Bucs Among Five Draft “Winners?”

May 11th, 2014

The Bucs have been widely celebrated over the past handful of years for being “big winners” in the NFL Draft versus their counterparts.

That hasn’t translated into much beyond some feel-good spring moments.

According to Around The League chief Gregg Rosenthal, of NFL.com, the Bucs were at it again over the weekend. Rosenthal names them one of his five “winners” of the draft, along with the Raiders, Falcons, Steelers and Browns.

They have a playoff-ready defense, and needed to add offensive talent to balance out the squad. They are awful in the red zone, and needed to add physical talent. Done and done. Wide receiver Mike Evans, tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins and running back Charles Sims add explosiveness to a promising offense. They didn’t draft a single defensive player, which says a lot about how confident Lovie Smith is in his group. Plus, we liked the decision to hold onto Mike Glennon. He’s more promising than any quarterback in this class taken after the first round.

Joe’s not sure he agrees with Rosenthal, but draft grades this time of year are about as valuable as mock drafts.

The Bucs did inject a lot of offensive talent, as much as any team in football. Now they have to use it and develop it within Jeff Tedford’s system.

Joe hopes Rosenthal’s belief that the Bucs have a “playoff-ready defense” is accurate, because it’s hard to imagine this offense will jel quickly — quickly enough to punish Carolina and St. Louis in Weeks 1 and 2.

64 Responses to “Bucs Among Five Draft “Winners?””

  1. Couch Fan Says:

    I agree, I’m not ready to declare Bucs playoff ready right now but this draft offers a ton of excitement moving forward. Can’t wait til September!!

  2. Bucsfan47 Says:

    Why can’t you just agree Joe that our offense is 10x better than last year and Glennon will only get better with McCown showing him the ropes. Can’t wait till training camp and seeing all these pieces be put together, GO BUCS!!!

    You might want to read the post below this one titled “Matchup Nightmares.” As for Glennon, he won’t improve very much on the bench. Few QBs do.–Joe

  3. Buc1987 Says:

    Excited for the first time in months!

  4. Grudenite Says:

    I would be more optimistic if we made moves to fill out our O-line. I like the FA signings but very concerned about our RG and LG. @JOE, any news on Carl Nicks? Will he be ready? Is he progressing in his rehab? I like our Center and tackles but worried about our Guards. We have are loaded now at other Offenesive positions and our defense is pretty intimidating right now. looking forward to September but anxious about our O-line.

  5. Bucfan#37 Says:

    Add those opinions to the mock draft grade industrial complex.

  6. Justin Says:

    The fact the Rams weren’t one of his winners hurts the legitimacy of that list.. There’s no denying adding Robinson,Donald, mason, and Sam in the 7th! Can’t deny that.

  7. Grudenite Says:

    We are thin at the positions of Guard, there is not much to choose from for much needed depth. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/transactions/free-agents/g

  8. pablo Says:

    When will the rookies pick their numbers??? I’m assuming Evans will remain #13 & ASJ WILL STAY WITH 88 ?

  9. tmaxcon Says:

    i disagree with you Joe on week 1 and week 2. I think the bucs will have an advantage for those 2 games and those 2 games. Simply based on the fact there is no tape on Tedford’s NFL offense. If they can gel after 2 weeks awesome but doubtful. I am thinking week 10 the offense will show signs of consistency. Obviously, it’s still depends on which McCown, we get, will it be Chicago 5 games or the entire rest of his body of work.

  10. Mike Says:

    Hey Joe….. Why you steal my post? I just posted that in “matchup nightmares”! Was doing some reading last night on lunch. Just picking at you tho. But hey….. I beat ya to it! Lol

  11. Jimmy Says:

    Now if we only had a Qb. Glennon is mediocre and Mcown is temporary.

  12. b.Bruce Says:

    Joe Aaron Rodgers was one of the best quarterbacks after sitting on the bench.if he started everybody would have said he was a bust his first couple of years.Glen Innes the next Joe Montana.

  13. Drew Says:

    Joe… MG won’t improve much sitting on the bench? Put the crystal ball away.

