Studying The Bucs’ Draft
May 4th, 2022
Rookie third-round pick running back Rachaad White
An NFL grade of each team cannot be complete without the input of prickly Pete Prisco from CBS Sports.
Prisco does a strong job of studying for the draft. He knows the players inside and out. And while Joe may not always agree with him, Joe understands Prisco does his homework.
Overall, Prisco really likes the Bucs’ draft except for one player and it is not who you might think.
Best Pick: Taking guard/tackle Luke Goedeke in the second round is an outstanding pick. He is a tough guy who is a former tight end, showing his athletic ability. He will be a long-time starter.
Worst Pick: I didn’t like the pick of running back Rachaad White in the third round. I think they had better options and more pressing needs.
The Skinny: They traded out of the first round to get extra picks, but still landed a solid group. Goedeke will compete at left guard and fellow second-round pick Logan Hall could be a starter at defensive tackle. Fourth-round tight end Cade Otton was a good pick.
Prisco really likes how Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht traded back to get a pick, which ended up being Luke Goedeke, who Prisco raved about. A multi-year starter? That’s cool.
As far as Prisco not liking Rachaad White, maybe it is because White didn’t flash it the games Prisco watched? Then again, Prisco is an Arizona State grad and he watches the Sun Devils a lot. Those who follow Prisco on social media know he often gripes about Sparky. So maybe some of that pessimism from his alma mater crept into his analysis of White?
Joe knows former Bucs quarterback Shaun King loves White.
FYI, Prisco gave the Bucs a “B” grade.
May 4th, 2022 at 9:07 am
White pick makes sense from a salary cap/depth perspective – probably cheaper than any free agent signing , plus he has Coach Edwards’ endorsement.
May 4th, 2022 at 9:08 am
How would you grade how the Bucs did in the 2019 NFL draft? With the exception of Matt Gay, I would give it a B+/A-. The Bucs transformed their secondary that year.
May 4th, 2022 at 9:09 am
As I have mentioned, don’t forget to credit Licht with getting a proven NFL guard, Shaq Mason, with his number 5 draft pick. A very solid draft, imo.
May 4th, 2022 at 9:13 am
For once I agree with Prisco. I didn’t like the pick of White in the 3rd round. I didn’t think we needed to draft a running back with Lombardi Lenny, Gio and KV all looking like solid contributors, and the UFA workd seems to cough up RBs who can play. This is a Jaelen Darden out of the backfield, thumbs down.
May 4th, 2022 at 9:18 am
With a little luck we will finally have the right guy .
May 4th, 2022 at 9:26 am
This was prickly Pete’s analysis of the Buccaneers draft in 2019:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: C+
Best pick: I love first-round linebacker Devin White. He flies to the football. White has the speed teams need to have these days with all the spread-out offenses.
Worst pick: Why did they take a kicker again? They took Matt Gay in the fifth round, which means they didn’t learn from the Roberto Aguayo fiasco from the past. You sign kickers. You don’t draft them.
The skinny: They had to get better on defense, so spending their first five picks on that side of the ball made sense. White will be a star, and I like second-round corner Sean Bunting.
May 4th, 2022 at 9:27 am
With White, we don’t know if it was the RB selection or the player or both….looks like to me it was the selection of the running back.
Also didn’t Sean Sullivan like White?
The extra pick helped Licht trade up 3 slots fot Goedeke (perhaps not necessary) and it got us Otten for free……that’s a good deal.
May 4th, 2022 at 9:34 am
I LIKE THE PICK OF WHITE HE IS BIG, FAST, HARD TO GET DOWN, AND HE CAN CATCH OUT THE BACK FIELD. WITH THE LOSS OF JONES WHITE WILL PROVE EVERYBODY WRONG THAT HE WAS THE BEST RUNNINGBACK OF THE DRAFT.
May 4th, 2022 at 9:38 am
Finally got around to watching this guys tape…he has great hands for catching and has a solid combination of making guys miss and being hard to tackle. I think we did great with this pick. He’ll be solid depth. And after a year, you never know, he could be our starter.
Good job Mr Licht and scouting dept!
May 4th, 2022 at 9:43 am
Rojo had skills but lacked mental toughness and good hands. It seems White has both the skills and the mind set to be very good. My concern is that he tends to hurdle guys… who dive at his feet. In the NFL…leaving your feet, a lot, is generally not healthy. However, if he can stay healthy he might be the most talented RB on our roster.
May 4th, 2022 at 9:59 am
Prisco may not like White, but Sean Sullivan does, and that’s good enough for me.
Overall, I like our Draft, especially our new Punter!
That Kid can really Kick! Plus, he is gonna save us a Ton of money over Pinion.
White has great hands, and unlike Gio Bernard, he is fast enough to really hurt a team, once he has the ball.
