Stop The “Hop”
June 8th, 2018
Flawed corner, says an iconic Bucs corner.
An iconic Buccaneers cornerback has dissected film of Tampa Bay’s rookie defensive backs and delivered an unimpressive report card.
This analysis comes by way of jet-flyin’, kiss–stealin‘, data-
You can read Abraham’s full breakdown here.
Per Bassinger’s report, Abraham is quite down on second-round picks M.J. Stewart and Carlton Davis, but he’s a fan safety Jordan Whitehead, the fourth-round pick.
Abraham, among other negative takes, says Davis is consistently flawed in press coverage.
Abraham: “Every time he does press, he hops forward, probably a habit of his. I don’t know what he was being taught, but for me, that’s like a false step. When you hop forward, it puts you on your heels automatically. Because you came forward, now you have to go back. Something that small can be the difference between you being in the proper position to make plays.”
So now it appears it’ll be on the Bucs’ defensive backs coaches to break the habit and improve Davis’ technique in a hurry. Joe crosses all fingers and toes when it comes to this staff developing young corners.
For those wondering, Abraham coached high school ball throughout Pinellas County before joining the Tampa Bay Storm staff and then moving on to IMG in Bradenton and Lovie Smith’s staff at Illinois last year.
June 8th, 2018 at 4:40 pm
Interesting perspective from Abraham, a proven vet. That said, if he was coaching at Illinois… I hope it’s for the Collegiate Experience due to his Lovie connection.
June 8th, 2018 at 4:41 pm
Abraham is quite down on second-round picks M.J. Stewart and Carlton Davis, but he’s a fan safety Jordan Whitehead, the fourth-round pick.
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that’s why ive been asking for whitehead practice notes joe….the kid looked pretty good at pitt….lol…
was he breaking down practice film or his college film…..
hopefully more press coverage is in store during the season….
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
June 8th, 2018 at 4:42 pm
Interesting perspective from a proven veteran at the position. Let’s just hope he’s at Illinois strictly for the Collegiate Experience due to the Lovie connection…
June 8th, 2018 at 4:55 pm
Lovie school of coaching thought process ?
Uuhhhhmmmmmm
Nah
June 8th, 2018 at 5:00 pm
Definitely good insight but like Abraham said “I dont know if that’s a habit or what he’s being taught.” Well, exactly. If it’s a habit then it’s harder to break but not impossible and if it’s something to be coached up(yes, I know your stance Joe)then he/they will receive it and change imo.
June 8th, 2018 at 5:07 pm
Donnie Abraham. One of my favorites but we don’t don’t do man press.
June 8th, 2018 at 5:19 pm
All corners coming into the NFL are going to have flaws to their game and a lot of work they need to put in to be successful NFL corners.
Richard Sherman was a 3-star recruit coming out of HS and a 5th round pick coming out of Stanford. If he didn’t have flaws to his game as a 6-3 corner he would’ve been a 5-star recruit and top 5 pick.
It’s not where you start but where you finish.
June 8th, 2018 at 5:22 pm
Love Donnie A but its way to early for any evaluation at the Pro level. I mean they are not even in pads yet and he already has an evaluation? It almost seems impossible or suspect IMHO.
I give this a “meh” rating.
June 8th, 2018 at 5:26 pm
Great take Tom S.
June 8th, 2018 at 5:35 pm
he’s a day 2 rookie, it would be more alarming if he didn’t have one or more obvious things to work on. these are mostly guys who could out-talent 75% of the guys they faced and developed tendencies that won’t always suit them in the pros. We know Vea needs to work on staying low, our young RB is probably going to need to work on pass pro like never before, and every OL drafted every year is doing correctable stuff with their hands and feet, so i’m just glad it’s something that seems obvious and coachable
June 8th, 2018 at 5:46 pm
I’m more concerned with MJ Stewart’s lack of size/speed. He’s a 5′ 11, mid 4.5 guy. He’s going to probably be limited to the slot unless he gets perfect technique.
June 8th, 2018 at 5:55 pm
Gimme a top 10 Pass rush and I will show you a top 5 set of DBs.
June 8th, 2018 at 6:13 pm
Well it’s a good thing we don’t play press anyway…
June 8th, 2018 at 6:19 pm
I rookie that lacks perfect form…I don’t understand why they even drafted the guy. Just draft the ones that are perfect and you can skip the coaching part.
