Haye, What?

It’s an annual egg hunt amongst all sports fans, the enchantment of a ‘sleeper’ player. Front offices across the spread had better damn well get their first round picks correct, that’s a requirement, not an expectation, it’s what personnel directors do in the second day and after the draft and free agency is in the process of roster fillers when they earn their praise and paycheck.

Since taking over as Buccaneers’ general manager Bruce Allen has made a name of himself for finding sleeper players, most notably the ever underrated Chris Hovan. It’s a given that every off-season Bucs’ fans will make a comment that equates a current project, Ryan Sims for example, as a ‘Hovan’ like signing. Frankly these signings are overrated, Sims, like Hovan, like Phillip Buchanon, was a first round pick. Players chosen in the first round have tools that stick out, whether the coaching staff can groom those tools, and if the players can mentally adapt to modern day gladiator like abuse is the difference between a bust and a boom.

Shelton Quarles is the textbook example of what great personnel groupings do; find a player who fits your system and fits it well. Quarles was signed after being cut by the Miami Dolphins and spending some time up north in the Canadian Football League, he’d hang around on the Buccaneers until Nate Webster bolted in free agency and the team retooled with Q at mike. He played the spot well alongside Derrick Brooks and numerous strong side linebackers that would come into the system.

In 2005 the Bucs would take a young middle linebacker from Nebraska, Barrett Ruud, NFL genealogy in tact. Quarles would hold the youngster off until 2006 when he’d go down with an assortment of injuries, the rest we know, Quarles has been relieved of his playing duties, and Ruud is the starter at MLB, but that’s not the point here: the Bucs took a chance on a kid from Vanderbilt and he worked out magnificently for nearly a decade.

The pre-season is less than 14 days from starting, reading the training camp reports and coming across the first time under tackle gave me great enthusiasm: Jovan Haye. An undrafted kid from Vanderbilt previously released by the Carolina Panthers Haye took in nine games for the Bucs last season, 11 tackles and six assists later he became a blip on the radar for some Bucs fans looking towards next season.

Born in Jamiaca Haye’s family moved to the United States when he was six, he didn’t play football until his junior year in high school and even then he was an offensive guard for his two years, as well as a shot putter and a basketball player. Haye isn’t your run of the mill ‘jock’, unlike some Buccaneer players who I won’t name, getting into Vanderbilt is quite an accomplishment, as is a 4.5 GPA in high school.

He’d head to Vanderbilt, switch to defensive end, and after redshirting a season would start 11 of 12 games the next year. What he did in college statistically isn’t important in the least, he showed the ability to play against better competition, and he brought his best every week. Scouting reports noted he was a ‘relentless pass rusher’ with a ‘great burst’ but was ‘moody’ and ‘handled adversity differently’, seemingly not a good mix for the world of drill commander defensive coordinators and defensive line coaches.

Jethro Franklin was hardly that, and perhaps that’s one of the reasons Haye excelled, but I’m willing to bet it had more to do with Haye’s determination and drive, and I’m also willing to bet Larry Coyer is a better coach. People warn that small sample size will be the downfall of Haye, but I’d point to Dewayne White’s half season sample last season, and notably when he gave all-ever left tackle Walter Jones fits for 60 minutes, and then took his ball and headed to Detroit for more money than his performance demanded.

Haye has the body of an end, the speed to boot (4.7 in the 40, faster in-game) he’s also got the body of work that shows he’s no enemy of changing for his team’s own good, that shows maturity, he’s coachable and has talent, otherwise an offensive guard turned defensive end wouldn’t have succeed so quickly, now he’s back to step one, only on the opposite side.

He knows exactly how to block a defensive tackle from getting to his quarterback; Haye is a smart man, don’t be surprised when he uses that knowledge to make opposing passers’ days hell come the season, and don’t be surprised when he becomes the next ‘from nowhere’ story, collectively placing a stamp on Bruce Allen’s résumé, filed under ‘sleeper finder’.