May 4th, 2022 at 10:03 am
You guys are acting like re-signing Bernard means anything. It doesn’t. He gave us little last year, like I said he would, and he’s a solid shot to not make the roster this year. He’s veteran insurance. White is young, has great hands, nice feet, and is fast (clocked 21.5 mph at a Senior Bowl practice). Lenny is closer to the end than the beginning and all we have behind him is unproven Vaughn. Lenny won’t likely see the end of his three year contract and w always need to keep an eye to the future at this position
May 4th, 2022 at 10:09 am
First off picking a RB in the 3rd. round was to high. Had other more important needs. I would have waited till around the 5th. Also not a big fan of White. Of course Edwards would endorse him. Wants his ex players to go as high as possible White kind of reminds me of Rojo with better hands. (I hope I’m wrong)
May 4th, 2022 at 10:09 am
The Bucs needed a Rb and got a good one. They didn’t wait until all the good ones were gone this time. Injuries happen at Rb. Gio couldn’t stay healthy last year and what if Lenny went down in camp. R. White going to be a good Rb in this league. He’s a hard worker, smart, patient has great vision, can catch the ball, good contact balance, size and speed. Rojo was missing lots of those traits.
May 4th, 2022 at 10:16 am
A guy here in Germany (René Bugner, @RNBWCV) combined 29 different draft grades and tweeted it to the world. The Bucs are ranked 14th – not to shabby with pick 27 as starting position (see his updated tweet May, 3rd).
May 4th, 2022 at 10:17 am
I don’t mind them taking an RB in the 3rd. I think that’s a good spot for a RB, and they got a good all around back. Let’s see how he does.
May 4th, 2022 at 10:34 am
I make my own draft board and was ecstatic with the draft, by my terms. Hall, Goedeke and White were the “BPA” at those specific positions when the picks came up. McCollum too. Only gripe was Howell sitting there? Why not? 2 young bucs to learn from Brady. Gabbert and Griffin are past the prospect stage. Eventual cuts.
May 4th, 2022 at 10:55 am
So taking punter, Jake Camarda, in the fourth round because it was “too high” was not his choice as the worst. 😙
May 4th, 2022 at 10:56 am
^ Yeah I wouldnt have minded Howell late. Hopefully we can work on another QB prospect in next years draft…likely will have to trade up. But we shouldnt have any holes except TB12. I like that Kentucky QB Will Levis. Go check him out.
May 4th, 2022 at 10:59 am
We’ve seen guys like Kamara have so so college careers and then blow up once they get in the nfl. I hope this kid can do the same and he should get a chance since we have nothing special in our running back room.
May 4th, 2022 at 11:00 am
I am hopeful not taking Howell signals they have higher hopes for Trask, Bruce. I like your observation.
May 4th, 2022 at 11:03 am
I look at White as the prototype back that Brady loves. Fast, shifty and great hands! Just the type Tom has been praying for.
May 4th, 2022 at 11:03 am
Lenny’s contract is $21mil with $12 guaranteed……the good news if he gets it all that means he’s performing very well……also the more good news if he doesn’t get it all, we have White.
May 4th, 2022 at 11:15 am
I just spent some time watching Trask’s highlights and compared it to his preseason play with us last year. Something changed. He didnt have the zip on the ball like he did in college and def wasnt as accurate. Sometimes these kids run into this money and literally drop the ball (right out of their hands, like he did in that Titans game). I hope he turns it around, but if not, we better be QB shopping with our 1st pick next year.
May 4th, 2022 at 11:23 am
Kids got mad cuts and vision. Would have blown up behind a better line.
May 4th, 2022 at 11:29 am
The QB situation has become a subthread.
MadMax, along with the previous observations from Bruce you have given me another way of looking at the situation at QB for next year. Surely, by then we will have seen TB retire and the staff will have had one more year to see how Trask has or has not progressed.
Next year’s draft is expected to produce much better QB prospects than the one we just completes. The situation may require us to bundle some “draft capital” and trade up for our next field general.
I hope that is not the case as I think we will need to find Lavonte David’s replacement I am sad to say. I also am sure we will be searching for a better replacement of Suh as well. I did like the Logan Hall pick but we all know the obvious.
May 4th, 2022 at 12:25 pm
With White we are going to get a running style Buc fan’s generally may be unfamiliar with. I have heard more than one comment comparing him to Eric Dickerson. His upright glide was a thing of beauty for old school football fans.
No, I do not expect White to become a Hall of Fame player. Sheesh!
