Let's Cut The Bullshit

 

There are times, not many but a few times that I see something that I probably should comment on but instead I hold my tongue. One of those times came up last night when I read this article on TampaBay.com. It's about how the Bucs plan on making some changes to get their pass rush going. I don't have a problem with any of the things they are talking about doing (they sounded awfully familiar anyway), but some of the assertions made about WHY they are doing them were somewhat dubious. But I figured hey, no need to make a fuss about it as long as it gets fixed.

Then this morning I read this article over at TBO...

Now I'm going to tread lightly on this one but read that article then read my Bull Rush post from Monday and ask yourself if my suggestions and their suggestions don't sound an awful lot alike. I will just leave it there and let the readers decide for themselves.

But what actually compels me to blog about this isn't the fact that someone may or may not be reading my blog. What compels me to blog about this is that there seems to be a faulty premise being espoused by the Bucs at least publicly and if believe really believes what they are telling reporters then I still don't think the pass rush problems the Buccaneers are having will get fixed.

McCoy has drawn the biggest percentage of double-teams among the defensive front four this season. So Wash said the Bucs will try to move him around more in rush packages.

"We're going to do some more things to give him some freedom,'' Wash said. "Maybe it's not exactly, I wouldn't say sound, or worrying about a quarterback scramble. We're going to make sure he can get where he needs to get to rather than slow him down in the system. What happens is, if he's in the three-technique, the center slides to him. In the odd front, he had two knockdowns.

That's from the tampabay.com column

"And how do you become productive? Well, technique and opportunity have to meet. So we'll have the different combinations, the different use of guys around him, and see if we can find that right combination.'' The previous combinations often resulted in McCoy facing two or even three blockers. That created a lot of opportunities for sacks for other players, but in most cases they failed to capitalize on them.

That's from the TBO column.

Here's the truth, Ive watched every game and I don't think any team has changed their pass protection rules because of McCoy. In fact I'm about as close to being sure of it as you can get next to sitting in the offensive line meeting rooms of the opposing teams. But if you don't know what the opposing team protection scheme is and you keep sending McCoy to the side where the center is already supposed to slide, then yeah I guess he WILL keep getting double teamed.

Let's talk about the Falcons game for a moment. I went back to chart where the center slid when the Matt Ryan was either in the shot gun or it was 3rd and medium to long. There were 25 plays that fit into that category out of the 36 passes Ryan threw. Want to know how many instances there were out of 25 where the center slid in a different direction than where the formation dictated?

3

Three times out of twenty five.

But here's the kicker. Of those three times, Gerald McCoy was still away from the slide twice AND on the third he was lined up as a nose in a three man line.

It is clear that while the Falcons may have been concerned about McCoy's pass rush, they stayed consistent to their protections rules during the game.

And that's true for most teams the Bucs have faced thus far. But the what the problem ACTUALLY is comes back to McCoy being lined up to the center slide even when its predictable. That along with how much we went back to going with a 3-3-5 again after two games where it had been used sparingly.

McCoy lined up 4 times to the slide in a four man line when the Bucs should have known the slide was going that way against the Falcons. That doesn't sound like a high number until you realize that of the 25 clear passing situations the Bucs used a three man line 10 other times. So on the flip side there were 9 times during the game where it was an obvious passing down and McCoy lined up correctly based on the formation and had a one on one pass rush opportunity.

What happens if he gets 5 more bites at the apple? How about 10 more? Think he might be more productive if put in a better position to be so?

But let's be real here for two seconds. Ndamukong Suh is looking like a monster out there with 6.5 sacks already but teams aren't sliding to him on every pass. Are you really going to try to convince everyone that teams are showing more respect to McCoy who doesn't have ANY sacks?

GTFOHWTBS

If the Bucs really think the problem is that McCoy is being double teamed too much then they need to ask themselves why in the hell they aren't telling him to line up away from the center slide on definite passing downs.

I actually went back and watched the first Panthers game last night. And while they weren't consistent in their pass protection according to formation, they WERE consistent in having the center slide to the 1 technique. It just so happened that for that game the Bucs decided to have McCoy at the 1 technique quite a bit. But whether he was there or someone else was, all but one time the center slid to the 1 technique on obvious passing situations.

But, and here's is really the most damning indictment to me, even IF teams were sliding to McCoy all the time instead of following their normal protection rules, that kind of predictability should be something the Bucs have taken advantage of by now. Up above you will see two versions of a simple ass TOM pass rush game with the two defensive tackles. About the only time a TOM game won't work is when the center either sets in the middle and just looks for traffic, or he isn't consistent with where he slides.

If its a fact that the center is sliding to McCoy every time then the easiest thing in the world is to run a TOM game where the defensive tackle opposite McCoy gets penetration to the center's back and shoves him while McCoy takes a quick step up field to set it up then loops around the guard on the opposite side almost assuredly coming unblocked to the quarterback. And the great thing about that particular pass rush game is that it gives McCoy a chance while he is looping to notice if it might be a screen.

But have we run any TOM games so far?

C'mon Son!

So here is my thing, I think Dekoda Watson has a bunch of natural pass rush ability and so does Quincy Black. If the Bucs want to use them as actual defensive ends on passing situations then by all means feel free. But the truth is this, if all they are gonna do is continue to use them in a 3-3-5 alignment then to me it will still be more of a gimmick than a fix. To actually fix what ails the pass rush the Bucs need a left end that can pass rush on all 3 downs and they need to keep McCoy away from the center slide as much as can be predicted. And if in fact teams are sliding to McCoy regardless of where he lines up then after a drive or two that should be sniffed out and taken advantage of.

All this other stuff is just Mickey Mouse bullshit that looks pretty on paper but ain't worth a damn on the field. Get four guys who can pass rush, teach them protections, line up and let them whup people's ass.

That's the formula. Hopefully someone at One Buc starts using it.

Brian Price To Get More Playing Time

Today someone asked Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris during his press conference about Brian Price and if he might be seeing some more playing time this week. His answer was encouraging.

Reporter: Price looked like he flashed against Pittsburgh. Do you envision getting him more snaps over Sims and Roy Miller?

Coach Morris: Yeah I really do. I don't know about over Roy. You know Roy is the starting nosetackle and Price has a role. And Price is kind of that third down rusher. And Price goes in there and spells Roy when you're talking about first and second down because he creates a different kind of element of speed and creates a different kind of mismatch for that center. So if those two guys can get their snaps somewhat more, somewhat equal. Or however the game dictates and however the game plays out, that's where I want to go with Price. But he is one of those young ascending dynamic players that really got his feet wet at the beginning of the season. You know, fought through the injury all off season. You know, starting to get healthy and starting to get back to where he can play numerous amounts of plays. And you know, getting used to this Tampa heat. And all those things are starting to happen. So he's another one of those young exciting players that we like to talk about.

So far this season Price has seen work as both the backup nosetackle in base defense and on third downs when we went to a three man line. But because Roy Miller only plays on first and second down most of the time Price hasn't been needed to spell him that much on base defense. Also we haven't really gone with enough three man line on third and long for him to be able to make a big impact on the games.

The truth is I can't see how either of those situations will change any time soon. So from where I am sitting if the Bucs plan on giving Price more reps it will probably have to come on third downs with a four man line where Kyle Moore has been playing so far. I can't say I'm 100% sure about that but it would absolutely be the right move. No matter what you think of Kyle Moore as our starting left end, you just can not make a serious case that he is a better inside pass rusher than Price. And that means every time we go a four man rush on third and long and Price isn't in there we really aren't giving ourselves the best chance to win.

Now maybe I'm seeing too much into Coach Morris' comments because I WANT that to be what he means. That is a definite possibility. But its only because it makes all the sense in the world to give him more reps doing what he does best, pass rushing.

We will find out Sunday if that is in fact the plan and you can bet that I will be paying close attention...