Mr. Who

Matt Lehr - OG / C

You were expecting Cato June or B.J. Askew I'm sure, but instead I went with Lehr, who as suspected isn't being thought much of. What he brings is experience, versatility, and the juice.
He would've also brought insight into the Falcons playbook, but as we know Jim Mora Jr. is no longer the coach, however this will give the Bucs some insight into the Seahawks' defensive backs coach and his gameplan for his secondary, this of course probably won't be too much of a help considering the Bucs have seen plenty of Mora's work, and it's not too pretty.

The Runners Up

Number Two: Jerramy Stevens - Tight End

Yes the drinker, party animal, condom using Stevens is only third on the list; personally I feel he's going to make a bigger impact then expected. Sure he's gotten grief for his Super Bowl drops, but Joey Galloway lead the team in drops last season, I don't see anyone shipping the Rocket out of town. Stevens comes from a high power offense and just has the look of a TE who can burn the seam.




Number Three: Ryan Sims - Defensive Tackle

A former top five pick, some actually thought Sims was the more talented UNC lineman, his teammate? Julius Peppers. He never had that 'Batman' to go with his 'Robin' in Kansas City, in Tampa he'll have Simeon Rice, Gaines Adams, and Chris Hovan amongst others, four first rounders on one line, where have we heard of that before?

Number Four

Sammy Davis Jr. - Cornerback - Texas A&M

Another rejuvenation project for Monte Kiffin and crew, the past few years hadn't been stocked full of first round defensive picks, but we're making it up to him by signing former first round 'busts', it worked for Phillip Buchanon, and hopefully another player on this list, but let's address Davis.

Drafted by the Chargers he was traded to the 49ers for another first round bust from that 2004 draft, Rashuan Woods, in his rookie year he grabbed two of his three career interceptions, and was often the target of opposing offenses.

The talent is there, but mentally he's always been unable to adjust, hopefully with two of the best defensive coaches around Sammy Davis Jr. can fit into the Bucs rhythm and give opposing QBs the blues.

The Five Guys You Forgot About

We all know about Jeff Garcia's addition, it's been beaten to death, but this series presents five additions that likely slipped your mind, but could play a role in the Bucs' season.

Number Five: Patrick Chukwurah - Swingman

Donning the 5-0 this year will be linebacker / defensive end Chukwurah. Without Juran Bolden's patented dark visor and long dreads it appears Chukwurah will take the 'Predator' nickname to a whole new level as offenses won't be sure in the huddle which position Chuk will line up at.

A threat to the quarterback the Wyoming alumni recorded 4.5 sacks last season playing with new Bucs defensive line and assistant head coach Larry Coyer. Somehow Chukwurah has gotten lost in the projected depth chart mania, but his versatility and familiarity will likely land him a spot on the roster and in the weekly game plan.








Player Four tomorrow.

Casting a Shadow by Portraying a Light?

Tony Dungy: football coach, Christian, charitable man, and now…author. Dungy’s book, released today, gives a glimpse into his final season with the Buccaneers, but I must beg the question; does it cast the Glazer family as villains rather than concerned business men?

In the book he talks about how in his tenure the owners had flown with the team every game until that final Philadelphia playoff game, and how he was reassured before the season started that winning the Super Bowl wouldn’t be the only way to save his job, and finally how it was a “30 second meeting in which he was told he was fired.” Dungy is a respected man, who earned his accolades, but by painting the picture that the Glazers lied to Tony, isn’t that something Tony doesn’t stand for?

I’m hopeful Dungy points out that the Glazers were dealing with their product and had to do what they felt was best; I’m sure it was nothing personal, and again I’m sure Dungy wouldn’t make the owners come off as the second coming of Michael Myers, but I guess we’ll just have to see.

Another interesting note from his book:

Dungy wrote that in his first draft with the Bucs in 1996, the Bucs were focused on landing Texas A&M running back Leeland McElroy. They thought they had made a deal to move up with the Jets.

But the Jets took another player and the Bucs watched McElroy go to the Cardinals.

"We were disappointed and frustrated, but we had only two picks in which to gather ourselves and decide whom we wanted next," Dungy wrote. "We had been so focused on McElroy, that we needed time to turn our attention to others - time we didn't have. Even though we needed a great, game-changing back, we decided our best option was to make do with the next player on our board - a battering-ram, short-yardage running back."

