Da’Quan Bowers “In Best Shape Of His Life”
July 28th, 2014
Bucs GM Jason Licht told Tom Krasniqi and Ronnie Lane of WDAE-AM 620 that DE Da’Quan Bowers was in the best shape of his life.
Not quite a week ago, Bucs general manager Jason Licht made waves when he bluntly stated in a townhall meeting with Joe’s good friend “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig, live from the Tampa Clear Channel headquarters, that fourth-year and under-performing defensive end Da’Quan Bowers had to “prove” he wanted to be on the team.
It seemed clear that the gauntlet had been thrown down. Bowers had to either fish of cut bait, that Bowers’ Tampa Bay days had come to a T-intersection.
Over the weekend, speaking live with WDAE’s Tom Krasniqi and Ronnie Lane, Licht hinted his words on Bowers may have been premature. Indeed, it seemed Bowers had gotten the message when he was publicly called out by his position coach Joe Cullen for being out of shape — in June!
“Kind of funny,” Licht said. “The other night when I was in your studio and I told the fans that we need to see Da’Quan prove it. I came back to the [Bucs’] facility and someone told me they saw Da’Quan and that he was in the best shape of his life. So far, he does show that he does want to be here.”
Now Joe has to admit he hasn’t been monitoring Bowers too much in practice. Sunday, Joe got a taste of both the bad Bowers and the good Bowers on successive plays.
In line drills, Bowers went up against tackle Matt Patchan, who absolutely manhandled Bowers, jamming him at the line with his hands to the upper chest, throwing Bowers off balance and owning him. On the next play, Bowers blew by Patchan as if the tackle were a mailbox. There was also Bowers getting manhandled by a tackling dummy.
As the stat geeks might say, that’s an awful small sample size.
Lovie Smith noted yesterday that he will only keep seven defensive linemen active on gamedays. So, if a reserve lineman can play both end and inside, he will have an inside shot of being active.
Bowers, along with Will Gholston, both fit this category.
Also in Licht’s appearance on WDAE-AM 620 Saturday, he noted that defensive end Adrian Clayborn has done nothing thus far for him “not to be a starter” come the opening game against the Stinking Panthers.
July 28th, 2014 at 6:34 am
Id take Gholston over Bowers personally
July 28th, 2014 at 6:37 am
Unfortunately, defensive end Adrian Clayborn has done nothing thus far for him “ To Be A Starter”
July 28th, 2014 at 7:12 am
Coach talk. I’ve written him off already. Any positive contribution from him will be a pleasant surprise.
July 28th, 2014 at 7:13 am
Dairy Queen Bowers……still fell over the tacking dummy per Joe.
July 28th, 2014 at 7:53 am
Ah. Good. I was on vacation and came back to a heaping taste of the buc realist. Always positive. Such a fan
July 28th, 2014 at 7:57 am
Can we convert him to guard?
July 28th, 2014 at 8:28 am
Other than Michael Johnson no other defensive end is end the same category as Adrian Clayborn if you can’t see that maybe you need a better bigger TV or thicker glasses. If you were to describe the other ends the only word you could use is potential which is why it’s a race to see who his backup will be.
On a personal note that’s a horrible headline for an article, it’s like bragging about being a good father and taking care of your family…. Your supposed and your supposed to be in shape. Blowing by some no name guy who can’t start for our team isn’t impressive at all
July 28th, 2014 at 8:33 am
TBR, all Clayborn has to do is be better than the guys behind him & from what I at practice yesterday, I’d say it’s a toss up between Gholston & Clayborn. Also, Chaz Sutton looks like our flashiest DE. Damn, that guy has some serious burst around the RT. Looks like we’ll have a healthy rotation of those 3 guys at LE. Bowers may be able to get in rotation somewhere along the line, but Idk… To be honest, Chaz Sutton looks more impressive than any film I saw on his boy Clowney. Weird.
July 28th, 2014 at 8:34 am
Typo *from what I saw at practice yesterday..
July 28th, 2014 at 8:38 am
Now that he came to camp in shape, and supposedly healthy too, we will be able to give him an honest evaluation. He also has some interesting competition to beat out with Means, Sutton and Gholston in the mix.
The impatience with Bowers is most understandable, but think of the upside if he can actually play well. The best way to get the new defense starting strong is to have a ferocious pass rush and give the back seven some time to get the coverage figured out. Bowers might help.
I’ll be in full support of any player who can help us earn some respect again and hope some of you cats do the same. The Bucs have been irrelevant far too long.
One more 4-12 goatcluck of a season and both AA and anger management counseling will be on speed dial.
July 28th, 2014 at 8:46 am
Joe
Make them both OGs and see what hapens, they would have an attitude.
July 28th, 2014 at 9:54 am
I get the feeling that Lovie will end up dressing 8 lineman instead of 7. Lot of talent there especially if Means steps up big in camp.
July 28th, 2014 at 11:29 am
Kevin Says
“Id take Gholston over Bowers personally”
As would I.
I never liked the pick of Bowers. He has no real upside. We are ‘hoping’ he will become a good backup?
To me, we should be looking for backups who might become good starters down the road.
That’s how I see the difference here.
July 28th, 2014 at 11:36 am
The_Buc_Realist Says
“Unfortunately, defensive end Adrian Clayborn has done nothing thus far for him “ To Be A Starter”
That is a complete lie.
His first year he had 7.5 sacks.
His second year he only played 3 games due to injury.
His third (last) year he had 5.5 sacks while returning from that injury.
This is only his 4th year. You know…the year players like him usually take a huge step. Keep in mind, according to you the coaching was horrible last year.
So even with horrible coaching and horrible play calling (and outlandish stunts) he managed those 5.5 sacks.
Unlike Bowers who has averaged 1.8 sacks per season.
I predict Bowers will not even make the team, unless Gholston suffers an injury. Heck, I would take Means over Bowers.
July 28th, 2014 at 11:44 am
@The_Buc_Realist
Also, keep in mind that Gerald McCoy only had 5.0 sacks in his third year.
Heck, Clayborn has more total sacks in his three years than McCoy did in his first three years, by a good margin. McCoy had 9. Clayborn has 13.
So before you say Clayborn is no good, maybe you should do a little research.
Total Tackles for the same first three years?
McCoy 55. Clayborn 73.
Both had injuries to contend with, both played 35 games in that time span.
July 28th, 2014 at 11:47 am
And I am not saying Clayborn is better than McCoy. Two different animals. I am saying you wouldn’t recognize a starter if you ordered it in a parts store.
July 28th, 2014 at 12:49 pm
Bowers came in as a second round with Claiborn, if he can’t beat out inexperienced roomies after all this time then it’s a waste of a roster spot. Were gonna keep this just just because it’s hot? Lol he’s josh Freeman until he process he cares about football
July 28th, 2014 at 1:45 pm
Bowers is the next carl nicks/myron lewis..Can we say BUST
July 28th, 2014 at 7:01 pm
Nicks was not a bust, dummy.