Por (JDouble) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

I actually think Ruud is the best player on our team and I think it sucks Brooks made the Pro Bowl while Ruud didn’t. He is very good, and maybe with a few more playmakers on defense to help him out he could be one of the elite.

As far as Smith goes, I sure hope so. I’m just not sold off one season, but I sure hope we have our own personal Devin Hester. That would be great!

Anyone ever notice how similar our franchise is to the Bears?

Por (oar) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

DoubleJ, your Bears comparison is interesting and his name is Jerry Angelo.
Angelo’s mantra during his tenure in Chicago has been “reward your own” and he has followed through by taking a proactive approach with the team’s key players and managing the salary cap is a key element to maintaining a team’s continuity and adding talent through free agency, sound familar?

Por (jason jesse) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

I got a big what if for you guys….

What if we traded our first and second round pick to Arizona for Boldin and thier first? If Boldin wants out as bad as he says, they will most likely trade him this time around. So would this be a good deal? They would move from 31st to 19th in the first round and gain a 2nd round pick. We would get Boldin and could still take Freeman with the 31st pick overall. How could Freeman fail with a good Oline and Bryant/Boldin as targets?

Am I completely nutz:P

Por (ref813) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

JDouble, one last try.  Go to NFL.com and look at the stats.  Among the top 5 tacklers, Ruud had the most sacks, = number of fumble recoveries, 1 less int. than the leader, 3 fewer passes defensed, and 1 less forced fumble.  That’s out of the top 5 in the WHOLE NFL.  Please tell me who is elite.  There are basically 3 elite QBs in the NFL out of 32 starters.  Because ILBs in a 3-4 are generally compared to 4-3 MLBs you have at least 38 to 40+ starting ILBs.  Ruud was 4th in tackles.

Por (ref813) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

Jason, that sounds great, but I don’t think they will release him for less than a 1st or a 2nd and at least 1 player.  We need to give something up to get him, unless we can get T.J.  Henderson is the only other decent prospect who will be a F.A.  We need one of those 3.  The more weapons you have, the easier it is to play QB well.
double, one more thing.  That list is of all D players, not just ILBs.  That’s 352 players.  About 100 LBs.  He was 19th last year and 4th this year.  I’m not giving up here.

Por (JDouble) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

I suppose he could be considered one of the elite MLBs in the league, I know I wear a Ruud jersey every Sunday. I just think he needs more of a supporting cast to really shine.

If we get Haynesworth for example, we will be getting alot more pressure which will make our entire defense better. We will also be able to stop the run better with just our front four which would really free up our LB to do more.

Por (ref813) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

The F.A. pool doesn’t look too good.  There’s about one elite player/position.  That means there will probably be at least 10-15 teams competing for each one of them.  If not Asomugha, then Dunta Robinson.  At RB, there are 3 decent options in Jacobs, Ward, and Sproles.  If not Haynesworth, Rocky Bernard might do.  I don’t know a lot about him, but he’s a big guy and plays DT.  Nugent is about the only K.  QB is pathetic.  LB has the most talent.  This may be the year to find a replacement for Brooks, assuming none of the young guys we have can do it.

Por (ref813) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

jdouble, it’s good that you can remain so impartial.  I played MLB when I was younger and I’ve always loved a good LB.  I think Ruud is in the top 3 in the league.  Beason and Willis are the only ones to argue about.  The 3 of them will have years to sort this competition out, but I’d call all of them elite.  I only consider Manning, Brady, and Brees to be elite QBs.  Warner can be, but isn’t always.  Same with some others.  It’s nice to actually debate some football here.  I usually end up reading senseless comments bashing drunken fans, the coach, the GM, or some players for getting in trouble.  This is the NFL we’re talking about people.

Por (JDouble) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

I hear that. I actually subscribed to the PewterReport cause this place is usually full of such ignorance and just plain hateful people. This little back and forth is probably the first friendly conversation I’ve ever had on these boards…..sad. A few bad apples make Buc fans look really bad. :(

Por (oar) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

ref813, I agree with everything you have been commenting on with Ruud and the FA’s(especially at qb, terrible). I just found this last part “or some players for getting in trouble.  This is the NFL we’re talking about people.” to be ironically funny for some reason.

Por (ref813) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

I have been known to mix it up with some of those people.  I guess I do it because I want to talk about football without constant negativity.  I go too far at times, especially when this idiot, wakeboarder, comes in bragging about what a great, sober crowd attended the SB.  This is a football blog.  Why do people need to be racist, anti-drinking, anti-cussing, and generally anti-anything non-Dungyesque?  While we’re at it, did you hate Gruden?  Do you like the new staff?  I’m off for the day, but wouldn’t mind reading some reasonable thoughts on those topics in the morning.

