Forget Verner At Corner?
October 14th, 2015
Practice news emerges
The way Loaf Jennings and Lovie Smith’s mancrush Mike Jenkins are (not) covering opposing wide receivers, it is enough to make family pets bury their heads under a blanket.
Opposing receivers are running so free that even former Bucs quarterback Shaun King (one of three QBs to lead the Bucs to the NFC Championship game) suggested Lovie return benched corner Alterraun Verner to the starting lineup.
Apparently, that is not going to happen. Per Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, Verner was implanted at nickelback this morning.
@RCummingsTBO: Biggest takeaway from #Bucs practice today: Alterraun Verner was the only player working at nickel corner with NCB coach Larry Marmie
Here is the thing, folks: It is terribly doubtful there are any corners better than Jenkins and Loaf walking the streets. If they were better, they’d be employed.
So outside of a speedy recovery of Johnthan Banks, it is unlikely a new face would be any improvement.
Just have to suck it up.
October 14th, 2015 at 12:53 pm
From what I’ve seen, Verner is the best option at nickel anyway. Lot’s of people talk about drafting a DE next season…looks like we’ll be better served to draft a corner. Jalen Ramsey anyone?
October 14th, 2015 at 12:58 pm
Lovie has no need to watch game film….
October 14th, 2015 at 12:59 pm
My hope is Verner is taking the time to master the new position. He plays well in the slot, and I think he can be a weapon for the defense. Hopefully after the break he will return to the starting lineup, and when we go to nickel he will moved to the slot. Jennings and Jenkins just ain’t cutting it.
October 14th, 2015 at 1:03 pm
A lot of CB’s view the move to the slot as a demotion, but as we know this scheme allows the slot corner to make a lot of plays. Brook talked with B-Dog that the true “Tampa2” scheme did not start until Barber took ownership of that slot position.
October 14th, 2015 at 1:13 pm
Be Patient we were a “4-12 team” 2 seasons ago.
In Lovie We Bust!
October 14th, 2015 at 1:17 pm
Verner is good in the slot.
October 14th, 2015 at 1:17 pm
Joe I don’t know about that last statement, I mean look at Belicheat he brings in UDFA corners off the street and turns them into solid starters. How about that Adjei guy we have on the roster? How much worse could he be than Jennings and Jenkins?
October 14th, 2015 at 1:18 pm
So Jennings and Jenkins remain outside, and Verner moves to slot. In a nutshell … we’re screwed unless our offense can control the clock and put up lots of points.
October 14th, 2015 at 1:19 pm
We have 2 spots left on PS . Maybe we are about to do some plucking
October 14th, 2015 at 1:24 pm
I don’t get the angst. Verner (with all due respect) completely sucked at CB. Not only did he get burnt but he gets manhandled and gets PI calls. It’s not like he was playing decent and got benched, he was getting embarrassed out there.
I’d rather see what Jennings can accomplish, sure he got beat last week but not nearly as bad as cinnamon toast crunch himself.
October 14th, 2015 at 1:25 pm
This is really becoming comical. Lovie has such a bromance for “his guys” that he apparently refuses to do what’s best for the team. Is he watching something that we aren’t, because I’ve yet to hear one person (expert or not) say Jenkins and Jennings deserve to start over Verner. Everyone can clearly see the J’s have been absolute garbage. Does Lovie think they will just all of a sudden become Revis, or does he really think Verner is that bad? Are we really going to go into Washington and put one of those 2 slugs on Desean Jackson? That’s going to get ugly real quick. I have my doubts as to whether they could cover me.
October 14th, 2015 at 1:27 pm
@DB55,
I’m with you that Verner hasn’t been that good. However, on his worst day he wasn’t nearly as bad as Jennings was on Sunday. At least Verner gets his hands on a ball every now and then. Jennings can’t even locate the ball, and Jenkins can’t even stay on his feet.
October 14th, 2015 at 1:29 pm
Why did they even sign sterling Moore?
October 14th, 2015 at 1:31 pm
Hopefully Banks will be ready to roll after the bye
October 14th, 2015 at 1:46 pm
Verner in the slot, Moore and Banks at the corners. Jennings and Jenkins at this point are barely back up quality. I see the Bucs drafting cornerbacks and D linemen next year, hopefully Licht and the personnel guys can get quality defensive players.
October 14th, 2015 at 1:46 pm
Should be a spirited week of practice – at corner.
