Another Draft Tip-Off
April 11th, 2016
Starting this morning, the Bucs officially entered their offseason program without adding a wide receiver.
Translation: the Bucs have not upgraded the position, which has flimsy depth.
General manager Jason Licht is far, far to smart to draft a franchise quarterback and then pass on surrounding the guy with enough weapons.
Wide receiver Louis Murphy, who turns 29 next month, had major knee surgery (ACL) in November. He can’t be counted on as the important No. 3 receiver. Adam Humphries is a nice No. 5 receiver, not a No. 3. Donteea Dye and Kenny Bell are lucky to be employed in the NFL. Russell Shepard is a No. 5 or a No. 6, a special teams ace who can catch.
Vincent Jackson is 33 years old coming off two significant knee injuries, and likely entering his final Bucs season. Mike Evans has renowned K-Y hands.
That’s not the look of a burgeoning receiving corps for America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston. Also, the Bucs are lacking an A-list tight end.
With players reporting back to work today, Joe considers the fact the Bucs didn’t sign veteran free agent Roddy White for depth, or another veteran, as a clear tip-off that Licht plans to draft a wide receiver later this month. Second round? Third round? Joe is unsure.
But again, Joe is sure Licht is too smart to march into 2016 with shaky depth at receiver.
April 11th, 2016 at 9:04 am
Corey Coleman or from Baylor or Sterling Sheppard. They are sure fire producers early on their career. Great complement for what we have.
April 11th, 2016 at 9:04 am
@Joe
Licht can wait until after the first day of the season and sign Roddy White, then he can sign him to a non-guaranteed contract!!! or he can wait until the WR are injured thru the middle of the season and then sign the available Roddy White!!!!
NFL GM Licht has the draft, second wave of free agents after the draft, practice squad and cut veterans to pick from!!! as long as they have some speed!!!!!!
April 11th, 2016 at 9:07 am
Wonder if Braxton Miller falls into that group of early second rounders at WR?
April 11th, 2016 at 9:07 am
The WR group is comparable to the D Line… Some potential in guys like Bell and ASJ and even Humphries… But not enough faith in them to pass on additions. Tyler Boyd would be a nightmare for defenses paired with Evans and V jax.
April 11th, 2016 at 9:21 am
They will add WR talent in some fashion. Bell and Humphries and Dye will get every opportunity to improve, step up and grab that 3rd receiver spot. I think they like their young guys and feel the talent level within the existing group is higher than Joe seems to believe.
April 11th, 2016 at 9:33 am
Carolina went to the Super Bowl with a far worse receiving corp. No time to panic. Despite a lot of drops Evans os a top ten receiver.
April 11th, 2016 at 9:37 am
Thanks for bringing us back to reality Buddah. Too true
April 11th, 2016 at 10:04 am
How can you say Kenny Bell is lucky when the guy was injured. But when McCoy was injured and the fans turned on him you cry. Give Bell at least one season to prove him self. Jameis is a Bell supporter so I don’t see him going anywhere.
April 11th, 2016 at 10:17 am
I think this year’s receiver class is very underrated. The past two classes and the slow day at the combine are probably the main reasons. But if you read Steve White the first thing a receiver needs to be able to do is “catch the ball”. There’s a lot of guys that can do that this year.
I want Doctson in the first round. I like Coleman but his hands scare me a little. Doctson is a natural pass catcher.
After round 1 though there’s a lot of talent.
Shepard
Miller
Carroo
Braverman
Boyd
Thomas OSU
Thomas So Miss
Cooper
There’s a few more as well.
April 11th, 2016 at 10:18 am
No need to sign a bridge player at receiver, already got on in V-Jax. Also got bridge players at RT. I expect drafts in each area of bridge player signed, DE, S, CB & LB the others have to be WR and OL (specifically RT) with wildcard DT.
April 11th, 2016 at 10:20 am
I wonder if they go bold and draft Treadwell at 9 for an eventual VJax replacement.
April 11th, 2016 at 10:20 am
OR…if Jason Licht is smart (still up in the air), he hasn’t addressed it so that other teams THINK he might take a WR in the first round…
Smoke and mirrors.
April 11th, 2016 at 10:22 am
@CrustyCrab
/signed!!!!!!
April 11th, 2016 at 10:24 am
Still scratching my head why Bucs drafted Bell over Rashad Greene last year. Would have had instant chemistry with Jameis and a solid all around dude.
