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Around SBN: Jim Irsay: We Can Make It Work With Peyton Manning

Ask Bucs Nation

Hey Jags fans,

As you probably know the Jaguars are coming to Tampa to play the Bucs, who will sadly be without injured starting QB Josh Freeman. So as one of the Bucs Nation writers, it seemed appropriate for me to open one of these threads - especially now that one of your crew posted one over at Bucs Nation. Feel free to ask us anything about the Bucs in this thread, we'll try to answer all of your questions.

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Thanks for the oppurtunity

Here are my questions:

Tell me about the state of both Bucs lines-
Where are the biggest strength and weaknesses right now?
Other then Freeman; who are injured from the team right now?
What do you think about Raheem Morris as a HC after his 1st year?

Life without knowledge is death in disguise

Follow me on twitter @iktriad

by Zoltan from Budapest on Aug 23, 2010 5:59 PM EDT reply actions  

"State of Bucs Lines" I mean

offensive and defensive line of course

Life without knowledge is death in disguise

Follow me on twitter @iktriad

by Zoltan from Budapest on Aug 23, 2010 6:00 PM EDT up reply actions  

Mkay, here we go....

Offensive line….loaded with players with plenty of games under their collective belts, but struggled to establish tempo and a physical presence in the run game. A little better in the passing game last year, and especially so at LT behind Donald Penn, who just signed a big extension. Should pretty much be the same unit, except ’09 CAR starter Keydrick Vincent could (and I think will) supplant imcumbent Jeremy Zuttah. Other 4 starters should hold their spots. Much more is expected of this unit as a whole after last year.

Defensive line…..Young, developing unit with McCoy as clear starter at undertackle and 2nd-year Roy Miller/rookie Brian Price battling for starting nose spot. Price has a higher upside and has been disruptive in practice, but Miller has been decent in live game action. Ultimately, I expect Price to win the position, with Miller to provide solid depth. With a (hopefully) better push up the middle, ends Stylez G. White and Kyle Moore could be poised to cash in on a QB with nowhere to go. Of course, this is all theoretical, as the tackles are going to have some growing pains and the D-line has really underwhelmed with its pressure so far this preseason.

Biggest strength right now? Hmm, I’m actually feeling pretty good about this team’s secondary right now. Aqib Talib is becoming a legit shutdown corner opposite Ronde, who should have one good year left in what’s a hybrid of the Tampa 2 that he thrived in. Nickel CB EJ Biggers, who missed almost all of last year with a shoulder injury, has really impressed so far in the preseason and appears to be the favorite to win the job. Tanard Jackson is a solid free safety and the winner of the Sean Jones/Sabby Piscitelli battle will certainly be the better for it.

Biggest weakness…..there are several, but I am concerned about the pass rush. This team tallied a blech 14 sacks last year and have done nothing to upgrade the DE spots. The rookies they are counting on to generate a push up the middle are just that……rookies. It could be some time before they get it together and become productive consistently.

Injuries…..WR Maurice Stovall (ankle), RB Derrick Ward (head), DT Brian Price (hamstring), CB Myron Lewis (hamstring), RB/KR Clifton Smith (gout in knee), reserve T Demar Dotson (ankle) have all been dealing with varying degrees of injury, although some are no longer on the injury report. Kellen Winslow’s knee is an ongoing injury that he’ll probably be fighting all year.

The jury is still out on Raheem Morris. The pre and mid-season turnovers of assistants last year made him and the front office look a bit scattershot and impulsive, but he took over the defense for the last 6 games of the year, and the team responded well. How well he can balance the duties of d-coordinator and head coach this year is a concern to some fans. I think another similar season to last year’s could be the coup de grace, especially with a substantially more manageable schedule this year.

Cannons... fire them.

Bucs Nation - SBNation's home for discussion of all things regarding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

by Craig T on Aug 23, 2010 6:24 PM EDT up reply actions  

Excuse me, 28 sacks. I can't read.

Cannons... fire them.

Bucs Nation - SBNation's home for discussion of all things regarding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

by Craig T on Aug 23, 2010 6:28 PM EDT up reply actions  

lol 14 sacks

welcome to the jags total…

by jlana24 on Aug 23, 2010 6:30 PM EDT up reply actions  

Yea.....I shouldn't be complaining about blech sacks.

Cannons... fire them.

