At the time it was a risky pick, taking a safety at the no.7 position. In the end, Mark Barron never lived up to the expectations, and after 2.5 seasons and only 3 total interceptions, the Bucs pulled the plug on an
unimpressive career, and the dirty R word (Rebuilding) is now in full effect.
Ive said it before, this years Bucs team is not a finished product, there is little talent on this team, a product of hiring 3 Head Coaches in 3 years, with each coach stripping the players from the prior one which doesn’t fit his system.
Aqib Talib, Mark Barron, Josh Freeman, Brian Price, Kellen Winslow Jr (brought in with trade for 2nd round pick) are a list of top two round picks the Bucs no longer have their services. How many more are coming soon? Doug Martin? Adrian Claiborne, Da’quan Bowers?
Maybe it was a mistake of Bucs administration to say the Bucs will be competitive now, or perhaps they were accurate, the team did TRY to compete right away, their intention was never to put rookies or experimental players on the field.
But there is no hiding it now, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are full on into rebuilding mode, it’s doubtful we will even see Josh McCown again this year even though he is ready to go and more than likely to help win a game than Mike Glennon, who seemed to peak with his first two performances vs Pittsburgh and New Orleans.
The offense had no doubt felt the brunt of the Jeff Tedford heart issue. It won’t be until next season that the offense issue will be addressed, depending on what happens to Tedford’s recovery. It could end up leading into a 5th Offensive Coordinator in the last 6 years. The only way thats NOT a disadvantage is for a new QB to be drafted or signed.
On the defensive side, it’s clear several players are NOT part of the future of this defense. Is Jonathan Banks one of them? Sure he dropped the ball in the final drive that would have finished off the game, but he made that same play vs the Saints where he DID pick the ball off and changed the course against New Orleans. Lets not forget last year linebacker Lavonte David single handedly cost the Bucs the game against the Jets, seems like he came out ahead after that episode. Banks is young and by all respects seems to be capable of playing defense for Lovie Smith.
What about Dashon Goldson? All of his guaranteed money is gone, and perhaps is his value from the time he was signed as an enforcer in the defensive backfield. That job is gone in the NFL anymore with rule changes, and may have had a part is Barron’s departure too.
Mason Foster was drafted to play Mike Linebacker in a Tampa Two defense for Raheem Morris, but this wouldn’t be the first player Morris and former GM Mark Dominick could have been wrong on. Foster scored 2 Touchdowns last year playing the Mike Linebacker, sometimes he has trouble in this defense, and staying on the field. But can he be a Hardy Nickerson or Shelton Quarels? Had Danny Lansanah hit a wall, his play has not progressed since beating out Casillias earlier in the year at the Sam linebacker position.
Interesting point, in the preseason around the Buffalo game, Mark Barron and Jonathan Castillias were benched for disciplinary reasons. Now here they are traded away together..at the same time. Coincidence?
Bucs fans in 2014 are not the same build as those from the 90s when Tony Dungy took over as Bucs. It was normal to think a coach may need a few years to turn a franchise around, where today fans expect instant success, or the game has “passed him by”.
Nothing is wrong with Lovie Smith, if anything he made some mistakes with the turnover on the offensive line. Perhaps Lovie and Jason Licht saw something in Davin Joseph that they felt he wouldn’t be his normal self again. But the wholesale removal of Donald Penn and Jeremy Zuttah didn’t make sense. Heck Ted Larson could be used right now.
Of course hindsight is 20/20 but surely they must have felt that wholesale changes couldn’t be good across the board.
Either way, now the changes are really coming. Bucs fans, don’t expect too much until year three. Even next year will be rebuilding, there is NO depth on this team. That is an understatement, there isn’t even enough players to be competitive with the starting 22, much less 45 or 53.
LATER TODAY:
Its Video Vault Wednesday and tonight you’ll get tons of BUCS/ BROWNS video clips going all the way back to 1980!
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