In Which I Totally Disagree With Coach Morris On Gerald McCoy

Someone, I think it was Roy Cummings but I can't be sure, finally asked Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Raheem Morris about the possible negative effects of moving Gerald McCoy around so much on his development as an undertackle. I'm not big on transcription but you can look at the video for yourself here (unfortunately the Bucs don't provide embed clips) and the guys over at Pewter Report did a partial here which I will be excerpting.

Here are the relevant parts of his answer.

“I think it helps him because they can’t find him a little bit,” said Morris. “It helps to get him in different spots where he is able to make disruptive plays. He has two tackles for a loss and a bunch of tackles for us. The sacks will come; we just have to continue to rush. … So we’ll do some different things up there and search for different answers.

First off no offense to Gerald McCoy but at this point he hasn't done anything that would warrant opposing offenses looking for him pre snap. I've watched all the games and as of yet nobody has broken their regular protection rules to try to double team him. Any time he has faced a double team in pass protection it was because he was lined up to the side the offense would normally slide the center regardless of whom was there. And the fact of the matter is in the kind of defense that Tampa runs there is no more disruptive place to play than the undertackle position.

Understand that for me this isn't about sacks. I know that sacks come in bunches as long as you are rushing well. The problem is from my perspective McCoy's pass rush has regressed each week so far. He went from making some really good moves against the Browns to trying to run right down the middle of guys in the Steelers game. But that's what happens when one play the guy is rushing a guard and the next play he's rushing an offensive tackle or maybe even a tight end. Its a whole different ball game rushing from inside or outside and McCoy is still trying to learn how to rush from there on the NFL level. Asking him to try to do both isn't helping him in any sense of the word and it certainly isn't hiding him.

I'll have some fun with the next quote.

“Yeah, it is helping him because he is flushing guys out and Quincy (Black) is capping guys off,” said Morris. “It’s not about the sack numbers. It’s did you affect the quarterback’s throw? Were you able to knock the pass down? Did you make the quarterback run outside the pocket so that he couldn’t see his wide open receiver? All those things happen when you talk about one-on-one rush. But the sacks will come.”

First off one of the things that was frustrating about watching and listening to this exchange was that Coach Morris focused almost solely on the times when McCoy is lined up at end in a 3-3-5 and Quincy Black rushed on McCoy's side. Well in the first three games McCoy has ALSO played defensive end in our regular 4-3 alignment when opposing offenses have put in heavy personnel like two tight ends with or without a fullback. And as I said in my Bull Rush column, you can't tell me that we don't have other defensive ends who could hold up just as fine in that situation while allowing McCoy to stay at undertackle where he is needed.

Also even when we do run the 3-3-5 personnel Quincy Black doesn't always pass rush and even when he does he doesn't always pass rush to McCoy's side. If you listen to the presser Coach Morris almost makes it sound as if Black is leading the league in sacks or something. The sack he notched against the Panthers was impressive but it was off a pass rush game. It wasn't because McCoy flushed the quarterback. He rushed the double team well I'll give him that but had Kyle Moore, Tim Crowder or any other defensive end been over there they would have also been double teamed. Hell Black rushed on Stylez White's side against the Steelers and White got double teamed in exactly the same fashion. As for me I don't remind the occasional Redskin call with Black coming. But what about the times we run Redskin and he DOESN'T come?

Has anyone seen Gerald McCoy get a pressure rushing as a defensive end with a 3 man rush out of Redskin?

I know haven't.

Oh and to answer those questions Coach Morris asked, no, no and no.

I don't get to watch the coaches film unfortunately so I can't see all the angles of every play. But even from the TV copy or watching it online its apparent that McCoy's rush went backwards the last two game a little bit more each week. That's not a hypothetical, that's a fact.

Now we come to the most revealing part of what Coach Morris had to say and also where he and I have the biggest disagreement.

“If I was thinking selfishly for McCoy, I probably would say, ‘Yes,’ but thinking selfishly for a defensive standpoint, that makes us better,” Morris said. “If he was a selfish player he would come to me and say, ‘Hey just leave me at this one position so I can get better at it,’ but does not have that in him. Our defense needs him to move around to be productive and be smart, and be sharp, and be wise beyond his years so to speak..."

It is with that opening line that Coach Morris admits that, yes the moving around IS stunting Gerald McCoy's development at undertackle. He does it under the cloak of "selfishness" but he admits it nonetheless. And that's where the rest of what he says becomes moot to me.

I've seen what a disruptive undertackle can do in this scheme. I played with probably the best undertackle that has ever played the game in Warren Sapp (who oh by the way agrees with me). And if its not him then I watched film on the only other guy that could give him a serious run for his money in recent Hall of Fame inductee John Randall. I'm not saying Gerald McCoy will ever become either of those guys, but if he is at least a reasonable facsimile he can wreak enough havoc from just that one position to make everyone and I do mean EVERYONE around him better. A good to great undertackle can be the force element of a defense versus running plays to his side. A good to great undertackle can force so much attention upon himself that the three other defensive linemen all end up with one on one opportunities. A good to great undertackle can allow a defensive coordinator to have a much smaller playbook because they bring so much pressure on any given play that there isn't much of a need to blitz, especially in 2 minute situations.

But McCoy will either take longer or never develop into a good to great undertackle if he is also trying to be a decent defensive end on either side as well as part time nose tackle as well. It's just not going to happen.

And the reason why I'm being so vocal about this is because it reminds me so much of the way Gaines Adams was mishandled may he rest in peace. I don't care who I piss off I'm going to keep talking about it either until it changes or the season ends. I may end up looking like Ahab screaming at the sea but I really don't care. I know what kind of undertackle Gerald McCoy can be. I watched him in college, I saw him in the preseason and I saw glimpses in the first game against Cleveland. Its not selfish to want to see more of that, its smart. You don't draft a guy number 3 to be a utility man, you draft a guy that high to be a dominant force AT ONE POSITION.

Maybe in 3 years when McCoy has established himself and has some game experience under his belt he will be able to dabble a little more at end keep his productivity up at undertackle but I don't see it happening as a rookie. And the thing of it is the defense doesn't "need" him to move around. That's just not true. We have enough talent on our defense to not have to use gimmicks and trickem dickem stuff. That defense can line up and whup people's ass if they are put in a position to do so. Last year I could understand trying to fool people to victory but not now. Not with the talent we have on this defense.

I don't know how McCoy feels about this because I haven't talked to him nor have I talked to anyone close to him about it but like I always say I go by my experience and by what my eyes tell me. You will never get me to believe that making McCoy a jack of all trades but master of none helps him or our defense overall. If the implication is there are holes at other spots that need to be filled then as Eddie Robinson is quoted as saying "Get a player better, or get a better player!" but don't use that as an excuse to have smoke coming out of McCoy's ears with little to no benefit to show for it.

In closing I would like to give props to whomever asked the question today. I get on the media at times when I think they have done something wrong but I will also show love when they get it right. That was the most astute question I have heard so far in all of Coach Morris' press conferences since the regular season started and if nothing else now more people will be watching to see how this all plays out and that is a good thing.  On another note it was also good to hear Coach Morris mention Michael Bennett as a guy they might take a look at to upgrade the pass rush. Why it has taken 3 games is anybody's guess. But hey, its a start at least.

Now if only somebody can start asking about why Kyle Moore is in on third and long with our four man rush instead of Brian Price then we will be cooking with fish grease...

Well Maybe That Explains It...

"When you get a bit older in this league, especially as a running back, you have to realize that you need to come into camp at a lighter weight, not heavier," Coach Raheem Morris said. "I still have a lot of confidence in Derrick Ward that he'll be ready and in shape to help us this season."

The Bucs list the 5-foot-11 Ward at 228 pounds, the same weight assigned to him since 2007, when he ran for 602 yards in spot duty with the Giants.

Ward was an infrequent participant in Tampa Bay's voluntary offseason workouts, but he reported to training camp on time July 30, saying he is approaching the upcoming year with a "new mentality."

According to General Manager Mark Dominik, the Bucs have not fined Ward this summer for failing to meet the club's weight requirements.

