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Jason Licht explained the No. 1 trait he is looking for in a player at No. 7.
Teams often look for certain traits in a player they draft high in the first round. It’s sort of a philosophy that comes from the top of an organization.
With former Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik, it was being a “Buccaneer Man.” With Raheem Morris it might have been, “who could best chest bump or swill ale with the coach?” [read more]
The laughter and high-five slapping you’re hearing driving down Dale Mabry Highway are probably coming from the fancy offices of One Buc Palace, as two longtime Bucs scribes and analysts appear to have reached opposite conclusions on the Buccaneers’ draft strategy. [read more]
Yes, the Bucs should be looking for a guard. Right now, as the final hours of April 2014 fade away, the thinnest if not weakest unit on the Bucs is the offensive line.
Joe doesn’t have to go into great details, but banking on the return of Carl Nicks is dangerous and there is already a hole at right guard. So, realistically, the Bucs need to fill two openings. [read more]
Here’s just about every last second of Lovie Smith and Jason Licht hosting a pre-draft news conference yesterday at One Buc Palace. [read more]
Joe can only imagine the look on Lovie Smith’s face when he’s handed a spreadsheet that tries to interpret a college linebacker’s potential cover skills based on some sort of statistic.
After what Jason Licht said today about Lovie’s old school grading system, Joe suspects Lovie isn’t much of data cruncher. [read more]
A lot of Bucs fans believe Tampa Bay’s best move is not to pick at No. 7 at all. Instead, these same fans insist, trade down.
Aa Bucs general manager Jason Licht discussed this afternoon, that’s a whole lot easier to talk about than actually pull off. It’s not like the 31 other NFL teams aren’t aware that in this draft, several positions are very deep. [read more]
As Joe wrote in his practice notes last week, Bucs coaches have really been drilling cornerback Alterraun Verner on the nuances of the Tampa-2 defense.
There is plenty to learn, so Verner told Joe today, and a slice of it surrounds three words that make many Bucs fans tremble in fear: defensive line stunts. [read more]
NFL fans are so hungry for any morsel of football information that anything resembling even a rumor in the offseason is treated like the kickoff for the opening weekend.
It has gotten to the point that pro days are telecast live before breathless fans, thinking a pro day can make or break a player. [read more]
Bucs GM Jason Licht said today he can understand some of the controversial fun in Johnny Football’s past
Team Glazer hasn’t dictated any wacky roster moves to sell Bucs tickets. That should be obvious.
One could even argue Team Glazer did just the opposite when they fired their Super Bowl–winning head coach, hired Raheem Morris, went with a build-through-the-draft and free-agency-is-a-dark-path approach, and passed on Tim Tebow. [read more]
Right now most of the football world is in a draft frenzy. With so many mocks it has become digital pollution. Joe is mocked out; has been for a couple of weeks.
Joe is so weary from the mocks that he is actually looking more forward to the return of Jack Bauer and 24 a week from tonight more than the draft. Really. Joe’s brain can only take so much teasing and s(p)it-against-the-wall analysis. [read more]
Lovie Smith and Jason Licht went before local media this afternoon for a Q&A session about the NFL Draft. The Bucs’ dynamic duo put forth a very relaxed, smiley unified front.
Licht said he and Lovie will continue evaluating players and tweaking and reviewing their draft board until draft day, but it’s been a pretty agreeable process between them. But their methods are different. [read more]
Wait a minute.
Don’t miss the exclusive Bucs locker room interview in this post
In a feature about beastly University at Buffalo linebacker Khalil Mack yesterday, fight-instigating, barista-training, pedestrian-bumping, olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball box score-reading Peter King of SI.com and NBC Sports Fame, omitted the Bucs as a team Mack visited. [read more]
ESPN explains the Bucs’ interest
The rumors won’t stop flying no matter how much the haters want them to go away. In fact, Joe sees the Johnny Football haters running to Treasure Island to bury their heads in the sand because they don’t want to hear the Bucs may just be interested in Johnny Football. [read more]
All kinds of fun today in Buccaneer land! The Bucs are making some players available to the media later, and Lovie Smith and general manager Jason Licht will get grilled and drilled with questions about the NFL Draft.
Joe advises you to return often this afternoon, but don’t inhale the smoke.
Another Aggie has the Bucs’ interest
Joe remembers when the Bucs interviewed Texas Tech guard Brandon Carter back in 2010. Carter eventually was signed by Tampa Bay as an undrafted free agent, but a big reason why he was a chosen pre-draft interview was so the Bucs could get insider dirt on Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy.
Joe broke that story (see link above). It was Carter who had success against both beastly tackles in the Big XII. [read more]
No way former Bucs TE Anthony Becht would trade up in the draft if he were Bucs GM Jason Licht.
Now some nine days from the draft, Joe couldn’t begin to guess who the Bucs will grab at No. 7. Of course, Joe pines for Johnny Football but realizes that wish is unlikely to be fulfilled.
Shoot, if Joe wanted to play devil’s advocate, he could see the Bucs taking a dozen different players at No. 7. It is a total roll of the dice.
Da’Quan Bowers’ time to fish or cut bait is coming.
Of all the players who seem to be in the crosshairs of Bucs fans, defensive end Da’Quan Bowers appears to lead the way. Since he was drafted in the second round in 2011, Bowers, once thought to be the premiere pass rusher in all of college football, has been equally disappointing in the NFL. [read more]
The weird career-ending injury suffered by Brian Price didn’t slow down the revolving door of players in and out of One Buc Palace.
One leg of building a good football team is to establish consistency. Teams that change front offices, coaches and quarterbacks more than some change their briefs leads to trainwreck organizations (yes, Joe is looking right at you, Jimmy Haslam of the Browns).
And one way to build consistency is to draft well. [read more]
Enjoy Joe’s next exclusive interview from the Bucs locker room! This time, it’s Adrian Clayborn talking about his past, present and future.
Joe’s very confident Bucs fans will be able to listen between the lines here when it comes to how Clayborn feels about the Greg Schiano approach to defensive line play.
Thanks to the NFL and the Buccaneers. (And please stop emailing Joe about the length of the videos. NFL rules only allow 90 seconds to be shown, and only for 24 hours).
Lavelle Hawkins hopes to play where he was most successful
Joe’s familiar with other Bucs analysts who claim they’ve scoured tape of “Cal” during the long reign there of Bucs offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford and have a great handle on Tedford’s concepts and ways.
That’s a nice thought, except Tedford is an innovator who was often tweaking his offense. So Joe’s long said Tedford’s NFL offense will be fresh. [read more]
Many Bucs fans may hate him, but the stat nerds of Pro Football Focus have always supported former Bucs CB E.J. Biggers.
No, the Bucs have not had much luck with drafts of late. Brian Price suffered a weird injury and was never the same. Arrelious Benn could not stay healthy. Sleepy, leaky Rip Van Freeman couldn’t tell time and went mental.
And when a team has bad luck with its draft picks, it often spells doom for the general manager, which is just what happened to former Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik. [read more]
