Buccaneers On Course To Start Season With New Backfield

With the third preseason game in the books, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers appear to have settled on a completely new running back tandem to start 2011.

The 2010 season started with Cadillac Williams at tailback and Earnest Graham at fullback.  With Cadillac now with the Rams, the tailback job has fallen to 2010 undrafted free agent LeGarrette Blount.  And starting at fullback is the last player selected by the Buccaneers in the 2010 draft, Erik Lorig, a converted tight end.  In fact, Blount and Lorig were both inactive for the first game of 2010.

These are crazy days in Tampa.  With 75% of the roster having less than four years of experience, it just gets weird sometimes.

The writing was on the wall for Cadillac after Blount did not start the first three games of the season yet still managed to gather over 1,000 yards to lead all rookies last season.  Williams, who was also a dependable pass catcher, may have outlasted his value for the Buccaneers opting instead to sign a one-year contract with the Saint Louis Rams.

Lorig, on the other hand, has come out of nowhere to unseat the granddaddy of the Bucs backfield, the venerable Earnest Graham.  Graham will play, and play plenty, this season for Tampa Bay -- I do not doubt this for a moment.  But Lorig, who also spent practice time last season at tight end and defensive end, continues to impress with his 6'4", 275 lb frame (similar to 2011 2nd round pick DE Da'Quan Bowers).  This, in a nutshell, is the tradeoff the Buccaneers are making:  experience for power.

Cadillac Williams (5'11", 217 lbs) vs. LeGarette Blount (6'0", 247 lbs)
Earnest Graham (5'9", 225 lbs) vs. Erik Lorig (6'4", 275 lbs)

That's an increase of 80 pounds of running back, plus additional height at both positions (following a notable offensive trend of the past two years). GM Mark Dominik and Head Coach Raheem Morris have talked at great length about becoming a bigger, more powerful running team.

Apparently, the next step towards that goal has been taken.

Second Draft Just Two Games Away

The Second Draft is one week from Saturday.  It feels like 10 days until Christmas.

Tampa Bay's leadership group of GM Mark Dominik, Scouting Director Dennis Hickey, and Pro Personnel Director Shelton Quarles have given Buccaneers fans a second draft day each of the past two seasons.  When the other teams drop their roster count to 53 men, Dominik leads a feeding frenzy at One Buccaneer place, reeling in players like RB LeGarrette Blout and WR Desmon Briscoe.  Or OG Ted Larson and RB Kregg Lumpkin.  You get the picture.

Apparently nothing gets past One Buc place, or at least no player.  The rest of the NFL has taken notice as well.  The Buccaneers know for every good player which makes a roster, or every veteran who keeps his roster position, another player has to be let go.  

Tampa Bay keeps detailed notes on each NFL player.  Did they target them for the draft?  Was it a player who was graded to have the intangibles as well as the tangibles?  And they will move quickly on September 3rd to sweep up players not only for their practice squad (Ryan Purvis, Briscoe last year) but players for their regular season roster as well (Blount, Lumpkin, and Larson; all last year as well).

Will there be a similar haul this season?  Cetainly there will be talent out there, and Tampa Bay is certainly building a reputation for giving practice squad players playing time.  It was the quality on the practice squad which helped the team get to the end of the season with 10 wins while injuries piled up by the roadside.  Now those players are rising through the depth chart.  Wouldn't you call Tampa if you had a big, fat you-will-regret-cutting-me chip on your shoulder?

So, enjoy the last two preseason games.  And don't forget there is one more Buccaneer holiday before the season begins!

Talib To Meet With Goodell Tuesday

Buccaneers cornerback Aqib Talib will have a meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday.

There is no way this ends well -- you remember those trips to the Principal's office, right?

Unfortunately, Talib and the commissioner are not strangers, a fact that can only play against Talib.  After an altercation with a cab driver (which was settled on a plea), Goodell held Talib out for a game last season.  This past summer, Talib was implicated in gunplay back in Texas.  And while the report of his impending release by the Buccaneers was wrong, General Manager Mark Dominik and Head Coach Raheem Morris have to be getting tired of these visits to New York.  Particularly during preseason, right after a game where the defense was roughed up a bit.  Clearly, Talib has proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that he will not (and can not) be a leader on a defense where personal accountability is so important.  It has to impact his value to the team.

Talib has not been found guilty at this point, and if Goodell has league resources looking into the situation in Texas he must be careful not to tip his hat.  The fear is that, having missed a game last season, Talib may be in for a much bigger smack to the wallet (i.e. longer suspension) this time around.

With an early season schedule packing some serious heat (DET, @MIN, ATL, IND), this no time to be one man down.

Buccaneers Pass on Three Defensive Starters

As the Buccaneers wound up the 2010 season, Tim Crowder was starting at left defensive end and Barret Ruud was the man in the middle of the Tampa2.  Stylez White, who started all but three games last year, was coming off the bench.  In 2011, none of them are with the team as training camp hits full speed.

Each man was a significant contributor last season:

• Ruud started all 16 games in 2010 (as he did in 2009 and 2008) and contributed 85 tackles, 33 assists, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and an interception.
• White started 13 games in 2010 and recorded 28 tackles, 8 assists, and led the team with 4.5 sacks last season.  He also forced two fumbles.
• Crowder started 9 games in his second season with Tampa Bay since getting claimed from the waiver wire early in 2009.  He has appeared in every game since joining the team.  Last season, he recorded 22 tackles, 9 assists, 3 sacks and a forced fumble.