TBO

I don't know for sure if all of Derrick Ward's problems this preseason can be linked back to his weight, but I can tell you that he doesn't look explosive at all running the ball. Even though he didn't necessarily play well last year either, he was a lot quicker to and through the holes. This year it seems like his reaction time is really slow and when he makes a decision where he wants to go there is no change in gears.

I still don't think they will raise the white flag and cut him just a year after signing him to a big free agent deal, but Kareem Huggins surpassing him on the depth chart just got a lot more likely.

Know Your Role AND SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!!

I was always a big fan of wrasslin. I grew up watching local heros like Jerry "The King" Lawler and Koko B Ware going at it on Saturday mornings in Memphis. And so when I heard this quote from Sabby Piscitelli today about his feelings on being demoted I immediately heard the immortal words of former WWF star "The Rock" buzzing in my ears.

"Know your role, and shut your mouth!"

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' decision to name veteran Sean Jones the starting strong safety didn't come as much of a surprise to Sabby Piscitelli. The man who lost his job to Jones said Wednesday he believes the deck was stacked against him all along.

"I don't think it was ever a competition,'' Piscitelli said. "That's just my opinion, and I'm going to go with it. I just, personally, don't think it was ever a competition. That's all I want to say on that.''

I was kind of dumbfounded that Sabby would open his mouth at all but then to go as far as to infer that the competition was rigged?!

Well before I could decide whether or not I wanted to do a post about it somebody informed Coach Morris about Sabby's comments at his press conference and he had a damn good retort of his own.

“I don’t have to, and that’s unfortunate for him. That’s probably why he didn’t get it,” said Morris. “Generally you go out there and do your very best. That’s the thing to do, so that’s Sabby’s problem.”

Morris was asked if the team would consider moving Piscitelli because he is unhappy that he lost the starting position.

“No there is no such thing as an unhappy player. The only the person that’s going to be unhappy here is me. His job is to make us happy,” said Morris. “He’s got to do his job. That’s the nature of the beast. That’s how the NFL works.”

Later on he continued

“In ‘09 we weren’t a very good football team. We weren’t a very good organized football team as far as our running game. We all struggled,” said Morris. “He was a guy that was a part of it. He went out there and he probably didn’t get the holes that he wanted. Whatever the reasons were nobody cares. It is your job to go out there and get it done. That is the same thing I’d tell Sabby. He feels bad about not being a starter. He feels bad because he feels like he was unjustly done, and nobody really cares. You got to out there and get it done and show us what you got. You only got one chance to do this thing, myself included.”

Before I go any further I will acknowledge that Sabby said he was informed of his demotion via text message from his position coach, Jimmy Lake. If true that's kind of bogus for sure. But having been demoted before I can tell you that having someone tell you face to face really doesn't lessen the blow. The end result is the same, you're still 2nd string.

So ok I can give him a pass about having a gripe as far as how the team let him know he was no longer starting. But I can't really give him a pass on the stuff he said about it not being a "fair competition". Nope not at all. And I started to leave it alone after Coach Morris roasted him pretty good. But then it kept bothering me so I felt like I just HAD to say something.

The one thing I pride myself on with this blog is not taking personal shots. Sometimes its hard but I really try to make sure that whenever I am making a point or points about someone that I basically just keep it on an even keel and not let much emotion come through. Sometimes that's hard for me when I'm blogging about the Bucs because I am a passionate person, I'm passionate about football, and I am passionate about the team that allowed me to play in the NFL for 6 out of my 7 years in the league. I want desperately every Sunday in the fall for "my" team to win and when that doesn't happen I need, not want but need, to know what went wrong. That's partially why I started this blog in the first place. Because I wanted to share with other's the things that I saw that were going wrong for the team (as well as the things that were going right).

Well last year at times it was especially hard not to blast Sabby after games. He was such a weak link on our defense that it was amazing to me that he was a starter in the NFL. I've said this before but its worth repeating. With strong safeties in the NFL you covet the guys who can both cover AND be a physical presence in the box. But failing that combination you want a guy who at least can do one or the other. Sabby, for most of the season, could do neither.

There wasn't a team that we faced that feared running on us even when we were in an 8 man front with Sabby walked down in the box. Nobody checked off to a pass when they saw Sabby, hell if anything they might have checked from a pass to a run. In an 8 man front the defense is usually predicated on funneling the ball carrier to the free hitter which is usually that strong safety. You got the impression that most teams felt like they would be happy with a matchup between their running back and Sabby. And with the results who could argue with that approach.  I know people loved to point to our defensive tackles as the problem, and yes they were definitely contributing factors, but Sabby had as much to do with our dead ass last ranking in run defense as anybody on the team. According to Football Outsiders he led the whole NFL in missed tackles.

THE WHOLE NFL, SON!

And when he wasn't either totally whiffing on tackles or getting straight up run over, he was a liability in pass coverage as well. I know most Bucs fans still have nightmares about all of those times Elbert Mack got torched on deep balls. The truth of the matter, however, is that many times Sabby was supposed to be helping Mack over the top. Instead there were times when Sabby never even made it into the frame before the receiver made the catch. This was a secret of sorts for most of the year but right about the end of the season Coach Morris acknowledged that it wasn't just Mack's fault.

And notice this, after we switched back to our regular "Tampa 2" scheme and Coach Morris started calling the defenses, Sabby was the only guy whose play didn't improve. He was still missing tackles. He was still a liability in coverage. And he was a net negative when he was on the field.

I still remember watching the first Atlanta game where Morris drew up a defense to bracket perinnial Pro Bowl tight end Tony Gonzales where Sabby was supposed to cover his outside edge and Barrett Ruud was supposed to cover his inside edge. Well Gonzales still got off and I can tell you it wasn't Ruud's fault.

So let me break this all the way down for Sabby. The truth is whether the competition was fair or not it SHOULDN'T have been. As shitty as Sabby played last year the Bucs should have named Sean Jones the starter the day they signed him. And Sabby should have been looking for work elsewhere.

I know that's harsh and I generally don't call for guys to lose their jobs but I don't know that I have ever, EVER seen a guy play that bad and keep their job. Let me give you a prime example.

Gibril Wilson.

Wilson signed a big free agent deal with the Raiders after four years and a Superbowl ring with the New York Giants. He ended up with over 100 tackles 1.5 sacks and two interceptions.

And he got cut.

He ended up getting signed by the Dolphins last year and stunk up the joint. This time he tallied 93 tackles, a sack and 8 passes defensed.

And he got cut.

Sabby had 80 tackles, no sacks and 2 interceptions last year and not only did he not get cut, he had the opportunity (even if it was a token one) to start again had he won the preseason battle.

If anything Sabby should just be thanking Mark Dominik and Coach Morris that he has a job of any kind right now because they had every right to cut him after the season ended. And let me tell you, there's nothing like trying to drum up interest around the league after a terrible year to humble you and make you more appreciative.  Even though I can understand his dissappointment still with his performance last year you would think he would be quiet as a church mouse just hoping everyone else will forget instead of making waves of any kind and drawing a target around his chest (as if he doesn't get that enough on Sundays).

And its worth noting that from every thing I have read and from the games and practice I saw so far, Sabby did absolutely nothing to distinguish himself above Sean Jones. I don't know how he could possibly expect for things to end at basically a draw and he still keep his job. Then again when you think about it the competition didn't end up in a draw because out of the two of them only one guy drew a dumbass personal foul penalty off cowardly hitting someone in the back well after the play was over in full view of the referee which ended up leading to the very points that ended up being the margin of victory....for the other team.

When it comes down to it maybe this will be the last we hear from Sabby on the topic and it will all blowover. You can count me as somebody who isn't buying the talk that he is on the roster bubble at the moment (I think a lot more was made out of a quote from Lake than was intended). But if Sabby decides to speak on it again because he is just soooo upset and feels he was done wrong I personally feel like it will be time to cut bait.

Then he will get to see what the market is like for some jabroni who can't cover, can't tackle and makes dumb decisions on the field that hurt his team.

Yeah, good luck with that...

