Schiano Said To “Want” His Receiver
February 27th, 2012
Joe’s sitting about 1,000 miles from the NFL Scouting Combine, but Joe can barely breathe with all the smokescreens being puffed out there.
The latest involving the Bucs, courtesy of popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, beer-chugging Peter King of Sports Illustrated, is that Greg Schiano wants to draft Muhammed Sanu, the Rutgers wideout who caught a million balls last year (115 to be exact) and just ran a lousy 40-yard dash at the combine (4.67 seconds) this morning.
The receiver order: Looks like Justin Blackmon and Michael Floyd of Notre Dame will be the only wideouts in round one, unless Hill sneaks in there. Reuben Randle of LSU and Rutgers’ Mohamed Sanu (the Bucs and new coach Greg Schiano want him) could go 4-5 unless Baylor’s Kendall Wright overcomes a lousy combine.
As draft guru and USF Football pregame and postgame host Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski points out on CommishOnline.com, Sanu had third-rate quarterbacks tossing him the ball, which makes the 115 catches super impressive.
But Joe’s not seeing how the Bucs draft a receiver in the first three rounds. The Bucs don’t need another young pair of hands with limited potential.
February 27th, 2012 at 2:53 pm
Somebody timed Sanu at 4.67… I timed him in the 4.8’s and thought something was wrong with my watch… I timed him again, and he got 4.75… nobody in today’s NFL runs a 4.75 at the WR position and makes plays.
February 27th, 2012 at 2:59 pm
If he’s there in the third round he might be worth a look. Heck, maybe we get lucky and grab him in the 4th due to his lack of speed at the combine.
Speed kills, and the Bucs badly need a burner, but I don’t think it’s fully fair to judge a guy on his speed running in a straight line while being clocked. It helps to gauge a guy’s skill set to a certain point, but you can go back and look at the GOAT WR in Jerry Rice and his combine numbers were average. Some guys turn it on when it’s game time, and if enough teams fell that way about Sanu, he might not make it past round 2.
February 27th, 2012 at 3:00 pm
Sanu is a big possession receiver. The exact sort of receivers we already have. This would be a terrible pick.
February 27th, 2012 at 3:01 pm
We don’t have a 4th round pick. We gave it up for Stocker.
February 27th, 2012 at 3:03 pm
Sanu is slow and can’t separate. I think we have about 5 WRs that fit that mold already.
February 27th, 2012 at 3:14 pm
this would be a bad pick, the vids i did see he looked slow. I think we need to look at the ark and miami wrs in the 3rd, if they are there.
February 27th, 2012 at 3:30 pm
Stay away from Sanu. The Bucs are full of slow receivers they don’t need anymore. If the Glazers weren’t so cheap in the past. They could make a run at Garcon or the like. That is what they need.
February 27th, 2012 at 3:37 pm
I watched him run the 40, and he looked slow…it looked like his feet were weighted down….kind of a weird running style. Andrew luck ran faster that him.
February 27th, 2012 at 3:52 pm
Kendall Wright was supposed to be a burner/big play threat, but dang, 4.61??? Very surprising.
Joe I wouldn’t say we don’t need to draft a WR, bc any and every position is just about open for competition. We have so many holes on this team, that as long as we don’t draft a kicker, punter or QB in the 1st round, it’s impossible to get this whole draft wrong.
February 27th, 2012 at 3:56 pm
Could be coach told him to tank the 40 so we can get him in later rounds….
February 27th, 2012 at 3:59 pm
Sanu = peeyuw
Good grief
February 27th, 2012 at 3:59 pm
I think for what ever reason Kendall Wright was hiding his true speed. You could even see he wasn’t giving it his all on the 40…
I have no idea exactly why he would sabotage himself. Unless he has an eye for what team he wants to play for and knows the only way to get there is to move DOWN the draft order?
February 27th, 2012 at 4:02 pm
Kuechly ran a freaking 4.50 if morris isnt at 5 do we take luke there?