CB Tim Jennings | Jude Adjei-Barimah
CB Johnthan Banks | Mike Jenkins
SC Alterraun Verner | Sterling Moore
Gil Byrd has his hands full, that’s for sure.
October 14th, 2015 at 1:49 pm
The important thing is that we didn’t spend a lot of Glazer money on HOFer and now world champion Revis so we could overpay for 3 slugs that are no longer on this football team and another that has been relegated to nickel duty.
Incompetent.
Lovie.
Smith.
October 14th, 2015 at 1:57 pm
Jennings and Jenkins probably look great in Lovie’s eyes because they go against our offense all the time in practice. So he hopes it will translate to better play against other teams.
October 14th, 2015 at 2:03 pm
I wish we could pick up a superstar CB like Revis.
Wait… what?
October 14th, 2015 at 2:09 pm
Yeah, I wish we still had the Future Hall of Famer Aqib Talib.
But no reason to continue to cry over spilled milk – So O’ well 🙁
October 14th, 2015 at 2:09 pm
Cutting Revis looked really bad at the time and looks staggeringly stupid now with how bad the secondary has looked most of the last two seasons. Elite, top 10 NFL players don’t grow on trees, and you can’t expect to coach up scrubs to even replacement level players. Revis makes your entire defense better because you can scheme better (i.e. protect your weaknesses) when half the field is locked down.
October 14th, 2015 at 2:09 pm
I saw Jennings limping on Sunday looked like an ankle. I’ll reserve judgement for now bc in NO he played well and defended two late end zone passes.
As for being in the wrong place aka communication issues I blame that on Lovie dovie of course. He goes out and gets 2 really old CBs who “know the system” yet look completely clueless on the field. Shows me that Lovie can’t coach for Jack cheese its.
Sterling Moore looks like he has some “want to” some “desire” to “eat” as vjax says let sterling go out there and see if he embarrasses himself too. Something tells me if Lovie has Moore as a back-up he’ll prob be the best CB on the roster. Lovie tried the same cheese with Banks. Lovie smith, more like Losty Smith.
October 14th, 2015 at 2:12 pm
You guys can say what you want about verner but some of those plays he got burned on was because other people weren’t doing their job. Is he a great CB? No. Is he a good CB? No. He is just average in a system that he has only been in a year and 1/2. We brings me to my point, how in the hell can guys who played this system most of their career be worse than the people who have only played in it for a year and 1/2. The only thing worse than the play of Jennings and Jenkins is Lovie’s ability to evaluate talent. He needs to be relieved of that duty.
October 14th, 2015 at 2:19 pm
Bring on Vernon Hargreaves!
October 14th, 2015 at 2:30 pm
If either of the following players are off the board:
• RONNIE STANLEY, OT Notre Dame
• LAREMY TUNSIL, OT Ole Miss
I would have no problem if we picked (either)
• JAYLON SMITH, LB Notre Dame
• JALEN RAMSEY, DB State
• VERNON HARGREAVES III, CB Florida
• SU’A CRAVENS, S SC
• VADAL ALEXANDER, G LSU
October 14th, 2015 at 2:43 pm
Lovie must be seeing something in practice that Jenkins Jennings are doing.
Because they sure are not doing it in games.
Maybe Lovie needs to get a pair of glasses, because he is seeing something
that is not there.
4 wins in his time here. 1 home win in his time here
Both wins this year against 1 win teams
Two losses this year against 1 win teams
October 14th, 2015 at 2:45 pm
this ought to be interesting…weeks 8-13 represent a murderer’s row of outside receiving threats – OBJ, julio jones, the colts’ WR corps, and most likely the return of dez bryant.
October 14th, 2015 at 2:47 pm
Screw lovie and his backwards ways. He is dragging this team down. FIRE HIMMM
October 14th, 2015 at 3:10 pm
Agree with what John McKillop said…let Moore start opposite Banks. For what it’s worth, PFF thought that Moore played much better on the outside than in the slot in Dallas last year. Verner seems like a really good fit for the nickel anyway. Jennings and Jenkins? There are kids at my local high schools more fit to be NFL corners at this point.
October 14th, 2015 at 3:27 pm
I don’t have a problem with Verner at nickel, I actually always thought he would be a good fit for that position. But I thought he would be able to play outside too, and hoped he would slide over to the nickel the way Ronde used to in those situations.
