Andrew Booth Would Make An Impact
April 11th, 2022
Clemson cornerback Andrew Booth.
It’s still a head-shaker that a guy Joe respects a great deal expects the Bucs, a team with real Super Bowl aspirations, to draft a project player in the first round hoping he recovers from a blown Achilles.
The man is Charles Davis, who works for CBS and NFL Network. The player he expects the Bucs to draft is edge rusher David Ojabo, who blew out his Achilles in his pro day workout. That’s borderline crazy talk.
Another guy Joe respects is the czar of the playbook, Emory Hunt, also of CBS. And in his damn solid 2022 draft guide, he has Clemson cornerback Andrew Booth as his second-highest rated corner.
Joe is hoping for a run on quarterbacks and receivers so Booth slides to the Bucs at No. 27.
Strengths:
– Fantastic mirror-and-match skills. Has the busy, yet quiet feet that you want at the position. His shuffle & turn technique is one of the best in the class.
– Does a really good job playing both off-coverage and press man. Zone coverage he’s able to excel at as well because of his patience and technical skills.
– When tasked with turning and running with the receiver, hedoes a really good job staying in phase, while also condensing the receiver to the boundary.
What Hunt left out from Booth’s breakdown is that Booth is a damn fine tackler.
Bucs corners were riddled with injuries last year and it disturbed Joe that whenever one of the three starters was out, the pass defense struggled. That tells Joe that the backup corners were that bad. (Yes, bottle of cologne cornerback Pierre Desir, who played over 300 snaps last season, remains unemployed on the free agent market.)
And cornerback tackling was shaky. In the playoff loss to the Rams, it was downright poor. Right away Booth would improve tackling.
So why draft a corner at No. 27 when the Bucs already have three corners? Well, Joe does not expect both Sean Murphy-Bunting and Jamel Dean to return in 2023. Both are in the final years of their contracts, and Joe doesn’t believe the Bucs could afford to keep them without wrecking the salary cap. Booth could be a replacement.
Also, given how reserve corners struggled, Booth could shore that up in his rookie year.
Good corners are hard to come by, certainly trickier than a starting defensive tackle, which many Bucs fans want to draft. Joe doesn’t see as big of a need there than at corner.
Joe would be all over Booth if he was still on the board at No. 27.
April 11th, 2022 at 3:04 pm
Cam Taylor Britt looks better and has exp returning punts
April 11th, 2022 at 3:23 pm
I mentioned Booth Jr the other day. He’s supposed to be the most versatile corner in the draft, with equal skills in man and zone. He’s also on the Patriots radar, and other teams. Not sure if he’ll still be around when the bucs pick, so it’ll probably require a rather hefty trade up.
Logan Ryan isn’t going to fix a weak secondary. He’s a fine complementary piece. What I’m tired of hearing is how injury decimated a great secondary. The bucs defensive backs overachieved two years ago, and it was foolish to count on them doing it two years in a row. They were coming back to earth, injuries or not.
April 11th, 2022 at 3:26 pm
I agree Joe, it makes zero sense for the Bucs to draft an injured player from U of Woke in the 1st Round.
April 11th, 2022 at 3:38 pm
If Wyatt is there w/ Booth, I’m we’d take Wyatt in that scenario. Jalen Pitre or Roger McCreary in 2nd round.
I get the same vibe and feeling w/ Pitre as I did w/ AWJ a few Drafts ago. AWJ was my favorite non-projected first rounder in the entire Draft. I get that w/ Pitre and you can literally line up Pitre anywhere in the entire back end, slot, nickel, dime backer, box safety, outside CB in a pinch.
Wyatt, Pitre, Cook/Spiller/Strong Jr./Pierce is who I’m hoping for in first 3 rounds. Wouldn’t be against a TE in rounds 2-4 either. WR, ILB w/ speed and O-Line at some point in Draft would be awesome too.
A later round return specialist or Araiza/Camarda as later round picks would be a nice cherry on top, but I’m not as worried about that compared to other needs.
April 11th, 2022 at 3:47 pm
Upgrading the defense is job 1 in round 1, preferably interior DL, but a lockdown CB would be a big help as well, if none of the DLinemen they like are on the board at 27.
