Apparently, Not So Clear
January 14th, 2018
Could he survive?
To folks who monitor the NFL from the outside, the Bucs have “clear” needs. For those who work inside the walls of One Buc Palace the view seems to be cloudy.
Mike Sando of BSPN took a look at each NFL team and came up with something called an “Overhaul Meter.“Sando doesn’t see a whole lot of change for the Bucs with the exception of two positions, ranking the Bucs at No. 16 as an agent of change.
Tampa Bay will surely address its pass rush after finishing the season last in sacks, down from ninth a year earlier. Running back is another position that needs addressing. With clear needs and obvious urgency, the Buccaneers will be a team to watch.
Well apparently, it’s not that clear or these issues would have been resolved long before the Bucs’ 2017 season spiraled out of control.
Take defensive end. This position has been a total sieve since Simeon Rice left and that was back when Chucky was coaching! Yet we’re talking about the same organization that ran off Michael Bennett for no good reason. And still the position hasn’t been resolved through three general manager administrations and five head coaches. Someone explain to Joe how anyone who doesn’t punch a time clock at One Buc Palace can see this. Do folks use their One Buc Palace access cards and then go blind?
Is there some kind of weird superpower that afflicts Bucs employees? You know, like how Superman can see through women’s clothes, only in the case of the Bucs, staff loses any and all vision to see the team cannot get quarterback pressure from the edge?
And then running back. Good grief, this is almost as bad. Almost. Joe has pounded keyboards for 15 months claiming Doug Martin is finished. You know the result: Martin was the go-to back for the Bucs come hell or high water (or in the case of the 2017 season, both!).
It’s reached the point that when Joe types about how the Bucs need a top-shelf bully of a running back, Joe feels like a rat stuck on a non-stop exercise wheel, which frankly would gain about as much yardage as Martin has the past two seasons.
January 14th, 2018 at 8:14 am
Maybe that front office needs to come over here and read this site for a change !
January 14th, 2018 at 8:15 am
Not sure a bully of a running back is the answer,. We need a back that get to the edge and make plays also. The middle of Philly’s D line was tough to penetrate last night. Now we do need lots of bullies on the Dline at both DE and DT.
January 14th, 2018 at 8:20 am
Do folks use their access cards and then go blind? LoL. Good one. If they keep dirk, smith and doug then somebodys got compromising pictures of the glazers. Even if they finally toss dougie, Ill still feel somebodys hiding those polaroids somewhere in there. Its just flat out un-american to be terrible at your job and still be able to stroll in anytime with a smile and still get free food!! Accountability doesnt reside in Tampa
January 14th, 2018 at 8:24 am
The Bucs have the worst defensive ends and running backs in the NFL.
If they can not tell those are major issues then they are lost.
January 14th, 2018 at 8:32 am
There is a running back in Detroit named Zach Zenner. Arguably the best RB on the roster based on limited opportunities he has had. The guy has vision, he can catch, block, he’s 225. With a new coach coming to Detroit
I’m sure he will get another look, but I know at the end of the season detroit didn’t even dress him the last few games as a healthy scratch.
I would throw them a late round pick for him all day and feed him 25 carries a game next season. Dude is an animal.
January 14th, 2018 at 8:41 am
Now that’s bada^^ coach – that wants a ba^^ football team
January 14th, 2018 at 8:42 am
@ Darin says: “If they keep dirk, smith and doug then somebody’s got compromising pictures of the glazers”.
There are other reasons why Dirk and Smitty survive I believe (like not firing coaches every 2 years) however Dougie is another matter. No one knows the full situation of the facts behind Dougie’s suspension. What was he doing and for that matter, and possibly with who…there has to be a reason why Martin returns to the team being so unproductive….if this is all due to financial considerations they should have cut him this past season.
January 14th, 2018 at 9:21 am
Jameis is better than 3 of the 4 qbs that played Saturday. Ryan looked SLOW. A stud rb and pass rush would go a long way towards this team making the playoffs.
January 14th, 2018 at 9:46 am
The only reason this staff remains is the dead money issue..there cant be any other logical reason.
January 14th, 2018 at 10:21 am
That’s what I think also about the dead money and keeping reject coaching staff imo
January 14th, 2018 at 10:26 am
I”m not worried about Martin. I’m wondering WHY..Mike SMith has not been fired along with all of his Defensive Staff. BUCLIFE..BUCWAY! Bucs are always suffering from Terminal Cancer. From the Top..down.
January 14th, 2018 at 10:35 am
The movie Dodge ball said it best a bunch of retreds trying to hump a Door knob!
January 14th, 2018 at 11:13 am
Jmarkbuc… What dead money are you referring to?
January 14th, 2018 at 11:19 am
Here is a problem I’m seeing among posters and Joe.
We do not want to throw the baby out with the baby water. Plenty have posted about games we could have won…losing by less than a TD…
It’s the freakin’ NFL and the margins are paper thin. Everybody has a ton of talent…coaches with years of experience…PLENTY of money and therefore on any given Sunday. That’s the main reason for the draft and it’s largely worked.
I’m Irish and so I have a very, very healthy respect for LUCK!!! My father was a bookie adding to that respect of the effects of LUCK!!!
We had a horribly unlucky year. Tennessee and Jax got to play cupcake schedules and edged into the playoffs.