June 8th, 2018 at 7:08 pm
Sounds to me that a “hop forward” is a hell of a lot better than what we are used to…….20 steps backward….
He’ll work it out….I like Abraham but his opinion at this point is way too premature…..and if he sees it and its not good….so does Davis and everyone else…..that’s a good thing.
Swaggy had the “hop forward” blues……
June 8th, 2018 at 7:24 pm
Is there any player at any position in the NFL to come in with flawless technique? College is different from the pros and they are all learning different things now. Now as a pro they can work on technique full time. How much press will he be doing anyway?
June 8th, 2018 at 7:51 pm
You say a rookie is coming out of college with a flaw? No way!!!
June 8th, 2018 at 7:54 pm
Stewart’s highlights show he can stay on guys like white on rice. That’s the thing that sucks. In college, you don’t get paid for playing a tougher, classic game where you can really cover a guy. Soft ass NFL gives you a PI every time for that kind of coverage.
June 8th, 2018 at 7:56 pm
Hopefully the DB coaches even see that.
June 8th, 2018 at 7:57 pm
@First Down Tampa Bay
Well there’s nothing to worry about then.
June 8th, 2018 at 8:07 pm
When was the last time anyone saw a Bucs corner playing press?
June 8th, 2018 at 8:12 pm
If that’s all he found wrong, I like our chances. That can be fixed. I think Davis has a good shot. I hope this Dline can get it done. I’m glad Buck plumbed up GMC. He needed it but it’s not his fault he’s had 223 different coaches. I so want the Bucs to kick the snot out of the Saints. I want to blow them out and Dwew Bweez spend his hole afternoon looking up from his back. A good D line can get you s Championship, but we all know this.
June 8th, 2018 at 8:26 pm
And yet he’s still better then Hargreaves…..
June 8th, 2018 at 8:39 pm
Bucemup
Not sure if your question was rhetorical or not but I’ll to answer it to by best recollection.
The Bears game at home in 2017 when Grimes and Conte ( pick 6) got interceptions was the last game they played aggressive with a lot of press/ man coverage. They just didn’t even have that option in 2018 because they couldn’t get enough pressure on the Qb. Hopefully all that changes this year and they can do a heathy mix of man and zone.
June 8th, 2018 at 8:40 pm
This Bears vs Bucs game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfh6pwGZOrI
June 8th, 2018 at 8:46 pm
What did Kobe Faker say months ago?
We have bunch of backups and a irrelavent run stopper in the draft
You need players with skillset to be your starter in that position for 10 years..plug and play starters from the beginning
**2017 draft will be known for years that we foolishly passed up the hof and multiple all pro derwin james
Kobe Faker
June 8th, 2018 at 10:16 pm
Bottom line M.J. was a wasted pick with all the other talent on the board. Absolutely horrible pick.
June 9th, 2018 at 2:16 am
Bucboi,
The specific game DA viewed is listed. Whiteheads was the best of the group according to DA.
Donuts,
The evaluation is a single game from college. I don’t believe that you actually bothered to read it before declaring that it’s premature. Seriously is the impulse to comment about something that you didn’t read that strong?
Lamarcus,
You think that the team won’t play man this year? Based on what…..Last year?
Just something for you and the rest of the magical thinking press man disciples.
When they did play it last year, it was giving up 64% completion avg, 4th worst league wide, so basically clamoring for failure is your perspective…Smart you are
June 9th, 2018 at 4:48 am
donuts Says:
“Love Donnie A but its way to early for any evaluation at the Pro level. I mean they are not even in pads yet and he already has an evaluation?”
I think he was speaking from a coaching perspective. Coaches evaluate constantly. If they didn’t, how would they know what to work on?
It’s never too early to evaluate.
June 9th, 2018 at 10:58 am
Koetter has already said the new DBs will play press coverage this year so Abraham’s observation is important. With the slow speed of Stewart he is only good for covering the slot, so all the talk about his ability to play regular QB or Safety is pretty dumb. We should have taken Oliver instead, who we will now have to face every time we face the Saints. I have heard Stewart is a good tackler. Perhaps we can use him playing in the box to stop the run like we used our top CB of all time who also was slow too. Stewart is a playmaker too. Davis still should have been taken first. I like Whitehead and am glad Abraham feels he will be a good player too. Since we will allow VHIII to play press coverage, his forte, he could backup Davis and Stewart could play the slot.
June 9th, 2018 at 12:34 pm
Lovie’s Staff 😂