Will The Bucs Draft Okung?

April 13, 2010 at 09:57am by Scott   •  1 Comment »

If you’re in a hurry and don’t want to read the full content of this article, here’s the answer: Of course not. Now off to your secret laboratories and your flying machines and whatever else you people with “jobs” do for a living.

For the rest of us, Stephen Holder tries to convince us that there is a good possibility that the Buccaneers will draft OT Russell Okung (Oklahoma State). And who can blame him for trying — the Bucs aren’t generating any buzz of their own and the poor guy has to make a living somehow. He even gives five reasons why it might happen, enumerated for easy ridicule.

1) None of us knows where Tampa Bay has McCoy rated on its draft board. The Bucs have given a number grade to every available player in the draft, so lets presume Sam Bradford is rated No. 1 and Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh is rated No. 2. What happens if Okung is rated No.3 by the Bucs?

The Bucs would have the only board I’ve seen where that is the case. Granted, all the ones I’ve seen are by former scouts (believe it or not, this blog doesn’t have access to any team’s war room) but Okung is consistently between #4 and #6 and Gerald McCoy is always ahead of him.

2) We all know the Bucs are not completely sold on starting left tackle Donald Penn. I like Penn and think he’s incredibly productive, but the Bucs have expressed concerns about his weight since he has been here, and as a result, continue to hold off on rewarding him with a big contract. If Tampa Bay has to reward a left tackle, should it pay Penn or Okung?

In most cases I’d say this is a stupid point because of course the Bucs would pay the player who has experience and has proven himself over the course of a couple years instead of a rookie. But all that thinking is out the window this year, so we’ll call this one a draw.

3) The Bucs have a lot invested in Josh Freeman, their quarterback of the future, and need a left tackle to protect him for many years. Think about this for a second: In 2008, Miami selected Jake Long for its No. 1 overall pick and waited until the second round to draft quarterback Chad Henne.

This point doesn’t stand on its own; it assumes #2 is true and we don’t know if Penn is the man for the future or not. And what Miami does is irrelevant. Last year, Detroit drafted Matt Stafford #1 overall and didn’t take an offensive lineman until the seventh round. Does this somehow matter in any way? No.

4) Most people think Suh could be the next Warren Sapp, so does that make McCoy the next Booger McFarland? That is not a jab at Booger, but if Tampa Bay has a chance to draft the next Long, Michael Oher, Ryan Clady, D’Brickashaw Ferguson or Jammal Brown, how do they pass on him for the second coming of McFarland?

First of all, ZING! Nice one, Stephen. And it actually is a jab at Booger. You’re saying he wasn’t as good as his pre-draft hype, and he wasn’t. It’s okay, everyone knows it. But why would you think that pre-draft ratings for offensive tackles are somehow more accurate than those for defensive tackles? How do we know Okung isn’t the next Robert Gallery or Mike Williams? Why is McCoy the only one with the potential to bust?

5) If the Bucs can trade out of their No. 3 position, they will do it faster than a tow truck will swipe your car for illegally parking in south Tampa. There is so much talent in this year’s draft, Tampa Bay can still get an impact player within the first 15 picks, and Okung might be available a few spots down.

Okung will not be available a few spots down and you know it. If Washington doesn’t take him, Kansas City or Seattle will. If he gets past #6, I will buy you a steak. And none of those teams have any reason to trade up with the Bucs. Beyond that it starts getting pretty expensive to do it. Unless the Glazers are willing to part with the #3 pick for a bargain basement price just to get out of paying that slot’s money, they are making that pick.

Let’s also not forget one big reason for the Bucs to not take Okung is the public backlash for taking an offensive tackle if a defensive tackle is available. Fans will lose their shit if the Bucs take Okung at #3 with McCoy still on the board. It’s been drilled into them for so long by the media that the defensive tackle position is their biggest need and all this talk about “next Sapp!” that they’d have a real hard time explaining why they took an offensive tackle at #3 overall, especially if someone like Charles Brown (Southern Cal) is still available at #35 but all the top defensive tackles are gone.

I’m not buying it. Okung isn’t Jake Long or Joe Thomas, he’s one step down from those guys. I really don’t think anyone could justify taking him at #3 overall.