February 27th, 2012 at 4:03 pm
Bucs wont get a WR in the draft cuz they plan to overpay Mario Manningham soon and pretend he’s an elite receiver. Damn i love the bucs
February 27th, 2012 at 4:07 pm
Wow Vontaze Burfict might go undrafted. He just ran a 4.93 and a 5.10 in the 40, and that’s after completely blowing his interviews.
February 27th, 2012 at 4:14 pm
Stephen Hill, WR, caught my attention at 6-4,215 and 4.36/40. Caught the ball well. Maybe we develop our own Randy Moss or Vincent Jackson. Worth a look?
February 27th, 2012 at 4:18 pm
No speed = no need.
No thanks to Sanu. We don’t need a slow possesion WR.
EVERYONE, even my 10 yr old, knows we need speed at WR. Anything suggesting otherwise is an obvious smokescreen. If not, we’re in trouble.
February 27th, 2012 at 4:26 pm
I would love Stephen Hill, the dude is an absolute freak. Before the combine he was being looked at as a 3rd/4th round selection, but now King is saying he could sneak into the first. For that matter I would love if we snatched him with our second round pick, especially if we sign some linebackers in F.A. Who cares if the guy can’t run the route tree at this point, there is only one route we need him to run right now and thats a Go route.
February 27th, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Stephen Hill has great height and speed.
February 27th, 2012 at 4:35 pm
Meachum in free agency would be nice.
February 27th, 2012 at 4:42 pm
Kuechly or Claiborne. Either one works for me.
February 27th, 2012 at 4:54 pm
I love that people think the combine has anything to do with being a good player.
February 27th, 2012 at 4:56 pm
We have a posession WR
February 27th, 2012 at 5:26 pm
I made it a point to watch Sanu during the combine given the fact that he comes from the school where our current head coach just came from.
Watching him during the on field drills…MAN….that kid has some great hands, awesome ball skills and great footwork during his route running. The whole time I watched him, all I could think was, “why couldn’t this kid run a sub 4.5 40. It was very hard not to like this kid, but, as stated before, we have way too many possession receivers on our team already and it kind of makes me feel like he will be just another. I haven’t watched any games or highlight of Rutgers to see if he might have game speed but not combine speed, but the 4.67 definitely left something to be desired.
I would love to get a guy like Stephen Hill in the 2nd or 3rd round, but with him being 6’4” and running a 4.36 I HIGHLY doubt that he makes it out of the 1st round. Seems like GATech is turning into the breeding ground for big, athletic WR’s that can fly AND block.
February 27th, 2012 at 5:28 pm
dude Kuechly at 5 thts crazy he is nt a Willis Lewis Urlacher type
February 27th, 2012 at 5:35 pm
Mike Williams, Dez Briscoe, Parker, ….aren’t these all kind of Sanu clones? I’m on board with Stephen Hill in the 2nd if we could land him because I think he has huge upside but Sanu would be a wasted pick unless we got him in the 7th or something. We still have Ed Gant too. We need one thing at receiver…a deep threat.
February 27th, 2012 at 5:47 pm
@deminion
Based on what criteria? I’d love to hear this explanation.
February 27th, 2012 at 6:35 pm
@Josh
While I’ll agree with you mostly, there are three parts that matter where WRs are concerned:
Speed
Jump
Interviews
As for Sanu, he might be a 6th round pick at best. If he goes undrafted we can expect him in camp. Otherwise King is full of crap casual.
February 27th, 2012 at 6:43 pm
he very well could become a very good player but if he’s drafted before the 3rd or 4th round by anyone it would be surprising
February 27th, 2012 at 6:52 pm
Sanu had a bad 40 time but definately won’t go undrafted. If he’s there in the 5th I wouldnt mine taking him. Although it was the big east, the guy made a lot of plays on Saturday’s.
February 27th, 2012 at 6:58 pm
Jason Jones of the Titans is planning to test free agency. He played DE last year, but DT the previous three years. He would make good competition in the middle of the Defensive Line.
In those three years he had 12 sacks, but he is only 25. As I understand it, Sheridan wants guys that can switch up a lot. He is a pass rusher mostly.
February 27th, 2012 at 7:18 pm
He must have ate some of Arti Bucco’s manigot and steak piziola I know what happened hesch told him to run slow or he would end up like pie oh my burnt in the barn.
