The Mirage Of Preseason
August 13th, 2019
Preseason reaction.
Ian Beckles has something to say. And the former Bucs guard and current popular local sports radio personality is sure of one thing.
That one thing would be the first preseason game for all teams is just one step above a joke.
“What happens in the first preseason game means nothing, absolutely nothing,” Beckles exclaimed on a recent edition of his “In the Trenches” podcast. “Nobody game plans for that game. … It doesn’t matter.”
What does matter is that Beckles had a few observations of Friday’s night’s game in Pittsburgh. Among them:
* Beckles is happy the Bucs ran and passed evenly on the first drive; happy the Bucs threw a screen pass; happy the Bucs ran a reverse.
* Ronald Jones looks like an NFL running back, but he’s not special. Beckles threw Peyton Barber into the same category but stated you can still win with those two at running back.
* Liked the play of Alex Cappa on the first drive but he didn’t play long enough to “poop” on himself.
* Believes the deep ball is still the kryptonite of America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston.
* Believes Chris Godwin could be special and if he is, bookended by Mike Evans, could be lethal and will help the running backs. “You won’t be able to put eight men in the box.”
* Believes cornerback Vernon Hargreaves is fortunate he wasn’t roasted for a touchdown and Beckles is convinced he would have if Ben Roethlisberger had played.
All in all Beckles liked what he saw from the first teams of the Bucs but is trying not to be deceived by preseason football.
August 13th, 2019 at 5:22 am
He’s the cranky old man of the media and hardly likes anything but he’s not wrong. Game 3 against Cleveland is the game I look forward to
August 13th, 2019 at 5:29 am
Agree….the only positives you might draw from the preseason are flashes of talent from developmental players, but those are guys who will at best contribute on special teams. Everyone else the hope is they don’t look bad or get hurt.
August 13th, 2019 at 5:48 am
As we’ve seen before in pre-season (only to see the wheels come off) is the first teams did play well. A near perfect drive for the O with everyone clearly on their game and a stout D is more than we can ask for…and is not new. Of course Beckles is right about no game plan for the first preseason game, and the football is not really good. But what I do think an important thing not to miss is about depth. We already know the Bucs are thin at several positions, and the game confirmed what we knew. Horrendous. While the final score doesn’t matter per se, I still would rather “win” these as a testament to second, third and lower teams performed well, game plan aside. All that aside, what makes me cringe most in preseason is I still pay nearly $400 bucks for a ticket. Regular price.
August 13th, 2019 at 5:51 am
It was still better than Winston throwing a pick or someone fumbling. Or missing the extra point… alot could have went wrong and did for some teams .
August 13th, 2019 at 6:02 am
Beckles, in another ‘I played the game and you didn’t’ moment states, “What happens in the first preseason game means nothing, absolutely nothing.”
Then he goes on to extrapolate six strong opinions from “absolutely nothing.”
Huh?
August 13th, 2019 at 6:07 am
I was most pleased with the 55 yarder from Gay , if he can do that when it matters , then maybe Licht brain gets off the hook for burning a 5th rounder on somebody you could have signed as an FA.
August 13th, 2019 at 6:58 am
The deep ball will always be Jameis’ kryptonite. If he aint figured it out by now he never will. Gotta keep trying it a few times a game though because he’ll get lucky once in while.
August 13th, 2019 at 7:07 am
Beckles has to understand for us hard core fans all we’ve had for the past decade IS preseason. Our regular season has been over long before Halloween! By Thanksgiving we’re watching reruns of the 2002 year AGAIN!
August 13th, 2019 at 7:25 am
I was happy about the screen pass too, but disappointed in yet another downfield inaccurate pass to our deep threat.
August 13th, 2019 at 7:52 am
It was nice to see them come out and not be horribly clueless. Lovie’s first year, I remember thinking, wow, they’re bad, but it’s preseason. That thought continued until the season started and they were still bad.
August 13th, 2019 at 8:10 am
WDAE is unlistenable
Not sure why many out so much stock in what this guy says
August 13th, 2019 at 8:24 am
Yes we know Ian, Preseason means nothing. But it was nice to see a 55 yard FG. Otherwise with all the injuries to key players, like every single year, very few Bucs fans are optimistic about starting the regular season with substandard backup players.
August 13th, 2019 at 8:51 am
Ian Mr. know it all Beckles is an idiot. Plain & simple.
August 13th, 2019 at 9:33 am
Is there a deal in place between Joe and Beckles?–this guy is a complete blowhard.
Why does the site report this guys every annoying opinion?
August 13th, 2019 at 9:34 am
Liek Ian’s observation Id like to know if he gets to watch the coache’s tape from NFL.com or even the bucs…I guess arians was not happy on jameis scrambling as he had guys wide open to throw to
August 13th, 2019 at 9:37 am
He isn’t wrong.
August 13th, 2019 at 9:47 am
I try not to listen to this guy on WDAE.
August 13th, 2019 at 9:48 am
He is wrong. Hargreaves did not have primary coverage on that long play. Arians said after the game that Whitehead was supposed to be deep. Please stop quoting uninformed Beckles!
August 13th, 2019 at 10:33 am
Says Preseason is a joke basically
Goes on to have kneejerk reactions from Preseason Game 1
lol
August 13th, 2019 at 11:51 am
Love me some Beckles! Let’s hang at Momo’s table.
Hargreaves completion was actually a blown safety coverage in zone according to Arians.