Da’Quan Bowers = Reggie White
August 4th, 2011
Finally. Finally! Joe has figured out who defensive line coach Keith Millard reminds him of. It’s Jesse “The Body” Ventura.
The man’s coachspeak sounds like Ventura talking to Mean Gene Okerlund circa 1985 on WOR-TV. Ahhh, Joe longs for his teen years. The invigorating, inspiring voice resurrecting the Bucs’ D-line sat down for an interview Thursday with the Ron and Ian Show on WDAE-AM 620 and rapid-fired takes on his students.
So what does Millard, a former All-Pro manbeast of defensive tackle himself, think of Da’Quan Bowers?
“Oh, man. He’s a brute. You remember Reggie [White]. That’s what I think of when I think of him. Big strong 285-pound guy, 16 [percent] body fat. Unbelievable explosion out of his stance,” Millard said. “When he gets in his stance we call him hidden dragon crouching tiger. I mean he is down there low. Just got to clean up his technique and his lines a little bit, how he’s gettin’ off and staying on his lines. You know, getting him to use a little more footwork.
“He likes to go right down the middle of people. He likes to blow people up. You gotta have a little bit of changeup in there. You know what I’m talking about Ian. But he’s coming along great. We’re trying to get him healthy at the same time, you know, so we’re a little bit slower on bringing him along as far as the technique and things of that nature.
“We’re making sure he’s assignment sound. But we don’t want to push hin too much and not be able to have him for the season. We want him for the season.”
Reggie White? That’s the highest of high comparisons. Of course, Joe knows Bowers has yet to play a down, but Joe got fired up hearing Millard spit that out as only he can.
A little scary that Millard doesn’t consider Bowers healthy, but we’ll all know the truth soon enough. Nonetheless, Joe’s excited to see the guy who is a massive X factor for the Bucs this season.
For those unfamiliar with Jesse Ventura, also a former Bucs radio man, here’s a clip below:
August 4th, 2011 at 8:37 pm
I hope Bowers is 3/4 of Reggie White. He would be an absolute stud.
Jesse on the other hand…. Oh boy. “Is it coincidence? Or is it….. Conspiracy Theory”
August 4th, 2011 at 8:50 pm
I’ve said before that Bowers most reminds me of White. But even pre-injury he didn’t quite have Reggie’s pure speed or quite the brute force. But body-wise, playing style, athletically, he does remind one of Reggie White. White was about 2 inches taller and probably a good deal faster (Reggie was reported to run 4.6 at 285 while Bowers, even when fully healthy was estimated to run 4.75).
If he can get/keep his knees healthy, he will be a very good player for us. Of course the other player that Bowers reminds me of is Andre Wadsworth… who had a ton of promise but had his career wreecked by bad knees.
August 4th, 2011 at 8:50 pm
Bowers will be a beast…
Joe/Anyone else. Any chance we look into getting Mays from the 49ers? The mailbombed the league saying he is on the trade block….thoughts?
August 4th, 2011 at 8:52 pm
I hope Bowers has a “Ndmakong Suh” type rookie campaign.
I am excited about Clayborn too. They say he is a natural born killer.
August 4th, 2011 at 9:13 pm
With Josh’s development all we need this D-line do is post middle of the road sack and run defense number to be a contender. If any of our D linemen become anything Reggie White esk we will be looking at a dynasty.
August 4th, 2011 at 9:32 pm
went to training camp yesterday and was a little surprised to see that clayborn is bigger than bowers. figured they would be pretty much exactly the same but it seemed like clayborn dwarfed bowers. not that bowers is small but clay is a BIG dude.
August 4th, 2011 at 10:17 pm
Price Is going to play this year too! He is going to be a disruption.
August 4th, 2011 at 10:17 pm
@ Joe,
What year was Jessy Ventura was a Buccaneer Radio man? Navy Seal, Governor, now TV show host. But I don’t remember him as a Radio man for us, Would love to hear some of that!!!