  14. Grudenite Says:

    According to our current roster we have five Guards. Carl nicks is one and should have a “?” mark by his name. The rest are as follows – Oniel Cousins, a career back up. Patrick Omameh, who spent last season on the 49ers practice squad. Jason Foster, from that powerhouse college program of Rhode island (A dominick singing) and Kadeem Edwards – Tennessee State draft singing. Unless someone at one buc place has seen something on tape or scouting reports that say thses are our guys I am concerned about our O-line for the 2014 season. I hope that I am wrong.

  15. Nybucsfan Says:

    I hope josh can play in this O. But I think this Brett smith has an out side shot. I don’t know how he will beat out Montana lol really you must be joking

  16. bucfan999 Says:

    Joe has to get over his man crushes for Josh Freeman and Johnny Football. Nobody under center is going to be any good in Joe’s opinion until he gets over those man crushes

  17. Couch Fan Says:

    Now I believe our team is built up nicely and if next year comes and Glennon doesn’t improve and we decide to move on, our team is in a much better position to succeed for whoever we crown the Franchise. That’s how you build a football team. There will be no excuses. Love it.. This team is headed in the right direction.

  18. b.Bruce Says:

    Montana was terrible his first couple of years.Glenn and has a great head on his shoulders he will be every bit as good as montana or Brady just watch.

  19. NY Buc Says:

    @Nybucsfan

    Come on fellow NY’er…give Glennon a chance man. We probably both saw how awful SB winning 2X QB Eli Manning looked with the Giants when his receivers dropped passes, his o-line didn’t give him any time to throw, and teams had figured out the Sullivan…I mean Gilbride offense.

  20. Eric Says:

    We have to be careful and not anoint our GM to rock star status before his team has proven anything on the field.

  21. Buc the Haters Says:

    Mark my words. We are going deep into the playoffs this year. Maybe even winning it all. Joe, our offense was already gelling in mini camp & you’re concerned about a few months from now? C’mon…. I understand not wanting to sound like a homer, but we are going to be unstoppable. I think we’ll have plenty of time to gel before Week 1. Think about it…. Who the hell is going to possibly stop us?!? Answer: Nobody. Not even Seattle in the NFC Championship.

  22. Buchead407 Says:

    The first two picks were good no question we have playmakers I don’t think taking Simms in the 3rd was a good pick or trading two picks away for a 5th round tackle? A 5th next year and 7th this year I disagree with both those moves

  23. Tackleblockwin Says:

    Now it is time for coaches to step up and prepare this team. A lot of hard work now. But we all as fans should be excited about the possibilities.

  24. anotherbucsfan Says:

    We will win it all…..wow,already?

    let’s see if our players can score a touchdown this year before we come to any conclusion.

  25. Buchead407 Says:

    At the end of the draft our oline is the biggest question mark this year could be great. Or very bad lol

  26. Tackleblockwin Says:

    @Buchead407

    I like the Sims pick, but I agree with you on trading up. I think we will prob bring in a FA G anyways. Could have used that extra pick.

  27. Macabee Says:

    Boy! These comments are really nice to read, but they sure are different from the ones I read right after the Sims pick in the 3rd round. Ho-Hum, I guess people can change – sometimes overnight! lol

  28. Buc the Haters Says:

    I was defending the Sims pick as soon as I watched his highlights. That kid is explosive. Great pick up. Kind of a Percy Harvin/Matt Forte/Randall Cobb hybrid who can make a couple moves & take it to the house from anywhere on the field. BUCS ARE BEASTIN. DOWN WITH DEBBIE DOWNERS. ANYONE WHO ISN’T SUPER EXCITED RIGHT NOW ISN’T A VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE FOOTBALL FAN.

  29. ARealBucsFan Says:

    I swear. The bucs have the worst fans I have ever been around. I have a friend who is a diehard browns fan. Now talk about a team that has had almost everything go wrong with and yet they still have die hard fans. I am a die hard bucs fan whether we win or lose because that’s my team. I don’t sit there and say damn we are gonna lose because we picked this player or that. You people make me laugh. We haven’t even played a single game yet and you guys are already being negative. Do us all REAL BUCS FANS A FAVOR GO AWAY!!!!!!