Bucs Nation - SBNation's home for discussion of all things regarding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

by Craig T on Aug 23, 2010 6:31 PM EDT up reply actions  

BTW, forgot to mention this for the first couple of these, but everyone rec this thread so it can stay at the top of the fanposts for the week

Big Cat Country, The #1 Jaguars blog on the net

by Jonathan Loesche on Aug 23, 2010 6:50 PM EDT reply actions  

What are Bucs fans thoughts on the Glazers? We always here about how Man U fans want them tarred and feathered.

Big Cat Country, The #1 Jaguars blog on the net

by Jonathan Loesche on Aug 23, 2010 6:52 PM EDT reply actions  

Lots of Bucs fans do too

I personally don’t, because I don’t think they’re really cutting corners here, but there’s no denying that they’ve been at the bottom of the payroll over the past years. Until about 2006-07 this is easily explained by cap problems – they couldn’t spend more money if they wanted to. But since then the cap problems have disappeared, but spending hasn’t really gone up. Some say this is because the Glazers are saddled with ManU’s debt, or because they’re simply cheap. Others, like me, think they’re trying to spend smart instead of spend big and there’s a bit of evidence they do spend when they need to: they signed Penn to a big contract extension, gave Faine and Winslow the biggest contracts at their positions and tried to sign Haynesworth last year. Of course, there are a lot of restricted free agents they could be extending right now but aren’t because of the labour situation – or so they say.
So: a large part of the fanbase is very unhappy with the lack of free agency investments and lack of extensions and blame the Glazers.

by Sander on Aug 23, 2010 7:02 PM EDT up reply actions  

Do you think

Dekoda Watson and Preston Parker will make the team? I was very surprised to see dekoda fall to round 7. He will be a very good special team at worst

by duvaljag on Aug 23, 2010 9:54 PM EDT reply actions  

Dekoda Watson has a good shot to make the team

They like Watson as a blitzer and there’s some room for him to stick in the linebacking corps.

Preston Parker probably won’t make the roster, the numbers aren’t there. They’ll probably try to get him to the practice squad, though.

by Sander on Aug 23, 2010 10:22 PM EDT up reply actions  

What do you

think the bucs record will be this season?
and how far away do you think the bucs are from getting into the playoffs?

Can't stand the truth?

by Aristotle45 on Aug 23, 2010 10:45 PM EDT reply actions  

I think they'll go 6-10 or something close to that

Seems that’s what most Bucs fans think, too.
I’d say they could be getting back to the playoffs in 2011 (if there’s football) with a bit of luck, and should be in by 2012 if the rebuilding plan works.

by Sander on Aug 23, 2010 10:59 PM EDT up reply actions  

I think you guys are about

a pro bowl DE and a safety away from being a winning team. That and you need a little more time to let the passing game mature.(Young QB, Young WR’s) Granted by then however, you’ll need another CB to replace Barber.

by Ewdtrey on Aug 23, 2010 11:18 PM EDT up reply actions  

We are not just a pro bowl DE and Safety away.

We brought in Sean Jones who we think will be able to fill the role, at least decently. Freeman has a long way to go in his development to be a reliable quarterback. Playing him last year and this year was not to show off his talent, rather to allow him to develop in games. EJ Biggers has played well at CB this offseason and will likely win the 3rd CB spot. He and Myron Lewis are both very young and promising, so hopefully one of them will be able to replace Barber when it’s all said and done.

There are some other major issues though. Depth, namely. At nearly every position on our roster we lack depth. Winning teams, and even more-so, good teams have depth. Our offensive line is not only thin, but patchy at times. We have just moved up offseason acquisition Keydrick Vincent (formerly a Panther) to the starting role and Jeremy Trueblood is an injury prone, sack-allowing nightmare. Our WR are young, our depth is awful. The list goes on and on..

"I like to believe that my best hits border on felonious assault." ~ Jack Tatum

by MNeilson on Aug 24, 2010 8:50 AM EDT up reply actions  

Do you think

that Freeman is the real deal?
and who is the buc’s #1 receiver?

Can't stand the truth?

by Aristotle45 on Aug 23, 2010 10:47 PM EDT reply actions  

Freeman looks like the real deal

He’s been working very hard this offseason, he’s stepped up as a leader and he has all the physical abilities. He has to improve his accuracy and ability to read the field, but he’s worked hard at that. I’ll start to worry if he doesn’t make some big strides this season though.

As for #1 receiver, that would be rookie Mike Williams. He’s really stepped up and been very impressive in camp and in the preseason games so far.

by Sander on Aug 23, 2010 11:01 PM EDT up reply actions  

+1

He was probably the best rookie QB last year.
Mike Williams has really impressed me. If he keeps things orderly between the ear,s he could be a real steal for you guys.
We’ll never see a player with a checkered past like his in Jax as long as we have our current GM Gene Smith. He’s a huge character guy. I think all but one player from our past 2 drafts were college team captains.

by Ewdtrey on Aug 23, 2010 11:25 PM EDT up reply actions  

Freeman being the "real deal"

is a hard question to answer. He’s had a half a season to show for it. This year will tell us a lot about the future of the young quarterback.