The Potential Of The Bucs Wide Receivers

Today after the morning practice Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris had this to say about his wide receiver corps:

"You have some guys in there who are physical beasts," Morris said. "These guys are all playing fast. I don’t know if we’ve seen this dynamic of a group in Tampa in a long time. Not to take any credit away from Joey Galloway or Antonio Bryant or what any particular person was able to do. But this type of a group, I don’t remember (from) being the DBs coach here and going out every day like, ‘Oh, man, Mike Williams, Sammie Stroughter, Arrelious Benn and seeing these guys move around like they do.

"Sometimes I sit back and talk to (cornerback) Aqib Talib and I let him tell me who he thinks is the best, or I let him pick his top six receivers. He changed 20 times yesterday. . . It’s a good thing."

I know some of the Buccaneers fans still smarting from our 3-13 season last year might be skeptical of this and to be honest to a certain extent so was I. So I did a little research on it and I'll give you my take.

First off lets talk about the better wide receiver groups we've had in recent history. In the 2002 Superbowl season we probably had the best output from our wide receiver group in the last decade. Keyshawn Johnson led the pack with 76 catches, Keenan McCardell had 61, Joe Jurevicius added 37 and tight end Ken Dilger hauled in 34 of his own.

The only other season that even approaches that kind of output, is the 2007 season but its really not even that close with Ike Hilliard collecting 62 catches, Joey Galloway adding 57, Michael Clayton with 22 and tight end Alex Smith with 32.

So is it possible that the guys we have now could equal or surpass the 2002 receivers?

I would say so.

Although our wide receivers are light on experience, they have potential out the ying yang. And really there's no rule that says rookie wide receivers can't contribute. In fact in my opinion rookie wide receivers and rookie defensive backs are the two positions that tend to be more ready to take the field as rookies than others.

Ultimately we will be able to answer the question definitively after the season and three things will likely make the difference on how much production this crop of receivers turns in.

First is how well we protect the quarterback. It won't matter if we have Jerry Rice and Randy Moss at wide out, if we can't keep Josh Freeman upright our passing game is going to suck. And I'm not just talking sacks either. Our offensive line is going to have to keep guys off Freeman so that he can set his feet in the pocket and deliver the ball. Last year he had some outstanding runs where he shook off defenders and got positive yards. But the last thing we want to have happen is that he gets used to having to escape the pocket all the time and ends up with bad mechanics.

The second predictor of production will be how well the receivers learn the playbook. One of the hardest parts of a transition from college to the pros is the mental aspect of the game. In order for a coach to put a player on the field he has to trust that he knows the plays. For a quarterback to have confidence in a receiver they have to trust that they will run the right route. One way or another we are going to be relying on two rookies in the passing game as well as a second year guy. They are going to have to show that they will be where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there.

Lastly the wide receivers will have to do the thing that sounds the easiest out of the three but tends to be the most hard, catch the ball when its thrown to them. When you think of the greatest wide receivers in the game they weren't always the fastest or the tallest or the biggest. But they all, universally, made the catch when it was their turn to make it. Jerry Rice, the greatest receiver the game has ever seen, turned a bunch of five yard slant routes into big plays. But the one thing you rarely if ever saw him do was drop those passes. He understood that before he could make something happen the first thing he had to do was make sure he had the ball and secure it.

I think that right now we have a bunch of guys with "sticky fingers" and no matter how young they are they have the ability to be productive. Arrelious Benn, Mike Williams, Sammie Stroughter, Mo Stovall, Reggie Brown, those guys can all catch the ball well, even in traffic.  And they all have enough speed and quickness to get open on a regular basis.

And then of course you have Kellen Winslow at tight end who is bound to put up big numbers as well.

So while Coach Morris' words may seem boastful at the moment, the numbers may just prove him right by the end of the year.

Beating A Dead Horse

Ok Ok Ok

I know I have been beating the "tempo" drum all week since I watched the Buccaneers practice on Monday, but I read to articles this evening and the contrast was pretty stark. I just wanted to kind of throw excerpts of both up for you to compare and contrast.

First we have a write up about the Bucs' practice today.

Today at Bucs camp, where there was just a single afternoon practice, coach Raheem Morris stopped the workout and deviated from his practice script with a full-speed, full-squad, live tackling period.

Morris said it shouldn't have been necessary, but he felt it was needed to get his players' attention.

"We just have to understand consistency in our tempo," Morris said. "We have a young football team. It's hard for these guys to get out there and really get it going unless they're going live. Then I make them go live and they want to keep going live. But you can't practice like that either. You have to get that point across. You have to be able to come out and play at a high tempo without taking each other to the ground. We need to keep each other healthy so we can make it through the season."

Morris is trying to use live drills selectively, perhaps more so than in his rookie season last year.

"These guys went live yesterday and they want to do it again today and they're asking for more tomorrow," he said. "I guess it's a good thing, but I'd like for them to come out with a better tempo right off the bat.

"We just have to increase the consistency of the tempo and kind of self-motivate. It's the approach. It becomes a routine. Somewhere in your mind as a player, you can't let it become routine.

Next we have a write up about Rod Marinelli and what he is doing as defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears.

"I really like our tempo. I really sense the pace and we have to be a great, conditioned defense," Marinelli said Thursday. "Some of that is on them, by how hard they practice. We have a structure of our practice, how hard they can push, how well they can pursue, the conditioning is a big part of what we do. We want to be a highly conditioned defense, and the only way you do it is run.

"The thing I want to continually emphasize is our tempo and pace and how physical we have to be. It's a mindset, all of that is a mindset of day-to-day work. You have to come out every day and it's got to be consistent. It can't be up one day and down the next. I'm just looking for that toughness of mind, which represents consistency."

I understand that what you really want is all of your players to be self motivated but at the same time we all know that not all of them are. In my mind how much effort the players give corresponds to how much effort the coaches demand. And while I am not trying to bash Coach Morris or his staff it just seems to me that being a little more demanding wouldn't hurt.

Guys can get fresh legs once the season starts, training camp is the time to break them down and see what they can do under duress.

Comment EATED: Under Defense Edition

I was trying to leave a comment over on this thread on joebucsfan but it kept disappearing so I will repost it here. It seemed like most if not all of the people commenting about Coach Morris' words about using Quincy Black were missing the point so I figured since I was otherwise unoccupied I would explain it for them.

Here goes.

You guys are kinda missing the message here. If you go back to my last year's bullrush right after the Bucs canned Bates and before the next game one of the things I predicted was that Black would be used more in under defense. One of my latest articles also talks about how using him in under defense will help us over all and how the way Bates used him last year was, to put it nicely, ridiculous.

So maybe the problem is you guys aren't up on what an under defense is. Since I haven't done another Bull Rush lately (mostly cuz there ain't much material out there to talk about and I'm a terrible bullshitter) I'll explain it to you.

In our normal base defense with four defensive linemen we normally line up in whats called an "Over" Alignment. What that means is when there is one tight end the defensive end to that side (what we call the under tackle)lines up head up over the tight end. The defensive tackle on the tight end side (the call side) lines up in a 3 technique on the outside shoulder of the guard on that side of the center. The defensive tackle away from the tight end (away from the call) lines up in a cocked alignment between the center and guard with his hand on the outside foot of the center. The defensive end away from the tightend (away from the call) lines up in a five with his hand on the outside foot of the offensive tackle.

This is an excellent alignment for pass rush because the strong side defensive end, undertackle and backside end all end up with what amounts to basically one on one matchups at least initially, providing the tightend goes out to block. However its not always the greatest run blocking scheme as its easy to double both inside guys and base block the end with a tight end to get movement.

For Black its also harder on him in passing situations because he is off the line and in space and that's not really where he is most comfortable.

In an under defense however things are kind of shifted the opposite way and the Sam linebacker is on the line of scrimmage.

So its the Sam linebacker on the outside edge of the tightend. The defensive end to the tight end side is in a five with his hand outside the tackle's outside foot. The interior linemen switch and now the nosetackle is to the tight end side still in a cocked alignment. The undertackle is away from the tight end, still in a 3 technique and the defensive end is away from the tightend in a wide five. Now its a little harder for the defensive end on the tight end side to get a rush but the run defense is shored up a bit.