February 27th, 2012 at 7:30 pm
“But we’re learning from Coach Schiano, what’s the perfect corner for you? What’s the perfect safety? How do you like your linebackers to look?”
-Mark Dominick
Apparently secrecy is out the window now.
Cornerback, Safety & Linebacker.
It was really no secret that we need upgrades in those areas, but that comment sure makes it sound like we won’t be double-dipping with the first two picks.
Although I suppose it could apply to Free Agency as well.
February 27th, 2012 at 7:43 pm
From what I’ve heard. Sanu is projected low 2nd – Mid 3rdish. Plus Mayok was blowing him up yesterday while watching him do his drills. Every time he came on Mayock said he really liked what he seen from him over the year.
February 27th, 2012 at 7:52 pm
Torn on this draft.
A Cb with Claiborne’s talent is a rare find. We will not be playing a “Tampa 2” this year, and have no one cable of playing man coverage on this roster. I realize the Taliban lovers will spring to his defense- but you’ll be as wrong this year, as you were last year. He sucks.
But if someone is dying to trade up for A QB(RG3), we could get two first rounders- get Kuechley and Alphonso Dennard, that would be a big improvement in two areas.
Foster was total flop at MLB- due to his lack Of speed in coverage, and inability to call/set the defense.
We aren’t playing the same defense, so he might be ok. But I still believe he would be much better at SLB- where he played his entire college career. Kuechly will be a beast at MLB- no doubts about that
Main thing is seeing if the Bucs actually spend any money in FA. If they do, that will affect our draft strategy. But I won’t believe it til I see it. Last year, Rah said they were studying available FAs every day, during the lockout. And all Dom decided to do was sign a punter!! Don’t blame that on Rah- EVERY coach wants to sign better players.
If they don’t get new CBs, LBers, and some speed on offense, we won’t have enough picks to rebuild the back 7.
Time will tell. But we do have a few great options available.
February 27th, 2012 at 8:32 pm
Capt.
Unfortunately I can’t imagine we are going to have a ton of trade offers. Anyone who wants RGIII isn’t going to wait until the 5th pick to make a move for him. Although on the off chance it does happen I think nabbing Keuchly would be a great move- he ran a 4.5 and Mayock was saying that he is outstanding in his zone drops. The dude is also a big man and tackles everything in sight. That being said they will likely stay put and grab claiborne- which I think is the smart move.
February 27th, 2012 at 9:04 pm
Capt
You are insane if you think somehow RG!!! will be available at 5. Only chance of trading down would be if we picked top three, no way Cleveland passes on him at four.
You say “Taliban” sucks well your boy Dennard isn’t nearly as skilled but we won’t be picking in the bottom half of the first so there really is no need for me to argue this point.
Foster was hurt most of last year, many people want to jump on him and say he sucked but few actually showed up at home games at 11AM and saw Foster warming up with the trainers ALONE just to get himself ready to gut it out and play through injury. I even have proof of this because I took pics, I found it to be a sign that Foster wants to be great and stands above the mediocrity that Mediocre Mark signed to a fat contract a hem Quincy Black
February 27th, 2012 at 9:10 pm
we need dbs wegot enough offence if we can coach them up
February 27th, 2012 at 9:17 pm
Trade Freeman to Skins for their number 1, 2, 3.
Draft Claiborne and Blackmon in round 1, and fill our other needs with the two seconds and two thirds. Six picks in first three rounds.
Sign Manning or Matt Flynn.
Thrown in Vince Jackson.
Ready to roll.
February 27th, 2012 at 9:39 pm
Eric, what are you smoking?
February 27th, 2012 at 9:40 pm
@eric smoke alot huh…
February 27th, 2012 at 9:41 pm
@astro family tree has no limbs huh…
February 27th, 2012 at 10:41 pm
Freemanbomb. .
There are several mocks that have RG3 going 4 or 5. I’m sure he’s glad you are so excited about him!
