Quincy Black An “Up-And-Comer”
June 13th, 2011
Given plenty of free time thanks to this asinine lockout, Matt Williamson of Scouts, Inc. is doing quite a bit of research, specifically on the NFC South of late.
In ranking the most underrated players in the NFC South, Williamson chose a Bucs linebacker. No, not Barrett Ruud. Rather, Williamson thinks the most overlooked player on the Bucs roster is Quincy Black, who Williamson raves about.
Quincy Black, linebacker: Black is up for free agency, as is MLB Barrett Ruud, so the Bucs used a third-round pick on Mason Foster. Foster could conceivably play any of the three linebacker spots in Tampa Bay’s defense, but I see his best fit in the middle. I think the Buccaneers agree with me and will do everything possible to keep Black, even though he isn’t as well known as Ruud. That would be the wise move, because Black is an up-and-comer who has exceptional range and playmaking skills. He does everything well and never should come off the field. Black is the perfect fit in this defense and could be poised to excel behind Tampa’s young and ultra-talented defensive line. If there is a choice to be made between Black and Ruud, the answer is a very simple one: Black.
Maybe Joe falls in the category of the Barrett Ruud haters. Joe really hasn’t seen Black do anything that would make Joe believe the Bucs will break the bank for him. Largely, in Joe’s eyes, Black more often than not is invisible.
From what Joe has learned from astute football minds, Ruud is the most valuable linebacker the Bucs currently have. But Joe’s a consistency kinda guy. So of course Joe would hope Black returns.
More importantly, Joe hopes Black returns and becomes more of a force.
June 13th, 2011 at 3:54 pm
Matt Williamson, you must have pulled from a hat on that choice. Lady Gaga could hold down the left side better, yeah she’s got nuts!
June 13th, 2011 at 5:24 pm
Chris FWC:)- lmao. Quincy is a strange case? He was absolutely useless less year. Strangely , both he and Hayes showed Promise the year before! It’s like they made a pact – not to get hurt last year. I swear they both looked like they were playing scared!
Yeah, if you watched any games at all last year, this writer has lost credibility. Every intelligent/ knowledgeable source you read says our LBs were a train wreck. Even the ones that liked Ruud said the LB play was horrible. Walterfootball said the only reason our draft class wasn’t an A+ was because we had to get 2 OLBs, and only got One.
Maybe Quincy can bounce back. But he played so bad last year, ya really don’t wanna risk giving join a chance. And that’s pretty Bad
June 13th, 2011 at 5:50 pm
I think he played better than both you think, not great by any stretch. I think he may be out of position though, would love to see him at middle.
June 13th, 2011 at 5:52 pm
between ruud and black of course black will be cheaper to keep he surely cant be expecting alot of money… and if black and hayes were both trying not to get hurt last year I guess black even failed in that being that he broke his arm
June 13th, 2011 at 7:10 pm
all great defenses have at least one great linebacker and as far as i can tell we dont have one of those right now. granted, the d-line hasnt been great so it makes it a little tougher on them, but i still dont see that player in our group.
June 13th, 2011 at 7:16 pm
if you rewatch the bucs game’s from last year, black was not a liability in the run or passing game, just because he did not rush the passer good doesn’t mean he was bad, it was his first year rushing the passer, but he is also not underrated, brent grime is underated.
June 13th, 2011 at 8:59 pm
Black should stay. Chris and Capt are wrong.
I also would not put Ruud above Black.
Aside from the fact the Black can play outside LB or DE in a pinch, he was in on a lot more than people realize.
He only played in 11 games last year, so that’s why some think he was invisible. He plays strong against division rivals…and as far as QB Pressure, he was held back last year trying to help the Defensive Line stop the run.
Things will be different for him this year if he stays. And if he goes, if that team has a good line, he’ll make us wish he’d stayed.
HOWEVER, he isn’t “there” yet, so I wouldn’t spend too much on him. 2 mill maybe.
June 13th, 2011 at 10:47 pm
Why is this guy writing for Yasinskas column? Not that I care for Yasinskas at all. I just wondered why, if they were gonna have a person fill in for him, they had to pick another guy who doesn’t watch Bucs games. Williamson and Yasinskas are practically the same guy.
