“We Have To Find Ways To Use That Speed”
April 24th, 2014
Lovie Smith offered a strong endorsement of Jeff Demps today
Jiminy Christmas! Lovie Smith was talking today like Jeff Demps has a roster spot locked up Jeff Tedford will be scolded if he can’t find ways to unleash Demps’ Olympic speed on the NFC South.
Joe’s exaggerating, but when Joe asked Lovie today what he thought about the guy he dubbed “the fastest man in the NFL,” Lovie didn’t hold back his excitement.
“He’s definitely the fastest guy in the NFL and you see that quickness. We have to find ways to use that speed. You know, he’s got good hands, even though he dropped a long one yesterday. I’ve been talking to him about that ever since. But there are some things you can do with a guy like that, whether it be with returns. It’s on us now to find some ways to use him. He’s committed.”
Lovie went to say he got a full commitment to football from Demps a couple of months ago and that he liked what he saw in minicamp.
Joe’s not that high on Demps. Joe saw the drop in the end zone yesterday, too. But clearly Demps does stand out, even around shifty, explosive guys like Doug Martin and Bobby Rainey.
Count on Demps getting every opportunity in preseason to prove he’s worth a roster spot.
April 24th, 2014 at 4:49 pm
Mike James still recovering? + Thank you for all the great coverage Joe!
April 24th, 2014 at 4:51 pm
I’m think a little slot play maybe what the Dr. is ordering?
April 24th, 2014 at 4:56 pm
Demped Around.
April 24th, 2014 at 5:05 pm
I can just see Demps fumbling kickoffs and punt returns.
April 24th, 2014 at 5:15 pm
I see potential but we all know how much potential is actually worth.
Hoping he evolves into the dynamic football player we’re all hoping for.
April 24th, 2014 at 5:15 pm
Jeff Demps has Never put his all into football, not even at Florida, because he focused so much on track. With that out of the way it would be a really cool thing if he gives it his all for us.
April 24th, 2014 at 5:15 pm
One big BOOM… ir…
April 24th, 2014 at 5:27 pm
track guys are to unreliable on nfl teams. he will be hurt before week 2. track athletes condition differently and their muscles are wound too tight. we need full time football players not part timers.
April 24th, 2014 at 5:57 pm
Lots of Debbie Downers in this thread. The guy is 100% committed to football this season will train as such. He’s a rare talent who cost us next to nothing. Why not wait and see what happens?
April 24th, 2014 at 6:13 pm
Just look at film of the water boy and Forest Gump.
Or Bob Hayes.
April 24th, 2014 at 6:16 pm
@biff
Joe in general has become Debbie Downer. Listen to the radio all day and hear when they are on and they are just pessimistic in nature. I do believe it’s a learned behavior being a Bucs fan, but if there was ever a time to be optimistic it would be now. I keep coming to the site because they do a great job of covering the Bucs and uncovering tidbits of information from everywhere so a huge kudos and thank you to them for providing that. They also absolutely have a right to their own opinions and I respect that as well, but it did take a super negative tone around the time when they started getting close (publicly anyway) with The Big Dog idiot.
April 24th, 2014 at 6:21 pm
If anyone knows anything about football..most of the skill position players ran track at some point all the way up to college..so hearing that track athlete non sense is stupid..demps will be fine, he is a football player
April 24th, 2014 at 6:23 pm
He left Florida in 2011. He should be rusty. Smith knows this and he will take his time to evaluate.
April 24th, 2014 at 6:41 pm
Did anyone watch him last season before he got hurt?
dude was ELECTRIC in the few plays he got in pre-season!
You ain’t seen speed like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW4X664GRt0
He’s the kind of guy that outruns angles. think Percy Harvin, just shorter and faster.
April 24th, 2014 at 6:53 pm
Demps was a valuable player for the Gators and was even tough enough and durable enough to run between the tackles a lot. So I look for him to be a valuable addition to Tedford’s speed in space attack. He can run patterns and catch passes too and just needs enough reps to get back into it. I am not high on him being a returner, however, because he does not have the moves and vision like his Gator counterpart who starred for Seattle this past SB and made one of the best Kick Off Returns I have ever seen. But then Demps is the more durable between the two of them, too. I will be excited to see if Gray can break some big returns with better training for the rest of the Special Team’s players. He has very good hands, blazing speed, and made good run backs last year but just didn’t get to the end zone. (Of course I was mad when RAH did not make use of Spurlocks’ increasing talent at WR, so there was no good tape on him and he was not retained by the Bucs after RAH was canned. He was a great run back talent who did get in the end zone and was big and durable too.)
April 24th, 2014 at 9:12 pm
This team needs Demps badly. The Yucs haven’t had any speed since Galloway. Get this guy involved!
April 24th, 2014 at 9:23 pm
I think Demps will emerge as a superstar this year like a Percy Harvin type. Maybe even a probowl slot guy in our midst
April 24th, 2014 at 11:46 pm
Bonzai, you won’t see that because he won’t be returning anything if he can’t prove he can hold to the ball before the season starts.
April 25th, 2014 at 1:36 am
The guy drops one ball and some a-hole’s are ready to send his ass out of town. Where has the sense of fairness gown? Have any of you naysayers ever watched this dude play football? By preseason he is going to have shaken of the dust and polished the rusty spots. He’s going to put on a clinic for some of you so you can see how wrong you are. Look at how this guy can run and the moves he has. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6qdvOLY0Kw Sorry It will not insert as hyperlink. This is really a “gotta see”.
April 25th, 2014 at 9:05 am
This guy has been a world-class sprinter. But he was on the football field for about 5 minutes last year before he blew out his groin. Wake me up when he makes it through the pre-season games.
April 25th, 2014 at 9:10 am
James Jett and Willie Gault were also Olympic sprinters and had relatively productive careers. I understand they’re the exceptions, but my premise is there’s precedent. Will Demps be as productive as they were? Time will tell, but if he can produce, he could be a game changer.
April 26th, 2014 at 11:10 am
He has to beat Eric Page who came off a horrible injury and played in the MAC. leap from MAC to NFL is tough enough without missing a year due to injury. No one can say Eric Page did not perform last year he had several returns for more than 30 yards and finished in top 12 in returns. That was his first year he is only gonna get better. Demps might have world class speed but Page is a Toledo tough football player. I think this will be a break out year for Eric. There is room for both on the team. I hope Eric gets more chances at WR this year and really gets a chance to show his stuff.
April 26th, 2014 at 12:59 pm
Bucky1
Thanks for the link. Great move and then he just ran away. He was even increasing the distance between him and the defenders. Would be nice….
April 26th, 2014 at 1:12 pm
You flank out a guy who has run 9.96 100m. & you will get a defense’s attention.