Beckles: Tough Task For Arians
May 27th, 2019
Down on the Bucs.
In the mind of a former Bucs guard, we will find out just how good of a coach Bucco Bruce Arians is.
That’s the notion from former Bucs guard and current popular local radio personality Ian Beckles. In a recent “In the Trenches” podcast, Beckles said the Bucs are much worse, on paper, than last year.
(The segment was recorded before the Bucs waved goodbye to Beckles’ long-time rock in his shoe, Gerald McCoy, and signed Ndamukong Suh.)
Only by the grace of Arians’ magic does Beckles foresee the Bucs finishing .500.
“If Bruce Arians and his staff find a way to go 8-8 with this Buccaneers team this year, I think it is a testament to how much better of a coaching staff [Arians has] than Dirk Koetter’s coaching staff,” Beckles said. “Because this team, on paper, is substantially less talented than last year’s team on paper. Period. Not maybe — period.”
Beckles went on down the list and few players other than America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, Ali Marpet and Jason Pierre-Paul were spared. Beckles applauded Arians for getting after cornerback Vernon Hargreaves.
Strangely, Beckles believes left tackle Donovan Smith will be worse this year because he will be a year older but also thinks Marpet, the left guard, will be better. Both were drafted in the second round of the 2015 draft. Ryan Jensen and Demar Dotson were two others Beckles said will decline due to age.
Beckles also believes the team will desperately miss malcontent wide receiver DeSean Jackson and Adam Humphries.
The problem with the offense, Beckles said, is that it was way too reliant on the passing game and needs flip to a run-oriented game but the the Bucs don’t have the horses to run the ball.
“Breaking it down we only rushed the ball 24 times [with only running backs carrying the ball] a game,” Beckles said. “That’s not the equation for victory. It really isn’t.”
Beckles added he is frightened to think of what the Bucs’ defense will be without JPP and cackled in disgust looking back at last year’s defense. “Will be lucky to go 5-11,” he said.
As always, Beckles welcomes feedback and encourages listeners to submit Bucs questions by e-mailing him at IanBeckles@RadioInfluence.com.
May 27th, 2019 at 8:15 am
Kwon and Beckwith two big holes in the roster
May 27th, 2019 at 8:25 am
Your Mom is a big hole in the roster
May 27th, 2019 at 8:27 am
“TBowles going to demand to bring in a vet safety at TC
We need leadership to hold down that back end
OCs are going to make that backend look highschoolish”
Kobe Faker
May 27th, 2019 at 8:28 am
Don’t forget JPP AlteredEgo. To me that is the bigger hole because of what is left to fill in the gap. Blitzing is great, but with a very young secondary? There will be many times we get toasted doing that.
But I am still excited because of the coaching changes. I see good things.
May 27th, 2019 at 8:30 am
I might be wrong, but I believe he meant Dotson will be worse, because he always brings him up as getting older and injuries catching up to him.
May 27th, 2019 at 8:35 am
ONE…..mark my words….ONE starter on the o-line goes down, the wheels will fall off the offense. They are desperately hoping to run the ball but Beckles is right, you have to have the horses and I don’t see it. Jensen has the grit….Marpet as well but BA has already said Dotson isn’t good at the run…who is our RG at this point? Smith is a better pass blocker then run blocker.
So…can you make that unit a running team. Possibly….but ONE o-linemen goes down and that thing falls apart quick. Then you are back to Winston passing too much which will lead to turnovers and bad field position with a defense that wont be cohesive and very young in the secondary.
May 27th, 2019 at 8:35 am
So….let me get this straight, Ian……Marpet is two months older than D. Smith….but Smith will get worse because he is a year older and Marpet will get better.
Your prediction may be true….but it will have nothing to do with age….you idiot!!!
