Da’Quan Bowers = Reggie White

August 4th, 2011

Finally. Finally! Joe has figured out who defensive line coach Keith Millard reminds him of. It’s Jesse “The Body” Ventura.

The man’s coachspeak sounds like Ventura talking to Mean Gene Okerlund circa 1985 on WOR-TV. Ahhh, Joe longs for his teen years. The invigorating, inspiring voice resurrecting the Bucs’ D-line sat down for an interview Thursday with the Ron and Ian Show on WDAE-AM 620 and rapid-fired takes on his students.

So what does Millard, a former All-Pro manbeast of defensive tackle himself, think of Da’Quan Bowers?

“Oh, man. He’s a brute. You remember Reggie [White]. That’s what I think of when I think of him. Big strong 285-pound guy, 16 [percent] body fat. Unbelievable explosion out of his stance,” Millard said. “When he gets in his stance we call him hidden dragon crouching tiger. I mean he is down there low. Just got to clean up his technique and his lines a little bit, how he’s gettin’ off and staying on his lines. You know, getting him to use a little more footwork.

“He likes to go right down the middle of people. He likes to blow people up. You gotta have a little bit of changeup in there. You know what I’m talking about Ian. But he’s coming along great. We’re trying to get him healthy at the same time, you know, so we’re a little bit slower on bringing him along as far as the technique and things of that nature.

“We’re making sure he’s assignment sound. But we don’t want to push hin too much and not be able to have him for the season. We want him for the season.”

Reggie White? That’s the highest of high comparisons. Of course, Joe knows Bowers has yet to play a down, but Joe got fired up hearing Millard spit that out as only he can.

A little scary that Millard doesn’t consider Bowers healthy, but we’ll all know the truth soon enough. Nonetheless, Joe’s excited to see the guy who is a massive X factor for the Bucs this season.

For those unfamiliar with Jesse Ventura, also a former Bucs radio man, here’s a clip below:

 

26 Responses to “Da’Quan Bowers = Reggie White”

  1. Mauha Deeb Says:

    I hope Bowers is 3/4 of Reggie White. He would be an absolute stud.
    Jesse on the other hand…. Oh boy. “Is it coincidence? Or is it….. Conspiracy Theory”

  2. Brandon Says:

    I’ve said before that Bowers most reminds me of White. But even pre-injury he didn’t quite have Reggie’s pure speed or quite the brute force. But body-wise, playing style, athletically, he does remind one of Reggie White. White was about 2 inches taller and probably a good deal faster (Reggie was reported to run 4.6 at 285 while Bowers, even when fully healthy was estimated to run 4.75).

    If he can get/keep his knees healthy, he will be a very good player for us. Of course the other player that Bowers reminds me of is Andre Wadsworth… who had a ton of promise but had his career wreecked by bad knees.

  3. NJBucFan Says:

    Bowers will be a beast…

    Joe/Anyone else. Any chance we look into getting Mays from the 49ers? The mailbombed the league saying he is on the trade block….thoughts?

  4. SteveK Says:

    I hope Bowers has a “Ndmakong Suh” type rookie campaign.

    I am excited about Clayborn too. They say he is a natural born killer.

  5. USMC-BUC Says:

    With Josh’s development all we need this D-line do is post middle of the road sack and run defense number to be a contender. If any of our D linemen become anything Reggie White esk we will be looking at a dynasty.

  6. BOb Says:

    went to training camp yesterday and was a little surprised to see that clayborn is bigger than bowers. figured they would be pretty much exactly the same but it seemed like clayborn dwarfed bowers. not that bowers is small but clay is a BIG dude.

  7. SteveK Says:

    Price Is going to play this year too! He is going to be a disruption.

  8. RustyRhino Says:

    @ Joe,
    What year was Jessy Ventura was a Buccaneer Radio man? Navy Seal, Governor, now TV show host. But I don’t remember him as a Radio man for us, Would love to hear some of that!!!