But I think that there is a misconception that Black blitzes every play in this defense. He doesnt. On passing plays unless a blitz is specifically called Black still drops back in coverage. It actually gives him and our defense an advantage at times in that by being on the line he can jack up the tight end a make it hard for him to get out on a route. In our division with Shockey and Gonzales thats huge. And we can still play cover 2 out of an under shell so being physical with the tightend also helps our middle linebacker who often times will have to cover them deep down the seam.

The truth is also however that under defense lends itself to a lot of effective blitzing and when we send him Black can be a difference maker off the edge against TEs or RBs. That Bates never used under defense was one of the biggest indictments against him. Quncy Black has always been more of a rush LB than a coverage LB but Bates never used his strengths last year

You shouldnt expect double digit sacks but Id bet good money on a at least 5 or 6 from Black this year. And that's going to be winning football for the Buccaneers.

Hope that made sense. If not just leave a question in the comments section.

Fairy Dust, Unicorns, And Ponies

It is rare that you will find two statements from two different people built so much on fantasy and nothing else in one sports post, but the Bucs found a way to pull it off.

First Jeff Faine on Demar Dotson:

"I think a lot of us take it for granted. I think he's a very, very bright star with a lot of potential and has a great attitude and a great work ethic. He wants to learn. He wants to keep improving and I think if he puts it all together, he could be one of the best to ever play the game. Now that's a lot being said and it's a pretty good ways away, but he has a chance.''

Jeff also has some swamp land in south Florida to sell you.

Next up Coach Morris on Donald Penn's hold out:

I got a feeling he'll come up and play and I can't wait until he does.''

I wonder if that's the same kind of feeling the degenerate gambler has every time he puts money on a horse.

Listen, I like Demar Dotson as a young player and its true he has some physical gifts, but for a guy to only have gotten game reps so far as a blocking tight end any talk about him being an all time great is a load of horse shit. I would have loved to have seen Faine's expression as he uttered those words because its hard to believe he kept a straight face.

As for Coach Morris, its funny that he says he thinks Penn will just "show up" especially when the rest of his statement goes on to talk solely about Penn and his character. Hey Coach, I can GUARANTEE he will show up rather than just having a feeling. As soon as the Glazers cut a check I PROMISE he will be on he first thing smoking.

Its really that simple.

So maybe you should be focusing more of your public pressure up towards them instead of down at him. Especially after your GM called him fat last week.

Just a thought...

Adding Nuance To The Numbers

Rick Stroud had an article in the St Petersburg Times that is causing a lot of buzz. He took a look back at the draft failures of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2004, the year Bruce Allen took over as GM. On the one hand it supports the Glazers contention that they have to start drafting better and build the team that way. On the other hand however many people are using the article as a reason for pessimism. The thought is if the it's the same people in the scouting by in large directing the draft, that we will see similar failures this year.

In particular this morning Dan Sileo was on 620 WDAE hurling around invective. It was kinda funny I have to say because Sileo is a big time Jon Gruden supporter who is still bitter about he and Bruce Allen being let go. But when faced with the facts about how bad the Bucs drafted while both guys were here he TOTALLY bypassed them for blame and instead pointed the finger at new GM Mark Dominik and head of college scouting Dennis Hickey as being the guilty parties. It seems that Sileo is in such a rush to blame anyone but the guys he liked that he decided to go with the "the inmates were running the asylum" defense when it comes to the Bucs draft room from 2004-2008.

Well after hearing that bit of hackery along with a few other, less hyperbolic, sources using Stroud's article to cast doubt in the hearts of Buccaneer fans, I decided to do a little bit of research and add a little more nuance to the numbers from the column.

First for those who haven't read Stroud's column already and are too lazy to click the link (yes you lol) here what I feel like is the relevant part.*

Take a look at the numbers.

The only player remaining from the 2004 draft is WR Michael Clayton, the Bucs' first-round pick whose career has gone south since his rookie year. The Bucs did re-sign Clayton last year to a five-year, $24 million contract with $10 million guaranteed. He rewarded them with 16 receptions.

The 2004 draft was the first under then-general manager Bruce Allen. The 2005 draft wasn't much better, netting only two starters from 13 picks — RB Cadillac Williams and LB Barrett Ruud — and no backups. Two of those picks are with other teams, and nine are out of the NFL.

Guards Davin Joseph and Jeremy Trueblood are the only starters remaining from the 2006 draft. From 11 draft choices, one other is a Bucs backup (WR Maurice Stovall), one is with another team, and seven are out of the league.

The 2007 draft was the Gaines Adams draft. Three starters remain: S Tanard Jackson, LB Quincy Black and S Sabby Piscitelli. Of the 10 picks, four are no longer in the NFL. The 2008 draft netted CB Aqib Talib in the first round. But it produced WR Dexter Jackson as a second-round pick. He was cut in training camp in August.

Before I get into the meat of my post, its worth laying out some ground rules. First off most teams don't really think they are getting an immediate starter with guy picked after the third round or so. Second in general 1st round picks and high 2nd round picks are supposed to not only start but contend for Pro Bowls, but its seen as a bonus if you can get that from a player selected in later rounds. Third, a guy not being in Tampa any more is not automatically a bust. They could have found a better opportunity elsewhere or the Bucs could have found an upgrade.

The last caveat may just blow your mind, This is NOT a defense of the Bucs drafts from 2004 through 2008. Rather I am just adding context to the conversation because I think that's what's lacking right now. As usual with some radio guys they try to make everything black and white, but also as usual there are actually some shades of grey here.

Before I go any further I want to acknowledge the fact that two draft picks from that time frame, Gaines Adams and Marquis Cooper have passed on. Now at the times of their deaths neither guy was a Buccaneer and with Cooper it seemed that as a former 3rd round pick his career did not live up to that selection, with Gaines I would say the jury was still somewhat out. Still I'm not sure that either guy should be included in such an analysis because it just seems too crass. So people can judge for themselves whether that's the right approach or not but I'm not going there with either guy.

Now that we have that out of the way...


Let's look beyond the numbers in Stroud's column

There are two things that are apparent when you look at the players the Buccaneers selected from 04 to 08. The first is that there is a heavy slant towards offensive players. The second is that the later picks after the 4th round tended to be reach guys who were more potential than production.

In total 26 out of the 47 draft picks from that time period were offensive guys. That's better than 55%. But really its even worse than that because if you go year by year there was only one year where we drafted more defensive guys than offensive guys, in 2007 and it just so happens that most of those defensive guys are still here and productive for better or for worse. On the flip side in 2005 we we used 8 out of our 12 picks on offensive guys.

Caddilac Williams 1st rd

Alex Smith 3rd rd

Chris Colmer 3rd rd

Dan Buenning 4th rd

Larry Brackins (?!) 5th rd

Rick Razzano 7th rd

Parris Warren 7th rd

J.R. Russell 7th rd

Now I am willing to be fair enough to say that Buenning and Warren may have had much better careers if each hadn't had major injuries and inopportune times. And Alex Smith will never probably be an all star but he was decent here for a little while.

But Larry Brackins? The guy from JUCO? In the 5th round?

But the selection of Brackins is the symptom, not the disease.

It was the Buccaneers' willingness to reach on guys like Larry Brackins that goes to their philosophy at that time. Allen and Gruden were all about free agency and bringing in veteran guys to start or backup the starters. Other than their picks in the first three rounds or so it seems apparent that instead of going after guys who were solid prospects, they instead were on the eternal quest for the diamond in the rough ie the guys with more potential than production. Now there is nothing against that approach per se, but it can't be your wholesale second day draft philosophy. If it is sooner or later the fact that you never developed your own draft picks will eventually catch up to you. And that's exactly what ended up happening.

