Chucky Figured Out Michael Clayton
November 18th, 2009
It’s easy to look in the rear view mirror but it’s pretty obvious Chucky had some things pegged right.
Michael Clayton is a big tease. He looks great. Runs great routes. Blocks like a beast. Talks a good game. But when the ball is thrown his way, well…
When Clayton was a rookie, he looked like a stud. He is still looking to recapture that rookie season. This year against Dallass he made some of the toughest catches Joe has ever seen.
Since, well…
Prior to this season, Clayton pointed the figure (and likely flashed the finger) right at Chucky claiming Chucky was the reason he dropped so many passes.
In recent weeks, one could make an argument that Clayton has been given his last best shot to reclaim the No. 1 receiver slot for the Bucs with Antonio Bryant out with an injury. Despite this, Clayton hasn’t make much of an impact, notes Vacation Man of BSPN.com.
Even with top receiver Antonio Bryant out, Clayton was limited to one catch for 3 yards. There was lots of talk about how Clayton would thrive with a fresh start after the departure of Jon Gruden.
Truth is, Gruden had judged Clayton pretty well. Clayton has 13 catches for 186 yards on the season and hasn’t found the end zone.
Yeah, it’s kind of hard to lay blame on Chucky, isn’t it?
Joe gets no pleasure in writing this by the way. Joe always liked Clayton the person and aside from Hines Ward, there may not be a better blocker. Michael Irvin has noted that Clayton runs such crisp, precise routes.
Joe just wishes Clayton could learn to be more consistent in hanging on to the ball.
November 18th, 2009 at 10:17 am
Michael Clayton is a liability… For every good play, there are 4 bad ones… That’s the ratio.
November 18th, 2009 at 11:01 am
its a bad break for the Bucs. The kid has a lot of potential and so much talent. If he worked extra on routes and running in the offseason. Spent time with a quarterback during the offseason. We always would hear how Clayton would get in shape for the season. But we never heard that he worked with any other Buc offensive player. He also needs to learn the offense in and out, not just the basics. Every one complained that Gruden’s shifts and motions were to difficult. But it would tell the quarterback if defense was man or zone. And some receivers did not know what the shift calls were.
November 18th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
After that one decent 1st game of the year, haven’t heard much from Rah after he dared anyone to question the contract the team gave Clayton in the offseason. I think obviously Richard Mann (who I can’t understand why he is still with the team) has a man crush on Clayton and the team is too reluctant to trade him for fear he’ll go on to become a reliable receiver with the proper coaching. Mann is such a behind-the-scenes guy, no one ever calls him out for his lack of developing any receivers in his EIGHT years with the team (Stroughter has a chance to be his first). He may be the nicest guy in the world, but at some point he has to be held accountable for his WR’s production.
November 18th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
FlBoy84:
1) Not too many teams like Chicago who will trade a high draft pick for an expensive, underperformer.
2) It was Dominik that wanted to keep Clayton; he explained his decision on NFL radio during training camp. He admitted at the time it was a gamble.
November 18th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Fully understand your points Joe. My question would be at what point do you take what you can get for Clayton and move on. I’m not sure the team (Dominik) would be willing to admit to the mistakes made with th OC, DC, and Clayton all in the same season.
Any opinion on the job Mann has done. I acknowledge we have had some success at the WR position with McCardell, Jurevicus, Keshawn, Galloway & Bryant, but every one of those guys were productive WR’s before they came to Tampa. Just haven’t seen ANY WR’s developed by Mann, even with all the picks we’ve used on that position in the draft over the last eight years.
November 18th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Save Stroughter, who seems to have some promise.
November 18th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
FlBoy84:
Well, Clayton, with the exception of his hands, developed pretty well. Guy seems to get open, etc. Sammie Stroughter, a seventh round pick, seems to be developing nicely. Maurice Stovall’s problems were not unlike Clayton’s. Most players learn the proper technique for catching in grade school. It’s really not that difficult.
November 18th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Having said that, why do you think we’ve been so poor at the WR position for so long. Is it the players we’ve brought in at the position, which would lead to… who is the person putting the players on the board to begin with? I realize the QB position hasn’t been a strength as well, which is obviously tied to the receiver production to an extent.
November 18th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
FlBoy84:
Joe wouldn’t classify the Bucs receivers as “poor” when Bryant is healthy. At least, not the last few years.
Granted, the Bucs haven’t had a star receiver with scant exceptions. But there have been teams, historically, with worse receivers.
The Bears, for example, had to move a backup defensive back to offense and tagged him as their No. 1 receiver (in theory). That’s pretty poor. The Bucs haven’t had to pull a stunt like that (yet).
November 18th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Joe wrote ,”Well, Clayton, with the exception of his hands, developed pretty well.”
He’s a WR Joe, not a SS! 🙁
Time to pack Clayton on the Adams express outta town.
Heck let’s rent an RV and put Morris, Bates, Clayton & Sabby on that one as well….all aboard.
November 18th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Mr. Lucky:
There may not be a worse player in the Bucs starting lineup than Sabby.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:03 am
Hmmm? Sabby seems to be able to Catch. Michael can hit pretty hard. Why not have the two switch positions? It surely can’t be any worse than now.