May 27th, 2019 at 8:43 am
This team is better period. D Jackson being gone is a plus not a negative and Godwin is better than Humphries. If used properly Barber and ROJO can be a good not great 1-2 punch in the backfield. Bruce Anderson may also surprise, plus like I said who was excited about David Johnson in AZ before his rookie season? Again coaching matters as ROJO was never given a chance to gain any confidence last year and that was really crappy coaching but so was the way the QBs were handled and so was the way Hargraves was handled and so was the way Spence was handled and so was the way D Jackson was handled and so was the way Chris Baker was handled and you get my drift they flat sucked all the way around so we really don’t know what we have talent wise cause disfunction and terrible strategy render talent useless. But yeah ROJO, Hargraves, Davis, Stewart, Dean, Murphy-Bunting, J Evans, D. Smith, Cappa, Edwards, Vea, Whitehead, Jensen all suck as not one player we have got recently is any good. So think about that, what is more likely, all those players suck or the coaching staff sucked including our former D Coordinator that is not even in the league anymore!?!?!?!? Is it the players fault we couldn’t run the ball or the coach who clearly could run the ball when told too(by Lovie) and also didn’t use Devotne Freeman his rookie year in ATL. The signs are all there folks but people are too beaten down to see it. But that’s ok it will be more fun when it is clear for all to see.
May 27th, 2019 at 8:46 am
When you bring a coach out of retirement and ask him to fix
-Your inconsistent turnover prone former #1 overall pick
-a overpaid and underperforming o line
-a historically awful defense
-a league worst special teams
You can’t realiatically ask him and his huge group of coaches to fix all these issue with losing the talent they lost
5-6 wins would be a miracle
May 27th, 2019 at 8:47 am
BTW our linebackers are LVD, White, Spence, Barrett, Nassib, Buccannon, Minter and JPP, Citchy when they are healthy. So we are fine there as well, though it does suck to lose Beckwith.
May 27th, 2019 at 8:47 am
Beckles, a former player who reminds of this ad nauseam, may have a little more knowledge than the rest of us, but he never played for BA.
His “on paper” statement is obvious. We all know that.
There are still many things to play out before September. I’m still in “wait and see” mode because we have no other choice.
In the interim, the haters will hate and I will embrace a positive outlook. Couldn’t imagine awaking every morning thinking the world had dealt me a bad hand and an exceptionally bad football team.
When I lived in NYC the Giants were great and I was routinely chastised for being a Bucs fan. My retort for attending games: “At least I get to watch my team lose in shorts and a T-shirt. You, my friends, get to watch your team win under a pile of down feathers and battery warmed socks! I can always get a seat. You cannot! I can usually put my feet up on the seat in front of me and enjoy a beer while you are being treated for frostbite in the Meadowlands medical facility.”
Some of my listeners even uttered, “good point.”
Positivity rules!
“Remember The Rams.”
They might have more talent than us but you wouldn’t have believed that the year before Sean McVay was hired.
Deduction: you never know …
May 27th, 2019 at 8:48 am
He is spot on with this unfortunately. This is the worst I have felt about this franchise during the offseason in a very long time. This is like the Leeman Bennett years bad. The defense is a steaming pile of $%#@ and that offensive line can’t run block worth a damn. I am going out to Vegas in June and will probably put a few hundred on the under. I think 2-3 wins is very possible. This team is just a mess right now. Losing JPP is huge for a defense that was already historically bad. Licht has constructed a team that is a complete disarray and now they are going to try and make all these players fit into a 3-4 scheme.
May 27th, 2019 at 8:48 am
Curious as to how the team is significantly less talented than last year. Worst loss was arguably Kwon but we upgraded with a top 5 pick. Other than that, yes Hump and DJax are gone but DJax might be addition by subtraction and I think Bobo and/or Scott Miller may be able to fill the void left by Hump.
May 27th, 2019 at 8:49 am
Loyaltotheend Section 312 Says:
May 27th, 2019 at 8:46 am
When you bring a coach out of retirement and ask him to fix
-Your inconsistent turnover prone former #1 overall pick
-a overpaid and underperforming o line
-a historically awful defense
-a league worst special teams
You can’t realiatically ask him and his huge group of coaches to fix all these issue with losing the talent they lost
5-6 wins would be a miracle
WHAT DID THEY LOSE!?!?!?!?!? Beckwith really is the ONLY person not playing this year that they wanted bro why can’t you people see that?