Por (ref813) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

oar, why did you find that ironic?  Was it because of how stupid it is for players who have made it to the NFL to be getting in trouble?  I agree it’s dumb, but no one’s perfect.  Athlete tend to get in trouble at a slightly higher rate than the general public.  I don’t like it, but I’ll base my opinion of a player on what he does on the field.  Harrison may be mean sob who has even had domestic dispute issues, but I’d take that type of player any day.

Por (oar) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

ref813, No I was one of the few(according to most on here) that did not hate Gruden. Didn’t like the bashing he took from some of the players(crybabies) for sure. I do like the new staff to a degree. I hope that Morris will be able to feed off some of the more experienced coords he hired though, cause he was a premature hiring without that experience to me. Well, like they say “time will tell” or at least after draft time and FA period, anyways.

Por (oar) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

ref813, because you were saying this is the NFL(to talk about football I assume), but it is the NFL where players do get into more trouble than the most people.

Por (oar) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

ref813, just realized I’m picking up parts of your conversation with JDouble and replying to them, sorry about that.
JDouble I agree.

Por (tony) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

i dont care what they do as long as the glazers realize we really need 2 keep byrant this guy is the most important 4 us 2 keep then they should focus on the others! also plzzzzz bring in donavan mcnabb

Por (JDouble) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

Yeah, I’m pretty much a Gruden hater. I became a Tampa Bay fan because I like defense and I liked Tony Dungy’s cool hand Luke approach. It demanded a certain amount of respec IMO.

With Gruden I feel we lost that. Noone respecs us now. We don’t really have an identity right now. I think Raheem should have stayed DC and we should have gone with someone else for HC, but that’s not what happened…so I am supportive 100% of the guys we have.

I’m just hoping we get back to running the ball and stopping the run. I’d love to see the passing game go more vertical and put up more points also, but mostly I just want us to be a top 3 Defense and be able to run the ball.

Por (Erik) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

Joey is a great reciever. Let’s just wait to see if this team will be a Gruden hybrid(pass heavy) or Buc ball(run with big pass play ability). This is such nerve racking time. This is a new begining that hopefully will make this team a championship winning caliber team for years to come and not just make a run to the Superbowl in a small window of time. Hey Oar, MitchR and all, LET’S GO BUCS!!!!

Por (tommy) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

ref813 and oar are lovers!!!!!I love how they argue.

Por (:PapaJohn) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

Yes

Por (FreeAgent) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

Let’s face it Dungy had Peyton; Tomlin has Roethlisberger, who knows what we have next year.  You need a franchise quarterback to win these days.  I love Dungy but it took him years to win it all even with a great offense.  Everybody said Gruden took Dungys team to the SuperBowl but (if that was the case) how come Dungy couldn’t win with the same team.  It looks more like the Glazers limited Gruden and Allen to spend money or acquire the players that we needed.  I hope they open up there wallets and help the new staff build the team.  Dang older players are ok as long as they can produce.  WAKE UP!!  Again!! Dungy couldn’t take us to the SuperBowl but Gruden did even if you think it was the same team.  Why couldn’t Dungy do it?

Por (JVand) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

Its a stupid question. Lets talk about the draft.

Por (jason jesse) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

To be real SB contenders, I think we OK, we need to do 4 things…

1. Upgrade the D-line thru the draft or FA. I think if we signed Haynesworth and drafted a lineman in the first we might be able to accomplish this now.

2. Resign Bryant and get another real threat reciever. Boldin would obviously be the best, but even TJ or Reggie Willaims might get us where we need to be.

3. Get a long term QB. I like the idea of trading down to get Josh Freeman in the early 2nd, or possibly trading for Brian Brohm.

4. Draft a stud RB next year. With the short shelf life of RBs in the NFL, I think this should be done last. When your really close but need that extra dimension.

Por (jason jesse) on February 04, 2009 (Suggest removal)

Those four things IMO would put us in contention. There are of course other things like replacing Brooks, and Barber…but we might already have a replacement for Brooks in Quincy Black or Geno Hayes, and we can either sign another CB in FA or draft one this year or next. That’s just my view of things.

Por (Ray Ehnle) on February 05, 2009 (Suggest removal)

All the players that whined about Gruden and failed to take responsibility should be released or traded.  It won’t be long before they blame their new coach.  Not good for the team.  Let them go somewhere else. They have shown what they will do.  Galloway is the one who kept saying he wasn’t ready.  He could run 5 consecutive 40 yd sprints under 5 seconds with a parachute on is ##### but said he wasn/t ready to play.  Let him go.