  30. Mike Says:

    ^^^^ couldn’t say it better!^^^^^

  31. lurker Says:

    glennon is less than carr…

  32. lurker Says:

    so “die hard fan” means you leave reality and intelligence at the door? lmao

    reality says we will not go deep into the “playoffs or possibly win it all”.

  33. Danimal Says:

    The reality is the first 2 picks were fine, but they will regret not trading up to 22 to get a HOF QB. Time will tell on that though,
    The rest of the draft was a disaster, The analysts say…
    Sims: Soft, easily brought down by 1 tackler
    Both Oline picks were rated as Practice squad picks
    Herron is fine for where they picked him but he is a brittle track guy.

  34. Buc the Haters Says:

    Lurker, you are obviously stupid. and you now have ZERO credibilty on here. How can ‘reality’ be a scenario that has happened yet?!?

  35. Buc the Haters Says:

    triple post.. stupid phone… Lurker, you are obviously stupid. and you now have ZERO credibilty on here. How can ‘reality’ be a scenario that hasn’t happened yet?!? Enjoy your obviously miserable ‘reality’ you call a life.

  36. Joseph Mamma Says:

    Mock drafts are for entertainment value just like the rest of the NFL is.

  37. Barry Says:

    Gregg Rosenthal is wrong. Glennon is also better than anyone drafted in the 1st round (Bortles/Bridgewater). I do believe JAX and MINN are 2 of 7 teams who inquired about Glennon, Joe may be able to verify that. Licht and Smith are to be congratulated for hanging onto a young star in Glennon. Tip of the Hat. Licht and Smith signed McCown quickly at opening of Free agency, before they had the opportunity to see Glennon. McCown is a good mentor and backup to Glennon. McCown will start season and Glennon eased back in after a few games. IMO

  38. lurker Says:

    stupid phone, huh. not the operator?

    realistically we will not win the division and go deep into the playoffs. not impossible, but unrealistic. we are in a tough division and the other 3 teams didn’t just sit on their hands. hell, most people on here wanted players from the other teams as free agents.

    i think that the turnaround is happening but that we are not in playoff contention in year one. saints and brees just win baby. carolina’s front 7 is one of the best in the league. atlanta had a down year. anything can happen, including injuries to brees, etc. but, c’mon man. we still have deficiencies to address and too many unknowns.

  39. ARealBucsFan Says:

    Lurker if we don’t win the division there is always next year. Rome wasn’t built in a day or even 17 weeks. We as fans must be positive about the outlook of our team. Insanity would be damning the team before they have even taken a single snap. People like you need to stop being bucs fans. Go ruin someone else’s team. The People who care about this team and go to the games are the true fans. To wear the old cream sickle jerseys when we were at our worst and be proud to be a bucs fan then are true fans. Everyone wants us to win but damn try some positivity for a change.

  40. Buc the Haters Says:

    Lurker, I appreciate the logical explanation. Rather than a blank negative comment that instantly made me think negatively of you… I apologize for being a d!ck & I do understand your points, but I still think we have improved much more than most teams (albeit we needed to in order to catch up) and I still think that it will be next to impossible for any team to contain or stop our offense. I’m a little concerned about our D adjusting to the new scheme, but

  41. Architek Says:

    This has been a terrific offseason and finally legit football people are running the organization!!

  42. Buc the Haters Says:

    I think we’ll be able to compete with anyone this year & eventually win almost every time. I’m thinking like 12-4 & playoffs.

  43. L&L Buc Says:

    @JOE Even if the Bucs win the Superbowl and Glennon is the quarterback you would still bitch and moan about Glennon being to skinny, immobile, not good looking, cant pull, dink and dunk passer and all the other crap your buddies in the pen and mike club keep repeating. As illustrated by your post other football writers and we now know several if not more than 3 other teams wanted to trade for Glennon (doesn’t matter the level of the draft pick as long as they wanted him – opposed to you and other members of your club) Glennon is looked upon a quarterback that had a good season last year and shows a lot of promise as a starting quarterback for years to come. Even Lovey said he loved Glennon and he was the quarterback of the future. I know you think that was a smoke screen and even if it wasn’t , why did he bench him and go get McCowen? Don’t you think that would be a great question to ask Lovey if someone had the balls to do it to his face? You have a great site here, that’s why I frequent here 4-5 times daily, but please show a little fairness to Glennon. It was not his fault Freemon was benched and cut. It was not his falt Johnny F. Football was not taken by Tampa. Its not his falt that Schiano drafted him (and we know how much you hate Schiano also). Continued kicking the kid will only gain him more support.