On the other hand you also have to be fair and point out some of the draft successes during that time period. Davin Joseph, Jeremy Trueblood, Tanard Jackson, Aqib Talib, Jeremy Zuttah, Cadillac Williams, and Barrett Ruud have all been pretty productive players so far. Aaron Sears looked like the real deal before personal problems derailed his career last year. Alex Smith and Will Allen started quite a few games for the Bucs and Geno Hayes seems poised to be a standout while Maurice Stovall still has the potential to be a very good player for the team.

Still you can't come away from our draft history from those 5 years and feel good about it. But at the same time you can't separate the head coach and GM from that history. Gruden and Allen were so focused on free agents that the draft appeared to be an after thought to them. They didn't do their due diligence and it showed. Some of the biggest failures weren't the first round picks but the 2nd and 3rd round picks like Dexter Jackson and Chris Colmer. And again what do those two guys have in common?

They are both offensive players.

That's what makes Sileo's argument so laughable. The funny thing is if you have listened to the guy for any stretch of time you come away convinced that if the Bucs had drafted better he would have given ALL the credit to Gruden and Allen. But since the drafting was so atrocious all of a sudden it was Dominik and Hickey running the draft.

Go figure.

Listen, I don't know if the front office people for the Bucs are geniuses or a bunch of numbskulls. I do know that so far we have one draft to go on under the new regime. And last year 4 out of the 6 guys we drafted were significant contributors. And the other two guys, Xavier Fulton and E.J. Biggers at least still looked the part. Bad season and all you still never saw that under Gruden and Allen and that's a fact. And to Sileo's strawman that Bruce Allen got a job with the Redskins and thus that must mean that our bad drafts weren't his fault, hmmm do you think MAYBE that had something to do with his dad being a coaching legend for the Redskins? I mean in what world does Dan Snyder hiring somebody give them credibility?!

The truth is I am on record as being opposed to the Buccaneers focusing exclusively on the draft without participating much in upgrading the team through free agency. I believe in building through the draft but I also feel strongly that you have to sprinkle in some free agents as well to fill holes that would otherwise probably take a few years to fill with a draft pick. But, having said that I still believe that the core of the team should be the guys you draft. And it appears that in that regard at least the Bucs and I are on the same page.

I will leave you with this. Tell me if you recognize any of these names.

Marquis Hill

Guss Scott

Dexter Reid

Cedric Cobbs

P.K. Sam

No?

Those are the New England Patriots 2nd, 3rd, two 4ths and 5th round picks from 2004. Are people scrutinizing THEIR scouting department? And is it just a coincidence that Bill Belichick is also a guy who values free agents over developing draft picks?

I think not on both counts.

The lesson here is, give it time. We will all see pretty soon whether Raheem Morris, Mark Dominik and Dennis Hickey are up to the job of selecting the right guys for this team. No need to ASSume that the past will have any bearing on the future in that regard, especially now that the people at the top have changed.

On Antonio Bryant

Last week Buccaneers Head Coach Raheem Morris announced that the team would not be resigning Antonio Bryant. I think the phrase he used was that they were "moving on". To me this was a head scratching development. Don't get me wrong, I think the Bucs would have been wise to let Bryant test free agency to see what the market was like and then try to match whatever offer he had. But to basically close the door on his return just didn't make any sense to me. I didn't want to have a knee jerk reaction to that decision so I gave it a few days to try to think it through, but I still can't see a way that this makes sense.

Let me first caveat the rest of my post by saying there are things that go on behind the scenes with any team that nobody ever hears about. There could have been things that Antonio Bryant was doing in the locker room or on the practice field that the powers that be saw as detrimental to the team and or to quarterback Josh Freeman's development. If that were the case then I could accept the decision to let him go a lot better. But being as that I haven't heard any of those things for myself, I can only go with what is readily available and is public knowledge. So first I am going to make the case for bringing him back and second I am going to talk about the state decisions to let him walk.

Just one season ago Bryant was a Pro Bowl player with 83 catches for over 1,200 yards and 7 touchdowns. He brought the big play back to the Tampa Bay offense and he made numerous circus catches. Last year he was hurt and started only 11 games, participating in 13 and his numbers fell off precipitously to 39 catches for 600 yards and 4 touchdowns. But you can't view those numbers in a bubble. Bryant had to adjust to 3 different quarterbacks and two new offensive coordinators. Still with all that he was the best wide receiver statistics wise by 8 catches and and by over 200 yards on the team. His 4 touchdowns weren't great but no other wide receiver had more than 1. In short he was the best option that we had all year when we had to throw the ball at the position.

I know people are going after him for supposedly shutting it down because he missed some games this year with his knee, but one thing to keep in mind is that in every one of the 13 games he participated in last season he had at least one catch. Its a modest statistic but something most of our other wide receivers can't say. Its also apparent that after he came back from resting his knee after the Patriots game, his statistics went up the rest of the year. So whether or not the perception was that the team needed him for the two games he missed, it seems at least from the production that him resting his knee was the right way to go.

Now before the Bucs articulated their reasons for allowing Bryant to go via free agency, the dominating perception was that it had to do with his attitude mostly attributed to some interviews he gave. This is an issue I want to talk about because for me I wasn't upset by some of the things he said and in truth I WANT my best receiver to want and demand the ball. My hard and fast rule is that as long as the guy doesn't throw the quarterback or the head coach under the bus I am good with them expressing frustration about not being a part of the offense. So lets take a look at some things he said.

"It’s not (about) me," Bryant said. "I know there's things I’m capable of doing on the field that can get other people open. We just have to find ways for other people to get me open. There’s a lot of double coverage. It’s to the point where teams don’t respond to other things happening on the field. They just keep rolling that safety over.

"We’ve been able to use that where I just go out and run a deep route and take that safety and then you have (Kellen) Winslow come underneath or (Maurice Stovall) come. So, it works to our benefit to some degree.

"But on a personal level, did I like that? No, because I couldn’t get the ball."

I defy anyone who knows anything about football to find something false about what he said. He was right in that most teams at the end of the season were rolling a safety to him to keep him from making big plays. He was also correct that by him running deep routes he was opening things up for guys like Kellen Winslow and Maurice Stovall underneath. And maybe the best part of this whole quote in my opinion is that he said he didn't like it because he wasn't getting the ball.

You show me a guy who is happy being a decoy and I'll show you a loser. The best football players want to contribute and make plays to help their team win. I don't care if its Jerry Rice or Randy Moss or Larry Fitzgerald. None of those guys are happy just opening things up for other people.

Bryant acknowledged his early-season knee injury, one that limited him through the first half of the season and caused him to miss three games. That, too, limited his effectiveness and will, perhaps, make his market value hard to determine. He has 37 catches for 585 yards in 12 games, this after tallying 1,248 yards in 2008 when he was the focal point of coach Jon Gruden's offense.

Not that Bryant is obsessing over it.

"I’m not worried about (teams) judging me," he said. "If it’s not one thing it’s another. It’s 'Oh, he has an attitude. Oh, he has baggage.' Okay, now you don’t see that. Now, what is it? Man, turn on the film and let it play."

So in this instance not only does Bryant run from his injury, he in the words of the Stephen Holder acknowledged that it limited his effectiveness. Again, what did he say that wasn't true? We should be concerned because he is confident in his abilities? I don't think so.

Here is the final part of that post and the section I think a lot of fans got upset about.

As mentioned above, Bryant was far more effective last season. And that was in no small part a result of Gruden's efforts to feature him.

"Most definitely," Bryant said. "I think in the Carolina game (in December 2008), I caught every ball that was thrown to me that night. I probably missed one. The difference between this year and last year, is we (practiced) that stuff every day. Before I went out there on the field, I knew exactly what (Panthers CB) Ken Lucas was going to do. As soon as he touched me, I almost knocked him over because I knew. I told my coach on the sideline excactly what he was going to do. And as soon as he put his hand out, I did it and ran.

"The ball was under thrown, but he was beat so bad. We have situations where you have your guys you want to get the ball to and I’m not on that sheet right now. The tight end is the quarterback’s best friend. They’re committed to Kellen. But that commitment is not helping me. I know how everything operates so I’m just going to be a team guy and do my part."

