The Bucs And Lamarr Houston
October 9th, 2017
Working out for Bucs.
So it seems as if Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht is looking for a defensive end, too.
Yes, the Bucs are bringing in kickers today to try to replace choke artist futile Nick Folk. Provided any of these kickers can do anything.
But Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported Licht is also bringing in former Raiders and Bears defensive end Lamarr Houston.
The seven year vet is coming off his second ACL surgery. The last one came after he got a sack against the Belicheats. With the Bears trailing by 25 points, Houston went into a sack dance and blew out his knee. Quaint.
Houston twice had more than five sacks in a season. His last full healthy season, he had eight sacks, but remember, this was with the godawful Bears so he had plenty of chances to get to the quarterback.
October 9th, 2017 at 12:24 pm
We’re thin at DE.. Better stay active before the Texans start fishing in the market
October 9th, 2017 at 12:27 pm
Wow…
You always hate to see any player get injured but that was funny as hell when Houston went down like that. It was a dose of karma to this culture of selfish players celebrating everything, even while getting your a** handed to you.
Desperate times for the Bucs D-Line?
What is Jay Hayes doing?
Go Bucs!!
October 9th, 2017 at 12:40 pm
Yawn….
October 9th, 2017 at 12:53 pm
too bad there weren’t any DEs available in the FA market or during the draft for Licht to go after
October 9th, 2017 at 12:53 pm
Good point Mike.
October 9th, 2017 at 1:00 pm
Nothing wrong with kicking the tires. We need a kicker and sacks.
You cannot expect different results with the same effort and input.
October 9th, 2017 at 1:00 pm
Is this how desperate we are? We’re working out a guy who blew out his knee doing a sack dance? Really?
October 9th, 2017 at 1:11 pm
@Seminole Bill: teams around the NFL bring guys in all the time, most don’t bother to tell anyone….
October 9th, 2017 at 1:12 pm
I like that our braintrust does what is feasible in trying to find upgrades at positions of need – whether off season, pre-season or in-season.
So many including Joe and myself and most of us (some way more than others) sometimes bitch about our seeming glaring needs. DE is a good example.
But realistically, Licht has not yet invested much draft equity into that position. A second round pick so far in 4 drafts – that’s it.
Look at how many other positions Licht has vastly improved into strong groups talent wise from the ruins Dom left in just 3 years and 10 months.
QB – Winston
OL – All of them but Dot (Smith, Pamphile, Marpet, Sweezy + good depth)
WR – Evans, DJax, Godwin, Hump
TE – OJ, Brate, Auclair
DL – Spence, Ayers, McDonald, Baker
LB – Kwon, Beckwith, Glanton, Bond
CB – Grimes, VH3, Ryan Smith
Safety – Ward, J. Evans
Its a tough process to build a “good” team from near scratch in under 4 years. But this is exactly what Jason Licht has done. On paper at least. Its up to the players and coaches as to how to translate that talent into WINS – but Jason Licht is for sure doing a good job at continually upgrading the talent level of this team.
Bringing Lamarr Houston in for a look see is just another step in that ongoing process. We have struggled at DE thus far and just maybe this dude is hungry and can provide a spark of some sort – just like HoJo did a couple years ago.
Licht will spend more resources on the DLine over the next 2 years. A 1st round DE selection is likely either this year or next. perhaps both. That as well as finding us a quality RB for the long term and also finding additional CB talent will likely be the drafting priorities heading into 2018.
October 9th, 2017 at 1:15 pm
I agree with @Pickgrin. I am SO frustrated right now cos I see how great this offense will be. Go Bucs!!
October 9th, 2017 at 1:23 pm
Add more mediocrity to this mediocre pass rush.
Mediocrity + mediocrity = ???
October 9th, 2017 at 1:36 pm
Pickgrin- absolutely right
Its just that DE is such an important part of a team- it seems we should have picked on instead of a CB or TE in the first round.
We had Brate. You can get a good CB in rounds 2-3.
We will not be a winning playoff team, if we cant rush the passer.
October 9th, 2017 at 1:39 pm
Keep this in mind during the drafts JL. Those picks we keep losing are killin us.
October 9th, 2017 at 1:48 pm
This is really ridiculous….the same ole crap every season
October 9th, 2017 at 2:00 pm
@Seminole Bill, it’s week 6. anybody coming in for a workout will probably merit a “Is this how desperate we are? We’re working out a guy who [obviously isn’t with a team for some reason or other]? Really?” reaction
a) the answer is “yes, this is how desparate we are”
b) that shouldn’t stop the bucs from working guys out at positions of need
October 9th, 2017 at 2:07 pm
Pas Rush baby!! My weekly sermon!! Anybody, anything..that can help with our pass rush? I’m..all in. If he can help us..Sign him up yesterday.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:16 pm
Pickgrin;
Here is the problem with Licht;
He had an opportunity to address both RB and DE positions and he CHOKED in consecutive drafts…he goes all hay ass wired with 2nd and third round picks.
Kicker = UGH 2nd round = ZERO IMPACT
Dancing RB = Sims 3rd round = ZERO IMPACT
Headcase TE = ASJ 2nd round = ZERO Impact
If he was just 33% accurate with those picks, maybe we would not be in such a bad position at either DE or RB
HE blows at the top of the draft……
That’s the problem; You have a aging DT in McCoy and a young QB who NEEDED a good RB to make him better…
October 9th, 2017 at 2:47 pm
Sure is easy to 2nd guess draft picks after the fact.
