Sabby The Goat Has Been Benched
May 15th, 2010
Yes, Joe knows it’s mid-May. The Rays are in the early stages of a pennant race and just got rid of one of their offensive albatrosses (will windmill Carlos Pena be next?). The only “football” being played is that schlop, gimmicky, glorified small-school, 8-man game on melted hockey rinks.
(Sorry, any “football” league that allows offensives players to run in forward motion is unadulterated schlock. Why not then let linebackers blitz across the line of scrimmage before the snap?)
So it’s difficult to play with a depth chart at this point with the Bucs roster, partially because no one knows exactly what the roster will be.
But it appears Woody Cummings, of the Tampa Tribune, has an idea what the roster will be. Buried in a story about vets needing to improve this offseason is a nugget that Sabby the Goat is no longer considered a starter.
After watching him struggle in almost every phase of the game last year, the Bucs are convinced that Piscitelli is best suited to play the role of a third safety. To prove the Bucs wrong Piscitelli will have to outplay free-agent newcomer Sean Jones. That won’t be easy. Jones is best in the area Piscitelli struggled most in last year, which is making tackles near the line of scrimmage. If Piscitelli can improve his tackling skills and make good on the chances he takes in coverage he could keep his starting strong safety spot and force Jones into the role of the third safety. If not, Piscitelli will spend most of his time working special teams.
Whoa! That’s the first Joe has read or heard of that but this can hardly come as a surprise by any standard.
Was there any player on the Bucs defense, or offense for that matter, that played more miserably than Sabby the Goat?
May 15th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
yeah, Chris Hovan
May 15th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Michael Clayton?
May 15th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
Ryan Sims?
May 15th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
Leftwich?
May 15th, 2010 at 7:09 pm
Ronde Barber in the Carolina game, remember that ? He wanted no part of the big Carolina Backs. I am no Piscatelli Lover or Hater, but really guys, How good would John Lynch have been w/o Sapp and our old D Line to slow big backs down. It aint easy when you are 195 to take on a man running full speed with a stiff arm who weighs 235 and squats 675 for reps like Jonathan Stewart of Carolina. Our D Line will be much better this year, and maybe with some help Sabby will not be as bad as some think he is ? remember, with a poor D Line, and no Pass Rush, anyone will look bad playing defensive back.
May 15th, 2010 at 9:26 pm
I love sabby and also I love goats!!!!
May 15th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Leftwich, Clayton, Simms, Hovan, Johnson, Compass
May 15th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
APPLEROOF
You theory is true (no d-line = no defense) but if that is an excuse for Piscitelli’s poor play than why were Talib Barber and Jackson able to hold thier own?
May 15th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
THe whole damn D-line! And don’t forget how many long passes were thrown on Mack, Barber, and Talib too. Guess everyone forgets those!
May 15th, 2010 at 10:09 pm
@tampa2
Most of those long passes came during the time when we were using the Jim Bates scheme, a scheme which none of our players fit. After the switch our defense played much better. Talib is going to be great corner. Mack has actually been decent at times, but needs a lot of improvement. And people, Barber may be old, but he can still play. Just cause he didn’t have any INT’s last year doesn’t mean he’s done for. I mean come on, just look at how everything was. Wrong defensive scheme, 3-13, bad d-line. yeah… plenty of reasons. Just in 2008, the year before last year, he had 4 INT’s. Pretty good and that wasn’t too long ago.
I feel completely comfortable with Ronde as our starter for another year. Honestly, i wasn’t too crazy about the Myron Lewis pick so hopefully he can have some time to learn under Ronde and then have an impact here with the Bucs.
May 15th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
I second everything Patrick said.
May 15th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Finally, not everyone is on the bash Sabby bandwagon and has figured out every DB got beat last year using Bates’ scheme and the DL was simply awful. Give the kid a break. He might not be the next John Lynch, but I doubt if he is the next Rod Jones, either. He’s a second round pick who only completed his second full year and first as a starter.
May 15th, 2010 at 11:14 pm
I read a lot of how our D-line is going to be much improved. I agree. In two to three years. No none not any rookie linemen come in and dominate.
My hope this year is they hold their own and the offence can come alive.
Rookie receivers and running backs can have a quicker impact than new lineman. As for Sabbie he was thrown in as a starter a year or two too soon. Barber played a backup role for a few years before he got his starting role.
May 16th, 2010 at 3:30 am
@ Nick the Goat (edited for extreme language)
I love you man, someone has to love on Sabby and take sh*t from the rest of us for it, so I applaud the fact that you’re doing that! On a happier note, thank God the Rays finally got rid of that piece of shit Pat Burrell–take your english bulldog and go pick up dogs*it on some other team that is stupid enough to believe you can actually play at the MLB level!!!
May 16th, 2010 at 4:28 am
I hate pat Burrell
May 16th, 2010 at 8:35 am
Gaines ADAMS was worse last year then sabby. RIP