The Cursed Class Of 2007
November 16th, 2010
Joe was reading an article by noted Tampa Tribune columnist Martin Fennelly who typed a touching story about how the Bucs are heartbroken over the declining, troubling health of former Bucs lineman Arron Sears.
Sears was arrested Saturday on an outstanding felony warrant for roughing up a cop. He was found “confused” and wandering the streets of Tampa.
The latest episode of Sears and his troubled mental state is hardly news. It’s why he’s not in the NFL much less playing for the Bucs. But what caught Joe’s eye reading Fennelly’s piece was how cursed the Bucs draft class of 2007 has become.
First round: Gaines Adams, dead.
Second round: Arron Sears, unable to play.
Second round: Sabby, back-up and special teams player.
Third round: Quincy Black, starting but with mixed results.
Fourth round: Tanard Jackson, gifted but has pretty much smoked his way out of the league.
Fifth round: Greg Peterson, out of work.
Sixth round: Adam Hayward, backup.
Seventh round: Chris Denman, out of work.
Seventh round: Marcus Hamilton, out of work.
Seventh round: Kenneth Darby, playing for the Rams.
Man, that’s just sad. Fennelly was absolutely correct. What a star-crossed draft class. Man.
November 16th, 2010 at 11:09 am
Thanks Bruce Allen…
November 16th, 2010 at 11:21 am
and now Bruce is running the redskins into the ground with signing Mcnabb to a huge contact. THANK GOD HES NOT HERE ANYMORE
November 16th, 2010 at 11:26 am
LOL After McNabb was benched for… REX GROSSMAN!!!
November 16th, 2010 at 11:31 am
Quincy Black has not lived up to the hype. there were at one time people saying he was great, he is to me not even good. He barley gets to the Qb and way belwo avarage against the run
November 16th, 2010 at 11:43 am
I agree that we need at least one new starting linebacker next season, if not two or three, but I don’t think we can tag all the blame on Bruce.
The value that Tanard gave us as a 4th round pick was worth it, and I think all of you would draft him again in that spot if given the opportunity. That being said, I don’t think his career is completely over just yet.
Sears’ situation is just a heartbreaker.
Sure, Sabby and Gaines were bad picks, but all drafts have busts. This was a below average draft, but it wasn’t a HORRIBLE one for Bruce. It’s simply a case of bad luck and sad circumstances all around.
November 16th, 2010 at 11:48 am
“tj”, what games do you watch? Quincy Black is our best LB against the run. Tell me I am wrong.
Quincy Black is not getting the be(a)st out of that physical frame and freakish athletic abilities he has, but unlike Geno, he plays smart against the run and is hands down the best tackler of our corps.
I suggest you all here buy NFL rewind or record our games and rewatch, GENO HAYES is the LB we need to replace. Outside of a splash play or two, he often hurts us with piss poor tackling.
November 16th, 2010 at 11:58 am
I think Geno Hayes is the best linebacker. the Cardinals game to me stands out he gets a sack ,forced a INT, Int for a TD. If you can name a play besides the Panthers sack that Quincy black has had. Black still has never had a game like that . Black does not impress me at all espically when he is rushing the QB. Also in the Cardinls game they ran the ball right at Black. I agree with anyone that says we can have them all replaced but I think they will kepp Hayes, but something has to change Guys from practice squads are having there way running agianst us
November 16th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Replace Ruud and leave Black and Hayes. With a real MLB they will flourish.
November 16th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
That is why I say you need to watch games more carefully “tj”, Geno Hayes is just good for a spectacular play here and there. But he certainly is bad for several missed tackles and blown assignments every game. I pretty much get a heart attack every time there is a run to his side, the guy over pursues so often.
November 16th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
what if black is moved to MLB, and pick a OLB???
November 16th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Johhny you aint answering the ? name some splash plays for Black? geno Hayes and Talib the Cardinals game had the defesive plays of the game black has never had a game like that. I wnet to the Bengals game and remember Hayes blasting a leaping Lenoard to stop a 3rd down. I have watched every game . None of them are all that good but Hayes is better than them all. I mean Black rushes the Qb almost every third down he has 2 carrer sacks come on. Geno hayes this year 8 TFl . Black 3 TFl. last year Hayes 12 TFL 3 sacks. Black last year 1 sack. Stats dont lie
November 16th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
You are comparing stats for two different positions. That is like comparing DE numbers to DT numbers…I do not completely disagree with you, but they are two different positions. One would think Black would have a few more sacks. How long is he out for anyway?
November 16th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
We will know tommorowhow long black is out for. I kinda like Watson. McBuc I agree with you but my point is Hayes at least he can say Hayes changed the diffrence in one game. That Cardinals game he was on fire like I said Pick 6 sack forced Int that he gave a guy a concusion.