May 4th, 2022 at 12:30 pm
Anybody crying about White don’t know anything about him. Go watch his Washington and USC games. He was excellent. Two years ago, the Bucs took Vaughn. Earlier in the draft, the Redskins picked up Antonio Gibson… that was the RB that the Bucs coveted. A converted WR with size and speed that had soft hands and could run routes. They settled for Vaughn. White is the closest thing in this draft to Gibson. He runs good routes, has excellent hands, and as a runner, has nifty feet, always falls forward, and seldom goes down from the first tackler. His pass protection needs lots and lots of work. He blocks way too high and doesn’t always square up to his defender. He also has trouble locating free rushers. Other than that, he is the perfect RB for the Bucs. Great pickup here.
May 4th, 2022 at 12:30 pm
“we just complete” #$% fingers and eyes!
May 4th, 2022 at 12:32 pm
Still can’t spit type out! +*@*^#$ … “we just completed.”
May 4th, 2022 at 12:41 pm
If anyone cares. At my age I can’t have even two cups of black coffee in the morning and get away with it. I am even older than the Sage by the way.
I’ll shut up for a while.
Go Bucs!
May 4th, 2022 at 12:56 pm
These last two drafts make Licht look like a clown. Came away from 2021 draft with maybe 1 starter and this draft it might be the same.
Ignored CB and WR both areas where depth hurt us in 2021.
May 4th, 2022 at 1:24 pm
Given that our new punter has more control over his punts than Punt God I predict that he’ll set a franchise record for the percentage of his punts that pin the opposing teams inside the 10-yard line.
I say the percentage of his punts rather than the number of punts as I don’t expect him to be punting very often this season.
With regards to Rachaad White, we’ll have a better idea by February of 2023 as to whether picking him in the 3rd round was smart or not. I say that Prisco will be eating crow by Christmas this year.
May 4th, 2022 at 1:28 pm
This is the year the Trask pick could really hurt the team. Conceivably, you’d have a second round picks, whatever the position, that would be making a jump from year one to two. Most coaches say that’s when you see the biggest jump. The Trask pick was boarder line negligence, for a team in win now mode.
May 4th, 2022 at 1:55 pm
White highlights show off his moves and cut back ability. Having an ex-WR at RB is great for Tom Brady, for one thing the trust will be there as White has good hands. He’ll be in the right spot and he is a bigger target than Jones, Bernard or Vaughn are.
He will help this offense in short yardage situations and in goal line. I think if the Bucs do some stretch plays his vision is better than Lenny’s or Jones’, he could be able to thrive with Mason and Wirfs and one of the new tight ends pulling to the right and him cutting back. It will be interesting to see how he fits in.
May 4th, 2022 at 2:05 pm
@Jimbo, is it grunt style…grounds mixed in? I know….and i crunch on them.
May 4th, 2022 at 2:06 pm
@Its, go away…you obviously dont have a clue!
May 4th, 2022 at 5:02 pm
THOMAS PFALZ Says:
May 4th, 2022 at 10:09 am
First off picking a RB in the 3rd. round was to high. Had other more important needs. I would have waited till around the 5th.
You have said this multiple times so who is the cornerback that you would have picked in the 3rd round and who is running back you would have picked in the 5th, 6th or 7th?
May 4th, 2022 at 9:03 pm
GOB you may be right that this year the Trask pick hurts us, and next year could be the year the Trask pick pays off. One will never know till the kid sees the field.
May 4th, 2022 at 9:03 pm
Just because White is a Buc doesn’t give him a free pass. Same with Trask or anyone else. They have to prove themselves and in many cases do much better than their college tape shows (and we’ve watched many hours of them, and pored over all of the scouting). No, that does not mean we on the outside know more than the Bucs scouting. We just disagree. As Prisco does, too.
There were better better options at that spot, a legit point.
White’s upright running style is nothing new. Upright backs are generally stiffer, have less wiggle and lateral quickness, and go down easier. Lenny does it. Any former Pats fans in here remember Laurence Maroney? DeMarco Murray, another. Yes, Eric Dickerson and Marcus Allen,but they were exceptional and had other qualities to go with it. White’s other habit is going east-west and being taken down, instead of going right through.
Let’s see him improve. I hope he does.
May 4th, 2022 at 9:57 pm
Jaelon Darden says hi.
May 5th, 2022 at 9:51 am
Goedeke was a major reach-Goedeke was projected 3rd or 4th round by everyone , Goedeke is not a TRUE guard which is what was available in ALL SEC G Ed Ingram of LSU taken 2 picks later and Ingram has a mean streak about a mile long. Let’s see – pick an ALL SEC TRUE Guard or a ALL MAC tackle???????? Draft was a C- at best , passing on the best LB in the draft in Devin Lloyd and having LVD replacement starting on Day 1 is a complete lack of vision and value. Drafting any player that kicks a ball for a living is a waste- pure and simple , but it is not like Licht does not have a history of wasting picks on kickers. Love my Bucs , but not this draft.
May 5th, 2022 at 11:08 am
BFS1976 You hit it on the head