May 27th, 2019 at 8:53 am
So we lost a LB who couldn’t stay on the field we lost Mesean who doesn’t practice an is a cancer to the locker an gmc. I deff don’t think that hurt us Jackson did produce when he wanted but Godwin will pick up the slack there suh replaces gmc. White replaces often injured Kwon. What hurt is Humphries an jpp but other than that how does this team look worse on paper? Maybe Beckles has started drinking already. Yea there’s a bunch of rookies in the secondary but now we have speed and depth with better coaching the whole team should do better overall I think Beckles is wrong just the coaching staff alone makes this team better than last year get on board. #endthedrought
May 27th, 2019 at 8:55 am
Jensen turns 28 this year. I don’t see him declining. He should be better simply by not having to line up next to Benenoch. Cappa should also improve in year 2.
May 27th, 2019 at 8:55 am
May not be better on paper but I really do feel that our players are going to have more juice this year and the rookies are going to look like seasoned players. That’s just me but that’s how it feels. Every year before this I had high Hope’s and would convince myself oir team was.ready but my gut was screaming, YOU’RE WRONG. Not this time. My gut is screaming, WATCH OUT NFL. I truly feel pur players are goi.g to surprise EVERYONE.
May 27th, 2019 at 9:00 am
Ndog—
Really good posts! Lots to be encouraged by.
May 27th, 2019 at 9:00 am
The young DBs are all more experienced….that should help…..we picked up a great deal of speed in the draft…..so, our ST will be much better.
The coaches have to count for something…..
Perriman will outperform Djax……loss of Hump hurt but should be made up by more playing time for Godwin.
Rojo was misused and unused….should get better.
We have a solid LB corps, WR & TE corps
The key is injuries……we need to stay healthy because depth is a problem.
May 27th, 2019 at 9:03 am
I Agree
The Talent this team gained and is BETTER
ONE TOOK OUT TWO POISONS IN HHE LOCKER ROOM DJax and GMC
Add Coach who is going to make these guys earn it
So why is this team worse
Added a lot to the backfield atleast Speed
Add Speed to the offense and most likely ST
This TEAM IS BETTER ON PAPER
PS still have one of the Best WR in league
Best Two TE
May 27th, 2019 at 9:04 am
I agree with Ian Beckles because there really is only so much a coaching staff can do with the talent. Last year’s team was more talented and experienced. This year it seems they’re going to try and get back with a bunch of rookies playing key positions. At best, you’re hoping that every rookie they selected has a pro bowl caliber year because in order to make it to the post-season that’s why they’re going to need.
I predict 6-10 but 8-8 would be a miracle. Only people with child-like hope in fairy tales believe this team will win 10 or more games.
If the Bucs go 8-8 it’s somewhat problematic. No questions about Jameis will likely be answered. Anything less than 8 wins then the decision is simple. It would be time to move on from him.
May 27th, 2019 at 9:16 am
Forget the players, we can get more of those. How long is Bruce going to last?
May 27th, 2019 at 9:20 am
Beckles is clueless . Donovan Smith will be 26 years old in 2019 . He also has never played next to the same LG for consecutive years . I think he and Marpet can only benefit from another year playing next to each other .
May 27th, 2019 at 9:24 am
11-5!!
May 27th, 2019 at 9:27 am
Its a 3-13 roster with the worst owners in all of pro sports…. the actual results prove that…. beckels is correct. Until they earn it on the field bucs are the most embarrassing franchise on earth somewhere between bad news bears and rod marinelli’s 0-16 lions
May 27th, 2019 at 9:27 am
Beckles is becoming a tabloid journalist, so stupid to compare a former coach with a new one that´s just on the OTA´s…..Time will tell……I am telling this for the last 3/4 years, this is a much less talented roster than what some people say…..There is some greta talent of course, Evans, OJ, JPP ( done), some good players that are not superstars Goodwin, GMC (gone) LVD Brate Kwon (gone) Marpet…..Some players that still have to show what they got…..JW Smith…..and then we got the rest!!!!!, So keep on blamming former coaches and don´t pay attention where the real problem is…….take a look at the OL and the DL…take a look at the secondary, look at the running game and be honest with yourselves….ARE WE A TALENTED TEAM????????
May 27th, 2019 at 9:27 am
Jordon L—
11-5!
You just made the list! Love the optimism!