  9. Oahubuc Says:

    @Rusty: It was 89 or 90, and it was awesome (I thought so anyway- I was just a kid).

  10. Oahubuc Says:

    On there with Deckerhoff. How in **** do you beat that??

  11. barton1017 Says:

    i pray that Bowers is healthy all of his career, Reggie is the best DE ever! if Bowers can use that “log (as he calls it) on his shoulders” in the right way he could go down as one of the best! BUC IT IM OUT!!!!!!!

  12. McBuc Says:

    I remember Jessie being the color guy fir the bucs radio…back then we has to listen to th radio…He was awesome!

  13. McBuc Says:

    OK, from that last post you can tel I have been out drinking…But you know what I meant..

  14. barton1017 Says:

    @ McBuc
    its cool, we have alota reasons to drink & be happy, were Bucs fans!!! BUC IT IM OUT!!!

  15. Joe Says:

    NJBucFan:

    Joe/Anyone else. Any chance we look into getting Mays from the 49ers?

    Why on earth would you want this guy? Big contract and he’s a stiff. The Bucs have better backups in the secondary at far less salary. Rotten teams don’t try unload decent players.

  16. Joe Says:

    RustyRhino:

    Long time ago, with Al Keck.

  17. BigMacAttack Says:

    I always like Bruce Smith from Buffalo. I haven’t seen any practices, too busy but I want to go Saturday night. I was pleasantly surprised to hear Old School say that Kyle Moore looked very good in pads. That would be really awesome. This is the second time I’ve heard someone say how big Clayborn is, and I heard GMC looks more fit as well. Sounds as if things are shaping up.

  18. Dan Says:

    Joe!
    i must say im a little thrown off by the lack of picture to acocmpany the article under the header (i kept reloading thinking my browser forgot it or something) hahaha

    great article

  19. Mauha Deeb Says:

    @Dan there is a picture of Bowers under the header. Must be something with your flash settings….. if that is what Joe uses.

  20. Fear The Glo Says:

    Im really fired up about Bowers. I figure he’s kind of a freebie from the draft. If he works out great, if he doesn’t it was still worth taking a shot.

    Our d-line has the potential to be better than the Sapp/Rice combo. We have really talented guys at all 4 positions. They could be scary for a very long time but for now its only potential.

  21. Patrick Says:

    Even though Bowers was a risky pick, I’m very excited about him as well. He was the most talented DE in the draft and if his health turns out to be good, then we just got a steal. Could be just like LeGarrette Blount and Mike Williams. They were top talents or near-top talents but fell due to various reasons. And look how they performed last year. Could very easily be the same with Bowers.

  22. Scotty in Fat Antonio Says:

    Don’t mean to be a pessimist here but…shouldnt we wait on making these kind of comments/comparisons AFTER Bowers and Clayborn perform in at least ONE football game…if not a 16+ game season?

  23. NJBucFan Says:

    @Joe

    Taylor Mays’ contract doesn’t hit over $500k until 2013. He’s young and is a big hitter. Coach Raheem can teach the coverage aspect. Why not take a chance with a 6th or 7th round pick? You never know with T-Jax…he’s one bong hit from being out of the league.

  24. jb Says:

    Anyone think Taylor Mays could be turned into a Linebacker? Remember he is 6-3 and 230 lbs. I would love to see him play weakside with Geno and watch him fly around and smash some people.

  25. BigMacAttack Says:

    Did Taylor Mays suddenly become a available? I thought he was under contract and would it not take a fairly high pick via trade for him. I don’t know, just asking because this is the first I have heard mention of him. Interesting concept though.

  26. 1BUCFAN Says:

    I called Mays the bust in waiting during that draft and it has came true. If a bad team like the 49ers are begging to dump you, and it definitely is not because of your low salary, you just suck! He has no hips for playing at this level. Yes he will hit if the play is directly in front of him, but if he has to flip his hips to get to position you can forget about him getting there. Please drop the thought of this bust coming here. I agree that our backups can outplay him.