Great Battle Underway For No. 3 Receiver
June 1st, 2013
Though it’s terribly early, it sure seems as though Tiquan Underwood is getting some serious push from Kevin Ogletree for the No. 3 wide receiver position.
It seems in Mike Sullivan’s offense, sort of a hybrid of the Giants’ offense, the No. 3 receiver is more of a weapon than the tight end.
Now one can debate the merits of that, but it’s pretty obvious by now, by actions and words, that tight end is not a top priority for Sullivan.
Who the No. 3 wide receiver may be for the Bucs, that’s a different kettle of fish. The subject came up in an NFC South chat hosted by the four-letter.
Dr. Tym, J.D. (Denver, CO.)
PY!!! Who do you have your money on in the Underwood/Ogletree battle royale for slot receiver?
Pat Yasinskas
Thought Underwood looked good in practice Wednesday. But I think that will be one of their most competitive camp battles.
Granted, it is early. It is way, way, way early. It’s the first day of June. The Bucs have only had two sessions of OTAs. They have yet to put on pads. Training camp is seven weeks away (we’re slowly getting there, folks). But in the practices Joe has seen, Kevin Olgetree and Tiquan Underwood really are putting on a show and, obviously, one should be the proverbial No. 3 wide receiver.
Maybe. What Joe means by that is, the two receivers are going at it so well, there may be specific packages to use both Ogletree and Underwood as a No 3 receiver on certain plays.
Bucs coach Greg Schiano preaches competition. At least when it comes to the No. 3 receiver slot, that competition is really bringing out the best in both Ogletree and Underwood.
June 1st, 2013 at 10:20 am
There is very good reasoning behind heavy usage of both number 3 recievers. They would be the likely replacemet if our 1 or 2 went down. Using both will keep both fresher and will make it more difficult to gameplan against them. Each probably has a different skill set that will provide versatility to the offense. I wouldn’t be suprised if another WR ends up competing for number 3 before the season starts.
As for TE not being a priority….I think we will actually see more usage of the TE this year.
June 1st, 2013 at 10:55 am
Nothing personal against Underwood, but he sure seemed like he was afraid to catch balls in traffic last year – I certainly hope SOMEONE can beat out a frail, alligator-armed receiver for the number 3 spot. If Underwood is lining up in the slot this year, I will have to assume that Ogletree is absolutely horrendous.
June 1st, 2013 at 11:14 am
I hated it when people would argue for Tavon Austin pre-draft. But I must admit, it DOES lend more credence to that argument. It’s neither here nor there because we got Revis, but if the slot is that important to Sully then hell, Tavon would have been a more than viable option at 13.
June 1st, 2013 at 11:20 am
@tampa2 – I think Austin is too small to be our #3 and besides, Underwood is at least familiar with the playbook and did a good job last year. Revis at 13 was a good deal.
June 1st, 2013 at 11:48 am
al1211976, Tampa 2,
Tavon Austin is the REAL DEAL.
He was traded up for and drafted 8th overall by the Rams. I was so happy the Jets couldn’t get him.
Tavon Austin >>> Tyler Eifert, mark those words.
June 1st, 2013 at 12:33 pm
Someone already said it, 11 can’t catch the ball over the middle or in traffic. Last I checked, we use our slot alot over the middle and facing Thomas DeCoud twice a year you better be able to catch a ball and take a hit as out slot reciever. 11 is good when he gets seperation and runs a good route, but if he sees a safety or a LB comin his way and he panics and drops the ball. A recieving TE isn’t that important. If it was, we would have 3 good ones and run 2 tight end sets more often. You think Schiano would rather have 5 down linemen and Stocker for or 5 down lineman and Tiquan on the field blocking the off tackle run for Doug? Easy answer.
June 1st, 2013 at 12:34 pm
Tavon Austin is the real deal because some team over-reached?
Right.
June 1st, 2013 at 12:39 pm
5 down lineman with Stocker next to them or 5 down linemen with Dallas in the slot?*
June 1st, 2013 at 12:47 pm
Lol, Tavon Austin is leaps and bounds better than any receiver we have not named V-jax or Mike Will. To say otherwise is absolutely retarded. Just because some of you want to discredit him because of his size means nothing to the overall picture. Fact is
Tavon would come in day 1 and be a starter at 3 different positions. Slot receiver, KR, PR. Thats a fact you cant dispute.
It means nothing now and I’m happy we got Revis but some of you are just ignorant sometimes.
June 1st, 2013 at 12:58 pm
fridge bob,
“The world is flat”, still?
Tavon Austin is a hybrid of Percy Harvin/ Wes Welker.
Just wait and see, all of the nay sayers called me a “Matt Millen” type of couch GM, but guess what, Matt Millen did pick Megatron…
Tavon Austin best offensive playmaker in the draft, period.
June 1st, 2013 at 1:00 pm
Of course you can dispute it. Austin has yet to play a down of professional football. Maybe he ends up to be great. Maybe he gets a wake up call with the first professional hit he takes and it gets in his head. Meanwhile he is all potential.
June 1st, 2013 at 1:03 pm
91b94u54c50s59,
Correction, you need to watch out for our safety tandem this year. We are going to put a hat on people and hit the snot out of them.
