Licht Troubles The Best Available Mob
April 14th, 2016
Bucs GM Jason Licht
A recent JoeBucsFan.com poll revealed 29.01 percent of readers here think the Bucs should draft the best available player regardless of position.
Joe can’t understand these people, and general manager Jason Licht isn’t one of them.
Thank goodness.
At his pre-draft news conference today, Licht very succinctly explained he “strives to pick players where best available and need intersect.”
Brilliant. Maybe someone should write a country song about that to straighten out the Best Available Mob.
Licht did, however, acknowledge that some teams trend toward drafting the best available player with each selection, and others go need.
In the meantime, Joe will repeat over and over again. The Bucs are not going to draft an offensive lineman in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Joe doesn’t care what helmet hard Mel Kiper and his BSPN friends say, or all the other draft gurus prognosticating the Bucs’ first-round approach.
April 14th, 2016 at 2:25 pm
Take the most explosive player in the draft at 9, Corey Coleman. Piss off alot of fans?
April 14th, 2016 at 2:28 pm
I think you want a happy medium. You shouldn’t draft best player available if you already have a Pro Bowl type player at that position, or at least a legitimate NFL starter for years to come. Problem is, when you draft strictly for need, you almost always reach. We go into the draft with our biggest needs being DE, CB, Safety, and WR (probably in that order). For example, if we aren’t 100% sold on a DE, CB, or safety and #9, then we should absolutely go WR (assuming we are sold on that WR). I personally wouldn’t draft OL, QB, DT, RB, or LB early, but every other position is up for grabs if the right guy is there. I’d rather have an all-pro WR drafted at #9 than a marginal DE, even though DE is a much bigger need.
April 14th, 2016 at 2:33 pm
Kiper lost all credibility with his mocks this year.
His rationale for the Bucs drafting an OL
” they drafted in the O-line heavily last year. No reason to think they wont do the same this year.”
Soooo- he looked at last years draft, saw multiple O-line, and figured theyrd Repeat!
April 14th, 2016 at 2:43 pm
I’d have zero problem with Ronnie Stanley if he’s available. Dotson and Cherrilous are not the long term answers.
April 14th, 2016 at 2:48 pm
This guy knows way more than I ever will about player evaluation. If he was that hamstrung by Lovie’s garbage scheme and inability to work with the talent given to him and Licht was still able to pull off the grand slam, I don’t have a single suggestion for him. I’m just going to put my faith in the process and look forward to the results.
April 14th, 2016 at 2:48 pm
We need a elite tight end Winston was very good at fsu with a good tight end..
April 14th, 2016 at 2:59 pm
@Hawaiian- That might be the smartest thing I’ve heard yet regarding the draft. Why draft Buckner, for instance, if a Treadwell is on the board? Heck, everybody’s favorite, Hargreaves vs Treadwell?
O-line is a luxury. Right now we’ve got 2 seasoned veterans who are more than capable and, even though they’re 30+, still have a few years left. Go into next years draft for OT, #9 is reaching IMO.
April 14th, 2016 at 3:16 pm
Helmet hard Mel Kiper? Did you mean, helmet HEAD?
April 14th, 2016 at 3:32 pm
I agree entirely with Hawaiian…..
But, I am sure there are disagreements on the level of need….For example…..what if you have the #2 CB available vs the #3 DE?…..we probably need DE more, but we need to be sure we get a sure thing with our pick.
What if the #1 WR is there but is a reach at #9?
I think the circumstances point to us trying to trade down a few spots if we find a partner…..there is obviously no consensus with fans and may not be with the Coaches/Scouts/GM.
Like the LA trade, there could be more surprises with the picks in front of us that may make our choice more clear.
April 14th, 2016 at 3:54 pm
I’m wit Joe on this one. And I’ll say it again does anyone have any info on whether Stanley would be interested in playing RT. When everyone knows the bigger pay are at LEFT TACKLE. Trust me that young man is thinking about left tackle dollas.
April 14th, 2016 at 4:07 pm
@hawaian, totally agree. IMHO why not get ot cb next year. I think we’re 2 good drafts away from being good. Def need de wr s. Cb or can wait. We’re a 6-7 win team next year probably.
April 14th, 2016 at 4:10 pm
Man – what if Cleveland panics and goes QB at #2? They love drafting QB’s and have done repeatedly over the years. That would push some “out of reach” players falling in our laps. IMO – their ins’t a QB worth #1 or #2 – or in the top 10. But teams tend to panic. I think the Rams just blew it. Watch Cleveland blow it again.
April 14th, 2016 at 4:21 pm
It is funny how the last 2 drafts went.
yr1:
team needs: qb, de, wr, CB, o lineman.
Positions drafted
WR need
Rb BPA
TE Bpa
O lineman needs depth
yr2:
Team needs: qb, de, CB, o lineman,
Qb need
OT need
OG borderline BPA
Lb BPA
So licht’s track record is not always filling needs. If he were filling needs he would have been drafting CBs and DEs the past 2 seasons. Those were dire needs the past 2 seasons. and he didn’t even draft one in the late rounds to just get a body on the practice field. That is why I don’t feel like he is a Need based GM. Like he said he uses a mixture. But leans heavily toward best player available. In the top 10, you have a wide variety of top end talent to choose from. You can pick a player based on need because all of those players are good. So ipwhen splitting hairs you fill a need. But if an o lineman is graded way higher than any other player on your board, then you take him. It would foolish not to. I’m not saying any o lineman is worthy of that consideration, but to say it would not happen is stupid. Especially after the first round.