Distant Early Warning: Defensive Tackle

January 21, 2009 at 12:00pm by Scott   •  6 Comments »

I covered the entire offensive line in one entry because the needs there were relatively few and the analysis was straightforward. The Bucs’ defensive line, though, is a different story. A sadder one. For example, if the offensive line was Lassie, the defensive line would be Old Yeller. Sorry, didn’t mean to make you think about dogs getting shot. Anyway, that’s why we’re splitting up the defensive line. Prior to Friday, I would have said that defensive tackle is definitely the biggest need on the team. But after all the personnel changes and the fact that we don’t know who the defensive coordinator is going to be or even what kind of scheme they’re going to run, it’s a little harder to predict what the team needs are going to be. Let’s assume for now that they’re sticking with a standard Tampa 2 as their base and go from there.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sapp Throws Monte Under The Bus

December 04, 2008 at 10:52am by Scott   •  2 Comments »

Last night on Inside the NFL (sorry, can’t find a video clip yet), Warren Sapp kept his hype train rolling as he took an opportunity to knock Monte Kiffin down a couple notches. Here’s what he said:

“He’s riding on a golden carriage that me, Brooks, Ronde, and all those other guys pulled for years. And at no point have I ever heard Monte Kiffin give any of those horses that are pulling that carriage any love, any love! I’ve seen him in the middle of a game drawing up a zone dog in the middle of a game and I looked at Brooks and said, ‘You see your coordinator giving away our defense?’ It’s all about him, it’s always about him. I’ll bark him out of the building. I’ve heard all the stories.”

Cris Collinsworth: “Wait, wait, wait… you’re dogging your own guy?”

Sapp: “My guy is Marinelli, My guy has always been Marinelli.”

I don’t know about you, but for a guy who essentially created the defensive scheme that most NFL teams at least partially use on a regular basis, I don’t see Monte in front of many cameras giving himself a lot of credit. And yes, I know double-deep safeties and Cover 2 has been around for a while, but this particular flavor of it is called the Tampa 2 for a reason. Does Monte have everyone fooled?

And who’s not giving Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks (shoe-in Hall of Famers) and Ronde Barber (very widely recognized) credit? They get shitloads of credit constantly! Whenever Monte’s name is brought up, those other three names will be tagging along right beside it. The converse won’t always be true, though. Sapp will be in the Hall of Fame and eventually the person who designed the scheme that he was so successful in will be mostly forgotten. Take a guy like Deacon Jones. Can you name his defensive coordinator? Is that too far in the past? What about Howie Long or Reggie White? Any idea who designed their plays at the peaks of their careers? In the end, Sapp will win the battle of popularity because for the most part, people remember players and head coaches, not coordinators.

Sapp blames Monte for choosing Anthony McFarland over him in 2004, which in retrospect was actually a mistake. That’s got to factor somewhere into Sapp’s decision to bitchslap Monte in front of a national audience. And let us not forget that Sapp is an enormous attention whore. A huge one. And right now, Monte is getting a little bit of media attention because of the rumors that he will be joining his son in Tennessee after the season. Maybe that bothers Sapp a little? I don’t see how it affects him, but maybe he thinks that any exposure Monte gets should also be shared with his players. It’s as though every time Monte steps up to a podium, he should open his talk by thanking all his players, past and present.

The fact that Sapp gives a lot of credit to Rod Marinelli isn’t surprising. He’s not the only one, either. Simeon Rice and Chris Hovan have both given huge props to Marinelli for shaping them into the players they were/are, and I’m sure they’re not alone. But I’m not sure why proper credit can’t be spread around to everyone. Can’t both Kiffin and Marinelli be partly responsible for the success they had? And can’t they enjoy that without having to make some kind of statement that the players also did their share?

Jesus, Warren, stop being such a bitch. Monte is a 68-year old skinny white dude with a combover who is about to take a huge reduction in both pay and national attention in order to ride off into the sunset by coaching for his son’s team. Can’t you just let him have his moment?

Are Any Receivers Worth Trading For?

October 08, 2008 at 11:15am by Scott   •  2 Comments »

The trade deadline is next Tuesday, which means this is Bruce Allen’s time to shine. Allen’s past 11th hour trades have brought the Bucs Michael Bennett and Joey Galloway and simultaneously jettisoned Anthony McFarland while acquiring the pick that would bring them Sabby Piscitelli. This history has people talking now about what might happen this year. Ira Kauffman, the Tampa Bay area’s weird uncle, focuses on receivers and thinks that Roy Williams (the Detroit version), Torry Holt and Tony Gonzalez are possibilities, especially given the fact that Galloway is injured and doesn’t seem to be getting any better.