I can’t wait to see a safety hit the first receiver over the middle. It may bring back memories of the bone jarring hits John Lynch used to drop on receivers (like Robert Brooks!).
June 1st, 2013 at 1:10 pm
There’s no disputing we have the best YOUNG safety tandem in the NFL. Goldson and Barron are almost copies of eachother, both big hitters and interchangeable which is important. Both can play cover 1 and blitz extremely well. I love our safeties, just saying 11 has trouble over the middle. just going on record that I HATE all the other teams in our division, but DeCoud is a playmaker.
June 1st, 2013 at 1:46 pm
Underwood just dropped to many important passes last year for me to have any kind of confidence in him, and Olgetree doesnt look like the answers to our prayers. Im hoping the competition between them will result in a key contributor for us in the slot. may the best man win.
June 1st, 2013 at 1:51 pm
Stevek – I think you’re splitting hairs with the Austin/Eifert comparison. The bengals are going to have him splitting out wide with AJ Green and thats going to be pretty sick. If Eifert turns out to be like a Gronkowski or Graham then I will be extremely hard pressed to say Austin is better than Eifert. With the Bucs “apparently” being an exception, the TE position has become HIGHLY valued. And saying Austin is even in the same zip code as the greatest slot receiver in history before he even plays a down is kind of a stretch. Lets see the dude make some plays first. In any case, I’m just happy we got Revis and Banks and hey, that’s what we REALLY needed anyhow right? CORNERS!
June 1st, 2013 at 2:08 pm
rich and 91b94u54c50s59. I also noticed that Underwood looked contact-shy or disinterested or something late in the year. I think he liked it better outside where he could put his speed to use. I don’t want to see him lining up in the slot in 2013, if at all possible.
June 1st, 2013 at 2:57 pm
Mike J good call, he is a Heyward-Bey/Hakeem Nicks speed reciever. Great on go routes.
June 1st, 2013 at 2:57 pm
once Underwood got knocked silly in that game at Carolina he got Alligator arms and the offense sputtered shortly there after as teams started playing over the top defense without fear of getting burned underneath.
Hope Underwood shakes off the Gator arms and/or Ogletree steps up and takes the slot WR job
June 1st, 2013 at 2:58 pm
He’s 6’1″ with good hops. I see him as a backup to Mike Will.
June 1st, 2013 at 4:08 pm
There’s no disputing we have the best YOUNG safety tandem in the NFL.
—————————————————————-
So you can dispute Austin not being any better than what we have because he hasen’t played a down yet in the NFL. But then you post this about a tandem that has not played a down yet together….
Hmm…. how odd.
June 1st, 2013 at 4:28 pm
No surprise here. I was one of the voices calling for Austin, my thought process was simple. Steve Smith. Victor Cruz. Slot WR’s. Prolific pass catchers in the NY Giants O therefore Sullivan loves the slot WR. Glad we got Revised however. We only needed Austin if we weren’t going to get better on D. We go better on D.
June 1st, 2013 at 5:02 pm
Not very confident in our #3 receiver right now, hope to be proven wrong, maybe we find one after training camp starts, someone that’s consistent, maybe Sammie Stroughter returns
June 1st, 2013 at 5:44 pm
Thinking we have seen the last of Sammie Stroughter. He’s still unsigned. If you were the bottom of the depth chart the previous year, broke your foot and then come June are still walking the streets, it’s a good bet if you return to the NFL, it won’t be with your previous team.
June 1st, 2013 at 6:07 pm
An all pro free safety with super bowl experience and a strong safety who knocked the wind out of RG3? Ya, I’ll take that in a heartbeat over Tavon. Talk about slot recievers not being able to catch, Tavon is gonna drop passes and get injured when he gets blasted by Kam Chancellor and other NFC west defenses. Besides, lets talk about players on the BUCS roster. Why don’t you just draft him for your fantasy team if you love the little guy so much.
June 1st, 2013 at 8:14 pm
All pro on another team who hasent played not 1 live snap for us. So your whole reason for discrediting Tavon can be said for the “all pro safety and his tandem counterpart.” I’ll talk about whatever I want. You talked about Tavon when it suits you but now that I just blew up your whole point you rather not talk about him. LMAO. Ok then go hide in your corner.
June 1st, 2013 at 9:07 pm
We’ll see how the battle for 3rd plays out. There are always the cut downs in Aug to look for someone else if neither one seems to be the answer. A lot of interesting things to watch over the next few months.
June 1st, 2013 at 9:29 pm
Im pretty surr someone else will emerge due training camp
June 1st, 2013 at 10:11 pm
I think Underwood will look to build off last season. I agree, he wasn’t the same after he took that big hit. However, it’s a new year, I believe he well raise his game. It’s a shame though, I was really hoping for a Steve Smith revival.
June 2nd, 2013 at 12:12 am
Joe interesting angle I’d like to see you work in that with how good this offense was for stretches of last year that was only the first year of a first time coordinator. Sully should only get better this year. Kinda gives me goosebumps.
June 2nd, 2013 at 6:11 am
Why in the world are you people arguing over two players on other teams? Let me go find my rat’s ass to toss in the fray. So Jerry Jones’ Draft Board is on a scroll for all to hold up as gospel? How’s that been working for his group of underachievers? Heck, his QB wasn’t even drafted.