Everyone seems to forget that 1st round picks have about a 40% bust rate – 2nd round picks closer to 50% and 4th rd picks are about 70% busts. UDFAs are 95+% busts.
Licht is doing better than those averages on all levels. Especially 1st rd and UDFAs.
October 9th, 2017 at 2:53 pm
Bucn, good argument. I do think you’re a little off. McCoy is aging, but is still good (despite the dings, he is playing close to as well as he has most seasons). Martin is a good RB and he’s back. Sims is still on the team and won at least one game for us since he’s been here (remember the ATL catch, run and score?) He’ll make some more plays for us this year to help us win. Also, not a lot of folks (though some will swear they knew) would have guessed both Smith and Spence would not be producing like we hoped (they were on the upswing). BL: In my opinion its a little early (12 games left) to judge this team or how the GM did this year, particularly when there is only 1 undefeated team left. We could look back every week and see someone on another team who scored, who we might could have maybe looked at getting potentially in the Draft or FA. One alternative to scapegoating is to live for this season with the team we have. Improve the roster based on reality and the risk management of those who get paid to do it (and have this team on the upswing), and hold off on the scapegoat search at least until we need one (2-2 is too early, IMO, particularly when we are gonna win some games the doubters think we can’t, and WILL be in the playoff hunt).
October 9th, 2017 at 2:55 pm
Not hating or arguing, just offering my perspective (lessens the lows and tempers the highs). I also forgot….GO BUCS!
October 9th, 2017 at 2:59 pm
Lol, Gramatica-like. Bill Gramatica that is.
October 9th, 2017 at 3:04 pm
Joe, any new on the release of Jaquies Smith?
October 9th, 2017 at 3:12 pm
I don’t understand, why not just trade a pick for a good player on a losing team? A 2nd rnd pick would be perfect, it’s going to waste anyway and that should bring in a pro bowl talent.
October 9th, 2017 at 3:43 pm
I’m just curious if Ali market, Donovan Smith, Noah Spence and Justin Evans were all wasted picks too?
(Maybe you can make the argument that N Spence was since he’s been plagued by injuries, but you can’t really predict those…)
October 9th, 2017 at 4:46 pm
Justin definitely, Roberto, ASJ. Oh how soon we forget. I would add vh3 but he was 1st rnd. Some said trade up for Ramsey but wtf do we know?
October 9th, 2017 at 4:52 pm
If you haven’t noticed the 49ers are flipping their roster and going with all their young players. Bowman and Hyde were benched yesterday for younger guys. Plus we know Lynch like to get extra draft picks.
Why not call lynch and see if he’ll take a 5th or 6th rnd pick for Dumervil?
October 9th, 2017 at 4:58 pm
We’re going to be very glad we have Noah Spence before his rookie contract is up, I believe. He needs to get healthy and stronger first. He tried to get leaner, but really needs as much mass as he can carry while keeping his quickness.
October 9th, 2017 at 5:05 pm
Per Ian Rapoport
The #Texans are flying former #Bears pass-rusher Lamarr Houston in for a visit tomorrow, source said. He could fill Whitney Mercilus’ role.
Left without a contract. Bucs pass.
October 9th, 2017 at 5:20 pm
Yet another injury prone defensive player they might get in free agency. J Smith 2.0.
October 9th, 2017 at 6:17 pm
@ Cautious – our pass rush is far less than mediocre
October 9th, 2017 at 6:19 pm
Pick – more evidence as to why you’re my favorite poster and Db- more evidence as to why you’re my least favorite. Keep up the good work guys.
October 9th, 2017 at 6:26 pm
Let me try to educate once more. The problem is Mike Smith. The QBs like Brady and Eli realized the 10 yard cushion and only 4 man rushes. Hence the high completion percentage and low point and sack totals. The only time we’ve blitzed we hit Brady. We hit Brady over and over again actually. Coverage was god awful in Minnesota hence no pressure. Giants game same thing except more pressure. Great pass rush all things considered against Brady. Hit a bundle of times. And shouldve won the game. Keep listening to Joe podcast tho about pass rush
October 9th, 2017 at 7:51 pm
Pickgrin Says:
October 9th, 2017 at 2:47 pm
Sure is easy to 2nd guess draft picks after the fact.
Everyone seems to forget that 1st round picks have about a 40% bust rate – 2nd round picks closer to 50% and 4th rd picks are about 70% busts. UDFAs are 95+% busts.
Licht is doing better than those averages on all levels. Especially 1st rd and UDFAs.
………….
THIS IN SPADES ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^!!!!!!!!!!
Nice post Pick as usual! So many Negative Nancys around here that can’t see the forest for the trees.
October 10th, 2017 at 10:23 am
I loved Houston when he came out of Texas as a DT. He was supremely talented with great quickness, speed, and good strength. He never quite hit on his immense potential, playing as a 3-4 DE, a little 4-3 DT, and a little bit of 4-3 DE. If this were the young Lamarr, that was recruited to Texas as a RB, I would say, ABSOLUTELY! But I’m afraid that two ACL injuries may have robbed him of what he could have been. He sure was something to watch. I remember watching him in the Alabama game, dude was through and up and down the line making nearly every tackle on every running play no matter where it was run, getting pressure, etc. He was extremely disruptive in that game.