Jason Licht No. 10
April 21st, 2020
Bucs GM Jason Licht.
Fans love to beat up Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht. At the end of the day for Bucs fans, it’s all about wins and losses.
And sadly for Licht, there is not near enough wins and way too many losses the team has suffered to pacify Bucs fans. That’s fully understandable to Joe. Hell, no one probably wants more wins than Licht.
That doesn’t mean a guy can’t pick talent. What coaches do with that talent is another matter.
In an analysis of the past five drafts conducted by long-time NFL scribe Jeff Duncan of The Athletic, Licht’s drafts ranked No. 10 in the NFL.
The study is both enlightening, and one could argue, a bit flawed.
It does show how a personnel guy can pick talent, yet a coach can eff it all up. This study shows the Belicheats and the Eagles to have two of the three-worst drafts in the NFL the past five years.
Joe seems to recall coaches from both teams hoisting Lombardi trophies during that same time frame.
Duncan also leaned on the PFF tribe for info. Always a major red flag.
And then there is the double-edged sword/category of starters drafted. While it’s great Licht drafted a boatload of guys who started, let’s remember the Bucs defense under the notorious Smiths from 2014-2019 was so godawful, any halfway decent defender could have come to the Bucs and started.
Five of the top six teams in this draft study were in the playoffs last year, led by the team atop this chart: Baltimore.
April 21st, 2020 at 10:52 am
Have you noticed the universal nature of fans is to complain ? 🙂
April 21st, 2020 at 11:02 am
He seems to have gotten a little better every year since the 2016 debacle. I would agree that his drafting and even FA evaluation is better than most in the league. If this class from 2019 continues to grow, it could be one of the best drafts in the league top to bottom. I’m hyped up for Thursday now, go Licht a fire!
April 21st, 2020 at 11:03 am
Rating drafts against other teams is like mocking the 5th round of the draft.
April 21st, 2020 at 11:07 am
He seems to be good at trading down an picking up valuable extra picks. When a certain number at any level turn out to be busts (who can predict?) having more pics makes sense to me.
April 21st, 2020 at 11:10 am
Saw on the news that Jameis Winston and Titus Oneal are delivering food for charity over the nest couple days in Pin County.
Kid might be off the team, but he’s sticking around. Starting to feel like he might become Brady’s backup.
April 21st, 2020 at 11:22 am
You are what your record,say’s ..Licht is the worst gm in the league!!!
April 21st, 2020 at 11:22 am
First of all, in those opinions that they are calling rankings, no other gm was drafting higher than light bulb with an avg overall picks of 8th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If this were true, and it’s not, then why only 5 possible starters from a short two seasons ago???? Why only 1 starter from defense just three season ago???????
And for the sheep keeping score
Toilet bowls defense 2019 points against avg 28.1
Coach Smitty defense 2016 & 2017 points against avg 23.5
The truth shall set you free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
go bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 21st, 2020 at 11:24 am
Too expensive to be Brady back up and it may affect the lockerroom
April 21st, 2020 at 11:29 am
Realist …so what you’re saying is both D’s sucked…
April 21st, 2020 at 11:35 am
If the Bucs cut Licht he would be picked up in a heartbeat.
1. He has a lot of recent successes.
2. The majority of his errors were good decisions at the time (except Aguayo).
3. We never have dead money.
4. Players rarely/if ever complain about the team or demand a trade.
5. The Bucs are the talk of the NFL.
He just needs to add playoffs to the resume.
April 21st, 2020 at 11:35 am
You have to give licht credit for a few very important deals. Tom Brady, Bruce Arians and Shaq Barrett. The draft is really a crap shoot, evaluating talent is one thing but you can’t have a crystal ball on what a player will do after he gets a million dollar check no matter how much talent. He built a Team good enough that Tom Brady thought it was a good idea. So before you bash him consider this is where Brady wanted to play.
April 21st, 2020 at 11:40 am
Realist – dude – seriously just read this once because I’ve posted it multiple times. Let the Smitty thing die man. lol
In 2020, the Bucs gave up 20 more turnovers than the league average and Winston had SEVEN pick 6’s… He only had FOUR pick 6’s in his entire NFL career before 2020.
In 2017, the Bucs gave up 5 more turnoves than the league average
In 2018, the Bucs gave up 4 more turnovers than the league average
Just the difference in pick 6’s alone (7 vs average of 1) equates 2.25 per game disadvantage to Bowles
I’m reading a turnover is worth roughly 4 points and Bowles dealt with 20 more than league average vs Smitty at 4, or a diffference of 16 which comes out to a 4 point disadvantage per game.
28.1 – 2.25 – 4 = 21.9 PPG
21.9 is better than 23.1
And that was in year 1. Year 2 should give a better sample size for comparison.
April 21st, 2020 at 12:51 pm
Altered not a thing wrong with crying and whining about sports. Just so long as you leave on the sports forum………Now when it’s time to roll up your sleeves you better man up. So long as you can keep that balance it’s all good……..Now please excuse while I go to the next page and have a hissy fit about our Quarterback.
April 21st, 2020 at 1:41 pm
Well….when the same good teams are always picking at the end of the draft positions every year, and they keep winning.more games than the teams that keep picking early every year, that means its poor coaching. Not rocket science…
April 21st, 2020 at 3:02 pm
Lol, I strongly disagree, but Lichts been making some good moves lately, so I’m leaving him be. If we don’t have two new, good, running backs by the start of the season, I’ll start b!tching about him again.
April 21st, 2020 at 3:51 pm
Except for a couple of “can’t take it back’s” Licht has done a pretty solid job.
He deserves a B-, C+
April 21st, 2020 at 4:15 pm
Arians is saving his ass.
April 21st, 2020 at 4:20 pm
It’s amazing Jameis has caused people to make up new evaluations and make them stats. Who heard of almost interceptions or the number of interceptions that were returned for a TD. Some of those were 50-75 yard returns. I could see that as a stat used against an offense. Maybe they should do some tackling drills. But to pin that on one guy only seems a bit off to me.
If Jameis threw close to 30 picks a year and had that many of his interceptions turned I could understand judging him so harshly. Last year was an anomaly and in statistics when you see that you throw it out if you want an accurate reading and/or average.
April 21st, 2020 at 6:25 pm
Criticism of Licht is entirely warranted. The Fameis Jameis debacle, alone, should have been a major red flag. Not that he picked a dud…it happens…but to sell out for him, 100%, from the JUMP…when the very thing he saw in him at the college level, is the very thing that ended Fameis’ time as ‘The Franchise’ – THAT’s on him. The multiple years of mediocrity due to poor/mediocre coaching, for which he was warned prior to hiring them – is solely on him.
Pinning our hopes on the 42 year old GOAT, aside…at this point I’m much more inclined to assign the potential turnaround being due to the fact that the Bucs/Licht just got “lucky” TB12 was ready to move on…prior to Brady wanting out of New England…it wasn’t looking good from the QB spot. He just lucked into the one guy that could attract a lot “ring chaser” talent…so, if all goes as hoped: looks like we’ll all be married to Jason Licht for a long time…