Another Andy Reid Endorsement?
August 22nd, 2014
When the Chiefs arrived to start the 2014 season this spring, Kansas City boss Andy Reid blessed new Bucs guard Rishaw Johnson as the man who would get first crack at starting right guard.
That’s what happens after you play well as a starter in the 2013 finale, and perform in a playoff game.
So what went wrong for Johnson in Kansas City?
Primarily, it seems the Chiefs struck gold with their sixth-round draft pick in May, University of Tennessee guard Zach Fulton, who is the current starting right guard. (Damn, the Bucs used to two fifth-round picks on offensive linemen.) Johnson’s stock slowly lowered, and he ran with the Chiefs third team a bit in training camp before the Bucs traded backup safety Kelcie McCray for him yesterday.
Johnson, 25, also bounced between the Seahawks practice squad and active roster in 2012, after being undrafted. So that would make two renowned head coaches who saw promise in him. Lovie Smith would make three.
Forget about the messy starting offensive line seen in preseason, the Bucs’ depth at O-line has been at least as troubling.
Jason Licht and Lovie may have found a hidden gem in Johnson, but at the very least they found a young guy with game experience who wasn’t sitting on the couch.
Lovie made it clear how important the endorsement of Andy Reid was to him when it came to hiring Licht. So perhaps Johnson came with the same blessing.
August 22nd, 2014 at 9:07 am
Don’t think it will be hard for him to beat out oniel cousins. That guy is terrible. Meredith got kicked to curb and cousins played just as bad. He must have some damaging photos on one of the coaches.
August 22nd, 2014 at 9:12 am
Bird, I keep thinking that as well. Warhop is sort of staking his early Bucs reputation on this guy. Makes me wonder what kind of O-line coach we have if this is his idea of talent?
On Rishaw, no risk trades are awesome. We’ve got nothing to lose and neither does he. I sincerely hope his play at the end of 2013 was what he’s really all about. He was very capable on the field, with an admittedly small sample size.
August 22nd, 2014 at 9:13 am
I get the feeling they’ll be playing musical chairs on the o line for at least the first half of the season. Good thing our D is going to get us an automatic ten wins.
August 22nd, 2014 at 9:15 am
L & L are executing their plan. All is right on track. They were not oblivious to the o-line deficiency of quality players. They have being in the league long enough to create a plan and not go panicking because of a bad game at the o-line.
That is why we are behind the computer devices and Lovie & Light are at One Bucs Palace. I believe they have the same interest for our beloved Buccaneers as we do. But lets face it they qualify for their jobs and we have the freedom of speech whether through our voice or fingers.
You got to love this experience compare to whatever you want to call last year. For me , it was a NIGHTMARE!
August 22nd, 2014 at 9:43 am
He’s pretty much been a RG in the pros. So here is to betting Omam shifts to LG.
August 22nd, 2014 at 9:44 am
Bless the beasts, the children and the third-stringers from KC….
August 22nd, 2014 at 9:45 am
He looks like Steven Jackson’s meaner and bigger (100 pounds) brother.
August 22nd, 2014 at 9:51 am
Remember, Penn was found on a practice squad. You never know…..
August 22nd, 2014 at 9:53 am
This guy is a good Guard.
With him and Patrick, our Guard situation has greatly improved.
Now the line just needs continuity, but we finally have some players to form a line.
Well done, L&L.
Well done
And like the other Two young guys they picked up.
Don’t draft them. Steal’em, after they get a year or two in the league!
August 22nd, 2014 at 9:54 am
Solid pick up.
August 22nd, 2014 at 10:00 am
good pick up
glad they did not throw a ransome at boone. anytime it’s jut about the money it’s a bad deal.
wish the would bring in incognito
they still could be playing hardball by signing camp meat/ruse to get boone
it really looks like they’re trying to build within with cast off’s that may be mobile. gone are the days of huge, hamburger carl nicks guys?
August 22nd, 2014 at 10:01 am
Steven Jackson’s big brother? Nah, more like Rosie O’Donnell’s little sister!
August 22nd, 2014 at 10:06 am
This trade, along with a lot of other offseason moves the new regime has made, leads me to believe Licht is the anti-Dominick. Whereas Dominick seemed to panic and go with star power trades and FA pickups （Winslow, VJax, Goldson, Nicks, freaking Revis）to alleviate any emergency mode deficiencies on the roster （hence his Rock Star monicker）, Licht prefers to go with low-risk, high upside deals. That means there is no way in hell Boone makes his way to Tampa. Sure, he handed Johnson a big fat deal but it was a fair deal for a guy who wanted to play for Lovie on a team with zero pass rush. But this trade for a young third string offensive lineman with SOME experience may just pay off. And if it doesn’t who will miss Kelcie McCray?
August 22nd, 2014 at 10:07 am
This guy looks really mean…..lets hope he has really bad breath too….that way maybe the defense won’t want to get close to him!!!
August 22nd, 2014 at 10:19 am
He’s a mauler in the running game. Kinda reminded me of Davin Joseph a little bit. Good pickup.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvGv1LCxwl4
August 22nd, 2014 at 10:20 am
Right guard # 75
August 22nd, 2014 at 10:35 am
Guy looks like Greg Oden with dreads lol.
I hope he beats out Cousins, guy is TERRIBLE! Looks like Kadeem Edwards isn’t ready to play yet. This guy might just be the missing piece we need on the offensive line.
IN LOVIE I TRUST
August 22nd, 2014 at 10:39 am
Looks like Terry Crews with dreads
August 22nd, 2014 at 10:52 am
Lets no forget he was kicked off his college team for violating team rules. Can he be counted on?
August 22nd, 2014 at 11:12 am
@Jim_Walker
That was 6 years ago bro, can you think of anything you did as you’re 19 year old self that may be beneath/behind you as a 25 year old man? Bottom line is, we just found a player who’s got recent starting experience for a playoff team, none of our other guard candidates have that on their resumes.
August 22nd, 2014 at 11:37 am
This was a great move by us, giving up an expendable safety, for a guard we need.
Even if he don’t start, he is great insurance in case one of our starters goes down.
I hope he learns our offense real soon.
August 22nd, 2014 at 11:07 pm
Kadeem Edwards may have looked good on tape pushing kids backwards in AA ball, but in the NFL he looks like a swinging gate. Chiefs found their starting guard in the 6th round from the University of Tennessee. We picked a swinging gate from Tennessee State in the fifth round. Bucs continue their miserable record with late round picks. Did Licht clean house with the scouting staff, or keep them on?
August 23rd, 2014 at 9:41 am
Our line will hopefully be a little better than last year. We have had some bad linemen. I watched the Oakland/Green Bay game last night and Donald Penn was off the charts terrible for Oakland.
He looked like the worst player on the field. He was beaten repeatedly for sacks, TFL and was called for holding twice.
August 23rd, 2014 at 3:42 pm
All Edwards needs is strength training and he will be a starting quality guard. If we just pick up an experienced guard at cut down and then cut Cousins, we are going to be fine. I like Johnson!