  44. Buccaneer Bonzai Says:

    Bucsfan47 Says
    “Why can’t you just agree Joe that our offense is 10x better than last year and Glennon will only get better with McCown showing him the ropes. ”

    10x better???? How the h3ll do you know that???

    You forget one thing. Lovie was so confident with Glennon that he BENCHED HIM and brought in a CAREER BACKUP to start.

    It would have been better to NOT name McCown the starter and have the two compete for the starting role at least.

    McCown can not show Glennon the ropes. Sure, he’ll teach him the leadership off the field because Josh has watched OTHERS do the same his entire career. But he’ll never accomplished jack on the field.

    Last year alone he only went 3-2…over .500 for the first time in his career. Yeah sure. We want a loser like that helping to develop our “franchise quarterback”.

    Expect a lot of losses this year, until McCown is pulled or injured. Probably injured. Then, when Glennon goes in, everyone else will be saying “told ya so” to the suddenly silent MGM.

    Do I think Glennon is a bust? I don’t know. But no one knows if he is not a bust either. And now he has no real competition.

  45. DooshLaRue Says:

    The sky is not falling. Why are some of you freaking out about the o-line?
    Last year we supposedly had a great o-line going into the season, well guess what, they sucked. But I guess it looked good on paper and was fun to brag about.
    Why don’t you bitches give it a rest and wait for things to happen?
    I, like some other long time fans, have a gut feeling that things are changing for the better.
    We’re excited.
    You should be too.

  46. Buccaneer Bonzai Says:

    L&L Buc Says:
    “…doesn’t matter the level of the draft pick as long as they wanted him…”

    That’s bullspit. If a players cannot get at least the original investment, it is not a good or serious trade offer. The amount offered tells us whether the other teams feel he is a backup or a starter.

    So they were likely offered backup compensation.

  47. Gusjackson Says:

    You might want to read the post below this one titled “Matchup Nightmares.” As for Glennon, he won’t improve very much on the bench. Few QBs do.–Joe

    False plenty of them do. Some quarterbacks are late bloomers. Mccown is an example, Kurt Warner and Aaron Rodgers are others.

  48. William Says:

    @ joe – Better coaching staff = better game plan = more wins

    Connor Shaw is with Manziel in Cleveland

  49. Couch Fan Says:

    It would have been better to NOT name McCown the starter and have the two compete for the starting role at least.

    ———————–

    Not if his goal was to cause confusion so nobody would know which way they were going to go in the draft… which worked to perfection. He also clarified the statement latter saying “somebody has to take the 1st team snaps in training camp”. So let’s stop acting like McCown is the sure fire starter here.

  50. Cmurda Says:

    I had my doubts after our first 3 picks, but after having time to digest our situation and learn about these guys we drafted, I have to say I’m feeling good. That is especially true when I read the positive marks we’ve received. For example, on Rotoworld Evan Silva grades our draft a B+ which is best in our division.

  51. lurker Says:

    yeah…so much confusion and smokescreen that all the mocks had us taking evans. that is what happens when the team gets pigeon holed by making shitty trades and getting poor value.

  52. lurker Says:

    yeah…so much confusion and smokescreen that all the mocks had us taking evans. that is what happens when the team gets pigeon holed by making sh!tty trades and getting poor value.

  53. Grudenite Says:

    I would bank on a few wins from our defense alone in 2014. We have some serious playmakers on this roster, just like to see Licht solidify our O-line.