"I like to believe that my best hits border on felonious assault." ~ Jack Tatum

by MNeilson on Aug 24, 2010 8:51 AM EDT up reply actions  

I've heard that the bucks

are having some troube with ticket sales like the jags….have they had any movement in the up hill battle to get them sold, and if so what are they doing to appease the fan base and get butts in the seats?

Mess With the Best Die like the Rest

by JaxBlaster on Aug 24, 2010 5:44 AM EDT reply actions  

It looks like we'll have a lot of blackouts this year

Our first preseason game was about 25,000 tickets shy of being sold out. They’ve lowered prices for some seats and introduced cheaper seats for kids. I think they’ve been a bit more aggressive in getting people to renew their season tickets, too.
They also introduced some fan-friendly events during the offseason, like an open night practice in the stadium.

by Sander on Aug 24, 2010 8:49 AM EDT up reply actions  

But then closed off a lot more practices.

"I like to believe that my best hits border on felonious assault." ~ Jack Tatum

by MNeilson on Aug 24, 2010 8:51 AM EDT up reply actions  

Right

And required tickets to be bought for the other practices that were open.

by Sander on Aug 24, 2010 9:33 AM EDT up reply actions  

You mean....

Durring OTA’s….Why would you require tickets to watch OTA’s thats just stupid to me that would start to push people away and alinate the fan base…

Mess With the Best Die like the Rest

by JaxBlaster on Aug 24, 2010 10:10 AM EDT up reply actions  

Rod Wilson

quick thought / comment on Rod Wilson? Looks like he didn’t play much, but… just curious.

Sean

Pax Armis Acquiritur

by cuffs007 on Aug 24, 2010 9:54 AM EDT reply actions  

It is worth noting that we have a pleothera of LB's

who can make an impact on Special Teams.

"I like to believe that my best hits border on felonious assault." ~ Jack Tatum

by MNeilson on Aug 24, 2010 6:33 PM EDT up reply actions  

Do you miss Leftwich or McCown?

frankDUBZ aka Frank Silba

"I'm smacking you with the truth......" - Me

by FRANKdubz on Aug 24, 2010 3:07 PM EDT reply actions  

Not as a potential starter, no

As a back-up, a bit. The primary backup QB right now is Josh Johnson, who isn’t ready to fill in all that well for Freeman. Leftwich or McCown could do better than Johnson.

by Sander on Aug 24, 2010 3:11 PM EDT up reply actions  

Sander and I probably disagree quite a bit.

I think it’s always good to have a veteran option on the bench. However, I think Johnson is about as good as any as a #2. He makes mistakes, but so do all benched quarterbacks (or they would be starting). He has some big play ability both with his feet and arm, but just doesn’t have the right mental capacity (for lack of a better phrase, not demeaning JJ) to be a starting quarterback.

"I like to believe that my best hits border on felonious assault." ~ Jack Tatum

by MNeilson on Aug 24, 2010 6:34 PM EDT up reply actions  

That's true

The fanbase is pretty divided on Josh Johnson. To be fair, I think he has the talent to be really good, but that he doesn’t have the mental composure to do it.

Regardless, neither Leftwich nor McCown is seen as anything more than a decent backup for the Bucs.

by Sander on Aug 24, 2010 8:55 PM EDT up reply actions  

I saw Vince Young in that same light for many seasons....

But I watched him on Monday and he seems to be coming around now.

frankDUBZ aka Frank Silba

"I'm smacking you with the truth......" - Me

by FRANKdubz on Aug 25, 2010 10:29 AM EDT up reply actions  

any update on Cadillac Williams, im pulling for him

And all those who look down on me I'm tearing down your balcony

by Surteal on Aug 25, 2010 5:58 AM EDT reply actions  

He's fine

Played all of last year and enters this year fully healthy. He’s the starting running back.

by Sander on Aug 25, 2010 9:21 AM EDT up reply actions  

good

And all those who look down on me I'm tearing down your balcony

by Surteal on Aug 26, 2010 4:54 PM EDT up reply actions  

There is just no point in playing him in preseason.

"I like to believe that my best hits border on felonious assault." ~ Jack Tatum

by MNeilson on Aug 27, 2010 12:36 PM EDT up reply actions  

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