Bucs Sign Blocking Tight End Tom Crabtree
March 16th, 2013
Joe knows the New Schiano Order wants to run the ball like the NFL hasn’t seen in decades. The return of Carl Nicks and Davin Joseph surely has Greg Schiano salivating, and now there’s a new punishing blocker in the mix.
The Bucs have signed Packers free agent tight end Tom Crabtree, per ESPNMilwaukee.com.
Here’s how the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel described him recently:
Though he won’t break the bank, there is a league-wide need for block-first, versatile players like the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Crabtree. Through his three years with the team, Crabtree became a core special teams player, reliable blocker and, in 2012, a deceptive playmaker on offense.
Crabtree caught just 18 balls in his three seasons with Green Bay. The Packers did not offer him a restricted free agent tender. But he will be missed in cheesehead land.
Here’s how Aaron Rodgers expressed his sadness on losing Crabtree, via BSPN.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers expressed on Twitter his disappointment in losing his friend to Tampa Bay, posting, “Had a lot of teammates in 8 yrs in GB. Few that I enjoyed as much as @TCrabtree83. Your tats, mustache n poor taste in music will be missed.”
The Bucs still need a tight end who can catch the ball and be dangerous up the gut of a defense. Joe hasn’t heard a peep on free agent Dallas Clark.
March 16th, 2013 at 12:47 am
Ah, we signed Crabtree. Now the whole plan’s coming into focus.
March 16th, 2013 at 12:48 am
Nice rebound.
March 16th, 2013 at 12:49 am
Well done Dominik !
March 16th, 2013 at 12:50 am
Guess the 2nd rd pic we were gonna use on a TE might be going to NY ….:)
March 16th, 2013 at 12:56 am
Guys we let Bennett and Miller walk so we could clear cap space for Crab tree and Ogletree (whom we also signed). Duh. Gotta have dem trees
March 16th, 2013 at 12:58 am
How many blocking TEs do we need?
March 16th, 2013 at 1:01 am
I wouldnt call him a blocking te, he was a back up but he caught a few balls and took them to the house,hehas made the best out of the opportunities he has got and shown flashes and yac yardage
March 16th, 2013 at 1:01 am
SUUUUUUUUUUpa BOOOOOOWWWWWLLLLLL!!!
YEAH!
March 16th, 2013 at 1:01 am
Who is this guy?
March 16th, 2013 at 1:02 am
Can he play DB? 🙂
Actually a decent signing. I can see him and Stocker splitting time and pairing nicely in the two TE sets.
Let’s get some CBs now please!
Go Bucs!!
March 16th, 2013 at 1:06 am
Crabtree isn’t a good blocker. One of the worst graded blockers by pro football focus on his three seasons playing at GB.
He doesn’t catch the ball either so I’m not really sure why people think this is a good pick up. We have run blocking TE’s already.
Oh, that’s right. The film geniuses at Pro Football Focus are expert tight end blocking gurus. Please … –Joe
March 16th, 2013 at 1:09 am
@Ben
I dont know the guy personally but from this article seems like he is just a blocker.. 18 catches in 3 seasons isnt eye popping. I hope he can catch though, would fill a need.
March 16th, 2013 at 1:12 am
Doesn’t mean anything if our cornerbacks are allowing 40 points per game.
Since they don’t want Clark back for whatever reason, who the hell is gonna be our catching tight end?
March 16th, 2013 at 1:30 am
Some of you need to do more resurch on this guy. Green Bay press speaks very high on him. I don’t know if this was/is part of plan but willing to be patient a bit longer.
March 16th, 2013 at 1:38 am
Let’s be honest, if you look at his yards per catch, you can tell he made the most of his opportunities, but lets ask outsells, if you we’RE AAron Rodgers would you throw the ball his was or Jennings, Cobb, Finley, etc
March 16th, 2013 at 1:39 am
Excuse my ignorance but does that mean he has a ring or signed the offseason after?
