“Anxious To Get Him On The Field”
March 26th, 2014
Spoken like the hardcore defensive head coach that he is, Lovie Smith’s eyes lit up this morning when he talked about second-year Bucs running back/Olympic sprinter Jeff Demps.
Lovie sat up in his chair at the NFL Owners meetings talking about the fits Demps could cause defenses.
“When you have that type of speed, you have to just find ways to use that,” Lovie said of Demps. “If you’re the fastest guy in the league, as a wide receiver, if you line up on the outside and I’m a cornerback, I know that. They know who the fastest guy in the league is. You [don’t] have to learn a lot of routes. Go route. Take off. You know, any type of slang term you want. A guy can do that if he’s that fast.
As a running back, you say [of Demps] why not just put him back there and let him get the ball and see if he can make somebody miss? And if we block it well and there’s a hole, something good might happen.
“As a returner, if he does get the ball, you can see that speed being able to do something thenre, too. He’s one player I’m anxious to get him on the field and just see for ourselves. Because there’s not a lot of video that we have on him to see what he can do.”
Again, of all the Buccaneers offensive players Lovie spoke of, Demps might have gotten him most excited. And Lovie didn’t seem concerned that Demps would take off to run track.
“I’ve never had the chance to coach the fastest guy in the NFL,” Lovie said. “We talked about his commitment to football. He loves track, but he considers himself a football player. And he’s anxious to get started with whatever position we ask him to player, whether it’s running back, wide receiver, returning kicks.
“We want to see what he does best.”
Joe’s not as excited about Demps as Lovie is. Demps is coming off groin surgery and he’s a project. But he does fit into the “speed in space” craving of offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford.
During the few nice plays from Demps last year, Joe, too, was taken by what Demps’ kind of speed can accomplish, if used effectively.
March 26th, 2014 at 9:32 am
That’s y schiano got canned we couldn’t get any pass rush and this guy never got a shot. I mean Imagin him doing a stunt he’d have atleast 15 sacks lol pure jokes ppl pure jokes
March 26th, 2014 at 9:33 am
Im cool with Demps being used more. Im cool with just about anything EXCEPT using a first rd pick on Johnny Football
March 26th, 2014 at 9:35 am
Happy to hear something on Demps. He and Dri Archer would give D coordinators fits
March 26th, 2014 at 9:37 am
Demps is a keeper…
March 26th, 2014 at 9:40 am
Best way to get a running back into open space is with a pulling guard blocking down on an LB> Like I just said we have NO GUARDS!
March 26th, 2014 at 9:41 am
Just please don’t run the Benn’d around with him…..
March 26th, 2014 at 9:54 am
you can’t fault a guy for chasing the olympic dream but I want pure football players not part timers. My reasoning is that track athletes especially sprinters push every muscle to the edge. I think that translates to a tight football player that is always tweaking or nursing some muscle strain. if he can stay healthy and maintain that speed it can’t hurt.
March 26th, 2014 at 9:55 am
He may be fast but he’s soft. The first time he takes a big hit he’ll be back on the shelf. He says that he’s a football player but for what I’ve seen so far, it’s just long enough to collect a paycheck. Why do you think Belicheat got rid of him? The coach who is known for taking on hard case projects.
March 26th, 2014 at 10:06 am
It is definitely off season if I am desperate enough to be sitting here reading a story about a part time, given away, prefers to run track, football player
March 26th, 2014 at 10:31 am
If he doesn’t get hurt I can imagine a few 60+yard bubble screen tds
March 26th, 2014 at 10:45 am
I like Demps, he wasn’t soft in college! That being said, I’ll believe it when I see it at the pro level. Lovie was giving a great political BS coach-speak answer, like all coaches do. I wish people didn’t try to read to much into everything coaches/players say re: our offense, our player evaluations, or controversial ropics ect.
March 26th, 2014 at 10:54 am
any news on Doug Martin? i’m sure he’ll be featured if healthy, but it seems like nobody has spoken to him or inquired about him this offseason.
March 26th, 2014 at 11:01 am
Demps could be a good fit for the new offense. He might be a project but he has speed and you can’t teach speed.
March 26th, 2014 at 11:17 am
Demps is a cheap (potential) luxury to have on the team. Yes, some would argue that they want “full-time” football guys, but I think Demps training for track will guarantee him coming on the team in better shape than most players. They can manage to use him in all kinds of ways regardless of him being at all the mini-camps, etc. If you take out the pass blocking and blitz pick up responsibilities, the RB and WR positions are not that complicated. a route tree is a route tree at any level.
March 26th, 2014 at 12:43 pm
Demps is not soft (Dexter Jackson pt. II is an example of soft), he has just been prone to injury early in his career, ie. Cadillac Williams. His injuries have been nothing he won’t be able to bounce back from without keeping his blazing speed. No reason to cut him just yet, he can be a potential 5-15 touches a game type player who the defense has to scheme for whenever he is on the field.
Personally, I already have more faith in Tedford than I ever had in Sully/Schiano to maximize the potential of the players he has on the offense. He was able to push the envelope with the way he ran offenses in college without gimmicks and I expect that to translate to the NFL pretty well. They just need to use some late round picks to grab a couple RB/WR tweeners (Think Dexter McCluster type) and cause all kinds of confusion for defenses around the league.
March 26th, 2014 at 1:56 pm
Jeff Demps is a baller… Just waiting for someone to actually give him the ball. He’s got good hands, great vision and some pretty nifty moves in the open field. He’s a no brainer as a kick returned imo, and could be used on offense if not just as a decoy. Then the second defenses ignore him he’ll be blazing toward the end zone.
nothing was more fun to watch than Demps/Rainey back in the day… I expect Demps to make the most of his opportunities if they’re actually given.
March 26th, 2014 at 3:25 pm
bigpoppa(I never thought I’d utter those words to another person!!!)- I’m not sold on Demps. He’s got no tape in the NFL and was injured on like the third play the Bucs used him on. IF he can help the Bucs, I’m all for it. I have to see it to believe it first.
March 26th, 2014 at 5:18 pm
Speaking of speed, I’ll be interested to hear what Lovie has to say about M. Smith after he has him on the field for awhile.
March 26th, 2014 at 11:54 pm
I have watched Demps grind it out between the tackles in college and there is nothing soft about him. While McCoy was hurt two seasons in a row no Buc fan would call him soft! Demps can not only be used for speed in space as a RB, he can play like Sproles did for the Saints, he can play the slot catching passes and can turn it up and outrun the entire defensive backfield like Wallace for Miami, can help the run by his home run threat keeping teams from loading the box, and can return punts or kicks for special teams, and can really make the end around really dangerous for the defense. Lovie will be very happy with Demps this season!!! It will give DC’s nightmares trying just to prepare for him.
March 29th, 2014 at 3:49 pm
I hope he does well. We’ll see.