  54. Grudenite Says:

    New Orleans Saints
    Added: S Jairus Byrd, FB Erik Lorig
    Kept: OLB Ramon Humber, WR Joe Morgan, T Zach Strief
    Lost: FB Jed Collins, CB Jabari Greer, S Roman Harper, S Malcolm Jenkins, DT Tom Johnson, WR Lance Moore, OLB Will Smith, RB Darren Sproles, ILB Jonathan Vilma
    Carolina Panthers
    Added: WR Jerricho Cotchery, S Roman Harper, TE Mike McNeill
    Kept: QB Derek Anderson, CB James Dockery, DE Greg Hardy, OLB Jason Williams
    Lost: WR Ted Ginn, WR Domenik Hixon, WR Brandon LaFell, T Jordan Gross, S Mike Mitchell, CB Captain Munnerlyn, ILB Jordan Senn, WR Steve Smith
    Atlanta Falcons
    Added: CB Javier Arenas, G Jon Asamoah, KR/PR Devin Hester, DE Tyson Jackson, DT Paul Soliai
    Kept: DT Jonathan Babineaux, C Joe Hawley, DT Peria Jerry, G Mike Johnson, DT Corey Peters
    Lost: TE Chase Coffman, S Thomas DeCoud, CB Dominique Franks, ILB Omar Gaither, G Sean Locker, OLB Stephen Nicholas, CB Asante Samuel, T Jeremy Trueblood

    I like our chances against our division opponents.

  55. Discount08 Says:

    JOE YOUR SUCH A NEGATIVE NANCY SOME
    TIMES. lets just he happy of getting all offensive players in the draft, and hopefully getting Carl Nicks back and healthly along with all the other BEAST offensive lineman we got to work with Doug martin and pass protect Hopefully Mcown or Glennon. I am so excited for the next season!!!!
    Joe I haven’t heard you say it once. Come on and say it, your excited arn’t you???

    What was negative in this post? Joe doesn’t see it.–Joe

  56. Jim Walker Says:

    We are one or two injuries away from a team riddled with tackles in the backfield, or giving our QB no more than a one step drop.

  57. Jim Walker Says:

    The Falcons got better when they lost Trueblood. I think having no one at the position at all is an upgrade.

  58. Couch Fan Says:

    yeah…so much confusion and smokescreen that all the mocks had us taking evans. that is what happens when the team gets pigeon holed by making shitty trades and getting poor value.
    ———————————–

    You and the other haters had no clue which way we were going. Most of you swore we were going QB and most of the media did to. Evans was BPA on there board, despite what you think, which makes it good value. Keep hating, your opinion changes nothing.

  59. Back, from Davie Jones Locker Says:

    Excited About draft picks, and the team
    The most amazing part, was the apparent confidence the coaches apparently have in the exsisting defensive players.

    Offense should be greatly improved. Was confused by the Sims pick- until I read up on him. He is a great threat as a Reciever out of the backfield.
    None of of exsisting backs can say that.
    Tedford is planning to throw the ball. A lot!

    We can pick up a guard in the second wave of Free agency. Ussually a few really good Guards get cut loose.

    Or, as I’ve suggested- we sign Ritchie Incognito
    He’s a great guard- and we can get him for league minimum.
    As long as we don’t have any ” sensitive players”

  60. lurker Says:

    “You and the other haters had no clue which way we were going. Most of you swore we were going QB and most of the media did to. Evans was BPA on there board, despite what you think, which makes it good value. Keep hating, your opinion changes nothing.”

    and your opinion changes nothing!

    again, every mock i saw had us taking evans, not manziel. so much for “most of the media had us taking a qb”. also, you have no idea what their board looked like, either. and i said that they didn’t get good value for the trades, specifically williams and zuttah.

  61. Trubucfan22 Says:

    Glennon sucks. That is all.

  62. feelthepewterpower Says:

    I say we go with a seven receiver set…and just use one center and back/te to help chip on occasion 😀

  63. zam Says:

    oh that gives me a brilliant idea. next year, Mock Draft Grades! We’ll mock on how we *think* the draft grades will be.

  64. BoJim Says:

    Buccaneer Bonzai Said:

    “Do I think Glennon is a bust? I don’t know. But no one knows if he is not a bust either. And now he has no real competition.”

    Make up your mind.