April 11th, 2016 at 10:25 am
The Bucs need to get an outside WR early like Josh Doctson or OSU Michael Thomas groom him to replace VJax, Corey Coleman may work but he’s not a big outside type, we have 2 young capable slot type WRs in Hump and Bell, plenty of DL talent for 2nd n 3rd rounders, CB should be fine this year I don’t see a rookie corner breaking in our top 4 slots barring injury of course, safety help is another concern need a starting caliber free safety hopefully we can move down and pick up another early round pick, bridge players are fine unless your whole team are bridge players, I count 3 above average players on defense, hopefully jack Smith and gholston step up along with rebounds from our corners
April 11th, 2016 at 10:32 am
Doctson has good speed 4.5 along with a ridiculous vertical 41 inches us size 6’2 his film looks like he makes a lot of contested jump ball 50/50 catches, who the hell you gonna double with Evans n Doctson on each side, plus he has A+ personality/work ethic
April 11th, 2016 at 10:35 am
You can refer to him however you wanna joe my money says WINSton to Evans wil be dynamic. But since we talkin young guns Creamsicle sold me on Shepard and I’m intrigued by Boyd. Only reason I’m leaving off Doctson is because he won’t be available. NFL types I believe will recognize him as the best of the crop and snatch him up before we have a chance.
April 11th, 2016 at 10:35 am
In my mind, our receivers are good enough, or has anyone forgot we threw for over 4000 yards last year ?
Only a state of the art pass rush will beat the Panthers, as demonstrated by Denver last year.
Sometimes, you have to draft 2, even 3 pass rushers, to get that one special guy who can wreak havoc.
I can see us doing exactly that this year.
April 11th, 2016 at 10:37 am
Braxton Miller or Shepard will be there in the 2nd round. Both would be great additions to our receiving core!
I still think we move Glennon during…or just prior to…the Draft, and pick up another selection.
If we do move Glennon, look for adding a QB late in the Draft….my choice would be Kevin Hogan of Stanford in the 5th or 6th round. A 4 year starter with a decent arm, good size (6″4’…220lbs) over 9,000 passing yards in his Cardinal career with 75 TDs vs. 27 pics…and a 65% completion. Should be a good developmental guy behind Jameis.
April 11th, 2016 at 10:40 am
Guzzie
I think it’s simple you double Doctson. His frame and injuries are my only concern. I think he is going to be an elite receiver by year 2. Evans will never be better than very good. Just an opinion.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:07 am
even if the bucs don’t draft a WR, i’m betting a couple of teams who do will be releasing WRs who might be better than the current bunch left in Free Agency. if the bucs really want Roddy, i’m guessing there is a gentleman’s agreement in place to allow the bucs to beat any other team’s offer before Roddy signs it.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:30 am
Make’s sense what Pick6 just said. And them good folks from the apple company I pray we do exactly that, back to back D line sir. We can talk wr and cb all day long we desperately need young rushers to deal with that newton fella.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:31 am
I do recall a Carolina Panther team winning throughout the season with a lot of average receivers. But they did have..one hellava defense now Didn’t they? If our Bucs want to win this year they will vastly improve our very below average..poor..sorry A.. Defense! To hell with getting another receiver. Go with what we have. Now..on the other hand..Go with what we have on our current defense? And we go maybeee 4-12. Question is..Do you want to have a pretty Offense or a mean hard hitting turnover oriented defense who can stop somebody. Our Offense is decent for now. We’d better improve defensively…Quickly!
April 11th, 2016 at 11:37 am
@mike johnson
They are improving the Defense!!! That is why they fired coach my scheme and hired a far superior Coach in Defensive Coordinator Mike Smith!!!!!
April 11th, 2016 at 11:41 am
Mike Johnson
your defense first mentality does not hold up with when you look at the last 12 Superbowl winning teams. Yes, last years super bowl featured teams with good defenses but the panthers also had the league MVP at QB. Surround Winston with weapons and field a middle of the pack defense that is all that is needed the statistics don’t lie. It’s a QB driven league with an occasional defensive Juggernaut sneaking in for the win.
April 11th, 2016 at 11:52 am
We get Mo DL will be as good as it gets!!!!