March 16th, 2013 at 1:40 am
He’s actually not a bad receiving TE. He just wasn’t asked to be that in GB due to Finley. He will be able to add plenty to the offense because when he’s in the game he can run block or release into a route. It will be a great pick up for the Bucs….
March 16th, 2013 at 1:46 am
After tonight, I’m gonna find a new hobby until maybe the draft.
Anyone have any ideas? I have exhausted this Buccaneer free agency thing this week.
Hobby, hobby…. mmmmm?
March 16th, 2013 at 1:50 am
I wonder if he expects Jackson to give up”83″ when he arrives.
March 16th, 2013 at 1:57 am
oh happy day!
March 16th, 2013 at 1:59 am
welcome to D-less Tampa! where receivers run wild like the salmon of Capistrano!!!
March 16th, 2013 at 2:04 am
@Bucs Fan #238
Hobby= start training with leon sandcastle and walk on. I hear schiano is having open tryouts for CB’s since FA is not paining out. Didn’t they make a movie about that cat from philly… I am hoping to wake up to Revis and Abrams are signed.
March 16th, 2013 at 2:12 am
I like it. So there goes spending our 1st on Eifert (which will probably be traded to NY anyway for Revis).
March 16th, 2013 at 2:23 am
The more I read about the kid the more I think he’ll prove to be a solid pickup.
March 16th, 2013 at 2:27 am
Why not Fred Davis??? Am i missing something about him?
March 16th, 2013 at 2:33 am
You can read an evaluation of him here:
http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/article_external/packers_tom_crabtree_2012_player_evaluation_and_report_card/12928900
Can’t see how he’s better than the ones we have now. Didn’t get a lot of playing time. Maybe the bucs figure they can turn him into a decent pass catcher, we’ll see.
March 16th, 2013 at 2:56 am
“Oh, that’s right. The film geniuses at Pro Football Focus are expert tight end blocking gurus. Please … –Joe”
Whether you agree with what they say or not, their ratings are based in cold hard facts, rather than what you have seen in snippets of games, or what other regional journalists write in their local papers
You only have to read this site to see how subjective player assessment can be, so personally I value anything that brings a little consistency and rationale to the process
March 16th, 2013 at 3:05 am
“Oh, that’s right. The film geniuses at Pro Football Focus are expert tight end blocking gurus. Please … –Joe”
They’ve watched every play for three years and rank him as a very poor run blocker. How many of his run blocking plays have you watched in that time Joe?
You describe him as a punishing run blocker. What is this based on?
The Packers have just let him walk instead of keeping him with the 1.32m lowest tender. Maybe they don’t think he’s that great either?
March 16th, 2013 at 3:23 am
Or maybe they tried to sneak him through and the Bucs grabbed him…
March 16th, 2013 at 4:21 am
A little education for those who really want to know how Green Bay felt about him.
http://fansided.com/2013/03/16/tampa-bay-buccaneers-sign-tom-crabtree/
March 16th, 2013 at 6:26 am
No WAY…a 235lb guy is a Punishing Run Blocker (unless he jumps on D-Lineman’s backs and rides them to the ground)…..Erin Rodgers loves the guy though….so Josh prolly will too
March 16th, 2013 at 6:34 am
I sure don’t know much about this TE and will withhold judgment at least until Training Camp concludes. I remember Dominik signed an undrafted DE who Seattle had just cut and our reaction was “ho hum”. And now a few years later many are bemoaning the loss of who they believe is a rising star in Michael Bennett. We sit back and watch as NFL network announces every free agent move and act as if someone stole our lunch money with each one. Not every team gorges itself on virtually every morsel of a player the way the Dolphins are this year. How’d that work for the Eagles’ “Dream Team” and Dan Spenders’ Redskins when he attempted the same approach?
March 16th, 2013 at 7:17 am
Looks like a low risk pick that might have some upside. Green Bay did like the guy, don’t know why he didn’t get a tender of some kind. Would have been better if Rodgers said he was going to miss his route running and pass catching, but every little bit helps, so good luck Tom!
