Roster Changes Will Demonstrate Progress
August 2nd, 2010
Gerald McCoy is just one example of a changing roster for the Bucs.
Joe came across an interesting column that was recently typed by the Tampa Bay area’s sports voice of reason, Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune.
There were many elements of the column that Joe could cite, but the general gist of the column is that changes for the Bucs are good and needed for the team to improve.
In short, Henderson believes that, short of wins this season, a roster overhaul will demonstrate positive progression for the Bucs.
Times are changing. Faces are changing. Now the Bucs need to show that things have changed sufficiently from last year. That includes solid growth by Freeman as a starting quarterback and dramatically improved play on the defensive line.
Would six wins be a positive enough result for now? Seven? Eight?
That judgment belongs to the people who buy the tickets. If they decide the Bucs are building something sustainable and competitive, a team the city can once again embrace, they might start coming back to Ray-Jay.
Henderson also writes what Joe and most reasoned fans should expect this year: Growing pains. Bunches of them. As great as defensive tackle Brian Price has looked for the Bucs in practice, he’s still a rookie and the Bucs are banking on a lot of rookies to succeed this season.
That’s a dangerous expectation for any team wanting more W’s at the end of the year than L’s. But it very likely will mean good things down the road.
August 2nd, 2010 at 9:18 am
All true, but to me the biggest question mark is Coach Raheem Morris. Is he the man to lead us to greener pastures? We need to see improvement on both offensive and defensive systems. Young players may make mistakes, but we need evidence that the schemes are sound. Also need to see that the young players are progressing- as in, recieving good coaching! If we can see these things are being accomplished, the he’s doing his job. On the other hand, if we are still giving up long conpletions every game, and the team looks confused/unprepared, then our house cleaning may still not be done, and we will need to be shopping for a new coach or two! Still alot of questions.
August 2nd, 2010 at 9:31 am
Well said Capt.
Last year, I expected mistakes to be made, by both the players and the staff. Obviously, that was true and it was a disappointing season. This year though, we need to see that there is improvement. That the players are “getting it”. That the schemes in place are working.
There are still a lot of rookies, and W’s may be difficult to come by still, but if they’re coming together and making progress, keeping things close except for the occasional rookie mistake, then I think we’re headed in the right direction.
If we’re still seeing many of the same things we saw last year, the coaching staff must be looked at.
August 2nd, 2010 at 9:51 am
People keep saying Morris is the question.
The answer is: give him more than one year in the job and some better talent and we’ll find out.
Stop worrying Bucs fans, and enjoy your team in 2010; the roster is stocked, the coaching staff are in their offices. Nothing is likely to change in the next few weeks. Enjoy what you have.
August 2nd, 2010 at 9:54 am
Roster could have been a hell of a lot better.
August 2nd, 2010 at 9:54 am
I am pretty excited for this year, I love the young talent and cant wait to see it grow into a continued playoff winner
August 2nd, 2010 at 10:04 am
eric,
You keep saying that as if it would be SOOOOO easy to just go out and get every player out there and bring them to Tampa. Once again, we don’t know what went on behind closed doors, and that means we don’t know if the Bucs made any attempt to get those guys you keep bringing up (Marshall, Boldin, etc). They may have made offers, but either got beat out on their bid (it did require a trade, maybe the other teams just offered more) or it is also possible they didn’t make offers because they talked to the players and the players didn’t want to play here. Maybe they wanted to play for “a contender”. I was around when Bo Jackson said he wouldn’t play for us, we drafted him anyway, and we never saw anything good come from that. John Elway said he’d never play for the Colts, so they traded him immediately to the Broncos, but if they’d kept him they wouldn’t see anything from it. It’s possible the team got the feeling the players didn’t want to come here, and decided to take another approach.
It’s not as easy as you make it sound to get those players. It’s not like this offseason was overloaded with free agent talent (one of the worst years for FA ever, actually). Most players that moved were via trade, not FA signing. I don’t think the team would publicly state they made a play for someone like Marshall and lost out because he didn’t want to play here, they’d keep it quiet, behind the scenes.
If it were that simple to obtain any and every available player out there, because it’s an uncapped year, the Dallas Cowboys would have a roster so stacked with talent it would be ridiculous. It’s not like Jerry Jones is afraid to spend money.