April 11th, 2016 at 11:56 am
Once every 10 years or so there is a transcendant defense that lifts a deficient offense ala Ravens with Dilfer, Bucs with Johnson, Seahawks with young Wilson, and last years Broncos, that’s not the norm, granted most playoff teams need a good defense, but most Super Bowl teams, winners and losers, have a really good offense, even the Panthers with their weak WRs had the 2nd best running game that opened up the passing game, my point being, you can get by with an average defense with a great offense, but even a great defense can’t carry a below average offense
April 11th, 2016 at 12:02 pm
Wonder if Treadwell falls to 39 would the Bucs take him, I think they would, he’s reminds of Boldin with his size and strong receiving skills
April 11th, 2016 at 12:08 pm
I think we dradt some type of burner type received like coleman or shepherd.. not sure which round tho
April 11th, 2016 at 12:16 pm
Crusty, you’re not well informed. Bell did not have a season ending injury. They simply hid him there as he wasn’t good enough to make the team and the didn’t want him picked off the practice squad. The hope was that he could develop enough to make the team in his second year. This has been covered numerous times and the fact that you think he was on IR due to injury proves that you don’t know what’s going on.
April 11th, 2016 at 12:19 pm
But a great Defense can carry an average or slightly above average Offense. Not the reverse. You can have a great Offense. But you’d better have a slightly above average defense. Just ask the Denver Broncos.
April 11th, 2016 at 12:22 pm
Note to Buc Real..I mean fakist. If I were you sir, I’d see a shrink about that Lovie fetish you have. its..consuming you.
April 11th, 2016 at 12:45 pm
I think the biggest draft tip off right now. Is, according to NFL.com, we are involved with 9 DBs and 5 DL players and 1 OT. 0 WR’s were listed on there. You can see where we are focused. We def need at least 1 good WR. Tyler Boyd fills that void. As far as DE goes, Nassib in the 3rd would fill that one. We can fill our LB void in the 4th with Neon Deion.
With our #1 pick, I would take the BPA. Trading down would be amazing. IF Licht can somehow manage to pull that off. Sign him up for GM of the year. Anywhere in the teens would be lovely. Just highly unlikely. Ogbah may take plays off, when he does play, the guy is unstoppable. The same can’t be said for Bosa or Buckner or the Clemson DEs.
Bosa is the most overrated player in this draft. Buckner is an inside DL or 3-4 DE. Doesn’t fit. No need to even talk about Clemson DEs. My 2 favorite DEs are Ogbah and Nassib.
Dream scenario. We trade down to the mid teens and pick up an extra 2nd. Take Ogbah with our 1st. Tyler Boyd with one 2nd and Karl Joseph with the other 2nd. Then in the 3rd draft Nassib. In the 4th take Neon Deion. And, who cares what we do after that. 2 stud DEs, and starting Safety in Joseph, and my favorite (and best all around WR in the draft IMO) Boyd. And, a potential steal of the draft in Deion. Draft OL and special teams guys with the rest of our picks. On paper, that could be one of the best drafts ever.
April 11th, 2016 at 12:47 pm
Joe I get your statement of Donte Dye being lucky to be in the NFL but Kenny Bell only didn’t have a NFL season because brainchild Lovie Smith decided to put him on IR with a minor hammy injury in the preseason. The guy was more productive at Nebraska than Irving Fryar or any other wideout in Nebraska history. Even though Nebraska has historically been a running team to outclass Fryar means the guy gets more than a season on IR to prove his value. He also runs a 40 faster than any WR we currently have. Finally the level of competition that Bell was against was much higher than Donte Dye.
Kenny Bell deserves a shot this year for sure.
April 11th, 2016 at 12:52 pm
TouchDown TampaBay where exactly did you get your facts. I read Buc material daily and I have never once heard that Kenny Bell wasn’t good enough to beat out Donte Dye or Humphries for that matter. The guy is faster than any receiver we have and caught a ton of touchdowns at Nebraska against pretty good NCAA competition. Just because Lovie was too stupid to let him come off IR and shelved him for the season doesn’t mean he wasn’t good enough. One thing I did hear over and over is how Lovie Smith was terrified of hamstring injuries. I never once heard Kenny Bell was not good enough. The was more productive than Irving Fryar a great NFL receiver.
April 11th, 2016 at 12:53 pm
You guys seems to forget there is a receiver from Germany who should be available in the middle rnds. Good size 6’4″ 227lbs. and speed supposedly 4.43 and supposedly didnt drop a ball at his workout. He also returns kicks. If you are looking for an interesting player. Maybe he is it.