March 16th, 2013 at 7:29 am
I have no confidence at all in Dominik. It has now gone come rely out thebwindow. There are “misses” and there is “not doing your job.” Dominik is bad at his job.
March 16th, 2013 at 7:39 am
“Oh, that’s right. The film geniuses at Pro Football Focus are expert tight end blocking gurus. Please … –Joe”
I haven’t watched his tape, but it’s pretty easy to see how well a TE can block on tape. I’d trust their analysis on that. There’s different positions that are more subjective, but TE’s blocking assignments are pretty transparent.
March 16th, 2013 at 7:53 am
Wow, great move. sigh. Olgletree, Crabtree… Roundtree?
March 16th, 2013 at 7:56 am
Great pickup. Maybe he will split duties as a pass rushing defensive end.
March 16th, 2013 at 7:56 am
So the Bucs are losing starters and signing depth, interesting concept. I guess I will have to wait and see but let me know how that works out. If we keep the first round pick, who is guaranteed to be there, more depth or a starter, who knew?
March 16th, 2013 at 8:38 am
This guy sucks….and he can’t block. I don’t even need the guys at PFF to tell me that as Green Bay couldn’t block anybody at any facet, and this guy is 235 pounds…I’m sure Michael Bennett will pancake his ass on the way to a Freeman sack in 2013. Dominik sucks…so does this offseason.
March 16th, 2013 at 8:57 am
If Bostad is such a great offensive line coach as claimed, can’t he also teach a TE to block?
March 16th, 2013 at 9:27 am
Packers were trying to work a deal with Jennings and in the process we yanked him Nuff said. He’s a veteran and has some skill leave it alone and grade him on his performance as a Buc
March 16th, 2013 at 9:34 am
Hitler reacts to Bennet going to Seahawks lmfao:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzCvru-PjMU&feature=youtube_gdata
March 16th, 2013 at 9:46 am
this is not a world beater signing but imo its solid. everytime i watched GB play, I would see a nice play from crabtree. im pretty familiar with him and im cool with the signing
March 16th, 2013 at 9:46 am
Yeah great pick up, he helped the packers become the top rushing team in the league with his punishing run blocking ability, that’s with absolutely no passing game to speak of… Not to mention he did all that without a good QB or WR, other teams had to double team him all the time and that’s why he didn’t get many balls thrown his way, now with the very accurate QB in Tampa he’s going to have a HoF career…
Just wow… Hope for better things to come….
March 16th, 2013 at 10:47 am
With all the Tats, Crabtree looks like a “Poor Man’s Colin Kaepernick”.
March 16th, 2013 at 10:50 am
This signing is an admission of the failure of Luke Stocker, another wasted pick by Tampa!
March 16th, 2013 at 11:04 am
I disagree, Chris. Stocker is good. I like this signing as well. A picture is beginning to form. Schiano has stated he wants a physical football team.
Odd as it seems…I can see them adding in piece by piece of this puzzle. The Miller thing is a little confusing because he was a run stopper…but I have been suspecting the Bucs would go DT in the first round for months now.
March 16th, 2013 at 11:18 am
Me too Bonzai! I see them going D Line at number one, maybe the big Utah D Tackle ?
March 16th, 2013 at 11:57 am
So Bennett is sounding off on the Buc’s letting him go.The team that picked him off the scrap heap.Developed his skill’s,gave his a shot.He wonder’s why we didn’t show him love.It’s pretty simple Dom is kinda busy these day’s.Bennett admited he agreed to let the Buc’s match.Dom was simply waiting for a call that never came.His disrespectful statement shed’s some light on his character or lack their of.
March 16th, 2013 at 12:26 pm
Crabtree is a bum.He was a fan favorite like John Kuen.I believe he got most of his yardage on a fake punt or field goal TD reception.Should help our poor special team’s that’s about it.Stocker and Crabtree do not solidify our TE position.We still need a real #1 tight end.
March 16th, 2013 at 9:18 pm
@FL BOY 84 LOL…
March 16th, 2013 at 11:12 pm
You need trees for your ISLAND. Make it happen