“They Never Panned Out”

May 8th, 2021

Talkin’ defense.

The way former Bucs guard and current popular local sports radio personality Ian Beckles sees it, when you watch film of a college player, one element gives away whether the guy can ball on the NFL level or not.

It’s all about physicality, Beckles said.

In taking to his podcast “In the Trenches,” Beckles focused on the Bucs draft of last week, during which he gave Bucs fans an ugly flashback and a headscratcher of an analysis of a Pro Bowler.

“Draft grades are equally stupid to me,” Beckles said, emphasizing he believes nothing is a greater waste of time than a mock draft.

So Beckles began his analysis of first-round pick Joe Tryon. Beckles likes what he sees and doesn’t expect Tryon to be the next Gaines Adams.

“Once again, I don’t want to sit here and say I watched all the film,” Beckles began. “But, I did go and review some of his film. Not like a scout would do it. I just went to YouTube like everybody else would do it and pulled up a bunch of his film.”

And Beckles admitted YouTube video of almost all players are highlights, which can be a bad trap.

“So I can tell you this: I liked what I saw and I normally don’t like what I see,” Beckles said. Tryon is “a defensive end and he is very long, which is good. He plays with great leverage. He makes big plays. He ran a 4.6 [40-yard dash] which is pretty good.

“He’s physical, OK? That is the word to me that is important in this game of football. When you see a defensive end or a defensive tackle running around people, I don’t want to see that. Because that is not going to happen in the league. You are not going to run around anybody in the league. You better run through somebody in the NFL.

“And I remember when the Buccaneers drafted Gaines Adams and when they drafted Gerald McCoy. I did the same [filmwork] for those guys. Right away with Gaines Adams I go, ‘He don’t have no strength. And he don’t have any power.’

“And what I said about Gerald McCoy, was what other people said as well, ‘Oh well, he has a great get-off but he doesn’t make many plays.’ Well dammit, that’s what he was in the league.

“They never panned out.”

Well, obviously Adams was awful. Joe always gets a chuckle knowing that lousy Lovie Smith threw away a second-round pick trading for a stiff.

(Trust Joe, when Team Glazer allegedly had a handshake deal with Lovie in October 2014 to take over the Bucs, Lovie certainly got revenge on then-Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik for robbing him of a second-round pick.)

Still, Joe likes to hear from a former NFLer that this Tryon is a physical dude. That’s music to Joe’s ears.

31 Responses to ““They Never Panned Out””

  1. Kalind Says:

    Pretty moronic point to say GMC didn’t pan out….I’m not a huge defender of his, but he was unquestionably a good player

  2. C2asante Says:

    If he is being honest Gerald McCoy had a better football career than Ian Beckles and was a significantly better player. Granted GMAC came with much higher expectations but Beckles is talking about as if McCoy was a scrub when in fact Beckles was much closer to being just a guy.

  3. ocala Says:

    McCoy had the best get off of any DT in the NFL. Despite that he was only a slightly above average NFL player because he did not make a ton of plays.

  4. Rayjay1122 Says:

    Comparing Beckles football career to that of GMC’s is irrelevant honestly. Beckles is not a football player, he is a media member and is speaking as a media member which is just doing his job. Is he not supposed to talk about or give his opinions on a player simply based on his own former NFL career? That would limit his ability to do his media work.

  5. All lives matter Says:

    One on one McCoy could sometimes be dominate because of his fast get-off but stick an extra hat on him and he would fade away. You can’t say that about JPP. or Suh

  6. Onebadbuc54 Says:

    Gerald McCoy should have been a left defensive end!

  7. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Didn’t GMC make the ProBowl?…..more than once?

  8. TheBradyBunch Says:

    TBBF – six to be exact! For a number of years he was one of the best tackles in the league. Everyone except Beckles and the GMC haters know this too. The haters can’t stand him because he was a nice guy. They complained about his sack numbers constantly yet they love Suh who always had less sacks.

  9. K_bassuka Says:

    It’s Beckles for crying out loud. I still don’t understand why people listen to this 🤡.

  10. Bucthis Says:

    RIP GAINES !!!! Maybe his undiagnosed heart condition effected his play on the field and just because Gerald wasn’t an Azz like Sapp he was horrible ? Guy was a beast

  11. The Daily Coroner Says:

    Gaines Adams had a congenital heart disease that limited him and eventually killed him.
    GMC was a good player. Needed more animal in him with the snap of the ball.

  12. Couch Fan Says:

    I agree with Beckles. McCoy was highly over rated. He was a good pass rusher who often over ran the play, was terrible against the run and was forced for years to the be something he had no business being, a face of the franchise. He was also forced into a leadership role that was he wasnt very good at. Excuses were made a plenty and still are made a plenty for him. I am not one of these haters that hate him personally. I just didnt like his play.