April 11th, 2016 at 1:01 pm
Don’t matter how fast Kenny Bell is. He can be as fast as lightning. The point is Mute. Can Mr. Bell stay healthy? That is the question. Is he durable enough to take the physical joustling of the NFL. In this NFL? The best ABILITY is..AVAILABILTY! WE..shall see.
April 11th, 2016 at 1:07 pm
Yes, Bell was hidden in the long practiced rule of hiding rookies who aren’t good enough but you don’t want to lose. Do any research and you’ll know Bell’s hamstring injury wasn’t a season ender if he was any good. And the guy made no impact at all i preseason. So yeah, the fact Humphreys and Dye outproduced him there made a difference.
Also to the person who thinks we drafted Bell ahead of Greene I am smh at you. Seriously, maybe look again, because the Bucs picked after Greene was taken in rd 5 not before thanks to the incredible George Johnson trade. Could have had Green or Adrian Amos with that pick.
April 11th, 2016 at 1:08 pm
Id like to put all of you in a room together and see if you are as asshole-ish to each other in person as you are on here.
April 11th, 2016 at 1:11 pm
The Bucs will go with defensive line help in the first two rounds. Most people don’t pay attention to who the Buccaneers have been sending their coaches and scouts to check out and who they have brought into One Buc Place for private workouts because there are next to no receivers that they have been showing any interest in. Jason Licht and our new coaching staff are going to surprise some people with their bold draft picks. They are looking for a specific type of players. The kind who have been leaders on their team, the ones who show the type of leadership and potential which our QB already possess. Think about Mike Evans as the new Megatron. All he has to do is high point the ball, catch it and smile at the referees as he hands the ball back to them. Vincent Jackson is going to stay healthy and have an All-Pro year and all of this great play will rub off on the young guns like Humphries and Dye who had a chance to play last year and now have some NFL experience.
1) DE/OLB Leonard “the freak” Floyd Georgia (6′ 6″ 248)
2) SS Vonn Bell Ohio State (5′ 11″ 205)
3) DT Javon Hargrave South Carolina State (6′ 2″ 310)
4) CB Cyrus Jones Alabama (5′ 10″ 195)
5) DT D.J. Reader Clemson (6′ 2″ 325)
6) RB/FB Terron Beckham (5-11 247)
6) K Roberto Aguayo Florida State (5′ 11″ 210)
April 11th, 2016 at 1:15 pm
Funky you said it best when Ogbah gose all out he is unstoppable. Warren Sapp said everyone takes plays off here and there. The ones that don’t make me wonder what their pumping into they’re systems. You don’t have 28saks on collegiate level and be lazy like some are implying. None since. Ogbah at 9.
April 11th, 2016 at 1:36 pm
Dt position is solid. We just need a good de and dt depth. This still looks like a team rebuilding to me though. We have a lot of holes at wr s lb.
April 11th, 2016 at 1:45 pm
3 teams I would look at would be the Rams, Bills, and Jets. The Rams have pick #43 and 45. Bills have #49. Jets have #51. I personally like the trade with the Bills or Jets. Both have top 20 picks, but would have to give up an extra 4th or something to move up to #9. We can still get a stud DE, OT, or CB at #19 or #20. Plus get another pick right around #50.
Then trade Glennon to one of 6 teams. Denver, NYJ, Bills, Browns, 49ers, Rams. For their 3rd rounder. Cleveland and San Fran would be ideal. We could get a pick between #65 or 68. The Rams have 76, Bills have 80, Jets have 83, and Denver has 95.
So, say we trade down to #19 with the Bills and pick up #49 and #118. And MG8 to say SF for #68. That would give us 7 picks in the first 4 rounds.
#19 Ogbah DE OK State
#39 Tyler Boyd WR Pitt
#49 Karl Joseph S WV or TJ Greene S Clemson
#68 Carl Nassib DE Penn State
#74 Deion Jones LB LSU
#109 Sean Davis CB Maryland
#118 Either Shon Coleman Auburn or Caleb Benenoch UCLA both OT
That 5 guys who could play almost immediately from day 1 and 2 guys that can be starters within a year or 2. We would still have our 5th and 2 6th to get some special team guys and another OL guy.
That’s what I would try to do if I was the GM.