April 11th, 2022 at 3:51 pm
Anything would help the defense common now lol
April 11th, 2022 at 3:51 pm
Can he add a little weight and play DL? That’s our biggest need.
April 11th, 2022 at 3:52 pm
I’m wondering if we somehow manage to trade back just a few spots, still have a 1st rd pick but also pick up an extra late 2nd or 3rd. There’s several teams with an abundance of draft capital that can fall in love with a guy and make a deal for the sake of getting who they really vs hoping a person falls.
April 11th, 2022 at 3:56 pm
Hmmmmmm, Achilles? Wasn’t that the heel of a previous first-round underachieving tight end?
April 11th, 2022 at 3:57 pm
Sure, if he’s there……There’s always a need for a good young CB……we need to draft all defense in the first 3 rounds…..CB, DT, DE (not necessarily in that order)…….then we can go for TE, RB, Oline……and don’t be surprised at a late round punter….
We may have to dump Succop & Pinion to free up some cash for Gronk & Suh….
April 11th, 2022 at 4:01 pm
I absolutely agree that DL needs new blood and if we find the right guy (DT or DE/EDGE) at 27, then great. But don’t forget, getting a lockdown CB also helps the DL.
April 11th, 2022 at 4:13 pm
Adding a 2nd #1 CB would be amazing for this defense. The Bucs can grab decent DL and RB in the 2nd and 3rd.
April 11th, 2022 at 4:20 pm
If Booth is that good he wont last until 27. This goes back to the conversation about taking Trask in the 2nd round last year. Why do that if we’re ALL IN to run it back. I’d rather take a top 10 talent in Ojabo since we still havent done anything to replace the snaps JPP got last year.
April 11th, 2022 at 4:27 pm
No pre-injured players please.
April 11th, 2022 at 4:33 pm
Ojabo will not be ready in 2022, after blowing his Achilles at MICH pro-day.
I’d just as soon trade up & go get the guy the FO wants…
April 11th, 2022 at 4:34 pm
Jason seems to like injured collegiate players..just not round 1. Pass rush makes corners better
April 11th, 2022 at 4:53 pm
BPA among DT, DE/OLB & CB in Rnd 1. Grabbing the 2nd best CB versus drafting the 5th or 6th DT also seems like the smarter thing to do. If DTs and DE/OLBs go quickly in Rnd 1 as many expect, then a CB like Booth might just be there at #27
April 11th, 2022 at 5:01 pm
I notice Joe wrote “he” regarding Charles Davis. Is Joe not only an NFL expert, but a Biologist too?
April 11th, 2022 at 5:14 pm
Another opinion and his 4th option at cornerback after Gardner, McDuffie, and Stingley Jr:
STRENGTHS: Fluid athlete with quick feet, long gait and controlled hip movements … shows a natural feel for pattern matching in press or off-man … anticipates route breaks and combinations to stay in the wide receiver’s shadow
WEAKNESSES: Will bite hard on pumps and route fakes, creating wasted steps and slowing his transitions … will surrender throws in front of him and not as
comfortable in zone … needs to clean up his jam techniques and timing
SUMMARY: A two-year starter at Clemson, Booth was an outside cornerback in former defensive coordinator Brent Venables’ man and zone schemes,
GRADE: 1st-2nd Round (No. 26 overall)
April 11th, 2022 at 5:21 pm
I’ll be okay with whoever the Bucs take in the draft, they know more about it than I do. My gut feeling is that they’ll take a WR in the 1st, if there’s one there that they love. Probably go “D” in the 2nd and 3rd, would be my guess.
April 11th, 2022 at 5:29 pm
Kaepernick compares the NFL to “slavery”, then throws at the U of M spring practice to try to get back into “NFL slavery”. You can’t even make this stupid sh!t up.
April 11th, 2022 at 5:29 pm
I concur Joe. He passes the eyeball test, big time. Despite the needs on both lines, he’d be a fine addition to our secondary. I’m not a fan of picking for need 1st round. We need to take the best available athlete.