August 2nd, 2010 at 10:33 am
Bambam,
To the contrary I think the offseason presented numerous golden opportunities to significantly upgrade the team for the short and long term.
Your Marshall speculation is interesting, but unsupported. Bucs were in better position to get him than Miami. After all he is from Winter Park, and the bucs had more valued picks to offer.
I am aware you cannot get every player, and have not advocated that.
I suppose my opinion is contrary to the conventional wisdom that the bucs properly re-stocked their roster. I dissagree in that they did that in the draft (or attempted to), but I think they left a lot on the table that could have made a huge difference.
IMO it is fair to assess what they did, and also what they could have done. Unlike many, I am unwiling to grant a pass for what they could have done.
All speculation at this point, we shall see.
August 2nd, 2010 at 10:56 am
Eric all it comes down to is was Marshall worth losing out on Benn and Price? We shall see. Everythings gravy right now MIA, and lets not forget his history off the field. Combine that with being on south beach, you never know.
As you said, we shall see and hopefully it puts an end to your incessant whining after its clear Price and Benn are beasts.
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:01 am
Gary,
But I like incessant whining!
I have been getting paid well for it for years!
🙂
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:22 am
The thing Eric never takes into consideration- an unrestricted Free agent can choose where he goes, or doesn’t go! Most players are smart enough to go to a team that is in the “contender phase”. When we were making our SuperBowl run, we had the pick of the crop. Every great free agent looks for Playoff teams- more money for post season play! They won’t go waste 2 years if their prime on a rebuilding team. It would cost them money! Plus, they can pick a team that’s winning now! The only way to “influence” them otherwise is to overpay them- Albert Haynesworth style! How’d that work out! Or meybe FAs will come here due to the fabric Fan base!! Who won’t wanna play for a team that has fans like Eric writing about you everyday! That’s gotta be a factor! Lol
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:26 am
Eric- incessant whining. Yeah , so do most wives. Doesn’t make em football experts
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:32 am
Eric: Unlike many, I am unwiling to grant a pass for what they could have done.
You are assuming that certain things “could be done”. That’s not necessarily the case. Once again, we don’t know the details. Unless you have the front office bugged, nobody but them know what was or was not offered to anyone. It was stated last year that the Bucs actually offered “more” for Fat Albert than the Skins, but he chose them (Thank goodness!!!). It is also possible that the Bucs would have offered more to teams in trade, that the team may have been more willing to trade with us, but the player told the Bucs they wouldn’t play or would hold out or….
What could have been done is all speculative, similar to predictions of what is to come this season. Even I would have loved to see more done in the offseason, but I also have to speculate that they did what they could and didn’t publicize what they couldn’t. I mean really, do you think they’d appease unhappy fans by saying “We tried to sign him, but couldn’t get the deal done”? or is it just best to “let it go, and keep your mouth shut”.
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:41 am
Just Fire Raheem Morris already.
August 2nd, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Great idea, Javier. We all saw how great that worked with our coordinators last year. Let’s see how much better it will work with the head coach a month before the season starts. Oh yeah, he’s also the DC, so we’d be replacing HC and DC a month before the season. If they do that, I’d really believe the ownership is intentionally running this ship into the ground to move the team…..
Get used to it, Raheem Morris is our head coach this year. You don’t have to like it, but get used to it.
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Javier,
Just fire yourself off this site for making stupid comments. The hater club is already full and is no longer accepting new members.
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Eric is the king of fantasy football. We get Marshall this year, we lose Price — who is all the rage right now — and a shot at another Price (or Brooks) next year. Eric hates that key fact because he loves the Gruden/Allen approach, which he will say equalled a Super Bowl, but others might counter equalled a sub .500 record thereafter. Eric does not agree with that last part because in his mind there was no 4 win and 5 win season under Gruden and by no means were the Bucs sub .500 under Gruden.
Strange to watch a person in denial about what led the Bucs to this spot. Eric, if the Bucs drafting was to continue to be as atrocious as it was under Gruden/Allen (how many Pro Bowl palyers drafted in 7 years? Heck, ho many premium picks still on team?) then maybe you give up the picks, but the process, at a minimum, is very different (witness Price a pick that many said was wrong) and the results will likely be too (hard to do worse).