The one thing about articles like this one that I don't like is that the author never lets you know what question Bryant is responding to. Look at Bryant's quote. Its obvious that he didn't just start talking off the top of his head, but was responding to someone's question. What that question was I guess we will never know.

But look at the quote in its totality. First Bryant talks about his performance in the Carolina game in 2008 and that was a truly magnificent game for him. He then goes on to contrast that with how the game plan goes this year. Was he wrong in saying that the offensive guys were more prepared in 2008 than they were last season? From what I saw during the games he wasn't. Maybe he shouldn't have come out and admitted that they were less prepared this year so as to protect offensive coordinator Greg Olsen, but I personally didn't think he said anything that was that bad in that regard.

The other thing he points out is that he wasn't the focal point in the game plans this season, even when he was healthy. Its on this point I think some fans may not understand what he meant. A lot of people think that you call an offensive play and then the quarterback just drops back and throws to the guy whose open. If only that were really the case. The truth of the matter is that on every passing play there is a primary option, a guy who the offensive coordinator wants the ball to go to based on the coverage the opposing defense plays. At times of course the defense switches up on defense or their guy just covers our guy and the quarterback has to go to a second or third option. But what Bryant seems to be saying here is that more often than not he wasn't the primary option on passing plays. If that was the case, and again watching the games it seemed that he was correct, then why WOULDN'T he speak out about it. I love the things that Winslow can do in our offense and the way he creates mismatches with the opposing defenses, but you can't have a tight end be your primary option on the majority of your passing plays.

Bigger than that wide receivers have a tendency to play better when you get them involved early in the game. When you have a guy like Bryant who is head and shoulders above the rest of the receivers on your team, you feed that guy to not only help him but also to help your quarterback get a rapport with him so they can both have big games. I'm not suggesting you force the ball to Bryant and risk throwing a pick, but there are more than enough "safe" routes to get the ball in his hands early and often. Even if Bryant had never come out and said it, that still would have been one of my criticisms of the offense last year. Aside from the times when Freeman scrambled and threw the ball on the run, our passing game didn't function well because there never seemed to be a method to the madness.

I could see if this only happened a few times throughout the year but instead it was an every game occurrence. Let me put it to you this way, the most catches Bryant had in any one game last year was 5 and he did that 3 times. If he is your number one receiver, and he was, that is almost inexcusable. There has to be a way that at least in one game you get that guy 7 or 8 catches. I don't care if its on wide receiver screens or smoke routes or quick slants. Some how some way if you want to be successful your top wide receiver need to touch the ball more than 5 times in a game.

As for the Buccaneers they have given two reasons as far as I can tell so far for their decision to allow Bryant to go. The first is that they want to get younger on offense, something that sounds kind of laughable when you think about it. So lets think about it.

The starting backfield at the end of the season of Cadillac Williams and Earnest Graham are going into their 6th and 7th NFL seasons respectively. The quarterback is coming off his rookie season. Winslow is going into his 7th season. Every guy on the offensive line except for center Jeff Faine has played 4 or fewer seasons in the NFL. Faine is the old head of everybody heading into his 8th seasons. How young, exactly, are we supposed to be trying to get here?

Keep in mind that as far as the other receivers go we already have some young guys in Sammie Stroughter and Maurice Stovall. Is Antonio Bryant who is going into his 8th year like Faine REALLY supposed to be "too old" to play with this offense? Especially when you look at some wide receivers in this league playing at a high level well into their 30s? I'm not buying that.

The other reason as far as I can tell is that Bryant didn't run crisp enough routes and caused interceptions. Now this goes back to my post on Roy Miller. The NFL can be a dirty game. Folks will look at you cross eyed if you say you can't play because you are injured, but then when you go out and play through the pain they give you no benefit of the doubt when you don't play up to the highest of levels.

Do I believe Bryant didn't run as crisp routes last season as he did in 08? Yes. Do I think its probably because he had knee surgery in the preseason and tried to play through the pain? OF COURSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

But the shady part of that knock on him is where they say he "caused" interceptions. I'm calling bullshit on that. First off all you never, not one time, heard that criticism during the season. As a matter of fact during the season what you did hear was the coaching staff getting on Freeman about his decision making and his accuracy. Now considering how much they wanted and needed for Freeman to be the star going into next year, are you really going to try to convince me that they heaped criticism on him that should have been directed and Antonio Bryant?

Hell to the nawl!

Once again, not buying it.

So what do we have left? We have a receiver who can block but can't catch a cold but naked in the north pole. We have a kid coming off his rookie season who was productive but who will be coming off an injury. We have another guy who may or may not be snatched from us in free agency who to date has been mostly a special teams player but who has shown some flash over the last couple of years. And a bunch of other no name guys who haven't played much in the NFL.

All I can say in closing is this. If we don't get a big name receiver via free agency and or the draft we are going to be in a world of hurt next year. If you thought this year was bad, just wait until our only viable option in the passing game is our tight end. There are a few guys who are trying to get off their current teams like Anquan Boldin and Brandon Marshall who perhaps we could pick up and really bolster or receiver corps, but it doesn't appear that we are leaning in that direction. No matter how much Freeman gets better over the offseason, he won't be able to perform without someone to throw it to. And as it stands we just let our best option walk right out the door for nothing in return.

I hope it works out for the Buccaneer brass, but I just don't see it happening right now.

Choking The Life Out Of The Zombie Talking Point

This evening I had a pretty spirited debate with a Buccaneer fan over on the joebucsfan site about the direction of the Bucs. In the course of this back and forth this particular fan repeated the now familiar tripe about the Bucs not REALLY improving all that much in the last 6 games because they were just playing teams that "didn't have anything to play for". Well I left a comment about that which on reflection probably deserves its own post so here it goes.

Not sure how you think I am cherry picking over the last six games, but since this talking point won’t die let me break it down for you and everybody else.

The Bucs played two playoff teams out of the last six games and played one team twice that ended up with a winning record. When the Bucs played the Falcons the first time, the Panthers, and the Jets, all three were still trying to get into the playoffs. When we played the Saints they were angling for a number 1 seeding. So thats 4 out of the 6 games where the teams all DID have something to play for. The second game with the Falcons they were trying to do something that had never been done in their franchises history. Back to back winning seasons. So that makes 5 out of 6 games. Now the Seahawks sucked ass most of the year so yeah I guess you can write that one off, but I watched the game and I didn’t see them lay down for us. Hell they were WINNING at half time.

As for improvement, understand that I didn’t say we became the Steel Curtain or the Purple People Eaters. I said we improved. And as Jay Z said recently, men lie, women lie, numbers don’t.

In the last 6 games we got 7 picks, 11 sacks and 5 forced fumbles. Our opponents scoring average went down substantially to around 18 pts per for those 6 games. We held the superbowl champs to 17 points which is the same as what the Cowboys held them to the week prior.

Again, still not the old Ravens defense, but how can you look at that evidence and still not admit that they improved in a major way? I understand that there are some folks who are in the media in this area who have tried to poo poo the improvement but mostly thats because nobody ever challenged them on the substance of their argument. If somebody did challenge them most of them would fall on their face.

I root for the Bucs on Sunday from my heart but I blog about them from my head. It is what it is.

I am smart enough to realize that some Bucs fans have already heard this so many times that they won't be dissuaded about it, but at least if they read this post they won't be able to say that nobody ever told them the truth.

Real talk.

Mirror Images, Different Reflections

I blogged awhile back about how Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans seemed to be holding rookie head coach Raheem Morris to a higher standard than other first year coaches around the league. Allow me to push a little further.

Coach Morris fired his offensive coordinator right before the season started.

Kansas City head coach Todd Haley also fired his offensive coordinator right before the season started.

Coach Morris fired his defensive coordintor with 6 games to go in the season.

Coach Haley fired his defensive coordinator today a couple of weeks after the end of the regular season.

Coach Morris had to deal with his starting safety getting suspended for 4 games to begin the year, and his star cornerback getting arrested.