Mike Alstott.

"Of course, after the pick, we knew we would have to meet with the media and say how thrilled we were to have Mike. But as we gave our separate interviews, I know we were all extremely disappointed at how close we had been to getting McElroy. Years later, we came out looking like geniuses for having picked Alstott.

"He went on to become the second-leading rusher in Buccaneers history and to score almost twice as many touchdowns as any other player in the history of the franchise. I'm a firm believer that the Lord sometimes has to short-circuit even our best plans for our benefit."

Rich McKay at works folk...smoke and mirrors I say.

Opener From Hell

Come September 9^th, the Buccaneers will take Qwest Field’s…uh….playing surface to oppose the hosting Seattle Seahawks. Qwest has created possibly the best homefield advantage possible, and for these reasons victory is unreachable. Simply put; the Bucs will start their ‘reloaded’ season 0-1.

Since 2002 Qwest has proven to be a hostile environment in every sense of the word, the metal bleachers instilled in the north end zone are constantly heard from fans stomping on them. Many a offensive line penalty has been called against the opposing team thanks to a crowd that has reached decibel readings of 137.

In theory, and usually in practice, any NFL game is winnable, and this is the same, although the odds are highly stacked against the Bucs, and to achieve victory will require an early pounce, turnover, score, something, anything to get the crowd out of the game

The Bucs’ offensive line will likely boast four players making their first trip to the stadium, one rookie, one learning a new position, the key position, and one, who while the best on the line, his last trip to the stadium turned it into a house of horrors. Most fans will tell you games are won and lost in the trenches, so how is it that the Bucs will even stand a chance if their offensive line will be torn to pieces from the noise, not even to mention the defense, nor offense that features Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasselbeck

Dan Buenning at center will have to master the silent count technique, Davin Joseph and Jeremy Trueblood will officially be baptized by the flames of what a true home team atmosphere is, Arron Sears will have to rely on his days playing in the rigid SEC environments, and Luke Petitgout will just have to forget his last trip to Seattle, not just a place of Microsoft and Starbucks, but also potentially the home of scarred Bucs.

It’s fitting that the expansion siblings meet on opening day, one fresh off their fourth straight playoff appearance with a coach who’s future is unknown, the other trying to get back to the playoffs if only as a wild card entrée, with a coach under fire from the media and fans, both coaches united through their Green Bay pasts.

Joey Galloway and Jerramy Stevens used to be Seahawks, Chuck Darby, Austin King, Marquise Cooper, Will Heller were Buccaneers, in the recent past the teams fought over free agents like Tom Ashworth and Seneca Wallace, but come that day in September all the ties won’t mean a thing if the Bucs can’t find a way to block the sound.

Talking Bird

Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, Junior Seau, even our own Warren Sapp all were forced to finish their careers elsewhere than the team we identify them with due to salary cap restrictions. In the NBA they have the Larry Bird Expection, when combined with a ‘soft’ cap that allows teams to first and foremost re-sign their own free agents who have been mainstays with the team.

Now perhaps you’re questioning why I’m comparing anything the NBA does to the NFL, well I’m an Orlando Magic fan, so of course I’ve been following the last half week of contract talks between Rashard Lewis, and more importantly to this piece Darko Milicic. I won’t get into the whole situation, but it’s made me think the NFL needs to take a similar step in allowing franchise players, not in the new contractual sense of the word, to stay franchise players.

I’m not proposing the NFL go to a similar ‘soft’ cap situation like the NBA has in place, where teams can go over the cap and just pay a luxury tax, that’s somewhat ridiciolous when you consider how wide open NFL free agency is, and then note that only three teams in the NBA have ‘cap space’ while everyone else has five million of ‘mid level exceptions’ to work with. Rather when a player has played five or more seasons with one team, the franchise can ordinate him with some role only used once for the longevity of his contract, and have half of his cap value erased, although not from the pockets of the player, but rather from the tally.