May 27th, 2019 at 9:41 am
tmaxcon Says:
May 27th, 2019 at 9:27 am
Its a 3-13 roster with the worst owners in all of pro sports…. the actual results prove that…. beckels is correct. Until they earn it on the field bucs are the most embarrassing franchise on earth somewhere between bad news bears and rod marinelli’s 0-16 lions
So Tmax since you are saying this is a 3-13 roster then you think the coaches last year did a good job?
May 27th, 2019 at 9:42 am
This team is a far cry from last year. The days of playing 15 yards off the ball on 3rd and 3 are gone. We have a defense that is going to punch you first, a defense that will attack instead of retreat. When teams get a first down it will be earned not given. Nobody knows how the run game is going to turn out, it can’t be worse than last year. Marpet already stated they are learning a new blocking scheme. The key this year will be finishing drives on offense and the rookie/young dbs stepping up. This team has the coaching staff and talent to go 10-6/11-5 and I can see that happening
May 27th, 2019 at 9:53 am
@Ndog
Bucs lost nearly 1600 yards an 10 TDs between Jackson and Hump
Lost 12.5 sacks from JPP
I don’t consider Beckwith a loss as he didn’t play in 2018
Do you even watch this team?
May 27th, 2019 at 10:20 am
I never have placed a lot of confidence in whqat Ian Beckles said. He’s one of the, fime a dozen sports norstadamuses. And he was about average as a player..if that. Arians has the largest staff assembled in the current NFL. Not sure what that means. Staff do not play the game. As always, we don’t know what kind of product we have until the whistle blows come 1st game. Arains has about 2 yrs to turn this team around. I will be satisfied with 8-8 for starts. But he’s gotta Win. Or these fans,,including me, are gonna turn on him Quick.
May 27th, 2019 at 10:21 am
Long time reader, first time commenter.
My take on the ” we are a worse team on paper”
Oline – Coaching, Accountability = Improvement
ST’s – Coaching, Speed = Improvement
RB’s – Coaching, Scheme = Improvement
WR’s – Coaching, Speed, Scheme = Improvement
Dline – Coaching, Attitude, Accountability = Improvement
LB’s – Coaching, Scheme, Leader = Improvement
DB’s – Coaching, Scheme, Speed = Improvement
May 27th, 2019 at 10:25 am
Defense better up the middle until you get to the secondary. Maybe TB can somehow rectify this. Offense, I really don’t see improvement. 6-10 or 7-9 at best.
May 27th, 2019 at 10:32 am
BA has stated since his arrival JPP would play with his hand in the ground over the guard and like it. In other words Suh actually replaces JPP on DL not GMC. I do not believe this staff had any intention of playing GMC any all. Hump would be out of position playing outside WR because BA has already stated he prefers larger WR to slot for better run blocking on running plays. My opinion is that Desean was more a distraction to team than any benefit, so addition by subtraction.
On both OC and DC will gameplan to opponents rather than package plays the staff believed would work with no ability to adjust gameplan if it was not working.
I believe the difference between this season and last will be night and day.
May 27th, 2019 at 10:36 am
Summation;
Coaching difference will be huge. Multiple practices going on at the same time. 2nd and 3rd string players getting equal reps in practice will improve depth. Increased training staff and focus on training will improve stamina and reduce injuries. Accountability, What a novel idea.
Attacking defense! Where are these guys coming up with such strange ideas.Increased speed on defense. Even a moderate improvement on defense should show a corresponding reduction in Quarterback turnovers as Jameis wont feel he has to score on every play to give them a chance to win. A lot of things are not seen on paper. Don’t sell this team short. There is a lot of things to be excited about this year. Count Me In!
May 27th, 2019 at 10:51 am
Ryan Jensen is only 28 lol…
May 27th, 2019 at 10:59 am
In the NFL rookies are reasons for unjustified hope. Until they prove themselves in action all they are is unjustified hope. Pair that with the unjustified hope that a recycled BA fixes what has been wrong with the Bucs for the last decade.
That’s what Ndog and the rest of you Pollyannas are basing your 8 win, 10 win season on. I sincerely hope that you guys are correct, but I seriously doubt it. A sick franchise with a clearly incompetent GM are doomed until major changes (other than HC) take place. Maybe a year where we hit draft day gold will find this team some day. I don’t think it happened this year for sure! 5 wins would be success for this star-crossed bunch. Best guess 3-4.
