D’Andre Walker And The Bucs
April 17th, 2019
Could Georgia edge rusher D’Andre Walker point the Bucs to the quarterback?
Well, guess this is good for drama.
Folks who seem rooted in 1971 appear to believe a middle linebacker (or inside backer) is the key to success in the NFL to stop all of those inside runs and look-in passes over the middle.
Joe lives in 2019, where the game is both a vertical game and a perimeter game. Even Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht mentioned yesterday Todd Bowles uses a nickel defense 70 percent of the time — hello?
Simply put, if you don’t stop the quarterback, you are urinating into the wind. And in a division where the Bucs face potentially three Hall of Fame quarterbacks twice a year, this challenge is even more pronounced.
But if you believe the mockers, the Bucs seem hellbent on drafting an inside linebacker at No. 5. Only twice in the past 26 years has a team stooped to draft an inside linebacker in the top-five. The notorious Marvin Jones by the Jets and everybody’s All-Pro, A.J. Hawk, by the Packers.
Josh Norris of Rotoworld.com seems to shake his head. He acknowledges there is a lot of chatter about the Bucs taking this Devin White of LSU at No. 5 and adds there is some merit linking White’s skillset to Todd Bowles’ defense. Norris also hinted he would draft Houston manbeast Ed Oliver if he was Licht.
But what interested Joe is Norris seems to think drafting Georgia edge rusher D’Andre Walker in the second round could be the answer to the Bucs’ pass rushing need.
It can be difficult to find edge rushers outside of round one. Walker has plenty of stand-up experience and consistently wins with a jab, dip and bend on the outside to take a direct line to the quarterback. It might seem simple, but edge players with Walker’s get off combined with the tight lines he takes to passers are often productive.
If the Bucs lucked out and somehow found an edge rusher on Day 2 of the draft, it might save Joe loads of cash on buying cases of Pepto Bismol if the Bucs do draft an inside linebacker at No. 5.
This, friends, is the residue of ignoring a pass rusher the Bucs had on their radar back in 2016, Pro Bowler Yannick Ngakoue, and instead drafting Roberto Aguayo.
April 17th, 2019 at 10:08 am
Day after day….article after article DE, DE, DE, DE…..edge rusher du jour……..
At least we’ve moved on from the “malcontent”…….
April 17th, 2019 at 10:15 am
Jaylon Ferguson will be the best pass rusher taken outside of the 1st round in this draft. Book it. Really hoping we take him with our 2nd rounder or one of them provided we trade down.
Unless we just take Brian Burns 5th overall and then we should take a talented guard prospect like Chris Lindstrom or Dalton Risner.
April 17th, 2019 at 10:15 am
Yeah Joe? Well look what a top 3 passing attack did for the Bucs! You know what the Bucs did NOT have that the other three in the division have? A run game!
As much as people might WANT it to be a “passing league”, if you can’t run the football, you won’t win many games. That’s a FACT.
As to D’Andre, I would not be opposed. Good player from a beast conference in the 2nd round? Yes, please!
April 17th, 2019 at 10:23 am
Impact players Joe. That is what we need. Middle of the field has been a disaster for years. Trade back, or grab BPA.
April 17th, 2019 at 10:25 am
he would do in the 2nd round….plays the run very well….i would still go jachi polite in the 2nd after selecting ed oliver in the 1st….polite played in the 34 as an OLB, standing up and with his hand in the dirt….1st round talent for sure….
#REALISTKNOWSNOTHING!!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
April 17th, 2019 at 10:25 am
In this draft there will be edge rushers at the top of the second round. Licht and the Bucs haven’t hit very much in the first two rounds but I’m gonna guess the obvious and say you don’t know enough about football compared to licht to be so sure a linebacker won’t help this team win especially if a guy is there say 2
Technically if you don’t get a stud linebacker this year your desperate for one again next year. You don’t have to have one or the other crazy joe and there are two studs at linebackers, a couple good ones and the rest are not going to make an impact at all
April 17th, 2019 at 10:27 am
I think the only person stuck in the 70’s is Lee. That dude is a joke.
April 17th, 2019 at 10:27 am
Walker is a stud and would be a great addition that being said…no faith in the bucs building a winner with the regime currently in charge
April 17th, 2019 at 10:43 am
Lifelong NFL fan Says:
“I think the only person stuck in the 70’s is Lee. That dude is a joke.”
(((((((((((
Sounds like YOU are a joke.
April 17th, 2019 at 10:47 am
Ok we have one excellent DE and one Good DE
Sooo is that the most pressing issue
Wait, I won’t get any feed back because the ATrain is in JOE PURGATORY “Moderation”
But that what the ATrain gets for slamming GMC
April 17th, 2019 at 10:52 am
How many defensive linemen did we stock in during the offseason last year? Couldn’t stop anyone. JPP and Carl only two that mattered and Vea not until late in the season.
