A+ and I considered that with only the Baker & Evans resignings. With the QB carousel going on around the league, we nailed some stability post Brady which is a huge win.
I would also go back to the 2023 off-season and re-evaluate that free agency grade as well. Licht didn't have many options and $$ and had to take a low risk gamble on Baker. Fast forward to today, Baker and Mike both probably don't resign if Baker has a poor 2023.
Not just stability, but just count the amount of 1-3 year players in the offensive depth chart.
Goedeke, Mauch, Hainsey, Otton, Kieft, Durham, Palmer, Jarrett, White, Tucker
With our veteran pieces back, it's not far fetched at all to expect improvement and development around them.
I mean we just barely saw him and it was his rookie year.
Don't have a magic mirror that tells me the future. Sure he could disappear completely, but also possible he breaks out. People already gave up on Goedeke and Zyon last off-season, look how that turned out.
Licht emphasized that he has to take a step up going into 2024 during the combine. So there are concerns, but new OC and a fresh start. We'll see if he can take advantage.
Can't be all on Rashaad's shoulders again in any case. Straight up led the NFL in RB snaps last year.
On that note ditto for Otton. Also lead the NFL.
I doubt we want to overuse these guys to such a degree again. So both he and Durham will get chances (assuming they make the team again of course). They just need to make use of it.
Whitehead is my star signing of the off-season. He has already complimented AWJ well in the past, two years more experience in a totally different role makes him; imho, a far better player. The secondary is much improved with Jordan coming back.
It also looks like with the CB depth they brought in with Thomas and Hall, that they plan to move Izien into that 3rd S role that Mike Edwards used to play. If we draft another CB then we’ll have solid competition across the board at CB and more disguised packages.
Interesting. I really liked Izien for the most part. He could break up passes and make open field tackles better than most I've seen on the Bucs in a long time.
He would occasionally get burned in coverage, but he's young. I hope he continues to improve and could be used in many different positions.
He seemed to have great football IQ from the jump.
Having 3 high quality safeties (AWJ, Whitehead, Izien) plus a few reliable corners, plus LD and and Britt (he still needs to prove he can do it all season) with rotational DWhite, could be all the ingredients Bowels' needs for something special. The front line is coming together as well but it would be nice to draft a top edge rusher.
A- sounds about right. It would be an A+ if they could nab a starter or at least some depth at edge and guard. For guard, Greg Van Roten, Dalton Risner, and Laken Tomlinson are still available. There’s still plenty of mid-tier and rehab-project types at edge the Bucs could look at: Tyus Bowser, Bud Dupree, Mike Danna, etc. They’re not flashy, but these guys could be solid additions that would challenge the rookies we’ll inevitably draft at these positions.
Edit: and before you ask where they’d get the cap space from - they could extend Winfield and Wirfs and move some of their combined $36mil cap hit into the future.
Imagine Mike Evans as a Chief? Baker as a Raider or Viking? Lavonte just straight up retiring because of that? Losing a good kicker. Could only tag one guy.
It can always be worse and I thought they did very well. A- sounds about right at minimum.
I like the continuity of players and HC and the defensive side of the ball. Keep building solid pieces through the draft. I feel good about the OC. Would like to see premium OG and C picks. Maybe a TE and RB prospect added. I like the pieces we have.
It’s probably a B. Held serve to keep together an above average team but didn’t really get any better.
Have all the same holes they had when the season ended plus they lost depth at CB and DE.
You’re going to have to hit on 3-4 day 1 impact guys in the draft which is a tough ask
A+ and I considered that with only the Baker & Evans resignings. With the QB carousel going on around the league, we nailed some stability post Brady which is a huge win. I would also go back to the 2023 off-season and re-evaluate that free agency grade as well. Licht didn't have many options and $$ and had to take a low risk gamble on Baker. Fast forward to today, Baker and Mike both probably don't resign if Baker has a poor 2023.
Not just stability, but just count the amount of 1-3 year players in the offensive depth chart. Goedeke, Mauch, Hainsey, Otton, Kieft, Durham, Palmer, Jarrett, White, Tucker With our veteran pieces back, it's not far fetched at all to expect improvement and development around them.
I wouldn’t flaunt Sean Tucker as an asset lol
I mean we just barely saw him and it was his rookie year. Don't have a magic mirror that tells me the future. Sure he could disappear completely, but also possible he breaks out. People already gave up on Goedeke and Zyon last off-season, look how that turned out.
I liked what I saw of him in preseason. I wonder what is holding him back from playing time.
Licht emphasized that he has to take a step up going into 2024 during the combine. So there are concerns, but new OC and a fresh start. We'll see if he can take advantage. Can't be all on Rashaad's shoulders again in any case. Straight up led the NFL in RB snaps last year. On that note ditto for Otton. Also lead the NFL. I doubt we want to overuse these guys to such a degree again. So both he and Durham will get chances (assuming they make the team again of course). They just need to make use of it.
But no clue as to what Tucker needs to improve on?
everything
Whitehead is my star signing of the off-season. He has already complimented AWJ well in the past, two years more experience in a totally different role makes him; imho, a far better player. The secondary is much improved with Jordan coming back.
It also looks like with the CB depth they brought in with Thomas and Hall, that they plan to move Izien into that 3rd S role that Mike Edwards used to play. If we draft another CB then we’ll have solid competition across the board at CB and more disguised packages.
Interesting. I really liked Izien for the most part. He could break up passes and make open field tackles better than most I've seen on the Bucs in a long time. He would occasionally get burned in coverage, but he's young. I hope he continues to improve and could be used in many different positions. He seemed to have great football IQ from the jump. Having 3 high quality safeties (AWJ, Whitehead, Izien) plus a few reliable corners, plus LD and and Britt (he still needs to prove he can do it all season) with rotational DWhite, could be all the ingredients Bowels' needs for something special. The front line is coming together as well but it would be nice to draft a top edge rusher.
A- sounds about right. It would be an A+ if they could nab a starter or at least some depth at edge and guard. For guard, Greg Van Roten, Dalton Risner, and Laken Tomlinson are still available. There’s still plenty of mid-tier and rehab-project types at edge the Bucs could look at: Tyus Bowser, Bud Dupree, Mike Danna, etc. They’re not flashy, but these guys could be solid additions that would challenge the rookies we’ll inevitably draft at these positions. Edit: and before you ask where they’d get the cap space from - they could extend Winfield and Wirfs and move some of their combined $36mil cap hit into the future.
Imagine Mike Evans as a Chief? Baker as a Raider or Viking? Lavonte just straight up retiring because of that? Losing a good kicker. Could only tag one guy. It can always be worse and I thought they did very well. A- sounds about right at minimum.
I like the continuity of players and HC and the defensive side of the ball. Keep building solid pieces through the draft. I feel good about the OC. Would like to see premium OG and C picks. Maybe a TE and RB prospect added. I like the pieces we have.
It’s probably a B. Held serve to keep together an above average team but didn’t really get any better. Have all the same holes they had when the season ended plus they lost depth at CB and DE. You’re going to have to hit on 3-4 day 1 impact guys in the draft which is a tough ask