April 11th, 2022 at 5:55 pm
The far right is strong on this thread. Joe in MI and Ocala go over to your loser’s failing social media platform if you want spew your political nonsense.
April 11th, 2022 at 6:32 pm
I would love the best available player to be a cornerback. An outside corner at 27 probably would beat out smb and Jamal Dean which would be a major impact player.
Also a top wide receiver, safety or linebacker at 27 would also be an immediate impact player. What we can’t do is draft a project player in the first. Not good policy even if we weren’t a contender.
April 11th, 2022 at 6:41 pm
Maybe Dax Hill? They could rotate him at S & CB.
April 11th, 2022 at 6:44 pm
Clemson never seemed to work for the Bucs. Gaines Adams & Daquan Bowers. I’d stay away from them & Ohio St because a good chunk of them from Ohio St struggle in the NFL once they come out. Sure over the last couple of years they’ve done better (Nick & Joey, Thomas, Elliott, Chase) but I’d still be iffy.
April 11th, 2022 at 7:36 pm
TheBradyBunch Says:
April 11th, 2022 at 5:55 pm
The far right is strong on this thread. Joe in MI and Ocala go over to your loser’s failing social media platform if you want spew your political nonsense.
^^^^^^^^
Or, how about I say what I want?
April 11th, 2022 at 8:25 pm
I had surgery at my local hospital a few months ago. They encouraged me to take a name tag, based on what I wanted to be called. GOB picked they, but it confounded the nurses who sponge bathed me. This post will probably get moderated, but whatever.
April 11th, 2022 at 8:32 pm
BPA
April 11th, 2022 at 9:26 pm
Pass rush please.
Arnold Ebiketie. Penn State, Temple transfer. Perfect pick for Bowles.
April 11th, 2022 at 9:37 pm
Bucamania: I’m hoping a good edge rusher slips, like Azeez Ojulari did last year, and the Bucs get a guy like Ebiketie in the 2nd or 3rd.
April 11th, 2022 at 10:12 pm
Due to the poor supply of quality DT prospects, I think the DTs most likely to make an impact will be gone by the time the Bucs make their pick.
On a more positive note, the CB depth is good. This would be an excellent time to select a couple of quality CBs fairly early, one if the first round, the second CB before round four perhaps. Licht should have taken a CB early last season, this draft is an opportunity to solidify an oft-injured, thin-depth position group.
This draft also lacks TE depth. I just hope Gronk and Suh will sign up for another season.
April 11th, 2022 at 10:40 pm
Travis Jones in the 3rd round would be a steal .
April 11th, 2022 at 11:17 pm
THREE typos?!?
Lay off the Bushmills, Joe.
April 11th, 2022 at 11:42 pm
Davis is an above average corner, not good, because a good one would have more than six picks in four years and wouldn’t have missed so much time do to injury. He’s replaceable and Dean and Bunting are below average and injury prone as well even though they have come up big for us in the past. Inconsistency is a huge part of Dean’s and Bunting’s game right now and I hope that they can get that fixed, but I’d be perfectly happy drafting corners with our first two picks. Now if Olave is there at 27? Get that guy!
April 12th, 2022 at 1:08 am
I’m telling you I believe what Joe in Michigan is thinking.
The MOST immediate impact player is who we take in Round 1.
Bowles doesn’t get a do-over with Brady.
If Olave or Burks is available at #27 that will be your pick.
Next is probably a handful of CBs or D Lineman and then it’s trade back which also doesn’t help Brady much.
I have also seen James Cook mocked to the Bucs in the 2nd.
Wouldn’t surprise me in the least for Bowles to focus on Offense in his first season.
ONE MORE SEASON
He will never look back again longing for a competent WR to catch a pass because our top 2 are out.
April 12th, 2022 at 6:09 am
Haven’t done much research on the DBs coming out n joe you hit the nail right on the head. As much as we need to add to the trenches we need some DB help real bad. I know we signed Ryan n Neal but we need more depth at the corner position and honesty we need competition there SMB n dean both need to be pushed or maybe they reached their ceiling but either way they ain’t cutting it.