May 27th, 2019 at 11:06 am
I wonder how many of the media are ripping the Bucs chances because Arians is freezing them out of access?
May 27th, 2019 at 11:14 am
The general consensus is that the talent sucked. But yet you are blaming coaching. If the posts are correct, the blame falls solely on the head of the GM. You really need to ask yourself why is he still here.
May 27th, 2019 at 11:18 am
If the new coaching staff can get Jameis to play at 90% of his potential, he can mitigate a lot of this rosters (thank you Jason Licht) shortcomings and I can see a 9-7 record. Otherwise, IMHO Jameis’s 5 years will look maybe slightly better than Vinny’s 5 years and we get to do it all over again (hopefully successfully) with a new qb next year. Yea fun. 😱
May 27th, 2019 at 11:27 am
It’s crazy how people say that the team lost this many yards and this many sacks when they lose a player. They still need 53 players on next years roster, emphasis on next year. What you did last year does not always equate to what you are going to do the next year, as a professional you always work on your craft. Every player knows that there is some young gun coming for their position. Not to mention Trust, Accountability and Loyalty has come to town.
May 27th, 2019 at 11:27 am
God Beckles is such a dumba$$ everytime he opens his mouth. And I’m not saying that because I don’t believe the Bucs could have a chance at going 5-11.
I’m trying to figure out this team is substantially worse than last year. Minus JPP, GMC, Hump and Kwon while adding Devin White and Suh. JPP is a very hard hit, but other than that, all that’s happening is this young, hungry team (and they’re really hungry with BA) continues to add years under their belts
Bowels gonna be teaching his great secondary scheme to a secondary that is stacked to the gills.
When it comes to WR,
May 27th, 2019 at 11:29 am
Predicting 3-5 wins for an Arians coached team is asinine.
Only way that happens is major injuries.
Some Buc fans only expect losing…
May 27th, 2019 at 11:29 am
*When it comes to WR and the loss of complaining DJax and Hump, Scotty Miller, BoBo Wilson, and Justin Watson look like no joke.
May 27th, 2019 at 11:31 am
Ndog
Cichy blew out his already repaired knee after ONE PLAY…
Sure hope you’re not counting on him.
May 27th, 2019 at 11:45 am
For me the draft pretty much doomed the Bucs season.
May 27th, 2019 at 11:47 am
Jmarkbuc
First play after not playing his entire senior year at Wisconsin because he blew out his knee.
May 27th, 2019 at 11:49 am
What’s with the doom and gloom predictions; this will be a better team by far, it’s called Addition by Subtraction guys…
We got sackless Dirk Koetter and his staff out, brought in Arians and his crew; that move alone was our biggest move this off-season…Mesean & Humphries production will easily be maintained between Godwin, Perriman, Wilson and Watson; so we should be fine there…We swapped McCoy out for Suh, which is an upgrade imho…We addressed the secondary in the draft, bringing in much needed competition/quality depth…
Personally I’m over JPP; first he blows his hand off, then breaks his neck…he’s literally his own worst enemy; at this point there’s no since in waiting 5 to 6 months for a guy who still may not be 100% when and if he returns…Cut bait, use that money for something else (like finding a way to bring in a veteran offensive linemen)…
All in all, I like what we did considering how strapped for cash we are…Imo, barring injuries to key players I think we can pull off 9-7 at worst…
May 27th, 2019 at 12:00 pm
Thinking coaching is gonna fix everything is borderline moronic
Leftwich has never called plays for a full season, one of the Joes thinks he failed a former top 1st round pick in Rosen
Christensen has never been very good with QB’s and kept being employed through his friendship with Dungy and did little for Manning
The Bucs staff of coaches are former players and coaches who have a relationship with Arians he didn’t bring in the best coaches just the guys he knows. Arians is this qb whisperer who won’t be calling plays or coaching the QB directly
Only coach I feel is a significant upgrade is Bowles
May 27th, 2019 at 12:12 pm
I am interested in what I will have seen at the end of training camp and the preseason games. Then I will hazard my own win-loss prediction.
I have made the mistake of judging by “on paper” way to early in all years previous to this one. It will remain “on paper” until the first snap of the season. My prediction then will at least be based on more than I have to go on right now.
