Lorig Is A Busy Young Man
October 7th, 2010
Joe’s taken a handful of e-mails asking why he hasn’t written about rookie seventh-round pick Erik Lorig coming off the practice squad and working at tight end and fullback when he was drafted as a defensive end.
The answer is simple: none of this excites Joe.
Frankly, it scares Joe.
Joe appreciates Lorig working on being versatile and keeping an NFL paycheck. Good for him, and good for the Bucs for trying to get the most out of a guy. But if Lorig plays any meaningful minutes outside of special teams this season, Joe knows the Bucs are in a heap of trouble.
So that’s where Joe stands.
October 7th, 2010 at 8:05 am
25+ quality snaps a game on this young team primarily with the ST unit? I’m good with it. Bonus (+) snaps at FB, TE, etc using a Stanford grad (smart) 6’4″ 270lb high motor football player – Gravy.
October 7th, 2010 at 9:04 am
Antonio Gates never even played football before the NFL, and he became a pretty TE. I’m not saying Lorig is the next Gates, but to think it’s such a longshot for a college football player with the smarts, size, and speed to be a tight end….is kinda silly. If this guy can show that he is an aggressive blocker, he will be an upgrade over John Gilmore, and 10 years younger.
October 7th, 2010 at 9:04 am
Must be something that coaches see in him that they’re willing to get the ball to him. Of course, we have three other TE’s including Stevens who doesn’t seem to get involved very much anymore.
October 7th, 2010 at 9:07 am
If he can catch and block, it is like having an additional lineman in there. Just think of the all the undrafted free agents that have gone on to stardom let alone the Hall of Fame.
If he works out at these positions, does this make the coaches as visionaries who think outside the box? What they are doing with McCoy is just another example of this. We should withhold judgement until we see if it works. If it does so much the better, if not what have we lost?
October 7th, 2010 at 9:16 am
This is the Bucs way of doing two things:
1) Admitting he wasn’t a very good DE
2) Admitting they have terrible blocking TEs
Now I have no idea whether or not he’s going to be any good (I’d guess no) and while I applaud them for acknowledging their mistake, I agree with Joe that if we see him playing a lot, it’s bad news.
October 7th, 2010 at 9:17 am
Lorig probably won’t end up being a big part of our team, but he could. The point is, if he does start seeing the field, it doesn’t mean the Bucs are in a heap of trouble. It just means the coaches like what they are seeing in practice and think he can outplay Gilmore or Pressley.
October 7th, 2010 at 9:21 am
Personally I’m rooting for him to work out as FB. Can you even imagine a 6’4″ 275lbs FB blocking for a 6’1″ 250 RB? That’s power running baby!
Replace Zuttah with a big 330lbs road grader like John Moffitt in the draft and we’re in business. Screw this pass happy league! I wanna bring back hard nosed, punch you in the mouth, pound the rock football.
October 7th, 2010 at 9:22 am
And if he turns out to be a great TE, than is means the Bucs are better off, not in trouble. Role the dice baby!
October 7th, 2010 at 9:48 am
JDouble:
One reason Joe didn’t write about Lorig is that this move wreaks of desperation for both parties.
So three games into the season the team decides to train a practice squad player — a practice squad player mind you that was passed over by 31 other teams — and train him at a new position?
These are the types of stories that bore Joe to tears. A practice squad guy doing anything he can to stay on the outskirts of an NFL roster. Wow, color Joe shocked.
In other news, Peyton Manning completed a pass…
October 7th, 2010 at 10:44 am
Joe,
There are many practice squad to roster stories that are actually pretty good. Earnest Graham was undrafted Mr. August for several years, and spent time on the practice squad, before stepping in for an injured Caddy and Pittman to make his splash in the NFL. Clifton Smith was buried on the practice squad behind 2nd round bust Dexter Jackson before he had a breakout 2nd half of the season and Pro Bowl appearance. That’s not saying it’s where Lorig will end up, just that a guy going from making the 53 man roster, dropping to the practice squad, and re-emerging at a new position on the roster is not an immediate recipe for disaster.
Even Steve White has reported we need better blocking from the TEs, and that may open up what has been a lethargic rush attack. Lorig actually was a TE before he was a DE, and was asked by coaches to make the switch in college because of injuries to other players, not because he wasn’t a decent TE, but because the team needed DEs. He was more of a blocker at TE (which is what we need) and could surpass Gilmore or even Stevens if he shows promise. In the meantime, he’s doing what he was drafted for, playing special teams.
October 7th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
I have to agree with bamBam Joe, Penn was another guy from the practice squad. Maybe they make for better stories once they are a success, since there are planty of guys that give it a shot and never make it.
October 7th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
That is where you and me see things differently joe. I personally love little known underdog stories. It’s always fun to root for the little known guys and there are 1,000,000,000 stories in the nfl of guys just like lorig that end up having great careers. If you don’t like underdogs it is easy to see why you wouldn’t like the current bucs team.
October 7th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Me thinks Joe is trying to get ‘edgy’ to garner a visit from the Bucs PR department… lol. J/K.
October 7th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
If the Bucs can finally get a TE that can block, we’re in bidness. I thought Dotson was going to be that guy but he landed on IR, which sucks. Next man steps up. Blount, Huggy get out there.
October 8th, 2010 at 5:36 am
Not a Rocket Surgeon- lmao!!