November 16th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
I hear ya TJ, I think Watson is going to be one answer. I just wish whatever Morris says to them at the half he would start saying before the game starts. I love the 6 – 3 though.
November 16th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
agree 100 % Mcbuc he needs to give them the best slef speech before the game and I like Watson alot
November 16th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Are you nuts? I think that was Gruden/Allens BEST draft. The rest really sucked!
November 16th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
To assist in the Black vs. Hayes debate… here’s what Steve White said in his “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” report today.
“- Geno Hayes: A tackle for loss, 6 other tackles and 2 assists, and a pressure made for a very good day from Hayes. But the real reason he’s on the list is because it appears from the TV copy that he was the person primarily responsible for stopping the Panthers on the two quarterback sneaks at the end of the game.”
That was this week’s game. A quiet game for Geno, no splash plays, nothing to make it seem like he’s the “next Derrick Brooks”. Just a quiet, productive game from Geno. Combine games like that with his “splash” games like against Arizona, and he’s definitely the better LB.
I think Dekoda Watson is playing about as well as Quincy at this point, but it’s too early to tell. I think Quincy would do better if we had two DEs to help McCoy and Price in the middle, instead of relying on Black to rush the passer. Black can stop the run, he can drop into coverage, and occasionally he can blitz. But he can’t beat a LT in the NFL.
If they can make the switch of Black to MLB, use Watson and Hayes at OLB and draft a couple top DEs to go with McCoy/Price/Woods inside, I think you might see a pretty good front 7. If Black can’t make the conversion, we may need to get a DE in FA, so we can get a MLB higher in the draft.
November 16th, 2010 at 5:51 pm
I agree with each of you that feel Black and Hayes have been brutally disappointing! Both play thevrun as if they were made of glass. Thank you, Allen/Gruden. You canabalized the talent on this team like Locust! Thanks, and good luck to the Redskins/Cowboys. You guys all deserve each other- no, REALLY! Lmao. Oh, and your “franchise O-line” isn’t working out so hot either! Smucks!
November 16th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
Interesting stats Bambam. According to “The Sporting News” NFL report , Hayes had -1 tackle. Just one is all they list. = ?
November 16th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
Just brought that over from Steve’s Blog. I don’t think he goes by The Sporting News or any other source. I would figure he calculates the stats based on what he sees watching the game to get his analysis on the D-line, but that’s just a guess. I’ll be watching the game for a second time either today or tomorrow, so I’ll keep an eye out.
November 16th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Ok, just watched the game over again. Actually, it wasn’t a bad game by any of the LBs (of course, Black didn’t play).
Ruud got through twice on blitzes and had a sack. He didn’t appear to miss any tackles and was in on plays most downs.
Hayes, if he didn’t get the stats in Steve White’s blog, should have. He had at least a couple tackles and a bunch of assists. He was in there a LOT. He was also around a lot in coverage, making hits just when receivers were ready to make a catch. Again, unspectacular, but solid. The only area I saw him lack was on the blitz, and he was the ONLY LB that struggled in that area.
Watson and Hayward. Both players really looked pretty good. Hayward got in a few times on run blitzes, at least one tackle for loss, redirected the RB into tackles and overall had a pretty good game. Watson was the main LB rushing in the 3 man fronts and was relentless. He got pressure a couple times, was solid tackling, and even dropped into coverage and did fine.
I don’t know what this says about the LBs, good or bad. Just that they really didn’t look all that bad last weekend. It does look like Hayward, Watson and Ruud are all better blitzing and rushing the passer than Black or Hayes.
On a side note…. the perfect use of Caddy in that game. He ran one draw and one screen in the first half, both successful (7 and 15 yards), and one of each again in the second half, again both successful. If they want to destroy opposing blitzes, they need to keep dialing these two plays up for Caddy, he’s not just a blocker (although he’s really good at that).
November 17th, 2010 at 12:25 am
One starter out of this group is pretty bad. I don’t see T. Jackson being brought back. I think he blew his last chance here. But I am sure some team will take a chance on him. I wish you would stop with the roughing up the cop line. That sounds a lot worse than what actually happened. There are so many words that could be used other than that to paint a more accurate picture.
November 17th, 2010 at 12:58 am
Eric S
Click on the link, read the police report and tell Joe how you would word it? Sears wasn’t exactly playing rock, paper, scissors with the cop and it was a lot more than a thumbfight.
November 17th, 2010 at 1:38 am
When I see “roughed up”, I think the guy beat the cop to a bloody pulp. He pushed the cop and nurse. Yes he probably pushed with a lot of force, but I still think it is different than punching these individuals. I would use tussle. More apt description.