These men were the first, tenth, and thirteenth most productive tacklers last season, making Middle Linebacker and Defensive End (both left and right) positions to watch during the 2011 preseason.

DE White Will Not Return to Buccaneers

In a tweet left less than 60 minutes ago, Stylez G. White confirmed the Buccaneers are no longer interested in his services:

stylezwhite Stylez G. White 

The Bucs go I don't believe they need my services anymore.. So NO not goin to Bucs.. Hope u can still luv me #bucnation :)

1 hour ago Favorite Retweet Reply

We all wish him well!

Buccaneers May Pass On Free Agents . . . Again

It's the biggest difference between Mark Dominik and Bruce Allen.  And it's hard for fans to sit through.

Bruce Allen brought in free agents by the truckload (and continues to do so in Washington).  Mark Dominik treads lightly into free agency.  And fans, addicted to the fast paced fantasy football mindset, are beside themselves waiting for that big name player to drag big game stats into Raymond James.

First and foremost, I overturned the Spend-To-Win Myth a couple years ago.  Please come to grips with it before reading further.

For 2011, I think there are many reasons the Buccaneers may not make a big splash in NFL Free Agency (just like last season), turning their $50+ million cap surplus inward for a select few of their own free agents instead.  My reasons for believing this are named Miller, Freeman, and Blount.  To name just a few.

Tampa Bay currently has 72 (plus or minus the last few hours) players from last season and 16 college free agents under contract -- there is not much more room left in camp for a free agency haul.

But I think staying away from the deep end of the free agent pool has much more to do with next year -- and the next.  In fact, I get the feeling Dominik is planning three years ahead (at least), when some very talented draft classes come out of their rookie contracts.

It starts next offseason when players like Josh Johnson, Geno Hayes, and Aqib Talib are in their fourth season, the typical length of a rookie contract.

In 2013, Dominik's first draft class will be reaching the end of their contracts.  Josh Freeman alone will require a significant paycheck to retain his services, not to mention Roy Miller, EJ Biggers, Sammie Stroughter, Kyle Moore, Micheal Bennett, and Rudy Carpenter.

2014 includes Gerald McCoy, Brian Price, Mike Williams, Arrelious Benn, Cody Grimm, Myron Lewis, and Ted Larson.

Somewhere in there are the undrafted contributors like LeGarrette Blount, Derek Hardman, and Will Barker.

So Dominik should be tight fisted.  He has said all along (and again this week: listen for a minute each at 8:00, 17:30, and 19:40) he believes on drafting, developing, and rewarding the best talent creates the most consistent winners.  And his own drafting success may put him up against the salary cap in the next two years.

Bucs Leadership Ready For ATL

The Buccaneers leadership is geared for a big finish to the week.

Should the players ratify the current version of the Labor Agreement, Buccaneer officials will fly to Atlanta this evening.  The NFL teams will vote to ratify the agreement tomorrow if things stay on track.

One possible scenario could let the Buccaneers start their training camp one week from Friday (July 29th), which was the planned training camp start date from the beginning.  In this scenario, college free agent signings would have to happen as early as possible, perhaps this weekend but most likely on Monday.  With a rookie salary structure in place, getting this year's draft picks to sign the dotted line should require much less debate.  The question then becomes timing around NFL free agents and a chance for teams to dive into that pool.

In any case, it's going to be a very fast, very busy run up to the new season.  Keep your fingers crossed, the next 36 hours are crucial!

Morris Talked With Players? No Big Deal

In the world of sports blogging, there are those who report news and those who report anything.

JoeBucFan is certainly one of the latter.

The latest misstep by Joe-Falcon-Fan is "breaking" the news the Coach Raheem Morris has been in contact with players during the lockout.  But, with a cursory look around the NFL, this can be filed under "Not News".  Just like when he reported that Aqib Talib would be released by the team as soon as possible, but wasn't during the two days the NFL lockout was lifted (Is Joe truly an alter ego of Rick Stroud or Steve Duemig?  One has to wonder with the excess of attention they get from Joe).

And while other Not-As-Awesome-As-Yardbarker sports sites picked up Joe-Saints-Fan's blathering, I'm happy to report the 'Barkers saw it for what it was.

Let me demonstrate:
- 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh has already been scolded by the NFL for talking to QB Alex Smith.
- Back in April, the NFL allowed the Dallas Cowboys to spend an evening together with coaches and staff at a fundraiser
- In May, the Dolphins got together as a team for a fundraiser with full knowledge of the NFL
- Just yesterday, the Kansas City Chiefs spent a day together helping the town of Joplin, Missouri, recover from a devastating tornado earlier this spring.

This has been going on for several months, and has been reported on as a story in and of itself.

If Coach Morris called three of his players, or they called him, it's far less than other teams.  If the NFL comes down on the Buccaneers it would be unfair at this point.  The league is going to have to allow a lot of slack if they want to start enforcing this now.  And they won't.  And everyone knows it.

Except Joe-Panther-Fan.

So Joe should think that Joe is not doing Joe any favors by making up news.

Does he hold a grudge against the team?  It is starting to look that way.