  13. Steven007 Says:

    Brady bunch, Suh has more sacks but I got your point. As a third overall pick McCoy came with great expectations which he only partially met. And of course he was always compared against Sapp who deservedly has a gold jacket.

  14. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Maybe GMC didn’t measure up to his #3 pick….but for Beckles to say he “never panned out”……the man has zero credibility with that statement.

  15. Buc-em-up84 Says:

    C2asante Says:
    May 8th, 2021 at 8:16 am
    If he is being honest Gerald McCoy had a better football career than Ian Beckles and was a significantly better player. Granted GMAC came with much higher expectations but Beckles is talking about as if McCoy was a scrub when in fact Beckles was much closer to being just a guy.

    Im not a GMC fan but I could totally see GMC running thru Beckles on his way to a sack

  16. Chris@Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa Says:

    LOL, one has to be very very careful ONLY reviewing YouTube Film!
    Most YouTube film makes every player look like a first round draft pick.

  17. Buxszntkt Says:

    How does a scrub like Beckles get so much air time ? Well I suppose he really doesn’t! Living down in Tampa with a blog or podcast pretending he has some relevance other than his average playing years.

  18. Fred mcneil Says:

    The best comparison for GMC is OJ Howard.
    He was always tearing a biceps or a pectoral or something.
    Last year he tore a quad and missed the whole year.

  19. Buc1987 Says:

    Buxszntkt…why you hatin’ on Beckles?

  20. 40Forever Says:

    Beckles …jealous much?

  21. Doctor Stroud Says:

    It’s true that GMC didn’t make a lot of plays, but this was mainly because opposing teams adjusted their game plans against him. And then, the front office pretty much neglected the defensive line after they drafted him. Other players along the D-line needed to step up. Look at who the Bucs drafted on the D-line since 2010 (the year GMC was drafted) until he left after the 2018 season: Brian Price, Da’Quan Bowers, Akeem Spence, Steven Means, Will Gholston, Adrian Clayborn, Erik Lorig, Noah Spence, Vita Vea. How many of those other guys didn’t “pan out”? It’s too bad GMC never had a Shaq Barrett.

  22. Baby Grace Says:

    Doctor Stroud,

    Are you really saying Vita Vea didn’t work out?

  23. Doctor Stroud Says:

    Not at all, just that the overall list doesn’t inspire. Vea and Gholston were the only players that “panned out”; Vea was a rookie in GMC’s last year. I know that it wasn’t for a lack of trying by the front office. Duran Duran-lovin’ Bucs ex-GM Mark Dominik drafted Clayborn and Bowers in the first and second rounds, respectively, implementing the famous “platoon” draft technique. But drafting for need is not enough. You have to hit on the picks.

  24. Swampbuc Says:

    Don’t always agree with everything Beckles says, but he sure was right about Geraldine Softswirl McCoy.

  25. jvato24 Says:

    How is 12.5 sacks in 2 years awful?? I get it, numbers aren’t everything, but Gaines Adams just wasn’t a pro bowler, but before JPP and Shaq he was probably one of our better producing DEs statistically in the last 15 years, Adrian Claiborne didn’t do much better

  26. Joe Says:

    The best comparison for GMC is OJ Howard.

    Not even! GMC made six Pro Bowls and was first-team All Pro once. O.J. Howard has had a handful of nice games. GMC proved himself in the NFL. Jury is still out on Howard.

    Is Howard talented? No doubt. But right now he’s been much more hype than substance.

    Davin Joseph would have been a better comparison to GMC.

  27. Mike Johnson Says:

    A lot of what beckles and Bucs fans say about GMC is sort of horse manure. The guy played his tail off for us. Sometimes it who you are surrounded with and by.GMC was not great. But he was a good player for us. Same with Winston. The guy came in right out of college and started with no mentorship at Qb whatsoever. He was not great. But he played hard. I often imagine what it would have been like had he sit a year behind a great one.

  28. Buczilla Says:

    McCoy was not worth the 3rd overall pick in the 2010 draft, but he was still a good player. Warren Sapp type players are rare as hell and Gerald was never going to be close to that. The cupboard is pretty bare behind JPP and Shaq, so if Tryon can just be average this year while he learns, I think that it will make a big difference.

  29. Blue Coffee Says:

    GMAC was a great player. This guys in saying that have no credibility.

    One cannot put the blame on a player because he was injured for god sake! Give the injured man a brake! You get sick? it’s your fault perhaps? This is bull,…

    Joe is right, when a player made six pro bowls he deserves some respect. And he was a BUCS! I am tired of all theses ”experts” who talk against my BUCS all the time like if no good players played for us,… We had too much lost in the past to talk against the good players we had. GMAC will always be respected in my family. GMAC deserves it!
    GO BUCS!!

  30. Howard Cosell Says:

    What’s this, a GMC love fest? LOL
    Howard thought he smelled scented candles and potpourri

  31. Howard Cosell Says:

    Probably one dude with 300 email accounts and a crush on the big softie