August 4th, 2011 at 10:27 pm
@Rusty: It was 89 or 90, and it was awesome (I thought so anyway- I was just a kid).
August 4th, 2011 at 10:27 pm
On there with Deckerhoff. How in **** do you beat that??
August 4th, 2011 at 10:28 pm
i pray that Bowers is healthy all of his career, Reggie is the best DE ever! if Bowers can use that “log (as he calls it) on his shoulders” in the right way he could go down as one of the best! BUC IT IM OUT!!!!!!!
August 4th, 2011 at 10:34 pm
I remember Jessie being the color guy fir the bucs radio…back then we has to listen to th radio…He was awesome!
August 4th, 2011 at 10:39 pm
OK, from that last post you can tel I have been out drinking…But you know what I meant..
August 4th, 2011 at 11:00 pm
@ McBuc
its cool, we have alota reasons to drink & be happy, were Bucs fans!!! BUC IT IM OUT!!!
August 4th, 2011 at 11:12 pm
NJBucFan:
Why on earth would you want this guy? Big contract and he’s a stiff. The Bucs have better backups in the secondary at far less salary. Rotten teams don’t try unload decent players.
August 4th, 2011 at 11:14 pm
RustyRhino:
Long time ago, with Al Keck.
August 4th, 2011 at 11:24 pm
I always like Bruce Smith from Buffalo. I haven’t seen any practices, too busy but I want to go Saturday night. I was pleasantly surprised to hear Old School say that Kyle Moore looked very good in pads. That would be really awesome. This is the second time I’ve heard someone say how big Clayborn is, and I heard GMC looks more fit as well. Sounds as if things are shaping up.
August 5th, 2011 at 1:17 am
Joe!
i must say im a little thrown off by the lack of picture to acocmpany the article under the header (i kept reloading thinking my browser forgot it or something) hahaha
great article
August 5th, 2011 at 1:32 am
@Dan there is a picture of Bowers under the header. Must be something with your flash settings….. if that is what Joe uses.
August 5th, 2011 at 1:52 am
Im really fired up about Bowers. I figure he’s kind of a freebie from the draft. If he works out great, if he doesn’t it was still worth taking a shot.
Our d-line has the potential to be better than the Sapp/Rice combo. We have really talented guys at all 4 positions. They could be scary for a very long time but for now its only potential.
August 5th, 2011 at 2:22 am
Even though Bowers was a risky pick, I’m very excited about him as well. He was the most talented DE in the draft and if his health turns out to be good, then we just got a steal. Could be just like LeGarrette Blount and Mike Williams. They were top talents or near-top talents but fell due to various reasons. And look how they performed last year. Could very easily be the same with Bowers.
August 5th, 2011 at 5:55 am
Don’t mean to be a pessimist here but…shouldnt we wait on making these kind of comments/comparisons AFTER Bowers and Clayborn perform in at least ONE football game…if not a 16+ game season?
August 5th, 2011 at 6:53 am
@Joe
Taylor Mays’ contract doesn’t hit over $500k until 2013. He’s young and is a big hitter. Coach Raheem can teach the coverage aspect. Why not take a chance with a 6th or 7th round pick? You never know with T-Jax…he’s one bong hit from being out of the league.
August 5th, 2011 at 7:29 am
Anyone think Taylor Mays could be turned into a Linebacker? Remember he is 6-3 and 230 lbs. I would love to see him play weakside with Geno and watch him fly around and smash some people.
August 5th, 2011 at 7:47 am
Did Taylor Mays suddenly become a available? I thought he was under contract and would it not take a fairly high pick via trade for him. I don’t know, just asking because this is the first I have heard mention of him. Interesting concept though.
August 5th, 2011 at 7:58 am
I called Mays the bust in waiting during that draft and it has came true. If a bad team like the 49ers are begging to dump you, and it definitely is not because of your low salary, you just suck! He has no hips for playing at this level. Yes he will hit if the play is directly in front of him, but if he has to flip his hips to get to position you can forget about him getting there. Please drop the thought of this bust coming here. I agree that our backups can outplay him.