I also doubt that he’s there. But until Flynn and Manning find a home, predicting the top five is a guessing game
Im glad to hear Tsliban is talented! After watching him gamble, and loaf, and give all those long TDs, I thought he sucked.so does every other anaylist ice seen. Funny, EVERYONE thinks CB is our biggest need- despite the greatness of Taliban!! You should get in the horn, and tell’ en how stupid they are, before the damn bunch of look bad.
Wonder why the Great Talib never gets a single vote from The NFL players for the ProBowl- considering his greatness and all.
And it’s hard to believe how horribly our secondary was two seasons ago, and last season, with “his greatness” patrolling the field! At least I’m glad to know you can single out how good he is, no matter how humiliated he gets in the field, or how no players think he’s worth a s^*t!
Yeah, he’s the man alright.especially liked how he quit on the team. Nothing but greatness!
February 27th, 2012 at 10:59 pm
Freemanbomb5
I agree that Foster was really trying hard in the beginning. Think dumping play calling on him, without an offseason to learn the calls, was really unfair
But in his last few games, he looked like he was loafing. But I blame that mostly on his mentors” Black and Hayes.
I still think he has potential.
Totally share your disgust with Mediocre mark, for the Quincy Black( and mark Clayton, Derrick Ward, Etc,) contract.
It was like he had never watched the guy play! What could he have been looking at??
February 27th, 2012 at 11:11 pm
Joe,
Please take your time posting the next story. There is a very pleasant picture at the top of my computer on this site.
February 27th, 2012 at 11:37 pm
Eric- funny, someone else threw out the idea of trading Freeman earlier this off season. 2 seasons ago, I’d have thought that was crazy.
After watching how far his fundamentals backslid last year, I really dont think it’s that crazy anymore.
Wouldn’t do it, but if someone offered the right deal- I’d at least listen. .
Looks like the kid is got a lot of ground to cover, just to get back to where he was
February 27th, 2012 at 11:44 pm
@Capt. Tim
I think all the rookies and 2nd year players should get a little slack over last year…especially the rookies. I mean, imagine what it must have been like for all off them throughout the league, not just on the Bucs.
Sure, there were rookies that did OKAY last year, but when you think about it, imagine how much better they would have been with the benefit of mini-camps and OTAs. It had to be especially hard for rookies starting quarterbacks and rookies middle linebackers. They had to read the opposing teams and call plays that they barely knew.
That’s why I think no one should rush to judgement on Foster at MLB. Let’s give it anothrr season where he has the opportunity to actually learn the defense and see how he does. He should never have started last year, even with Ruud gone. We would have done no worse with Hayes or Black playing the middle while Foster studied for a year.
Even Blount, who has yet to have an off season with the team. He had a (slight; not as bad as Parker) fumbling issue and just couldn’t get a handle on it. He lacked the coaching he needed to know best how to overcome it.
And an off season of catching the ball will work wonders. I remember Alstott having to add elements to his game as well.
February 27th, 2012 at 11:45 pm
Freeman will bounce back if we can get him a QB coach.
Freeman needs a “go to” guy on the line and at WR.
Freeman isn’t the problem it’s the “talent” around him.
February 28th, 2012 at 12:02 am
@SteveK
Don’t get me wrong. I really like Freeman…a lot.
But there is enough blame to go around. He never gave up last year, and that was a good sign, but at the same time he didn’t play smart. As a result, his picks went up.
Sure, the WRs, TEs & such screwed up on a regular basis, and for that they are accountable…but it doesn’t clear Freeman from his part.
If he did not share the blame, Sullivan would not be “starting over from scratch” with him.
But the good news is Josh is an overcomer and conqueror.
February 28th, 2012 at 12:07 am
@ cmurda
I’m with u bro… I wanna marry the one on the left…
February 28th, 2012 at 12:26 am
The girls are fine [KH, you are really trying to get banned, aren’t you? — Joe].
February 28th, 2012 at 1:07 am
Eric.
So you Trade Freeman and acquire all of that other talent. Then what ? who is your QB?
February 28th, 2012 at 2:04 am
Pete- yeah, that’s pretty much what I said also. Not gonna judge him til this season.
Plus – we are playing a different defense. His lack of speed in coverage may not be an issue this year.
