Buccaneer Draft Pick Wonderlic Scores

April 29, 2010 at 11:51am by Scott   •  4 Comments »

I have never heard of tampabaybuccaneersfansite.com before, and I’m not completely sure it’s not a spam site so if you click that link and it automatically downloads 8 gigs of donkey porn to your hard drive don’t say I didn’t warn you, but they do have an interesting post about the Wonderlic scores of all the Bucs’ draft picks. And by interesting, I mean here they are:

1. DT Gerald McCoy [Oklahoma] 22
2. DT Brian Price [UCLA] 20
2. WR Arrelious Benn [Illinois] 11
3. CB Myron Lewis [Vanderbilt] 20
4. WR Mike Williams [Syracuse] 16
6. P Brent Bowen [Virginia Tech] 31
7. S Cody Grimm [Virginia Tech] 36
7. LB Dekoda Watson [Florida State] 16
7. DE Erik Lorig [Standord] 25

The post doesn’t cite a source for these, but I was able to confirm Grimm’s here and Benn’s here , so I have no reason to think the others aren’t right as well. I added the school names myself because I thought it would be funny to make fun of the ones with the lowest scores, but I really don’t have anything any of them so it wasn’t as much fun as I thought. But the next time you hear Jamie Dukes call Florida State the “Harvard of the South”, you can tell him he’s full of shit.

What’s up with the wide receivers? An 11 and a 16? Benn must have slept for the first nine minutes of the test because there’s no reason why a college-educated man should only get an 11. Have you seen a Wonderlic? The questions get progressively harder as you go through the test, but those first few are just ridiculous. I think the first question is to write your name on the test without jamming the pencil in your eye. Question 2: “What color is green?” They go on like that for a little while, so an 11 is silly. Here he is on some Fox financial show talking about getting a whole bunch of money dropped in his lap at once:

Does he sound like an 11? He took on four interviewers without flinching on a Fox show. That’s got to be worth at least a 15, right?

The top two Buccaneer scores come from Virginia Tech — the guitar-playing punter and the son of a Hog. Grimm actually scored more than Rhodes scholar Myron Rolle, who got a 33. You can mention that one to Dukes as well.

Bucs’ Late Round And Free Agent Picks

April 25, 2010 at 03:34pm by Scott   •  5 Comments »

I couldn’t sit through the entirety of rounds 4-7 yesterday. The analysts obviously have no idea who some of these kids are and they’re all doing silly skits and having inside-joke laden conversations and it pretty much turns into a male version of The View while the picks scroll across the screen without even the smallest bit of commentary. So I instead went out and saw the outside world for a bit while periodically checking my phone every now and then to see who everyone was picking and I feel I’m a better person for it. We talked about the first three rounds in the chats, so I’ll let you scroll through those for our reactions to the major picks. Here’s a summary:

Gerald McCoy: No shit.
Brian Price: Wait, what? Really?
Arrelious Benn: That’ll work, I guess.
Myron Lewis: Good but reachy.

I picked Lewis as a steal in the later rounds in my “How It Is” series. I think he’ll be good, but I thought they could have gotten him in at least the fourth or fifth rounds. But whatever, I picked him and that’s more than the papers did. Now, onto the later rounds.

4th round: WR Mike Williams (Syracuse): Williams got a lot of attention from the Bucs and it wasn’t much of a secret that they wanted him. This is a good value for the guy as long as they’re convinced that all of his immaturity is behind him. He was suspended in June 2008 for “violating the university’s academic integrity policy” (cheating) and missed all of the 2008 season. He re-enrolled, went to spring practice, played a few games in 2009 and then quit the team because he was on the verge of getting suspended again, this time it involved getting into an accident with a tractor trailer. Again, I’m all for giving second chances, so if this kid has his life together now then fine. But it’s pretty sad that they actually had the nerve to ask Myron Rolle about deserting his team to accept his Rhodes scholarship and then they go and draft someone who actually did desert his team. But he’s got all the physical attributes that you want and if he had been a better teammate would have been a much higher pick.