This provision allows teams to keep the John Lynches and Warren Sappes of the world, but it also doesn’t completely hinder the salary cap a moot point when keeping veterans. The key is keeping the salary cap in place, but also not restricting hometown heroes from staying. Of course you may ask what if a team doesn’t have the room to re-sign their player for half his costs, in this case you could work out where they’d be allowed to go over the cap on his contract only, but be penalized off-season workouts, draft picks, or future compensatory losses, of course that doesn’t sound like much, but it’s unlikely that teams will run over the cap unless it’s poor planning, and as always if teams were smart they would backload a deal where the first year or two of a five year contract would be miniscule even without being cut in half, near minimum when done, there’s some backlash to that of course, but we really don’t need to go in depth.

Not The News I Want To Receive

The statistical breakdown of the Buccaneers offense continues, and I'm going to look at a certain position which will also be vital for Garcia, that being wide receiver. People look at the players on paper, and there's not too much to dislike. Two wily veterans in Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard, and two young stalwarts in Michael Clayton and Maurice Stovall. But when it comes to performance on the field... not so much. But how exactly do they match up with the rest of the NFL? Well, using the DPAR system, we're about to find out.

We'll start with the best of the best, and coming in at #1 with a DPAR of 46.0 is Reggie Wayne of the Indianapolis Colts. His teammate, Marvin Harrison, is not far behind at #2 with 44.3. Surprised? Don't be. While these are two skilled football players, a big part of their performance is the play of Peyton Manning. Obviously, the play of the QB affects the entire offense, most of the all the WR. This will all make sense when you see that Tampa Bay's top WR, in terms of DPAR, is #59. Mr. Joey Galloway, with 5.7. If you're disappointed, wait until you hear that the next best WR wasn't even a starter! Ike Hillard is ranked 70th with -0.4, and Mike Clayton isn't too far behind at 77th with -3.8. Stovall, on the other hand, was in a different group, specifically the group which only had 10-49 passes thrown to them. He came in with a DPAR of 1.7, doing better than Hilliard and Clayton, albiet with fewer oppertunities.

One other criticism of the Bucs' pass-catchers last season was that they don't go "all out" to catch passes, namely Galloway. The Catch %, which represents the percentage of passes to this receiver completed, might tell the story. Keep in mind that this is a reference to incomplete passes, not dropped passes. #84 had a Catch percentage of 44%, wheras Mr. Clutch Ike Hilliard registered a respectable 62%. Even Stovall and Clayton had decent percentages, 54% and 51% respectively. The reasons for this vary. One possible explaination might be that Bruce Gradkowski's inaccuracy, specifically on deep throws. I can remember numerous times where Galloway ran deep down the field only to see the ball intended for him land 10 yards behind him. This certainly could've contributed to the poor catch percentage.

Compare these with the receivers Garcia had in Philly last season. Reggie Brown had decent totals, with a DPAR of 18.6 and caught 51% of the balls thrown his way. Dante Stallworth did his fair share too, with numbers of 12.3 and 49% for each category. In limit opportunities, Greg Lewis registered a DPAR of 8.4 and a catch percentage of 65%. Essentially the 3rd option in Philly last year, he outplayed Galloway if you go by these numbers. Hank Baskett, an undrafted FA no less, had totals of 7.3 and 51%. As you can see, Garcia had plenty of talent around him, which is the biggest knock on him: He needs a good team around him to win, although that can be said of all QB's.

Other notables (DPAR, Catch Percentage):
Terrell Owens: 27.4, 56%
Chad Johnson: 31.4, 57%
Larry Fitzgerald: 27.6, 62%
Chris Chambers: -19.8, 39%

Opposing Defenses: Beware of the Pitt, Otherwise Non-Threatening

As we continue our look at the Bucs’ offense and see really just how effective Jeff Garcia could be for the team, the running back position might be the most vital. A ground game can open the door for the passing game, and can also wear down defensives, but more so than not the backs in the system must be able to be a double threat to run and catch, something incumbent starter Carnell Williams has had struggles with, so do the Bucs match up?

