FanPost

Witty's "OMG Break Out the Bad HTML Code, It's My 2009 Draft Review!" Flashback (with poll)


NOTE: This has been copied/pasted from the old HTML pages I used to create a personal website ages and ages ago. When I started blogging using Blogger and whatnot, I decided to retire that old site... Thinking about how some draft days were painful, I remembered this oldie but goodie from 2009... yes, the Josh Freeman Draft... Everything after this paragraph is from the original review. You'll note I was NOT a huge fan of the idea to draft for QB, and especially not for Freeman in the First Round where his value was clearly more Second Round. This was before his breakout 2010 season where he actually played well... but then again his collapse in 2012-13 could be foreshadowed here. Then again, our options for Franchise QBs from that season were Stafford and Sanchez. /headdesk Enjoy!

This is the full review of each player taken by the Bucs for this year from the college ranks to play at the pro level. Each player's scouting report is summarized, strengths/weaknesses listed, and each pick is rated by 'Fills a Need?' and 'Makes the Team?' Overall review of the team is below the individual draft picks, so please read the whole page. Thanks.

FIRST ROUND
17. Josh Freeman QB KANSAS STATE Review
FILLS A NEED? NO. NOOOOOO. NOOOOOOOOOOO.

What part of WE DIDN'T FREAKING NEED A ROOKIE QB did the Bucs Brains Trust not understand?
We had FOUR QBs on the roster. Griese as wounded but relatively solid journeyman QB. McCown as a benchwarmer we got 3 years ago who had been developing nicely to challenge this year for the starting job. We just signed Byron Leftwich in Free Agency, and while he's no Peyton Manning, he's at least not a Ryan Leaf, and when given a decent O-line protecting him can do a good job. We had Josh Johnson as the newbie drafted last year. THIS WAS A WASTED PICK.
We had team needs for talent at other positions, positions of value. We needed a Defensive Tackle. We needed another Wide Receiver to help balance out WR Bryant. Linebacker wasn't out of the question. QB WAS NOT A NEED.
Every scouting report had Freeman as a developmental type QB, someone who wasn't able to start at the Pro level right away. He was a THIRD SECOND ROUND type of pick, and the Bucs WASTED A FIRST ON HIM. They even traded up and lost a Sixth Round pick to do so.
What this is, and we should have seen the warning signs when Gruden got axed, is the team owners aching to have their very own Franchise QB. Chucky lost his job ostensibly because he never 'developed a starting QB' from the drafts over the years, and now we know the Glazers weren't kidding. 'Cause we couldn't get Stafford or Sanchez this year, and because they didn't want to wait for next year when the QB pool would be five times better.
We are officially in a rebuilding year. Whether or not we challenge the Detroit Lions for WORST SEASON EVER with our own 0-16 effort is up to the coaches now...

MAKES THE TEAM? YES. He's the fricking first rounder, no matter how horrendous this pick looks. Fricking first rounders make the team, otherwise the whole draft is going to look like a bust. Which it already is. (insert weeping noises here)
SECOND ROUND TRADED
Kellen Winslow TE CLEVELAND Review
FILLS A NEED? Tight End has some depth, but Winslow is an immediate starter and upgrades the offense. This is a YES. The Bucs didn't necessarily need a TE, but considering the injury history of Alex Smith and the always-questionable status of an off-field risk like Jerramy Stevens, getting Winslow seriously helps the team in every way.
MAKES THE TEAM? YES. We're gonna need every offensive weapon we can get by the look of things.
THIRD ROUND
81. Roy Miller DT TEXAS Review
FILLS A NEED? The patch we needed for the depth and quality issues we had with the team's D-line. YES

Miller comes to the Bucs as a high quality DT, one of the Top 10 DTs available this year. He fits the mold expected of the incoming regime's ideal of a D-lineman: big, bulky and powerful. Miller also grades well in terms of work habits and coachability. Not an outstanding type of player like a Raji or a Jerry, but someone who can learn quickly and start right away.
This is a better pick than the guy I was projecting (Gill) we could get at this spot.