5th round: Traded to Oakland to move up to get Benn: For a team that placed SO much value on this draft, it’s weird that they would give away a fifth-round pick just to move up three slots in the second round. Obviously they had targeted Benn and didn’t want to take the chance he wouldn’t be there, but I still can’t help but notice that Golden Tate was still on the board. Especially considering how many flawed yet talented players changed teams this offseason in exchange for a fifth-round pick, this seems like a waste.

6th round: P Brent Bowden (Virginia Tech): You all laughed at me when I said they’d take a punter in the sixth. If Zoltan Mesko had been on the board I think he would have been the guy, but they took the next best player and he’ll do fine. The Bucs only have Sam Paulescu on the roster now and they need more firepower from a punter. I have heard people call this a wasted pick, but I disagree. As much as the Bucs may be punting this year, it’s a necessity.

7th round: LB Cody Grimm (Virginia Tech): He’s listed as a linebacker, but the Bucs will play him at safety. Grimm was highly productive at Virginia Tech over his last two seasons there and was a turnover machine, causing seven forced fumbles last year alone. He’ll battle Corey Lynch for that third safety spot, but it looks like Sabby Piscitelli will only have to fight off Sean Jones to keep his spot.

7th round: LB Dekoda Watson (Florida State): Another linebacker who had good production in college but projects too small for the pros. He’s a good athlete who is fast and a good tackler. I have high hopes for him to excel beyond his draft slot. He was also involved in the FSU cheating scandal of 2007, just like Geno Hayes. That’s two players the Bucs drafted this year that have had cheating issues. Does that strike anyone else as strange?

7th round: DE Erik Lorig (Stanford): I have no idea who this guy is. I remember seeing him at the combine, which I guess is a plus, but I’ve got nothing on him. The good news for him is that the depth is so shallow at defensive end that as long as he faces the right direction when he lines up, he has a decent shot of sticking as a reserve.

2 7th-round picks traded to Denver for a 5th-round pick next year: It sounds like a pretty good deal, assuming the depth next year is all right. But this was supposed to be the deepest draft in 25 years and a seventh-rounder this year was supposed to translate to a fifth-rounder any other year, and with the importance they placed on this year’s draft, you’d think they’d snatch up everyone they could. But whatever, I guess moving up two rounds isn’t ever a bad idea.

Free agents:

QB Jevan Snead (Ole Miss): I have no idea why Snead declared this year. He had an awful season. Someone gave him some bad advice because he could have stuck around Ole Miss for another year and made up for 2009. Anyway, this is the fourth quarterback, so I guess Josh Freeman doesn’t need a veteran backup or mentor. “Ole man Freeman”, that’s what they’ll call him in the locker room.

WR Preston Parker (North Alabama): Dismissed from FSU after being arrested three times (petty theft, gun and pot possession, DUI). Enrolled at North Alabama and by all accounts turned himself around and served on the athletic director’s advisory council. Not fast and has been known to take plays off.

LB Rico McCoy (Tennessee): (Homer alert) McCoy is not as bad a prospect as I keep hearing everyone say. He had a miserable pro day at Tennessee but he always brought it on game day. He’s been timed as low as the mid 4.5s in the 40, although that was a couple years ago. He’s pretty small for a linebacker at 6-1/220, but stranger things have happened. Durability issues and his tendency to overrun plays are his biggest hinderances. Biggest assets are his productivity and his ability to force fumbles. His time with Monte Kiffin last year will do nothing but help him.

OG Sergio Render (Virginia Tech): Another Hokie. Render was supposed to be a big deal a couple years ago, but the buzz for him never materialized. I remember him planting Terrance Cody flat on his ass one time, which is no small feat. He has been called the best guard in the ACC, but a shoulder surgery may have knocked him off some boards. I can’t find a good reason why he wasn’t drafted.

LB Ryan Reeves (Wayne State): Beats the shit out of me. Your guess is as good as mine.

Wow, this was a lot longer than I thought it would be when I started. I’ll be back with whatever other news is going on either later tonight or tomorrow. Your thoughts on the late round picks/free agents in the comments.

2010 Live Draft Blog – Day 2

April 23, 2010 at 05:55pm by Scott   •  No Comments »

Day 2 Preview

April 23, 2010 at 01:45pm by Scott   •  6 Comments »

Now that the inevitable is out of the way, we can get to the more suspenseful second round and the educational third round where you can make faces that look like this…

… when the Bucs draft someone who you’ve never heard of. You expect that in the later rounds (“Are you sure Stillman even has a football program?”) but some of those guys pop through to the third. This year there’s an awful lot of depth at most positions, so that shouldn’t happen, but it’s been a year and I’m still not completely sure who Xavier Fulton is. Of course, I’m mildly retarded.

