 25th, 2014 at 4:42 pm
I think he was just playing his cards close. He didn’t want to say who the slot corner is going to be. But I can’t see Jenkins playing anything but nickel (where he will play will be interesting).
March 25th, 2014 at 4:53 pm
As long as we get some pressure from the front,which I think we will,this group of corners should be more than suitable. Im really not concerned about this defense. I think it will be our strength.
March 25th, 2014 at 4:53 pm
Do yourself a favor and google “Mike Jenkins, Derrick Ward.”
The word “shameful” comes to mind; not “great.” Makes Deion Sanders look like Jack Lambert.
March 25th, 2014 at 4:57 pm
Prime Time is/was no Jack Lambert hahaha.
Good one, Joe. 😉
March 25th, 2014 at 4:58 pm
Can we draft a stud OT/Edge rusher, please?
That would be the “value” pick.
March 25th, 2014 at 4:58 pm
Can we draft a stud OT/Edge rusher, please?
That would be the “value” pick.
March 25th, 2014 at 4:59 pm
Take a deep breath folks . . . . it is only March.
We (they) haven’t missed a single tackle yet
March 25th, 2014 at 5:05 pm
i think the organization would very much prefer that banks be the guy getting top-2 snaps along with verner. i also think the bucs will draft some competition for jenkins and leonard johnson as the player to get the 3rd most snaps at CB
March 25th, 2014 at 5:12 pm
When training camp comes, I can care less about the defense, I wanna see the offense. That side of the ball is the bigger question mark.
March 25th, 2014 at 5:13 pm
Where do you get these people, Joe? Mike Jenkins…ole’..don’t hit me..please!
March 25th, 2014 at 5:25 pm
ok………………….. surrrrrrrrrre. We’ll draft a corner for sure.
March 25th, 2014 at 5:26 pm
@Joe you can’t define a players ability off one play. I’ve seen Revis, Peterson, and Haden take off plays.
March 25th, 2014 at 5:28 pm
And that was 2008 lol
March 25th, 2014 at 5:30 pm
Acquiring Jenkins took the pressure off needing to draft a CB….I think WR/Oline/TE/LB and perhaps QB will be the picks….probably 2 WRs….
March 25th, 2014 at 5:49 pm
Yeah most non-Buc fans only know Lavonte David as “that guy who lost the Jets game for his team” even though he was an All-Pro. That’s probably why he wasn’t a Pro Bowler. Mike Jenkins is on no standard an All-Pro but one or two bad plays can’t be enough to pass fair judgement.
March 25th, 2014 at 6:03 pm
Not concerned about the Bucs defense although I don’t see decent middle linebacker over there. You don’t need Ray Lewis this year just a competent mlb and a decent offense this year. I mean an offense that can score TD’s when in scoring territory and score off of turnovers — 24pts a game is about it.
March 25th, 2014 at 6:10 pm
What’s wrong with Mason Foster? He put together some good performancea last season at middle.
March 25th, 2014 at 6:16 pm
While your at it take a look at Revis in the last Saints game, trotting gingerly while the Saints lit up the scoreboard like a pinball machine.
March 25th, 2014 at 6:18 pm
everyone should get better in lovie’s system.as long as we can pressure the QB.
March 25th, 2014 at 6:35 pm
@walkdaplank–
Never a good sign when your Mike gets “tied up” taking on o-line so the Will can roam free making tackles.
Even worse when the Mike gets complimented for how thoroughly he engages and occupies blockers.
I love Lavonte but I wish the Mike were leading his team in tackles. Foster is also reputed to be poor in pass drop back.
I expect L&L to comb the wire for an experienced Mike for their system, and I strongly suspect we will draft a backer in Round 2.
March 25th, 2014 at 6:54 pm
How bout wait till the week before the start of the season and see where we stand. Hell I’m not making up my mind till I see the first few games on the schedule and tape on them. The all 22 is excellent by the way worth every penny. I think were gonna have a huge upgrade at speed up front as well as speed on the backside. Defense will be flying everywhere!
March 25th, 2014 at 7:09 pm
So..the GM…names starters ????
March 25th, 2014 at 7:51 pm
Is anyone concerned about the depth at safety?
March 25th, 2014 at 10:35 pm
I don’t understand this hype on Jenkins some commenters have. Notice not you Joe !!
Realistically Jenkins will compete for a job. He’s not better than Verner or banks, but a slight improvement over LJ and the rest of the CBs. If Gorrer stayed healthy then that be a different story.
I watched Jenkins play for the Boys since I live in TX and boy did he always missed tackles, drew penalties and constantly did bad. Getting talib over Jenkins made sense. Even after Talib was suspended and all, Jenkins is not a CB to be hyped about. A 3rd round rookie should get more hype.
March 25th, 2014 at 11:19 pm
Corner in the cover 2 is like 30 square feet of responsibility with a safety over top. Just don’t wuss out on the run and you’re good. Bucs have plenty of decent depth at corner.
March 25th, 2014 at 11:45 pm
Foster will be a star at SLB but he is a liability in Tampa Two where he has to cover the underside of throws deep down the middle. But that also is why such teams give up a lot more on runs up the middle because often such a MLB is undersized such as Quarles was. However, Urlacher was very big but was great in that role for Lovie and was tough against the run too–very rare, but great news Buc’s Fans, Michigan State has just such a MLB who is 6’8″ but with great speed to also do it all, and if you watched them beat Ohio State this year he crushes the RB up the middle. Second, we had a 245 lb MLB last year who was also great on passes–getting a pick six against the Redskins in Preseason–and stopped the run sideline to sideline, but then the worst Coach in Buc’s history cut him (Najee Goode),
and we have a backup MLB from New England at 245 lbs. who can be trained to backup there in Tampa Two also. We can be real good there and I bet Licht has it all planned out.
March 26th, 2014 at 8:00 am
What about verner…who signed a big contract? I dont think banks will start…banks is a bet at nickle
March 26th, 2014 at 8:01 am
What about him?
March 26th, 2014 at 11:41 am
Joe your heading says Banks and Jenkins will start. I dont see the bucs paying verner all this money and not starting him.
You might want to read the post. –Joe