Stovall Scolded
August 20th, 2009
Great special teams player. Not much of a wide receiver.
That’s long been the scouting report on Maurice Stovall. And it doesn’t look like much has changed.
Tom Balog, Bucs beat writer for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, takes a look at Stovall’s struggles and the competition for the No. 3 receiver spot.
On another play, Stovall ran a go route instead of a hitch (stop) route, which resulted in quarterback Luke McCown throwing an incompletion to the spot where Stovall should have been.
“He didn’t do what he was supposed to do,” said Buccaneers wide receivers coach Richard Mann. “We’re looking for consistency. That could have very easily been a pick and he knows it. That can’t happen.”
Stovall, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound athlete who is a workout addict, needs to have a big game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday to regain the confidence of the coaching staff.
Joe hope Stovall can turn it around quickly. But how much would one good game against Jacksonville really say about him?
Joe is eager to see what wide receiver Kelly Campbell has to offer on the field. The Bucs could benefit from a real speedster in the lineup.
August 20th, 2009 at 8:27 am
To whom it may concern,
Dear Mr. Stovall. We have watched your performance with the Bucanners over the past years and to be honest we [the fans] haven’t been impressed.
Your level of play is erradict at best and downright pain at other moments. Sure you have produced some flashes of glory but those are getting harder and harder to find.
As typical example was your failure to run a correct route last Saturday in the first preseason game against the Titans. One of the most basic tenents that any WR in the NFL learns is to correctly run their routes – especially timing routes.
As a result of your poor play the QB, Luke McCown, appeared to look foolish. In fact I would say that from that point onward Luke appeared to question himself and played erratically.
Now I’m not blaming you for the QB’s performance, Luke has to be accountable for his own actions, but once a QB gets it into his mind that a WR is no longer dependable (i.e., drops passes, runs incorrect routes, misses blocks/assignments) it affects their checkdown abilities – especially when the WR in question is supposed to be the primary receiver.
I am sorry but unless we see some remarkable plays and consistent tempo from you this Saturday you will be released. This is nothing personal but having you around prevents us [the fans] from watching and giving other WR’s such as Brian Clark, Sammie Stroughter as well as others, their opportunities to make an NFL career for themselves.
Mr. Stovall consider yourself warned.