June 13th, 2011 at 11:32 pm
I’m not Ruud’s biggest fan, but he’s okay, and as long as he’s a Buc I’ll cheer for him. I don’t think that will be happening anymore though. If Ruud leaves, I hope to see him go to ATL or Carolgina, somewhere that the Bucs can run it down his throat.
I am a Black fan, because once you go black, you never go back. Quincy is a freak, a physical specimen, and if he can learn to play up to his physical prowess, he could be one of the best backers in the game. From watching him though, it doesn’t seem like he has enough upstairs to be great. Just and observation, but this was only his second real season on the field which part of it was injured. I think the jury is still out on Quincy but I hope he sticks around and has a breakout year. Hayes, it’s really hard to say about him. He has good days and bad days. Still, the NFL is so unpredictable. Brian Urlacher was one of the best, then he just went to hell in a hand basket for a while, but then bounced back last year, so who knows. I feel that Hayward is better than all of them, stronger and faster. I want to see more of Watson and McKenzie too, and hopefully with a beefed up D line, the LB’s should all improve. Whatever happens, I think these guys are all better than they are given credit for and I’m totally stoked about this season. I really believe they have the talent to go all the way. Ronde said it best, they were only a handful of plays from having 13 wins and taking the Division. This year should be better.
June 14th, 2011 at 12:11 am
Mauha Deeb:
LOL!
June 14th, 2011 at 12:26 am
Pete- geez dude, been a long time since you’ve been on the right side of an argument. Black was invisible last year, because he didn’t produce. Did you forget that Raheem sit him up to be our ” disruptive, freak athlete in the edge”.? Steve White thought that Blavk was featured so much, that it hurt McCoys development as a rusher.
And Quincy – being placed in the premium rush posistion – produced nothing. . Zip . . Zilch. As lame as your Aqib excuses.
I’m not sure Black can’t rebound, as I said. But we better have someone to supplant him if he plays like last year. The Bucs did nothing to keep him, so he may be done here anyway.
When you run a 3 man front, and designate a guy as your Rush LB, oddly he needs to rush the QB. For all his atheletism, Black couldn’t beat a blocker- ANY blocker!! As I’ve said for months, any Fullback, RB, or TE that hit Black, – owned him. Any blocker, and he was done. And we would slide McCoy to DE to give Black his chance- which IMO hurt McCoy early on. By game7, we slowed the failed Quincy experiment down. Black was only a 2 down LB, just the run downs. Where he sadly also did not deliver on the promise his talent makes. Nothing outta this guy.He’s young, but I don’t think he’s our answer
June 14th, 2011 at 2:42 am
Soo…ideally we should look for Clay Matthews on the outside, and Urlacher in the middle? We can’t have super stars at every position. You guys are just going to complain until we find someone to play like Derrick Brooks, and a middle like the current Urlacher or former Nickerson. At the same time, on the same downs. Give him a chance, he’s made plays, could be there more, but he’s young like aforementioned and could be a reliable player in a few years. But then again, we’re never happy with just reliable. Maybe he’ll be a solid backup/rotation guy once we draft the next good set of backers (Foster is only 1 piece, and that’s a maybe.)
June 14th, 2011 at 7:59 am
Oh my god, I can’t wait for the season to start so we can stop talking about crap like this.
June 14th, 2011 at 8:53 am
Truth,
Actually we do need a Clay Mathews type to lead this team. We don’t need 3 , but we really need one superstar in the LB corp to step up. Whether through free agency or someone currently on the roster. The Buccaneers sucess has always been when we’ve had a pro bowler patrolling the middle of the field.
June 14th, 2011 at 9:13 am
I like Black and thought he would have a breakout year last year… he did not, obviously. He has all the potential, but time is running out.
I hope he stays because if nothing else it provides very good depth.
If they are able to sign Ruud to a 1 year deal, then Ruud, Foster, and Watson end up being starters.
If Ruud goes, I would like to see McKenzie, Watson and Foster be the starters with Hayes, Hayward, and Black as backups.
Anyway you look at it, Foster and Watson bring a nastiness that has been missing and overall the LB depth has been greatly upgraded.
June 15th, 2011 at 1:35 am
Dave- nice post. Spot on! Except I don’t think our depth has been upgraded enough. Still need a great Wil LB. Don’t think Hayes is that guy. He’s still young, so maybe. But he didn’t seem to want the job last year