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NFC South
Leadership
Jon Gruden may be on the verge of getting an “Opportunity to Excel” elsewhere. He probably has a year left (because of the high price the Glazers paid to get him in the first place) to get some performance out of this team, but expect him to be on the hot seat in 2007. I can’t figure out why Bruce Allen is still the GM. Isn’t he responsible for this mess?
QB. Chris Simms – minus his spleen. Luke McCown – minus an ACL. Bruce Gradkowski – minus experience. Tim Rattay – minus talent. Rattay was the best of the bunch. Simms just signed a 2 year contract that gives him some bucks but does not guarantee a starting job. Now, they’re adding 300 lb. Bruce Eugene? Oh boy, there’s an improvement. Look for a shootout next camp to decide the starter. And we will still be underwhelmed. There is some talk about going after a FA, e.g. Jake Plummer. Oh boy.
RB. Bye Mike Alstott. Cadillac best get well, or else the Bucs have no running game. He turned 800 yards on a partial season. Michael Pittman has found his niche as change of pace back and kickoff returner, and was quite serviceable when healthy.
WR. Galloway did 1000 yards, but he turns 35 this year. Surprisingly, he’s put together several productive seasons in a row. How long can it last? Clayton had another weak season with 47 grabs for a little over 400 yards. Rookie Maurice Stovall was a non-factor. Ike Hilliard, between training room stops, added another small chunk, but he’s on his way down. Nobody else mattered. The Bucs seem to be gunning for GA Tech WR Calvin Johnson in the draft.
OL. Dan Beunning, Jeb Terry, Sean Mahan, and John Wade were hurt much of the year. Likewise Kenyatta Walker, although it would have been hard to tell if he had been healthy. Rookie Jeremy Trueblood came on a bit during the season. Anthony Davis and rookie Davin Joseph were there. All in all, this was a true disaster zone. The Bucs need some serious work here.
TE. Alex Smith was forgettable, and I already forgot who his backups were. (Becht, Jolley, and Dave Moore). Ya gotta have someone to throw you the ball.
XK. Matt Bryant was deadly inside the the 40, and a 50/50 shot after that. Hell, I could be deadly in chip-shot range. They pay these Professional Kickers to do better than that, or they get Vanderjagted out of there.
XP. Josh Bidwell was quite serviceable. And he got a workout this year, too.
LB. Brooks and Quarles were again in the top 3 in tackles for the team. Brooks also contributed 3 INT’s. Ryan Nece was pretty forgettable, as was Barrett Ruud. But Brooks turns 34 this year, and Quarles turns 75 or 76, I forget which. They can’t play forever.
DB. Jermaine Phillips was 2nd on the team in tackles. Tells you something when your SS is that high. CB Ronde Barber was 4th and FS Will Allen was 5th. Ditto. CB Brian Kelley was resigned, perhaps because his AARP membership wasn’t processed yet. Ronde and Brian are getting quite long in the tooth for people who are supposed to run fast. And if Phillips and Allen keep smashing their heads into oncoming ballcarriers, it’ll stunt their growth.
DE. Greg Spires was forgettable. Simeon Rice is done. Dewayne White looks like Rice’s heir apparent. Excuse my lack of excitement.
DT. Chris Hovan was there. Some other guys were, too. I think. You don’t want any of them, except maybe Hovan if you’re desperate.
Overall
The Bucs are an old, old team. Their OL is weak. Their DL is weak. They were shaky at all QB slots – whether they were healthy or not. The WR corps is weak. The RB’s were hurt, weak, or just mediocre. In short, they got what they deserved.
The Bucs have been handicapped by the king’s ransom they gave to get Gruden as coach. As such, he has been uninspiring. And the ransom has led to some difficulties in bringing in younger players to replace the old ones. The Bucs have also been unable to get production from low draft picks (see: Colston of the Saints), undrafted rookies, or discards (see: Mike Furrey of the Lions, Marc Colombo of the Cowboys). They need to drastically improve in these areas, or we’re looking at more bottom-tier performance from the Bucs in the next few years.
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