So without further stalling for time, let’s get to the plan for today. Here is the BPA at each position (according to me, which is the only source you need, little missy):

QB Jimmy Clausen (Notre Dame)
RB Toby Gerhart (Stanford)
WR Golden Tate (Note Dame)
TE Rob Gronkowski (Arizona)
OT Charles Brown (Southern Cal)
G/C Jon Asamoah (Illinois)
DT Brian Price (UCLA)
DE Everson Griffen (Southern Cal)
OLB Sergio Kindle (Texas)
ILB Sean Lee (Penn State)
CB Jerome Murphy (USF)
S Nate Allen (USF)
K Brett Swenson (Michigan State)
P Zoltan Mesko (Michigan)

Brown is a good value here; I really thought he’d be a first-rounder. And Allen wouldn’t be crazy with #35, but I’d rather see him at #42. But the first choice has to be Tate, right? Is there any question here? A lot of people are saying they’ll try to fill the WR spot with Mike Williams (Syracuse) later on in the draft, but they need a fucking playmaker. There’s also talk of getting a defensive end somewhere soon, and I wouldn’t mind seeing one in the second round, either Carlos Dunlap (Florida), Koa Misi (Utah) or Ricky Sapp (Clemson) will be available in the third and I would be fine with any of them.

I’m sure someone in the local rags has a Day 2 preview for us. Who have we got? Ira Kaufman? Aww, fuck.

Florida defensive end Carlos Dunlap could represent good value at No. 42, the second of Tampa Bay’s twin second-round picks. Dunlap’s character issues caused him to drop out of the first round, but he remains one of the most gifted pass rushers in the draft.

Good value at 42? Meh… not really. Especially not for the Bucs. Dunlap is a physical monster, but the Bucs don’t exactly need a guy who is considered a run-stopping defensive end. They need someone to kill quarterbacks, and Dunlap isn’t known for that. Add his known problems with work ethic and I think the third is the highest you take him.

A late run on defensive backs Thursday cost the Bucs a shot at several high-profile prospects, but Oklahoma State corner Perrish Cox is still on the board, along with hard-hitting safety Taylor Mays of Southern Cal.

Cox is sort of similar to Aqib Talib, and not just in his physical appearance. Cox was suspended for the Cotton Bowl for undisclosed rules violations and was arrested in 2009 for driving with a suspended license. He’s supposed to have a similar demeanor to Talib as well: cocky and somewhat unstable. Look for a Tampa cab driver’s union protest if the Bucs select Cox.

Mays is a more athletic Sabby Piscitelli.

If the Bucs are seeking a speedy back to provide a change of pace, they could be looking at Mississippi’s Dexter McCluster, who excelled at Largo High School. McCluster was an all-Southeastern Conference pick as a senior, and he provides quickness and good hands out of the backfield.

I think McCluster is just the kind of playmaker the Bucs could use, but how many running backs are they willing to carry on the team? Clifton Smith, Derrick Ward, Cadillac Williams, Earnest Graham and B.J. Askew are already pretty well entrenched. Who do you cut out of those guys for a player who’s going to touch the ball five or six times per game?

All right, enough of you. Who else we got? Stephen Holder? Let’s see if he has anything important to say.

The conventional wisdom is that they’ll look to address the receiver position, with Notre Dame’s Golden Tate, Illinois’ Arrelious Benn and Southern California’s Damian Williams still on the board.

Tate is a sure-handed playmaker who can turn the short pass into a long gain, while Benn is a big target, a 6-2, 220-pounder who plays with physicality. Williams was a first-team All-Pac-10 selection who possesses return ability.

Tate is my pick, Benn would be fine, but I have questions about Williams. He’s not exactly fast, but he’s not exactly big either. Plus he fumbles a lot. The Bucs have already cornered the market on wide receivers who don’t excel at anything in particular, so what’s the benefit?

