Drafting A Safety Will Mean Sabby Benched
January 12th, 2010
Sabby the Goat is crossing his paws hoping Mark Dominik doesn't draft Tennessee safety Eric Berry.
Just about any sober Bucs fan — and many a drunk Bucs fan — could tell the absolute weakest hole in the Bucs defense was strong safety.
Sabby the Goat, game after game, racked up mostly mistackles and was burned so bad so often he was in dire need of a stick of butter to go along with that toast.
So it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that the Bucs may very well draft a safety high in this spring’s NFL draft.
If that is the case, Sabby the Goat will very well become acquainted to the bench again, so writes eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune.
Q: I’m hoping the Bucs get the chance to take a DT (Suh or McCoy) with their 3rd pick and not have to trade up. I remember the 1995 draft, when they rebuilt their defense almost immediately. Wouldn’t it make sense to take whatever DT is available with the third pick? My real question is whether they could trade with someone to take a shot at a USC’s Taylor Mays? Either that or take Tennessee’s Eric Berry with the third and trade for another DT?
Matt Berry, Toronto, Ont.
A: Mays or Berry would certainly bolster the safety position and likely land Sabby Piscitelli on the bench, but safeties rarely go that high in the draft. The draft comes almost two months after free agency starts, so the Bucs will know their situation at DT heading into late April. All indications are that either Suh or McCoy will be wearing a pewter jersey this fall.
— Ira Kaufman
If the Bucs are to improve on their 3-13 record in 2010, Sabby the Goat cannot be in the starting lineup.
January 12th, 2010 at 9:18 am
The bucs desperately need a DT…..the 2 best players in this draft are DT’s…….so of course the Bucs are picking third. :sigh:
I’ve become resigned to the fact that Suh and McCoy are gonna be gone when the Bucs pick….so where do we go?
Personally, I’m leaning towards McClain (see ya Ruud), or Okung (see ya Trueblood).
January 12th, 2010 at 9:22 am
First Joe was stuck on Freeman, should not start this year, learn on the bench (from Leftwich), no reason to start him, it will be a disaster, he will ruined, he will be Ryan Leafed…blah, blah, blah.
Must be over 200 archived articles with these statements.
Now its Sabby, Sabby, Sabby…with the same silly goat picture.
Joe you get fixated to easily. I’m sure everyone saw the issues, in his first full year starting.
A safety at # 3 overall…unless its a sure shut down corner a DB that high is to high.
But go on keep baning the anti-Sabby drum, but get new material now and then.
January 12th, 2010 at 9:23 am
I’m sorry should have said banging the anti-Sabby drum.
January 12th, 2010 at 9:46 am
You are wrong Joe. The worst hole in the Bucs D was DT. The second worst hole was THE OTHER DT. Then SS.
We need to draft one of the two DTs, if possible. If they are gone at #1 and #2, then we should grab Berry.
We should just thank our lucky stars that the top three prospects in the draft happen to be at our two biggest positions of need.
January 12th, 2010 at 9:47 am
Pete:
Sabby the Goat has not given Joe — or any Bucs fan — confidence in his play to become his personal Rachel Watson.
January 12th, 2010 at 9:51 am
Jermaine Phillips is going to come back with a vengeance, he’s going to choke out the opposing defenses next season. SS position is fine.
January 12th, 2010 at 10:23 am
Aquib swinging helmets, punching cabbies; Tennard suspended for drug violations, Flip chocking his wife and Sabby can’t play. BTW who was their position coach for a number of years? Way to groom them Rah!
January 12th, 2010 at 10:37 am
With the depth at DT and S in the draft, trading down from 3 (if Suh & McCoy are gone) would give the team a chance to add more players who could have an impact. Curious to see how it all plays out.
January 12th, 2010 at 11:03 am
Im not going to make excuses for Sabby. But he’s still young and if we had even an average D-line it would have taken a lot of pressure off of the LB’s and the secondary. Maybe he would have had a better year maybe not. But to say he is the biggest hole on the team is a stretch. He isn’t the reason they were gashed for the most rushing yards of any team in the league.
But I still love the goat picture.
January 12th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Our nose tackles are fine. Miller looks to be a starting nose tackle and Hovan/Sims are actually both great deoth for nose tackle. The problem is we don’t have a three technique DT, so we have been using our three nose tackles to fill that spot. All three of them have shown they cannot play the three technique role. This doesn’t mean they aren’t solid nose tackles. Two totally different positions. So DT isn’t really our weakest link….strong safety is.
There are 8 highly rated DTs in this draft, unfortunetly for us, only three of them are three technique DTs. Suh, McCoy, and Brian Price. All three are suppose to go in the top 15 picks. We absolutely need to get one of these guys or our defense will continue to struggle next year. Without a real 3 tech DT in the middle, our defense will continue to struggle next year no matter what we do at other positions. A dominant 3 tech DT is required for the Tampa Two to be effective. Period.
Sabby is horrible. A 2nd round pick in his 3rd year should not need to be “fixed” in the offseason. He is either a backup or a bust…not a starter. Problem is Eric Berry is too small to be an effective Tampa Two strong safety. He’d make a great free safety, but we already have a great free safety. Berry would be a horrible pick for us imo.
There are a million possible scenerios right now, but the bottom line is we need to draft one of the top three DTs in this draft, we need to get a reciever with one of our first 3 picks, and we need a strong safety in the 3rd round. If we accomplish those three things, this offseason will be a success. If use our other 2nd round pick to trade for a top player, or draft a starter…that’s just icing on the cake. Any free agents signed will be icing on the cake.
January 12th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
For any article related to Sabby the Goat, it should be titled Sabby the Goat.
Just a thought
January 12th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Does eye-RAH! know something about a new 3rd jersey for the upcoming season? I didn’t know we were getting pewter jerseys!
January 12th, 2010 at 5:17 pm
Huh? What are you refering to Slappy? I been wishing for a uniform overall for years now. A uniform that is based more on Pewter and black would be great!
January 12th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Oh….nvm. I see what you were refering to. Drats!