But still think he is a proto type at Strong side LB, more so than MLB
February 28th, 2012 at 2:16 am
I said this weeks ago. Trade Freeman before the draft. My dream scenario would be trade him to Cleveland for their #4 pick and their 2nd round pick. We would have 4 of the first 37 picks in the draft. Thats four starters.
IF we do trade him we could look at Matt Flynn, resign Josh Johnson, or find a vet to get us through this season. Next draft has some great QBs in it. *cough* Matt Barkely!!!!
To get really good value for him, we would have to trade him before this season. If he has another down year were he regresses so much, his value will be nothing. If we trade him now teams will say a change of scenery or real coaches could fix him.
But 4 starters could really improve our team. We could get Mo Claiborne and either Justin Blackmon or an OT. Or trade one of those to drop down to the teens to get Courtney Upshaw or Dontari Poe. And in the 2nd we could get a CB like Chase Minnifield and a Safety like Markelle Martin. And draft a RB like LaMichael James in the 3rd round. Imagine how great our team would be with those 5 guys!!!!!!!
February 28th, 2012 at 3:38 am
Why would Cleveland trade their 1st and 2nd to us for Freeman when they will probably be able to get RG3 at #4 or may spend the same (1st & 2nd) to move up with the Rams to get him. It’s not like Freeman has proven anything yet. He had a good year and a bad year, so no one knows what he’ll end up like. That’s about the same risk anyone will take with RG3. This is not fantasy football or Madden. These ridiculous trade scenarios only work there. In the NFL, both teams require benefit. Cleveland would get no benefit from that trade over what they could have getting RG3.
And I laugh at how I’ve heard our DBs are horrible (Taliban and all), our LBs were horrible, we need to get TR because Blount isn’t an every down back and we have no depth, we have no speed on offense, Faine isn’t worth his contract, neither is Trueblood, even thoughts of trading Freeman… yet, mention that the collapse last year was even partially due to a lack of talent on the team (or at least over-rated talent) and players quitting, instead of the collapse being 100% on the coaches and people have an aneurism. The talent was incredibly over-rated last year, and when they realized they were outmatched, instead of sucking it up and playing harder (like the year before), they gave up. That’s like asking USF to play a few NFL games, even though they’re incredibly outmatched talent-wise and saying they’re losing because of poor coaching. I’m not saying Rah or Olsen or any of them were great coaches, but they shouldn’t receive 100% of the blame. If that’s the only change this year (coaches and not players) be prepared for another horrible year.
February 28th, 2012 at 9:53 am
@941
Manning or Flynn
February 28th, 2012 at 10:19 am
Anybody on here actually thinking about trading Freeman hasn’t got a freaking clue what they are talking about. Save yourselves from looking too stupid and don’t mention it again.
February 28th, 2012 at 10:22 am
Oh and all the folks who said that Raheem was the next Chuck Noll are pure geniuses.
February 28th, 2012 at 1:19 pm
@bambam
Cleveland has Colt McCoy. And they will not get RG3. Either Washington or Miami and maybe KC will trade up with the Rams and get him. I don’t see the Browns pulling it off. And i even said if the Browns can’t get RG3. Read the whole story. But Freeman was Ra’s guy. Not our new staff. And the time to get value for him is now. IF he has another terrible year like the last one. He will be worthless.
@gotbbucs
Hate to tell you but it doesn’t look bad to get rid of Josh. You might be crazy for holding on to him. He was the last regimes QB. Not this one. He was overrated coming out of college and has had one decent year. And 1 and a half terrible years. Last year he looked like a HS QB versus pros. That was the most embarrassing thing I’ve seen in a long time. Quit thinking with your heart and use your brain!!!
IF we can trade him for a 1st rounder we should do it. I don’t know how the points match up. But you would think a 1st and 2nd would get him. The Raiders gave up 2 1st for Carson Palmer. I’m not expecting a very good record this upcoming season. With or without Josh. So find a fill in QB for 1 season then go after Matt Barkely next draft. The amount of talent we can get by trading Josh and the amount of holes we have on the team says we fill the holes. Thats smart business and builds our team up way better. How many seats is Josh filling at our stadium??? Not enough so get rid of him. Whose to say Schiano even likes Josh???