And I know you think I’m just being thorough with the kicker and punter on the BPA list, but you watch. I bet the Bucs draft a punter in the sixth round, and Mesko is the best on the board.

All right, I think we’ve beaten this into the ground. I’ll see you all somewhere online tonight. The live chat was cool, but it crapped out on me there at the end. I could get my entries in, but no one else could. I may try it again tonight or I may just do it on Twitter, depending on how much effort I want to put into it.

Coping With Loss And Selecting Gerald McCoy

April 23, 2010 at 10:48am by Scott   •  2 Comments »

Honestly, I’m fine with Gerald McCoy. I accepted the fact that he was going to be the Bucs’ pick a couple weeks ago and have spent that time trying to psych myself up for it. But for me it’s a bit like rummaging through your parents’ closet and finding your Christmas presents early. And they’re clothes. Clothes are nice and all and you can certainly use them, but they don’t cause the shrieking excitement that the G.I. Joe with the kung-fu grip would have. Everyone here knows I wanted Eric Berry. he was my G.I. Joe. I gave up hope for him a few weeks ago. I’ll post my memorial to him later on and that should be the last you see of him on this site until he makes noteworthy news in the NFL.

So if the Bucs were going to take a defensive tackle, I thought it should be Ndamukong Suh. I liked his game better, I liked his production better, I thought he was more pro-ready. I also liked his no-nonsense attitude. He doesn’t smile much. It felt like everything was all-business with him and I took that as intensity, which is something the Bucs need. You know who else doesn’t smile much? Assassins. I knew the Lions were going to take a defensive tackle, but I held out a little hope that they would pick McCoy, even though I knew Suh was more of a fit for what Jim Schwartz likes to do. As it turns out, everything went exactly as expected. No trades, no surprises… welcome to Tampa, Gerald.

I am more optimistic about McCoy than I was a couple weeks ago, probably because I’ve gotten used to the idea of him being a Buc. But many sources have him rated as the best player in the draft overall, including the NFL’s own site. Mike Mayock, the most respected draft analyst out there, had McCoy as his top guy as well. Steve White told us last night that he most definitely prefers McCoy to Suh for the Bucs.

i love Mccoy. Id take him over Suh every day and twice on Sunday

These people know more about football than I do, so that gives me some confidence that things are going to be okay with McCoy. It doesn’t mean they’re right, of course. Lots of people liked Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson and Justin Harrell (shut up) too and we’re seeing how those expert picks panned out. But at least it’s something to hang my hat on.

And I can look at film and see why people like McCoy. The videos I posted yesterday showed some excellent plays and a great motor. He doesn’t have as much wear on him as Suh does since he only played three years and was rotated out of the line sometimes. He obviously has an outgoing and friendly personality and will certainly be active in the community. There’s a lot to like about him. This isn’t a rationalization like last year for Josh Freeman. I really think he’ll do well. It takes a little while to get over disappointment and unfulfilled wishes, but I think I’m there now. And if you’re not, get your mourning out of your system and hop back on the Buc bandwagon. It’s either that or become a Lions fan, and you know you don’t have the stomach for that.

2010 Live Draft Blog – Day 1

April 22, 2010 at 01:31pm by Scott   •  3 Comments »

I’m going to stop pretending that anything else worthwhile is going to happen in the next six hours before the draft starts and cut out of here early. Join me at 7:00 for some Bucs draft chat, won’t you?

Unique Story Angle: Comparing Suh To McCoy

April 22, 2010 at 12:48pm by Scott   •  No Comments »

Did you know Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy are both defensive tackles, but their styles are different? And yet they’re still kind of similar? Also, they’re both pretty good guys? It’s true! About a thousand articles say so.

Top NFL draft prospects praise Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Times)
Suh and McCoy are different players and personalities, but both are ready to become the face of the Bucs defense (Times, because one article isn’t enough)
Suh or McCoy? For Bucs, it’s debatable (Trib)
Suh, McCoy living the dream at NFL Draft (Trib)
Suh vs. McCoy: Tale of the tape (Trib. Note: Contains no tape)

Fuck it, I’m not even going to the other papers’ sites. As much as I rag on Pat Yasinskas from ESPN, I don’t think he’s gone down this heavily whored out path, so good for him. I don’t think Pewter Report did either, but if they did it was months ago ahead of everyone else and contained relevant football information instead of quotes about how much McCoy loves his glasses.