The J’s both slow and miserable- like they should only be in the game during prevent sub-packages, where they can sit back and keep the receivers in front of them. We really need some physical corners on this team with actual speed.
October 14th, 2015 at 3:33 pm
This is ridiculous
October 14th, 2015 at 3:34 pm
Revis doesn’t live here anymore. Get over it.
The Boo-Bird Mantra has always been: “Lovie, a defensive coach, doesn’t know anything about offense”
REALLY..??
Keep saying “REBUILDING” until it sinks in. We spent our energy last off-season and most of this season “rebuilding” the offense.
Look at the FACTS…!!
Koetter, Winston, Marpet, Smith and Bell represent a sizable investment in rebuilding an offense to go along with the current FA/OL starting on offense. It must be difficult to rant about Lovie being “without a clue” in the face of these facts.
Add a healthy Dotson and ASJ back into the mix and Koetter (hired by “Dumb Lovie”?) will finally have enough depth and options to compete with anyone in the league.
With regard to Lovie’s defense. Clearly he was depending on vets to lead the way and hold serve until the offense is retooled. This is what happens when you’re rebuilding one side of the ball, exclusively.
I fully expect defense to dominate the draft next year. I’m glad we didn’t invest in FA “criminals” and sacrifice personal “standards” for a quick fix.
More to the point, most of our secondary, besides Verner, came cheap and are on 1-year tryout contracts. That bodes well for next season both in the draft and in the FA market.
Our 1 draft pick on defense, “Kwonzilla” is making a push for All-Pro. Imagine what we can do next year with our investment in a high round pick at DE and/or DB?
Go Bucs…!!!
October 14th, 2015 at 3:53 pm
They definitely will be making waves to draft corners over defensive end this offseason. Halen Ramsey and Vernon Hargreaves are in play as well if we can trade so of those solid vets like Verner and Mankins to playoff contenders for some third or fourth round picks so we have some flexibility in the draft. We already have 5 picks in the final two rounds also.
Verner doesn’t fit the scheme Lovie Smith is running and neither did Revis. The issue is the same as with Revis which is speed and style of pressure created up front. Thats why Verner is on the pine for Jennings and Jenkins. J&J have had success as corners in four man base fronts and are physical enough and have a knack for big plays when minimal pressure is coming from the front seven like there is in Tampa. Verner needs to be in a defense where there is maximized pressure up front. I mean if a team like the Steelers or jets those are preferred destinations for both of those guys for some third rounders before the deadline.###play4WINStonfight4LOViE
October 14th, 2015 at 4:49 pm
check the Pats practice squad
October 14th, 2015 at 5:02 pm
Nickel corner is basically a starter in today’s NFL. So, there you go. Verner is possibly a starter again, in a round about way.
October 14th, 2015 at 5:38 pm
Every defensive acquisition by Lovie has sucked!
October 14th, 2015 at 5:53 pm
NFL com says Lovies secondary is ranked #6 in pass defense. Who knew?
October 14th, 2015 at 6:19 pm
Hahahahaha
This is what Lovie Ball is.
October 14th, 2015 at 7:06 pm
Good post mo. Thats is a great point. This team is still rebuilding, and the defense is full of stop gaps. We have a great core group of players, and it will be nice when we start adding more heavily to the defense through the draft. I gotta say, the 2 drafts that lovie and licht had are turning out to be very nice drafts. I disliked most of the first draft initially, but sims is coming around, ASJ just needs to stay healthy, and Evans is an obvious playmaker, even if he is having a down year this year. And this this years draft is a knockout. Best draft ive seen in a long time.
October 14th, 2015 at 7:25 pm
This says a lot about Lovie’s INSANE decision making. This decision alone is worth getting fired over, Verner or Moore are clearly the better option.
October 14th, 2015 at 7:34 pm
Classic example of Poor Coaching.
He likes these guys… Not best players but HE thinks they are.
I have never seen so many comments on the same players that were all the same …These two can’t cover biscuits with gravy…
Why this team is has had only 4 wins in under him.
Heck Raheem had more eins Haha..
Lovie is NOT a good Coach period
October 14th, 2015 at 7:51 pm
We have a remarkable number of 4th and 5th string cornerbacks on our team
October 15th, 2015 at 11:46 am
We need to take the best DE we can get at the earliest round it is worth spending on him. We can take a CB later in the draft.