MAKES THE TEAM? We've got 4 DTs on the roster right now, and only one of any value. This is a huge YES.
FOURTH ROUND
117. Kyle Moore DE USC Review
FILLS A NEED? The whole defensive line had question marks, but for the end spots it was mostly for depth. This works out as a YES. Moore comes in to this draft having a better Senior Bowl workout than his career, but a lot of that had to do with being overshadowed at Southern Cal by other talented guys (a lineup of Cushing, Matthews, and Maualuga can do that to a guy, just ask Maiava).
Like fellow draftee Miller, Moore has excellent work habits and works well with coaches. His on-field skills show good direction toward the ball and decent pass-rush moves. He can lose concentration and get caught out of position, so he needs to work on his adjustment skills.
He can become a pass-rush specialist on plays that call for it, but it may be awhile before he can line up on the far side of Gaines Adams (who needs to improve his own skills anyway).
The pick moved up three spots via a trade with Dallas, the Bucs convinced I guess that someone between 117 to 119 was gonna take him.
MAKES THE TEAM? At this point any defensive player taken has a decent shot of making the lineup. YES.
FIFTH ROUND
155. Xavier Fulton OT ILLINOIS Review
FILLS A NEED? Depth issues are apparently there for the O-line. And you shouldn't sneeze at any O-line pick. YES. When Fulton was drafted, I immediately checked the scouting boards on this guy... And didn't come away entirely impressed with the pick.
First thing I saw was an injury history (one full season he sat out, problems with a shoulder injury this past year). That usually isn't the thing you want to see up front.
More impressive is that he's a competitive footballer, a former D-lineman who switched sides due to that major injury. He's got natural talent and knows how to move his body: his biggest problem is that he's still learning the skills needed to be a great OT.
Currently his best shot making the team is with the ST squad. But you can say that of any guy getting picked on Day Two...
MAKES THE TEAM? Bucs are reasonably set at OT, even with a disgruntled Penn re-signed to a RFA contract. Training and preseason injury concerns always on one's mind. This Depends on if Fulton lives up to some scouts' evals as a Second-Round type pick.
SIXTH ROUND
TRADED NADA NOTHING Review
FILLS A NEED? It could have. But NOOOOOO we had to go waste it on trading up TWO FREAKING SPOTS in the First Round. Traded away to Cleveland. Am still not convinced of the wisdom of that decision.
MAKES THE TEAM? Mutter Grumble mutter
SEVENTH ROUND
217. E.J. Biggers CB Western Michigan Review
FILLS A NEED? Kinda needed depth evaluation with the CB spot, so I'll say YES. Okay, the Bucs do this sometimes, grabbing a guy that has pretty much no biograph to work from to get a sense of the pick's value.
Biggers, from what I'm seeing, is coming in ranked by the scouts at the low end of the market for Corners. He saw time as a punt returner so he'll be of value for Special Teams, but we've got one of the best return guys in the game right now, so I dunno where else he could make his mark for the squad...
MAKES THE TEAM? I said earlier any defensive pick has a good shot of making the team? I take that back. This one's got question marks. Close to being a NO.
229. TRADED NADA NOTHING Review
FILLS A NEED? What need? We coulda gotten the best available cheerleader out there! Bucs coughed this one up to Dallas in order to move up three spots to snag Moore in the Fourth Round. Slightly smarter move than the trade that dumped our Sixth rounder, but still mutter grumble...
MAKES THE TEAM? And now, we get nuthin. Wah.
233. Sammie Stroughter WR Oregon State Review
FILLS A NEED? The WR corps already has a good number of players on the roster. It was more a question of quality, which you don't get this far down the draft. Kinda NO.

I was pining for Taurus Johnson at this point, but some of my fellow draft geeks tried to calm me down with promises of UFA signage, so...
Stroughter is one of those poor guys who slip slide down the draft all the way to the Seventh, when most scouts had him going Third or Fourth. Positives include scrappiness, competitiveness, good route running skills. Bad news is, he's about as short as Jacquez Green (the measuring stick by which all Bucs measure their Smurf WRs). Good value pick, based on the scouting. Now it's a question of coaching up him (and getting him some elevator shoes!).

MAKES THE TEAM? This is actually up in the air. Like I noted, our WRs outside of Bryant are question marks, and a good preseason performance will go a long way. Good ole fashioned MAYBE for this guy.

--

Review of overall draft:

OVERALL GRADE D
NOTES: Written on Day One: At this point I don't care how this draft is turning out. The Bucs wasting a First Round pick on a QB who's questionably not of that value and certainly not what we needed has a way of p-ssing people like me off. Written on Day Two: Okay, I'm in a slightly better mood, but the use of the First Rounder on a QB still p-sses me off. This isn't gonna go away for a good long while... I honestly feel this is one of the weakest drafts the Bucs have ever had, both in terms of decisions made and in the lack of draft picks handy. I haven't felt this out of it since the 2002 draft (where nearly every pick except Philips was a bust, and we had traded away the top two picks to Oakland for Chucky) and the 2004 draft (when the Brains Trust went for WR Clayton instead of RB Jackson, and where our high round picks like Marquis Cooper didn't even survive training camp).
BEST PICKS Originally wrote: Don't care!
Revised opinion: Don't care that much.
Final opinion: Roy Miller, Kyle Moore

Originally wrote: Whole draft is ruined. Screw it.
Final opinion: Miller and Moore can contribute on Day One, with Miller looking good as a starter who can secure the interior line for the next 4-6 years.

WORST PICKS Josh Freeman Originally wrote: We didn't need to draft another QB! WHAT PART OF WE DIDN'T NEED ANOTHER FREAKING QB DID YOU GUYS NOT GET???
Final opinion: Sigh. For those who are complaining that we shouldn't be too harsh on the guy... well, too bad. I seriously worry we're gonna force his development and he's gonna become yet another Franchise QB (see Doug, Steve, Vinny, Trent) burned out by our owners.
Freeman COULD turn out to be a good player. But that's just it: COULD. And at a position like QB, marked as the FUTURE OF THE FRANCHISE, that's NOT the word you ever want to use.
BEST OVERALL MOVES THIS DRAFT Trading for TE Winslow. It was all frakking downhill from there.
WORST OVERALL MOVES THIS DRAFT Drafting a QB when there was no need for one; DRAFTING A QB IN THE FIRST ROUND THAT WASN'T FIRST ROUND VALUE, losing a Sixth Round pick just to move up two measly spots, and oh yeah RUINING THE WHOLE F-CKING DRAFT.

Content provided by a member of Bucs Nation and does not necessarily reflect the view or opinions of Bucs Nation.

In This FanPost

Teams