Gerald McCoy Highlights/Lowlights

April 22, 2010 at 09:12am by Scott   •  2 Comments »

In preparation of this evening, here is some decent footage of Gerald McCoy. Remember, it’s not always his job to make the splash play. If he gets even a little push and occupies a blocker or two so that someone else can make the tackle, he’s done his job. That said, are the highlights on here enough to convince you that the Bucs are getting as good a talent as Ndamukong Suh?

Rams Trade Away Carriker

April 20, 2010 at 03:31pm by Scott   •  11 Comments »

Just filed: The Rams traded Adam Carriker, their former first-round defensive tackle, to the Redskins. Compensation unknown at this time, but it hardly matters. Now the Rams are in need of both a defensive tackle and a quarterback. So what do you think the Rams will do: Sam Braford in the first and Brian Price (UCLA), Jared Odrick (Penn State) or Tyson Alualu (Cal) in the second OR Suh in the first and Colt McCoy in the second? After a month of thinking the Bucs getting one of the top DTs was a slam dunk, now it’s up in the air. Discuss.

What Will The Bucs Do For A #1 Receiver?

April 20, 2010 at 10:09am by Scott   •  4 Comments »

I forgot to cover it last week when it happened, but Maurice Stovall went ahead and signed his RFA tender putting him on the official roster and giving the Bucs a total of eight receivers, none of whom are considered a #1. And it got me thinking, how are the Bucs going to fill that hole?

Stovall was tendered with an original draft round tender. He was drafted in the third round in 2006, so any team wanting to sign him would have to give up a third round pick to the Bucs if the deal were to go through. I originally thought he might get swiped for that level of compensation since he’s probably as good as anyone who will get drafted in the third round this year and already has NFL experience. But no one even nibbled, and considering the transactions that have gone down this offseason, it’s not surprising. Brandon Marshall, one of the NFL’s leading receivers, was traded for two second-rounders. Anquan Boldin was traded for third and fourth-round picks. Santonio Holmes and Ted Ginn each went for a fifth. Quite a change from ten years ago when the Bucs gave up two first-round picks for Keyshawn Johnson and were happy to do it. What would a Keyshawn in his prime go for today?

All of these transactions passed by without the Bucs even sniffing them. The general consensus seems to be that they are going to fill that #1 role with the draft, but how realistic is that? Take a look at the top receivers in this draft. The Bucs aren’t taking Dez Bryant (Oklahoma State) with the third slot and he won’t fall to the second round. After that, we have Golden Tate (Notre Dame) whom I consider to be a primary receiving threat, but I’m in the minority. He might be there in the second round for the Bucs to take, although some people have first-round grades on him. Who else is there? Demaryius Thomas (Georgia Tech)? His tape isn’t too good because of the triple-option he played in and he hasn’t been able to work out worth a damn since he broke his foot in February. He’s a huge risk. Arrelious Benn (Illinois) could be okay but he’s not a vertical threat, which is usually what you mean when you say “Number One Receiver”. Who else ya got? Brandon LaFell (LSU)? He’s even slower than Benn and doesn’t have nearly the intangibles that Benn has. Jordan Shipley (Texas)? Now you’re just being silly. I’d love to have Shipley, but not as a #1. And now we’re into the third and fourth-round prospects that aren’t any better than what the Bucs already have. I see there being two, possibly three potential #1 receivers available in this draft, one of which they almost certainly won’t be picking. And several other teams drafting right around where the Bucs are that also need wide receivers.

The trade value on wide receivers is as low as it’s ever been and the draft isn’t particularly deep with true #1s. Unless the Bucs are just going to consider Kellen Winslow their #1 — kind of tough to do from the tight end spot — they’re either going to need to make a move to get Tate in the draft or trade for someone already on a roster. And looking over last year’s receiver production, I don’t see too many that I think teams would be willing to part with with the market as low as it is. Maybe Vincent Jackson. He’s the only one I see that fits all the criteria. Mark Dominik may have made a big mistake by not grabbing one of those bargain basement receivers that have already changed teams and just stowing him on the roster just in case his master plan of leaning so completely on the draft doesn’t pan out the way he’s hoping.