If the playoffs are your goal we are NOT that far away. All this analysis of teams that made it….a large dose of LUCK…simply does not impress me.
Now I get that many of you..me included would like to at least compete for a Super Bowl. Does Tennessee or Jax look like SB contenders to you? Would you feel that much more confident going into next year with their rosters instead of ours. The differences are really very, very small…no matter which roster you choose.
Now I get this conversation if you wish to try and emulate a team I hate but am FORCED to respect…the Patriots…the Steelers…I’m fine with trying to learn from their success…the many of the rest of the teams are simply taking their turn in the post season dance.
I’m just not convinced that the vast swath of mediocrity that has overwhelmed the NFL is a guide path for success. I watched the Buffalo Jax game and was disgusted by the quality of that football…it wasn’t even a decent game for a regular season game.
We are NOT that far from playoffs. From Conference Finals much less a SB…a totally different story.
Just to illustrate luck..I’m not an MM basher but come on man does anybody really want to jump up and down about the TD he threw to himself…problem is of course he didn’t throw it to himself…it got batted to him after what could have easily been a drive ending interception in the end zone. Do we believe the Titans or any team or any QB practice that play? If the Chief hangs onto that instead of lauding MM everybody would be blasting him for a scoring drive ending with an INT in the red zone.
Just remember cliche’s exist for a reason…it’s better to be lucky than good!!!
January 14th, 2018 at 12:04 pm
Sony Michel in the 2nd should be our new RB to pair with Barber
January 14th, 2018 at 1:04 pm
StPeteBucsFan:
One of the best Post I’ve read this year. Thank You.
January 14th, 2018 at 1:07 pm
We haven’t had a GM or coach that knows how to work in FA or make a smart trade since the SB year and I’m only talking about the Chucky trade, not players. Licht knows how to draft, and that’s the best thing we have had in a GM in a very long time. I don’t even have to mention our last 5 coaches.
January 14th, 2018 at 1:31 pm
@St. Pete are you suggesting that we keep this staff until we have a season of good luck to cover for some less than adequate coaching, to put it nicely?
January 14th, 2018 at 1:34 pm
Running back isn’t a huge need for the Bucs I don’t think. While I’m not sold on Barber being the answer, finding someone to compete with him can be done pretty easily in free agency. The Bucs need to keep Simms and Barber and can dump Rodgers to get another vet and then maybe another young guy, that should be good enough.
January 14th, 2018 at 3:01 pm
The cornerback situation is easily equal to or worse than the D line and they are both very near or the worst in the NFL
January 14th, 2018 at 4:12 pm
We’ll see how it goes in the words of Donald Trump. If they are truly as blind as it appears the entire front office and coaching staff will be gone which is what I expect but can’t blame the glazers. Start your head coach search now glazers this year will be a wash
January 14th, 2018 at 4:17 pm
Bad organizations and bad teams keep making bad evaluations and bad decision. So what is surprising about that, Joe? Without such decisions, 5-11 and being the worst professional football team in Florida couldn’t be achieved.
January 14th, 2018 at 5:13 pm
With AZ about to be in full blown rebuild mode and Licht’s connections there I wonder what the cost to pry David Johnson from them would be
January 14th, 2018 at 5:14 pm
We need an elusive RB that can make people miss in the backfield, because that’s what it takes to cross the line of scrimmage w our OL
January 14th, 2018 at 5:55 pm
If martin returns next year i will call for all fans to boycot the bucs games its bad enough they kept an awful coaching staff with not one proven winner , but a running back that should of been let go my guess is attendance will be at an all time low as it is , BUCS ARE BACK TO BEING THE YUCKS
January 14th, 2018 at 6:00 pm
Joe likes martin and the coaching staff so what are u saying
January 14th, 2018 at 6:23 pm
You guys yelling about Smith not being fired are living in a dreamland. He was never going to be fired by Dirk, case closed end of story. These guys are in it together and they will sink or swim together.
if you wanted Smith fired then you should have been clammering to fire Dirk since that’s the only way it was going to happen. There now worked themselves into a provoke it year and their in it together…….Besides even if he was hired the only real option to replace Smith would be to hire one of his assistants, the same assistants you guys are now calling to be fired.
These two are leading the team and the expectations are basement level.
January 14th, 2018 at 6:58 pm
Lovie should of never been fired we have the same kind of people running the show Glazers cant make good decisions
coaches are soft and cant make good decisions
gm is also soft and cant make good decisions
players cant make good decisions due to coaching
DONT THROW YOUR MONEY AWAY NEXT YEAR GUYS SAVE YOURSELF SOME MONEY AND THE EMBARRASSMENT
January 14th, 2018 at 7:32 pm
Good post stpete! I agree with much of what you said. JjjjIMO, what this team needs the most is a couple of quality edge rushers, a RB to pair with Barber and help at CB. Do they have other needs? YES! However if they shore up those three areas I believe they will make the playoffs next year.
January 14th, 2018 at 8:21 pm
Not making any playoffs for awhile hate to say but trust me , next year will be no different maybe worse . Winston may be looking at a 6 game suspension to start the season !
January 14th, 2018 at 10:19 pm
Joes — c’mon. Mark Dominik is repsonsible for letting Bennett walk and everyone knows it. Stop protecting the worst GM in Buccaneer history and his 28-52 5-year W-L record.
Good grief.