April 11th, 2016 at 1:51 pm
zilla
I like the majority of your post. But Aguayo in the 6th round??? He won’t make it to the end of the 3rd. Maybe the end of the 2nd. The teams with the last few picks of the round, are all great teams. They can afford to draft a kicker that high. So, I like your enthusiasm, but that won’t happen. Not even close.
April 11th, 2016 at 1:52 pm
Godzilla13… Leonard Floyd has workout warrior written all over him, his playing weight is closer to 235 he put weight on for the combine, he’s too light to play the run, and his production is terrible his high sack season is 4.5 or something ridiculous like that, like your 2-4 picks but no way Roberto gets past the 4th round, terron beckham would be an interesting late pick
April 11th, 2016 at 2:03 pm
Funkeymunkey….Cleveland Bills and 49ers are not Glennon landing spots, it’s Rams Jets or Broncos, Broncos think Kap is worth a 4, doubt Bucs trade him to them, Fitz will get signed eventually by Jets, but the Rams look best…scenario I like is trade 9 and Glennon to Rams for 15 and 43, trade 39 to Pats, Lichts old organization plus Pats have no 1st and 11 picks this draft for Pats 59 and 60 that’ll give the Bucs 4 top 60 picks
April 11th, 2016 at 2:32 pm
@James- Doubtful, some thrive on the discourse anonymity protects.
Boy I can’t wait until draft day. These mock drafts are dizzying.
Count me in to the “Draft Weapons for Jameis Mob”! I’m not saying to overlook our needs at DE/DT, I’m just saying that it’d be nice to have another weapon on offense…………Tyler Boyd (hint, hint!)
April 11th, 2016 at 7:31 pm
I believe this is a mistake. I would bring in a veteran like we did with Ike Hillard, Joey Galloway, or Keenan McCardell to give us a year or two room to draft another top talent wide receiver.
April 11th, 2016 at 7:43 pm
tmaxcon Says
“Mike Johnson
your defense first mentality does not hold up with when you look at the last 12 Superbowl winning teams.”
Actually, it kind of does.
Let’s take a look.
Broncos (2016) – OFFENSIVE team, Above average Defense.. Played Panthers…a DEF team.
Patriots (2015) – Defensive team, managed Offense. Played Seahawks…a DEF team.
Seahawks (2014) – Defensive Team with good Offense. This was the one the Broncos lost because they had no defense.
Ravens (2013) – Defensive team. Game managing Offense. Played the 49ers…a DEF team.
Giants (2012) – Defensive team with a good offense. Played the Pariots…a DEF team.
Packers (2011) – Strong OFFENSE, okay Defense. Played the Steelers…a DEF team.
Saints (2010) Strong OFFENSE, so-so Defense. Played Colts…an OFF Team.
Steelers (2009) Strong Defense, good offense. Played Cardinals …an OFF team.
Giants (2008) Strong Defense, good Offense. Player the Patriots…a DEF team.
Colts (2007) Strong OFFENSE, so-so Defense. Played Bears…a DEF team.
Steelers (2006) Strong Defense, above average offense. Played Seahawks…a DEF team.
Patriots (2005) Strong Defense, above average Offense. Played the Eagles…a DEF team.
Patriots (2004) Strong Defense, Above average Offense. Played the Panthers…a Balanced team (which is why they worked to improve their defense)
So out of the last 12 Super Bowls 4 of the winners were better at Offense than at defense. 8 were better at Defense than at Offense.
So “Defense wins championships” still rings true. And…you could go back another 4 years and it will still be true.
April 11th, 2016 at 7:48 pm
It’s easy…how many teams in the last twenty years have won the superbowl with a below average defense?
There is your answer. Defense is a must. Teams can win them with a below average offense…not the other way around.
April 11th, 2016 at 9:07 pm
Godzilla13-
Roberto Aguayo Florida State is rated to go 2-3 rd. I think he will go mid to late 3rd. Do you really think he will last until late in the 6th?
April 12th, 2016 at 8:04 am
That is fascinating Nick. So you have read all the reports stating that Kenny Bell had a minor injury and was stashed on IR and you think it was because Lovie was scared of hamstrings? So instead of waiting a while to see if the minor injury would heel in a couple of weeks, he decided to put the guy he drafted on IR and go with a couple of undrafted free agent scrubs for the season instead. Joe and many others have called that move for what it was and I assumed anyone who had read all the articles knew it was just one of those moves front offices make with drafted rookies who are on the bubble. By the way, he did absolutely nothing in the preseason.