Tony Gonzalez has gone on the record saying that he doesn’t have a lot of years left in the league and, though he’ll always love Kansas City, he wants to play for a team that has a better chance at the playoffs than they do. Which would be anyone.

“But if it was something where it was going to take three or four years or whatever before they get this thing right, I think it would be in their best interest to maybe see what they can get and send me off.”

Gonzalez is better than any tight end currently on the roster, but despite the fact that he is a matchup problem for most linebackers, it’s not a position of need for the Bucs. If they want to stretch the field they have Jerramy Stevens, if they want to block they have John Gilmore, and if they’re not sure, they have Alex Smith. All of them can do any of the necessary tight end jobs adequately enough to where giving up the draft pick Gonzalez would command (a second rounder?) wouldn’t be worth it.

Roy Williams is the kind of receiver the Bucs never seem to be able to draft — big and physical but still fast. His skill set would be ideal for what the team needs with Galloway hurt. Williams is in the last year of his contract so if Detroit is going to do something with him, now would be the time. But so far, the only asking price I’ve heard for Williams is two first rounder. And fuck that. Next year’s first round pick is a fair price for him, but more than that is too big a risk for a guy who has been known at times as a malcontent (and a terrible tipper.) And even if it was a fair price, the Bucs could just wait for the end of the season to see if Detroit franchises him, in which case the price to sign him away is still two first rounders. And if they don’t, he’s on the free market and the Bucs have plenty of cap space. That scenario doesn’t help this season much, but you can’t just go tossing around first round picks and not expect consequences down the road. The good news is that most people seem to agree that Williams will not re-sign with Detroit and they don’t want to franchise him, so as the trade deadline approaches, his price will likely decline.

That leaves Torry Holt. Holt is in his tenth season and has had about an assful of St. Louis, so with the coaching in flux over there, they may decide it’s best to part ways and let the new staff pick their own guys. Holt is still fast and runs routes that have broken cornerbacks’ pelvises before. Separation is a problem for current Buccaneer receivers, and Holt can get separation. He has made it known publicly that he would like to finish out his career in Carolina (although he claims he was joking… kind of) which I still haven’t figured out if it’s a good thing or not for him coming to Tampa or if it even matters. Anyway, the perception of Holt is that he’s an aging receiver in decline and could probably be had for a second rounder plus, say, a fourth rounder.

If Williams can be stolen from the Lions for a first rounder as the bell rings, do it. Otherwise, I think the #2 + #4 option for Holt is a good deal, especially considering what they got for their second and fourth rounders this year.

Sapp Flaps Yap

June 26, 2008 at 09:36am by Scott   •  7 Comments »

Warren Sapp is always a good interview, and this one he did with Rick Stroud is no exception despite who was asking the questions. He covers a lot of ground, but maybe the most interesting piece is what he wrote about his relationship with Monte Kiffin.

So who was responsible for you having to leave the Bucs?

It was all of them, but Monte (Kiffin) led the charge. He said, “We can do it without him.” Me and Monte had the rockiest relationship — a stepson-to-stepfather relationship. It was always his defense, and he barked people out of the building. It was too much about him.

Kiffin always seemed like a ballbuster to me. He’s throw his hat down and jump up and down to make a point, kind of like when Elmer Fudd would get tricked into shooting himself in the face for the tenth time. But I wouldn’t have thought it would affect a guy like Sapp. Regardless, he handled his dismissal well at the time and still doesn’t hold a grudge against the organization for letting him walk.

So how did it go down?

We’ve all talked about it. Monte wanted to go with Mac. Jon looks at (Rod) Marinelli, who has full faith in McFarland. What can he say? I can’t fault them for what they did. I was like 30 at the time. I’d take the younger dude who looks like me on tape. What they failed to realize is they only make someone like me once in a lifetime.

When did McFarland ever look like Sapp on tape? Did he mean “in tape”, as in they both got their ankles taped the same way? That’s all he could possibly mean. McFarland went from promising nose tackle to terrible under tackle faster than you can say “fore!”

Sapp covers several other topics including the reason he retired, his Hall of Fame credentials and his time with the Raiders. NFL Adam covers those last two items, although he doesn’t think Sapp has the resume to make it into the Hall. Hey, they can’t all be Rams and Chargers.