April 14th, 2016 at 4:42 pm
THIS pick makes me imagine Jason Licht saying
“I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for an NFL career, I can tell you we have money, but you better be worth it. What I can offer is a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for we play against…”
April 14th, 2016 at 4:44 pm
There is no such thing as strictly BPA. It is a myth.
April 14th, 2016 at 4:46 pm
@Trubucfan22
He DID fill needs. Protect. The. Quarterback.
It just so happens that the team had too many needs to fully address in 2 years. So he focused on protecting the QB first.
For that, I give him props.
April 14th, 2016 at 4:50 pm
You draft based on your draft board needs are secondary. Injuries happen, suspensions happen…if you don’t like the bpa available move out of the spot if you can but drafting a lesser talent is not a great choice…
April 14th, 2016 at 4:53 pm
JTHV
Dont be surprised at all if they do take coleman.
April 14th, 2016 at 5:04 pm
Ha ha Bonzai! Sure to be Taken in the 1st round has to have the skill set we need
April 14th, 2016 at 5:12 pm
He filled some needs. But we have had dire needs for DEs and an elite CB for the past 2 years. He drafted 0 of either.
Did we need to draft Sims or ASJ in yr 1?
He did an amazing job last season and i agree with each pick he made. Winston was the most important piece of the puzzle, and the o line certainly needed to be improved. But he is hardly a Need based decision maker in the draft. He didnt reach for the guys just to fill a position of need. He selected players for their value at that time in the draft. If donovan smith isnt there when he selected him, there is no guarantee that Licht just picks the next best OT. That is how need based drafting works. And i don’t feel like licht is that kind of guy. He obviously knows the teams needs and tries to work the draft around filling those needs, but if a qb he has ranked really high falls to the 6th round, do you think he would pass on that QB? If the value is good enough, i would. And i would hope our GM would to.
April 14th, 2016 at 6:08 pm
Licht says its a combo of need and best player available. If you draft solely for need you draft like Dominik and pass over better players for reaches.
I’ve always stated its a balance. Don’t draft a QB in first if you have a pro bowler. But if the best player on your board is a WR don’t reach for the 6th best DE just cus you have Evans
April 14th, 2016 at 6:23 pm
When you look at the oline in dallas there is absolutley nothing wrong with continuing to build the o line. Sorry but BPA needs to at least be part of the equation otherwise you will look back year after year and say damn we actually passed on that guy???!!!
Draft the best players available and slwly but surely build a contender. Patience pays off
April 14th, 2016 at 6:34 pm
OK, Joe, if you’re so certain they won’t draft OT, what happens when they’re up to pick if they’re not that fond of Hargreaves, Ogbah, Spence and Ramsey and Buckner are gone? Rankins, Eli Apple? Are they going to overdraft a guy rather than pick an OT? I just don’t think you can guarantee that Joe. Seriously, I’m hoping there’s a DE or CB there that they’re in love with. The more I hear about Eli Apple, the better I like him, but is he a #9 pick? Rankins?
April 14th, 2016 at 6:47 pm
BPA has always been intersected with need when spoken of on JBF. So we are saying the BPA at a number of positions, obviously not RB, QB or even guard/center, which no one picks in the first round anyway. But if Myles Jack is there or Bosa or Stanley or Hargraves whomever they think not only fills a need this year but years to come.
April 14th, 2016 at 6:58 pm
It’ll either be a pass rusher or a wide reciever. The only exception to that would be if somebody like myles jack happens to fall to us some how.
April 14th, 2016 at 7:04 pm
If you have the choice between great player or average player then you better go great pkayer because average pkayer still won’t address your need but great player will solidity position
April 14th, 2016 at 7:25 pm
I hope Sheldon Rankins is available in round 2. The guy is a Warren Sapp type beast in the middle.
April 14th, 2016 at 7:43 pm
Joe I really hope you’re just being glib and not truly that naive.
Everyone who wants BPA also knows it should also align with a need. Nobody is saying for us to draft a QB. It’s not BPA regardless of position, it’s exactly what Jason Licht said. The best player that aligns with a need. Not reaching for a need when the value isn’t there.
Licht is actually in agreement with all of us who say ‘BPA’
(Because none of us say ‘regardless of need or position’)
April 14th, 2016 at 9:29 pm
@ unbelievable
Exactly.
April 14th, 2016 at 10:21 pm
No insulting Joe. –Joe
April 14th, 2016 at 11:26 pm
Just so everyone knows, Licht is not telling anyone in the media or public how he’s running his draft so…
April 15th, 2016 at 12:03 am
THANK YOU JOE!
I have been talking about both of those things for weeks and weeks. You take the best player available within your need assuming the value fits. Also, there is no way in hell the Buccaneers will take an offense of line men in around one. The people who think that, sorry to be blunt, are idiots.
They need DE for a decade and DBs…. So sure, let’s take an OL!! Moronic.
April 15th, 2016 at 12:05 am
I also don’t believe for one second that a single team out there draft best player available in the first three rounds ever. It is always an intersection of best player available and need. Maybe you go best player available in round six or seven but even then, you’re looking for specialty aces