Coach Haley's starting running back caused a controversy for using gay slurs on twitter and in person to the media then refused to apologize.

Coach Morris traded away a former first round pick and starting defensive end mid season.

Coach Haley traded away his former starting running back who had been a pro bowler.

Coach Morris drafted a quarterback in the first round to build his offense around.

Coach Haley brought in a young free agent quarterback to build his offense around.

Coach Morris ended the season with a record of 3-13.

Coach Haley ended the season with a record of 4-12.


Now despite all of these similarities, does anybody remember Todd Haley being on the hot seat at the end of the year? Were the Chiefs ever thought to be even considering firing him? Mind you I could make a very strong argument that the Chiefs had quite a bit more talent than the Bucs did this year. Hell on Defense alone they had 4 former first round picks. And they lost to the damn Raiders WITH JaMarcus Russell for goodness sake!

But while Bucs fans here were calling for Morris' ouster, you hardly heard a peep coming from Kansas City.

Now I don't say all this to say fans can't complain, hell its your right. I am just giving a little perspective about what is happening in other places where they have a first year coach and to contrast the two reactions. If that happens to resonate with you then so be it.

It is what it is.

I Would Be Worried Too, Except That's Not What He Said

Now, what's next?

What is Raheem going to do about it?

If Monday morning was any indication, I'm worried.

At his final day-after news conference, he was asked about where his team needs to get better. He said he'll have to look at the tape and evaluate - 32nd in rush defense and he has to evaluate?

He can't just take a stab at it, off the cuff?

He really needs to look at film.

"Hey, back that last part up a second ... I think the Giants just beat us.">

-Martin Fennelly

Oh my goodness! I know that Coach Morris hasn't exactly done a great job in the media this year but do you mean to tell me that all he had to say about evaluating his team was that he had to "look at the tape and evaluate"?!

Actually no, that's not at all what he said, although Fennelly would have you believe that.

See there is now this notion out there that Coach Morris is "in over his head" and because he isn't the world's greatest interview people have latched on to it as some sort of sign tht its true. I fully admit that Morris con come off bad in an interview at times but what in the hell does that really have to do with his coaching ability?

Absolutely nothing.

And in this case its even worse because the answers Morris gave yesterday in his interview were a helluva lot more substantive than Fennelly would have his readers to believe. Using the good old google I came up with his quotes from the press conference yesterday. Let's see what Coach Morris actually said.

(On if he had meetings with the coaching staff)
“This is the time of year that you do that. Within this next month you will go back, get a little time away, come back and evaluate everything you do. Everyone will be evaluated, myself, all my coaches, all of our players, everybody. We will evaluate the tape this next month. This is the process that we are at now, we will just go back and evaluate.”

(On his biggest priority this offseason)
“As far as priorities for me, number five (Josh Freeman). He is the number one priority. It starts with him. Then after that the draft and building around him, our team and what we are going to be. You have to say that number five is the biggest priority, making sure everything works around him because when it works around him, we were able to be successful at the end of the season there. The next biggest priority has to be the draft. We have 10 big time draft picks coming up. I have to get the exact number but I know we have three really high ones. You never know what you can do in the draft. Maybe we’ll find another Sammie Stroughter. That has to be a priority there.”

(On if the draft is going to define the team)
“I think that’s with everybody, not just speaking the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I think with everybody you have to build from the draft. There is no secret that’s what we are trying to do, that’s what we have been trying to do, build from the draft. Last year it was started and here you have to continue on that path of building through the draft. The draft has to be a high priority. It always has been. We drafted Mike Alstott. We drafted Warren Sapp. We drafted Warrick Dunn. We drafted Ronde Barber, all those big time impact players were all drafted here. They were all drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They were all drafted to play in this system, to play with us and to play for us. That’s what we have to do, build through the draft. That’s the way you build teams.”

(On draft needs)
“That’s a part of this next month as well. You go back and you evaluate. You have to fill in the holes where you need. You plug them in, then you go evaluate the other tape. You see what’s the best fit and see where you fall, see how they come to you. All of those things have to be taken in account for. That’s what I have this next month for. I don’t have to make that decision now. I can look at the tape and study it.”

Hmmm so lets see. Not only was Coach Morris NOT responding to a question of "where his team needs to get better" when he talked about evalutating the tape, he is answers yesterday were a helluva lot more substantive than just "I have to go back and watch the tape". Now I already knew this to be the case because I happened to have listened to Coach Morris' press conference yesterday live, but I bet Fennelly is banking on the fact that most of his readers didn't. And of course they would just assume that Morris saying "I have to evaluate the tape" was the beginning and end of what he had to say about improving the team.

Mind you, this press conference was held at a time when Morris didn't even know if he would be back next year.

But who needs details when Fennelly is "worried"?

What is truly ironic is that if anybody's performance yesterday warranted concern it would have been the media assembled at the press conference. Their questions were as general as you could possibly imagine and most of them were very uninspired. I put up a list of 10 questions I came up with in less than 5 minutes in a comment over in joebucsfan that would have been better than every single question asked at that press conference yesterday. And while we will never know whether Morris would have answered them specifically or vaguely, at least they would have been put out there. Instead we have Fennelly's bretheren asking about whether Coach Morris reached his goals.

Great question genius!

See the problem that I have with the media, especially the local sports media here in Tampa Bay, is they try to paint their own picture whether the facts back them up or not. Its obvious that Fennelly isnt' exactly a Morris fan and so he built his column around that. Hell I don't begrudge him that, to each their own. But when you try to use slight of hand to try to make Morris look bad even though what you say he said and what he actually said don't even remotely resemble each other, then I am going to stand up and call bullshit. If you can't make your case without making shit up, then its probably a weak case to begin with.

I am not some kind of hall monitor for the media but you had better believe that this won't be the last time I call them out. When I see bullshit trumped up by journalist I am going to call it what it is. Hopefully their won't be many more occasions for me to have to do something like this, but considering the stories I have seen this year I am not optomistic.

It is what it is, truly.

Dear Disgruntled Bucs Fans, Please Make Up Your Mind

Evidently Steve "The Big Dawg" Duemig is reporting that Coach Morris will be retained for at least another year. This of course has provoked mixed feelings. But for those Bucs fans who are disappointed and wanted the Bucs to fire Coach Morris, I ask only one thing of you. Please be consistent.

What I mean is that for most of the season when we were losing all I heard was how we didn't have any talent on the team, especially on defense. How the defensive line couldn't start for anybody else. How Barrett Ruud was terrible because he never made any plays in the backfield. And about how horrible Sabby Piscetelli is. (ok I admit I said that also)

On offense our line couldn't block anybody, none of our quarterbacks were worth a damn, Caddy had lost a step and Derrick Ward was overrated, and of course bashing Michael Clayton could never get old (again I confess, yes I was a party to that too).

Now after a little bit of success and the team at least getting a few wins and showing improvement all of a sudden the same folks who previously complained about our lack of talent, NOW complain about our record and because we lost to the Falcons.

So..........we suck as far as our talent level, but......we should be in the playoffs. Uhmm sorry, that doesn't compute.

Now if you think we have a dearth of talent that's fine, and at least in a few cases I will agree with you. But then you have to admit that with the talent we have it wasn't likely that we were going to win a bunch of games this year anyway.

However if you think all of the loses were all because of Coach Morris, then you would have to embrace the notion that we already have enough talent to get us in the playoffs. Now at certain positions I can agree with you, but at others I am going to ask for some of what you are smoking. Still, you are entitled to your own opinion, but what you can't turn around and say is that we need to spend more money on free agents and draft picks. I mean hell, according to you the Bucs are already stacked and just need a better leader.

Now I have made it known that I was hoping Coach Morris would come back and I have said exactly why he should, so more than likely I am not going to see eye to eye with the guys who didn't want him back anyway. But at the very least if you are consistent then we can have a rational discussion about it. If you try to say we don't have much talent and also say we should have won a lot more, I am going to basically have to just get up and walk away.

Well, that's my heads up to y'all out there. Now you can't say I didn't warn you.