_______________________
Ever hopeful. Go Bucs!!!
May 27th, 2019 at 12:20 pm
@NDOG
I agree with Todd that was an excellent rebuttal to what TBBF accurately pointed out was an idiotic take by Beckles.
@rrsrq
“It’s crazy how people say that the team lost this many yards and this many sacks when they lose a player.”
Amen brother. It’s like one player leaves and we have to play ten instead of eleven on the field. The next man up will supply production…perhaps equal…perhaps less…perhaps more production comes from a different player. The only real loss I see from last year is JPP. The others will not matter. I think White is a significant upgrade over Kwon…I like Kwon but he’s not as big nor nearly as fast and he’s been injured and suspended a fair amount. Godwin is far better than Hump.
We have the best TE tandem in the league.
May 27th, 2019 at 12:35 pm
Ndog
As long as this franchise is owned by glazers the franchise will be void of leadership. Glazers have destroyed one of the most powerful franchises in all of sports in man u. Couple that with only having 1 good year as bucs owners history is not on the side of the optimists. You have to try really hard to be as bad as glazer owned Bucs…
May 27th, 2019 at 12:51 pm
@St Pete
So losing nearly 1600 yards and 10 TDs between Jackson and Hump is no big deal? Hump was the most sure handed receiver we had so hoping Godwin and a bunch of lowly drafted guys are gonn step up immediately is just silly for a well educated fan like yourself
May 27th, 2019 at 12:58 pm
I’ll never understand the hate for Beckles. Why cause he has a strong opinion? That’s what makes it fun!!!
All due respect but Beckles does the best Bucs podcast going. Period.
The only problem I got with Beckles is that crude co-host he has on the radio. Quit listening to him years ago.
Nobody will ever fill the Big Dogs shoes but there is only one man I would support 100% following his footprints. Beckles!
Now I’m pumped up. I might gotta go dust off the ole Nintendo and lead Beckles to another Ring!!!
GO BUCS!!!
May 27th, 2019 at 1:02 pm
Beckles also sounds more real in his show. He doesn’t seem to be walking on eggshells shells like most mainsteam media’s do. Afriad to tick off certain people. I will give Joe mucho credit in this area as well. It is very very hard to find no hold barred opinions within the media.
May 27th, 2019 at 1:03 pm
Right now I have to think the Bucs will be better this season. How can a fan go into another season thinking otherwise? I think this every year so this will be the surprise season until it ain’t.
May 27th, 2019 at 1:08 pm
Loyal that is not fair. Don’t combine Djax and Humps yards.
Djax was paid to be elite and boast absolutely generic numbers. Meanwhile Hump was paid as a UDFA and put up slot numbers that we’re transcending.
Djax should have been closer to that combined # by himself. He was brought in to be elite. Not to be combined with a undrafted player to make a point.
He was outplayed by Hump combining the numbers I’d a disservice to Adam.
May 27th, 2019 at 1:09 pm
typos*
May 27th, 2019 at 1:34 pm
Jimmyjack
Bucs are losing 2 starting caliber receivers who are both getting 10 million from winning teams to come play for them.
Djax was criminally underused here. You don’t just use him to run deep like Koetter did. He was rarely used on screens, slants or quick hitting passes. Yes he was a malcontent asked to be traded and didn’t wanna put the work in with Jameis but his production will be missed. No one on the roster can just step in and produce like he and Hump did
Coaching wise the Bucs are trading one down the field passing scheme for another and I don’t think that scheme fits Jameis
May 27th, 2019 at 1:47 pm
Tmax you don’t make any sense you say we are a 3-13 team yet since 2014 which we went 2-14 we have bin over 5 wins each year an one of those years we had a winnining record not proud of or anything to brag about but we are not a 3-13 team once again you are wrong. I’m not a fan of the glazers but I can’t change that I don’t like them but you are wrong we are not a 3-13 team plzz stop drinking #endthedrought
May 27th, 2019 at 2:02 pm
Loyal
Thanks for what may be an undeserved compliment. I do not consider myself a well educated football fan on this blog. We have a ton of guys here who know more than me.
I do not dismiss your point. I think what rrsrq and I are saying it’s not a net net deal. You lost those yards from last year’s team. We can’t be sure where any yards come from before a season starts but somebody will be out there trying to do better than those guys they replace.
