“Good, Young Talent”
January 26th, 2016A lot of fans look at the Bucs, stare at their 12-36 record through their past three seasons, and see nothing but dreck.
Others see a foundation coming together.
One of the others would be NFL Network’s Mike Mayock. Among the best Xs and Os analysts out there, Mayock was kind enough to chat with Joe briefly after the East-West Shrine Game at The Fruitdome in St. Petersburg to talk Bucs, and in particular, the offense.
“I think Jameis came a long way, No. 1,” said Mayock, who predicted Jameis would be an interception artist before the draft. “And I think secondarily, Donovan Smith, second-round pick; Ali Marpet, second-round pick, those two guys did a nice job. And beyond that, you look at the tailback they got [Charles Sims] in the third round [in 2014]. They have a lot of really good, young offensive talent. Now, they just have to build from there.”
Mayock isn’t wrong. Just look at the last two drafts, the Bucs have loads of talent. Charles Sims came a long way from looking like he was a bust his rookie year, though, to be fair, he was hurt.
Hell, even Kevin Pamphile, drafted in 2014, when asked to make one start for Logan Mankins, did a solid job and Joe all but wrote him off before last season.
If Austin Seferian-Jenkins can stay on the field and become disciplined, man, then the last two drafts might be better than anyone originally believed.
January 26th, 2016 at 9:09 am
Time to buy SUNGLASSES and throw away the umbrellas!
We are done with El Niño! Jameis is in town, Baby!
Licht, let’s see more magic!
Go Bucs!!!
January 26th, 2016 at 9:23 am
I’m hoping Austin Seferian-Jenkins is just one of those players that has a run of bad luck his first couple years (like McCoy did) and then excels.
I’m not ready to give up on him yet…but this off season should determine his future. Honestly, I’m tired of Luke Stocker…but he’s been more reliable.
January 26th, 2016 at 9:26 am
I would still like to see the Bucs use an early round pick on a playmaking, field stretching, dynamic wide receiver. V-Jax isn’t getting any younger and the injuries are starting to be relevant and Mike Evens needs somebody on the other side that defenses have to account for. The better Jameis’ targets are, the better he will be
January 26th, 2016 at 9:27 am
Absolutely. Joe wouldn’t cry if they used a second round pick on a receiver. At worst, need depth.
January 26th, 2016 at 9:47 am
He didn’t even mention, Cameron Brate, what’s up with that, what about ASJ and ME, aren’t they young and talented.
January 26th, 2016 at 10:21 am
ASJ is very immature and soft. Toughen him up, and he might be a keeper. I give it a 50-50 chance. Worth another year I guess.
January 26th, 2016 at 10:21 am
i think people will be a little down on the offense next year due to possibly unrealistic expectations. i can see continued struggles with depth (and ASJ being ASJ) among Jameis’ pass-catchers, some stouter defenses (NFC West > NFC East, AFC West > AFC South), and what seems like an inevitable regression from doug martin. Jameis will improve in the face of all that, but fans expecting us to rewrite the franchise record book again might want to take a few deep breaths
January 26th, 2016 at 10:23 am
We also need more offensive linemen. If anything, the championship games revealed, once again, that the lines are the most important position in football. We know about the DL, but we still need 3-4 OL before we are championship ready.
January 26th, 2016 at 10:59 am
A lot of people are forgetting Kenny Bell.
January 26th, 2016 at 1:51 pm
AAAAAAAEEEEEEEE!!!!!!GO BUCS!!!!!
January 26th, 2016 at 5:53 pm
Licht has done a very good job drafting talent the last 2 years. Other than Kwon (who was a HELL of a find in the 4th round) – that young talent is all on offense – so hopefully Jason will largely turn his attention to Defense for the next couple of years and have this team set up for a long run of success. We could absolutely use another good OL player or 2 and another talented WR would be welcome as well – but this Defense needs upgrades at a bunch of spots. DE(X2), Safety (X2) and CB (X2) are the prime needs IMO. Lansanah didn’t show much last year and Carter is pretty expensive for a Sam LB/backup – so another good LB wouldn’t hurt either. We are good at DT, WLB and MLB – the rest of the defensive positions need more talent.
Make it happen Jason Light – you’ve got a full slate of draft picks starting with #9 overall – and $50M burning a hole in the Glazer’s pocket.
January 26th, 2016 at 8:28 pm
Mayok saying anything good about the Bucs is an absolute curse. He simply is reading from a sheet of talking points from hq. Sad but true…
IF IF IF IF Austin Seferian-Jenkins….need I say more? B-U-S-T!