It’s like the old lightbulb jokes, just substitute defensive lineman instead of lightbulbs needed to get to the QB.
That said, I can see Taylor coming off the board at 3 to the Jets, to protect WonderBoy….could leave us a shot at Quinnen Williams at #5.
If that is the case I say round 2 go with Risner or Little at RT, let Cappa start destroying people at RG.
pistol
April 17th, 2019 at 10:53 am
Montez Sweat should be the pick. Him on one side and JPP on the other.
April 17th, 2019 at 10:54 am
More like one good DE who quite likely will be playing his final year for the Bucs in 2020, provided he is not a salary cap casualty.
April 17th, 2019 at 11:04 am
wait…..no highlights of him beating j.taylor or m. ivey from UF?….interesting…..
#REALISTKNOWSNOTHING!!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
April 17th, 2019 at 11:19 am
They said the same thing about Noah Spence
April 17th, 2019 at 11:24 am
Most people on this board know more on football than Jason Licht… Fire Licht!!!
April 17th, 2019 at 11:29 am
All in on white. DEs don’t cover WRS or running backs or even tight ends but honestly we need both
April 17th, 2019 at 11:31 am
If we’re after pass rush, then draft them in rds 1 & 2…maybe even 3. If you don’t find one quality player out of that, the GM blows. Do the same with the next area of need…Licht has shown ability finding gems in the o-line & LB units in later rds. I think they view the LSU LB as a pass rusher so they might be checking two boxes with one pick.
April 17th, 2019 at 11:45 am
JPP is only GOOD
How many sacks does it take to be excellent especially playing with Mr Softie
COME ON
GMC is handed up as Pro Bowl Elite DT AWESOME PLAYER
JPP is only Good?
Nassbin had more sacks and tackles than GMC
Soooo I would give him a good
April 17th, 2019 at 11:47 am
Nassib
Auto Correct must die
April 17th, 2019 at 11:54 am
This guy feels more like a R3 or later guy. One frustrating thing is I can’t find his pro day #’s even though I can see articles about his pro day being a few weeks ago.
Polite has great film .. not sure what the character issues are and I hope it’s more that he didn’t run a 4.5 40 or whatever people expected.
Ferguson doesn’t have the explosion / movement ability I’d want from a 3-4 OLB but he has great production.
I thought it was interesting Licht said it’s easier to find 3-4 OLB than prototypical 4-3 DEs. I have posted about that a few times the last few years as to why I like the movement to a 3-4 for that very reason if we are rebuilding a front 7.
IMO in terms of prototypical 3-4 OLB and value/where I’d select them/be OK with it:
Pick 5: Josh Allen / Nick Bosa
Trade Back – picks 6-15: Brian Burns / Montez Sweat
R2 – or possibly ideally R3: Jachai Polite / Chase Winovich
R3 – Jaylon Ferguson / D’Andre Walker / Ben Banogu / Oshane Ximines
We definitely have options throughout every round
April 17th, 2019 at 11:54 am
Joe Says:
April 17th, 2019 at 10:54 am
Ok we have one excellent DE and one Good DE
More like one good DE who quite likely will be playing his final year for the Bucs in 2020, provided he is not a salary cap casualty.
————————-
Agree with Joe on this.
I’d rather the Bucs target an elite Defensive lineman/Outside Linebacker in the first (Oliver, Sweat or Allen) and then get the best Offensive lineman on their board in the 2nd(Lindstrom, Risner or Little).
April 17th, 2019 at 11:59 am
How many sacks does it take to be excellent especially playing with Mr Softie
15.
Aaron Donald and JJ Watt are “excellent.”
That is not exactly a criticism.
JAG. This dude had six sacks and people are drooling as if the guy is Howie Long. Let’s calm down.
April 17th, 2019 at 12:04 pm
Good god joe, the ish is getting old….multiple articles almost every day of how stupid the pick will be and how much you dont like it….getting old….
April 17th, 2019 at 12:10 pm
Buckle up cowboy, Joe is not one to bury his head in the sand. Joe doesn’t believe in lying to be more popular. Never, ever going to write something don’t believe in.
Joe believes that’s actually an attribute and a virtue, not a sin or something to be ashamed about.
April 17th, 2019 at 12:38 pm
I like it Joe stick to your guns.
I’ve slammed the table for edge rush / front 7 / trench warfare every offseason other than one season of weapons4winston. No reason to quit on that philosophy now.
Insert Kobe Faker saying Denver’s defense sucked when the 2018 Broncos were top 13 in points allowed, and top 10 in yards/points allowed per drives, despite no marquee secondary players or ILBs other than Chris Harris Jr.
Carolina has done the same thing many years with just one decent CB or S at times but still producing top 10 defenses.
On the other hand you have the Chiefs who had good pass rush but still were just 24th in points given up (still 3 PPG better than us lol). That has to be an anomaly historically IMO.