We’ll begin with the 2000 49ers, of course, this team was lead by former Buc and Raider Charlie Garner, who would rush for 1,142 yards, second best in his career only to the 1999 total of 1,229 yards, as well as fullback Fred Beasley. The two would combine for a DPAR rushing of 14.2, with Garner accounting for 13.4 of it, and a DPAR receiving of -11, Beasley takes that blunt with a -10.9 reading.

In 2001 the Niners would see a larger stable of backs; Garrison Hearts, Kevan Barlow, Terry Jackson, and Beasley would combine for more than 1,800 ground yards in replacing the free agent departure of Garner. Hearst would achieve a 34 DPAR rushing and a 3.2 receiving, Barlow an 11.8 and 8.4, Jackson a 7 and 5.6, and Beasley a 1.1 and a -4.5. The trio of Hearst, Barlow, and Beasly would become mainstays in the Niners’ offense and would account for 37 DPAR rushing in 2002, and -2.3 DPAR receiving, setting up the stage for 2003, Garcia’s final season by the Bay.

The running backs wouldn’t disappoint, Hearst had another fine year with 16.7/-4.4 , Barlow 18.4/-4.6, NFL Europe’s leading rusher Jamal Robertson even got in on the action with a 0.8 rushing DPAR, but didn’t register enough catches to qualify; Beasley meanwhile was the opposite, only qualifying for receiving, and only at a 0.6 rate.

As previously mentioned, the common statement concerned Jeff Garcia’s career is that he needs great supporting casts to be successful, and although that could be said about almost any quarterback, at least to the point of needing a competent helping hand, it seems to be magnified when you consider Garcia’s age. I’m not sure why, it’s not like people look at the older Brett Favre and say things of the such? Well no, and Garcia isn’t Favre, he’s not a Hall of Famer, and I doubt he whines if he doesn’t get a player or two, but I digress.

2004 and 2005 were the years Garcia bar hopped from San Francisco to Cleveland to Detroit, and there should be no surprise that both of these team’s units at running back were horrible. Lee Suggs and Willie Green, 1.8/-0.7 and -1.6 worth of fun combined with fullback Terrell Smith’s -1.7 catching DPAR; yes folks, they had a combined net in the negative, but this is Cleveland we’re talking about, did you expect Garcia to walk with Jesus?

The Lions were much better, although not as good as previously encountered; Artose Pinner stunningly had a combined DPAR of nine, 4.6/4.4, Shawn Bryson also contributed, at least running the ball with a 5.5/-0.8 split, and rookie Kevin Jones was actual detrimental to his team’s passing game, -3.5.

That team wasn’t very good either, the 2006 Eagles however were one step from the NFC title game before being bounced by the New Orleans Saints. Everyone knows about Brian Westbrook and his stunning 34/12.7 split, but even Correll Buckhalter contributed a total of 13 points, 7.4 of them receiving, Ryan Moats had 1.1 running; in other words the stable had a stud and some very nice ponies for Garcia to take advantage of, but how much better were they then the Bucs? Well…

Carnell Williams had a disappointing year and it shows, -2.5/-0.9, but fear not, for not everything from the stable will proceed to vomiting, Michael Pittman was really, really good; 4.2/5.8, to give you an idea of how good that receiving DPAR is, Reggie Bush had a 5.9, and in fact Reggie only had a rushing DPAR of 5.7, albeit in more carries. Pittman was truly a diamond in the rough last season, and in my eyes has solidified himself as a legitimate number two back. Oh and of course there’s fullback Mike Alstott who had a 0.4 rushing DPAR…and a -7.3 receiving, which was second worst in the league for running backs only ahead of Mack Strong also his -6.9 DPAR net is the second worst for any running back Garcia has ever worked with, hopefully like Fred Beasley in 2001 he’ll bounce back from a horrendous -10 and improve by 5.6 points, although I wouldn’t count on a man of Alstott’s age and wear to have such a large gain, not with newcomer B.J. Askew who posted only a -0.2 DPAR receiving.

My advice to Gruden and company? When you’re looking at those big of splits, do everything you can to make sure at least one of Pittman or Askew are on the field in passing situations, otherwise you may want to keep two extra blockers back, it’s not as if Cadillac or Alstott have shown they could catch and produce last season.