I give Perriman a fair shot at replacing DJAX’s yards but Justin Watson may get some targets..Godwin will get more…there is still ME13 and two talented tight ends. I’m not worried about DJAX’s lost production which largely came from the first half of the year anyway.
I think losing JPPs 12 sacks is more critical but I’m optimistic that while we may not have Joe’s dreaded double digit sack master collectively we will be a LOT better…Bowles rushing LB’s…not just White…LVD had seven sacks himself one year when they gave him the opportunity. Ronde Barber used to get sacks we have DB’s who are capable. So while we may not get individuals with double digits I do not care.
Here is the number I want to replace…38 sacks…the top five all averaged 50 or more sacks. I do not care HOW we do it. I expect it to be a team effort and we now have plenty of players who can contribute from all over the field.
In the past LVD has had seven…Spence five…those two right there get us 1/5th of the way if they simply match their potential. Add in White…Nassib…Suh…VV…perhaps some DB’s and while I AM the blog optimist I honestly believe 50 is doable.
May 27th, 2019 at 2:42 pm
I like Ian but can’t agree with him here. Hump was big loss but has been replaced with 2 WRs. Zone blocking schemes can help the O line and the run game. The defense looks way better on paper just being healthy. The ousting of Djax and McCoy will help the team immensely. Dot is old and slow. They need to find a replacement for him.
May 27th, 2019 at 2:57 pm
@st Pete
Any poster here who uses logic reason and can put together a few sentences is an educated fan to me.
Godwin doesn’t have the hands of Hump, I loved him being drafted here but he’s just not developing like I had hoped and he has a fumbling problem
Perriman has potential but hoping for him to shake the bust label here is asking a lot from a staff that has a lot to do here already.
I agree I think JPP’s sacks are a huge loss and Bowles will have to blitz and be creative to get the pass rush going here. But asking a first round bust and some unproven WRs to replace 1600 yards and 10 TDs is asking A LOT
May 27th, 2019 at 5:44 pm
Yes Loyal and that is a fact. The team did not get better in the offseason when they lost some talented players and replaced them basically with garbage. When they suck next year they will blame Arians I assume.
May 27th, 2019 at 7:45 pm
You’d think we just hired Lombardi or Walsh. Lol. A retired sick guy with ONE playoff win. Lots of pollyannas over estimating Arians. He’s not Jesus. Lots of Dan boys are gonna be disappointed.
May 27th, 2019 at 7:47 pm
Fan boys
May 27th, 2019 at 7:56 pm
The only big loss I see is JPP. Kwon wasn’t really that good, Jackson wasn’t used correctly, Hump was great but I think he is replaceable with Godwin or even Brate in the slot. The Kicker has to be better this year and Arians is going to find a solution for the right side of the O-line if they don’t perform. I’m not buying what Beckles is selling. Bucs will go at least 8-8.
May 27th, 2019 at 9:31 pm
Beckles has already gone on record saying we’ll be 2-13-1. I’m on record saying we’ll be better than that.
May 28th, 2019 at 2:08 am
Beckles gets more pub on this site than he does on his own radio station. Prolly a great guy to eat a 5lb hamburger with, crap guy to talk sports with. Famous Jameis will lead the Bucs to the promiseland!
May 28th, 2019 at 8:03 am
BA only won one playoff game with Arizona, don’t get your hopes to high.
May 28th, 2019 at 2:54 pm
BA and Bowles can coach. You saw how deficient those AZ rosters were that he left behind last year when the wheels fell off, and he got it to .500 for two years. Bucs had 10-6 talent at least last year if they had someone who knew how to coach and manage a team. How many times were you confident in what your coaches were doing going into a game? That they were attacking a team the right way instead of just throwing things against the wall and seeing what stuck? Like I said when Koetter got that job 4 years ago, he’d be a train wreck because he’s not HC material. He’s not even a good OC. His offenses rack up yards but don’t score. That’s been the case since Jacksonville.
May 28th, 2019 at 3:46 pm
I know preseason polls don’t mean a lot but the bucs are ranked 24 in one 25 in another 27 in another and 29th. All polls have us finishing last in the division, just saying.