Hell they gave up 54 to the Rams and 43 to the Pats in crazy shoot outs. In the other 14 games they gave up an average of 23.1 PPG which would have ranked 18th in 2018.
The Cheifs D was not as bad as people made it out to be. People just saw the prime time shoot outs but they were a sh1t ton better on defense the majority of the year compared to the Bucs, and likely due to that pass rush.
April 17th, 2019 at 12:50 pm
I’ve been saying No Way to mlb at 5 but clearly Licht tipped his hand about lb pay , not that it exactly related to White / position but he is already being Licht !!! Licht just isn’t a real sharp guy and would be flat broke if he was a poker player with the Glazers Money !! He would also be unemployed !!!
I would drink beers with Licht , I would have him in my organization ( football) but not a chance he’s my GM under the Bucs structure.
April 17th, 2019 at 1:12 pm
Definitely sounds like @Z31…should attend the JBF draft night party at Buffalo Wild Wings.
April 17th, 2019 at 1:34 pm
For those of us who are for drafting MLB Devin White and “rooted in 1971” (according to Joe that is) you might want to read an article published in 2015 titled ‘Everything You Need To Know About Todd Bowles Defense’ (it’s at https://www.ganggreennation.com/2015/1/13/7537863/everything-you-need-to-know-about-todd-bowles-defense ).
For those who just prefer following Joe off the cliff, here’s 3 quotes from that article about Bowles defenses that might influence your decision to jump with Joe …
1 – It’s aggressive. As Greg Cosell stated, “Now, you could argue that they don’t have a pure pass-rusher, but this is where Bowles comes in. This team blitzes more than any team in the NFL, and they blitz more on first down than any team in the NFL, and they’re creative with their pressures. They’re also very good with disguise.”
2 – It adapts to the opponent. When the Cardinals played the Dallas Cowboys, Bowles switched from a predominately 3-4 scheme to a 4-3, simply because it was a better matchup. They won that game 28-17, and ended DeMarco Murray’s streak of 100-yard games.
3 – It adapts to the players. To quote Dockett, “This defense is based on guys and what their ability allows them to be good at. What they were drafted for.” When Bowles found that he didn’t have an elite pass rusher, he balanced it out by adding more safeties… sometimes up to four on the field on any given down. This allowed him to cover athletic tight ends for longer, and had the added benefit of confusing offenses. Bowles doesn’t force a round peg into a square hole… he finds another solution.
I know Joe … in moderation. But JBFers deserve to know what they’ve got in Todd Bowles (and IMO, he’s our next head coach).
April 17th, 2019 at 2:17 pm
Bucs are highly likely to choose 2 DL players within the first 3-4 rounds. Its the biggest strength in this draft and a need for the Bucs to get younger and deeper up front.
Its not all about the 1st pick. There are good DL line prospects well into the 3rd rd this year.
Focusing so much attention on how silly it would be to draft an ILB at #5 – as a Joe’s running theme leading up to this draft is ignoring the fact that there are good linemen to be had with later picks. Likely at greater value and with less risk.
If Bosa, Williams, Allen and Oliver are all off the board at #5 (unlikely) then the Bucs are trading down for a King’s ransom that some team will pay to have their choice of QBs ahead of the Giants.
In the event that at least 1 of those players is available (90+%)- then that player will likely be the pick. UNLESS – the Bucs have Devin White rated higher than the available DL player (Allen or Oliver most likely).
If that is the case – then so be it. I trust the judgement of BA, Bowles and Licht regarding this high first round pick.
Bucs are in a good spot at #5. They are going to get a very good defensive front 7 player at #5 – or they are going to get extra premium picks for trading down in a draft that is deep with good DLine prospects.
WIN – WIN – WIN
April 17th, 2019 at 2:35 pm
I didnt say any of that joe, its necessary therapy for you at this point I guess, lol, your site tho.
April 17th, 2019 at 2:43 pm
MadMax – whats good brotha?
April 17th, 2019 at 2:44 pm
Damn, I wish we had more draft picks. D’Andre Walker would be a great addition
April 17th, 2019 at 2:57 pm
Yo Luv…working too much buddy.
April 17th, 2019 at 3:26 pm
Hey Joe if LB’s are no longer needed in this passing league in 2019, why do other teams have them? Are we not being told by you and every other Bucs blogers that we are going to a 3/4. Who exactly are the 4’s in that 3/4 CB’s? Safeties? What about those hybrid cb/s/lb types? Which is it? As you say we do not need a LB really ? Can we stop any middle runs against us? Rarely. Maybe we should just have all DB’s no LB’s on our Defense? The league is a passing league anyway now as you say. So why do we need any LB? I feel you think we should be so concerned about it, you are not.
Hey by the way how is your past BFF QB Johnny Football doing? Is he still playing professional Football?
Go Bucs
April 17th, 2019 at 3:40 pm
Dude has a great motor which is paramount! I think a quality edge is found in day 2 also or if Licht pulls off a tricky trade in the late rd 1–we will see