My Mock Draft: Top 9

Here is my mock draft of the first nine players of the 2010 NFL Draft:

1. Sam Bradford/Rams…. Worst point production in the NFC West.

2. Bruce Campbell/Lions…. NFC North has the best pass rushing DE in the game.

3. Gerald McCoy/Bucs…. Bucs need serious help in the middle.

4. Jimmy Clausen/Redskins…. With Campbell learning another system, a fresh mind is a terrible thing to waste.

5. N. Suh/ Chiefs… Even though the Chiefs need help on offense, they couldn’t pass Suh up.

6. Golden Tate/ Seahawks… With Burleson gone they need a deep stretch of the field.

7. Jacoby Ford/ Browns…. With the addition of Delhomme, the Browns needs to compliment with a WR.

8. Trent Williams/Raiders…. With the running game getting steam, Williams will be a great plus to the horsepower.

9. Terrence Cody/Bills…. AFC East teams are strong in the running game.

FREE AGENT: Terrell Owens

Terrell Owens is a very underrated misused player in the NFL. You might not like his entertainment character, but his play is respected on and off the field. Throughout his career Owens has demonstrated his skills as a WR by making it to six pro bowls and putting up good stats even if the team as a whole didn’t produce. If you look at the teams he was on you notice that on the offensive side there wasn’t a balance of personal that can smooth out the opponent’s defense. In Philadelphia, Owens was the key WR. The problem was that Philly didn’t have a key player in another position to make defenses take pressure off Owens. McNabb was no longer a big threat running the ball. Same goes in Dallas. Dallas’ offensive players at the time Terrell was there weren’t demanding the attention needed to take pressure off Owens. Then his pitstop in Buffalo was no different. Buffalo’s RB were not dependable throughout the season. Buffalo had no other key players to draw attention. Terrell Owens is an example of great talent in a team concept. By himself Owens is just a good player.
With a team like Tampa Bay that has a good running game, a great young TE in Kellen Winslow, and other wide receivers that demand attention, Terrell Owens at 6’3″ would dominate all the DBs in the NFC South when the defense is focusing on Winslow or Cadillac or Graham or even Stovall. Tampa Bay should really take a look at TO to fill the void of Bryant. With a good QB like Freeman that can get him the ball and scramble, TO will put up career stats in Tampa.

Where do you think TO will GO?

Morris Code

Raheem Morris and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shined up their season, from a dull disaster, by beating the New Orleans Saints in week 16 at the Superdome….Carnell Williams rushed for 129 yards and a score, and Connor Barth kicked a 47-yard field goal in overtime, lifting Tampa Bay to a 20-17 upset, and preventing New Orleans from securing home field throughout the NFC playoffs…. The win electrified the city and stirred up confidence in the Buc faithful that Raheem Morris is steering the ship in the right direction…. First by winning a road game in Seattle and then the road game against New Orleans…. It finally looks like the pieces are following in the right place….. The code for coach Morris is a consistant running game with a mixture of play-action pass…. By Raheem Morris taking over as DC, the Bucs have been more aggressive on 3rd downs and have provided great field position for the offense….. So the biggest mistake the Bucs can do is get a new head coach…. Raheem Morris has plugged up all the holes that Jon Gruden caused in the later part of the 2008 season… Getting a rhythm is so vital to a successful winning streak that changing the coach would put the Bucs back in square one…. What the Bucs don’t need is a yeller like Bill Cowher…. Over animated coaches like Cowher and Gruden are a thing of the past…. Calm coaches like Tony Dungy, Lovie Smith, and Jim Caldwell are the exact kind of coaches that players play their hearts out for…. Over aggressive coaches might work in the college ranks( Saban, Petrino, etc) but not in the Pros…. Bill Cowher took years before he won a championship…. Mike Holmgren won a championship early in his career and has yet to win another…. Keeping Raheem Morris in Tampa will build a strong sense of confidence and unity going into the 2010 season…. In this ever changing league, you’re only as good as your last game…. As long as your last game is within the recent time….. Keep Raheem Morris

Dungy’s Dynasties

Anthony Kevin “Tony” Dungy has made his mark in coaching history by creating a team that pulled off a 12 wins season for six years in a row…. Since the day he joined the Indianapolis Colts, he revived that franchise into a winner…. Dungy is known for turning around teams as he did with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers…. Reaching the playoffs with the Bucs in the late 90′s was as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack…. Along came Dungy and burned the haystack, so to say…. He found the right combinations to create a winner…..
With the Indianapolis Colts, Dungy’s challenge wasn’t an easy stroll…. The Colts too were in a struggling phase with spurts of greatness, but didn’t have the right man at the helm to guide them….. After being fired by the Bucs…. Dungy went on a ” ha ha, I told you soo” Run on the Bucs and the NFL with winning 75% of his games for 6 years straight…..Dungy won Superbowl XLI against the Chicago Bears 29-17…There are many great coaches that have been, or is still, coaching in the NFL but no other coach has kept such a degree of consistancy with winning as Tony Dungy…. Even the coaches that were appointed by Dungy to continue after him as guided the Colts right on course… Congradulations to the Colts on going seven seasons with atleast 12 wins….. Here is a look at Tony Dungy’s coaching history….
University of Minnesota (1980)
(defensive backs coach)
Pittsburgh Steelers (1981-1983)
(defensive backs coach)
Pittsburgh Steelers (1984-1988)
(defensive coordinator)
Kansas City Chiefs (1989-1991)
(defensive backs coach)
Minnesota Vikings (1992-1995)
(defensive coordinator)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1996-2001)
(Head coach)
Indianapolis Colts (2002-2008)
(Head coach)

Saints are slipping into Purgatory

The New Orleans Saints squandered a 17-0 lead in the 1st quarter to lose to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-17 in OT….. The collapse of the Saints offense resembles a retreat gone bad…. Coming off their first lost of the year to the Dallas Cowboys, the Saints came out the gate against the Bucs like a triple crown Stallion…. As the Bucs kept punting to the Saints, the Saints showed no proof that they can sustain a long drive….. Sometimes that’s not good for a tired defense…. That’s exactly what happened to the Saints defense… They tired towards the end and looked like Oscar DelaHoya when he fought Felix Trinadad… Exhaustion = destruction…. Great win for Tampa Bay as they win 2 in a row on the road… With a final game at home against Atl…. All I know is if the Saints expect to go far in the playoffs…. They should work on ball control with high productive plays… Allowing a defense to play to the point of exhaustion isn’t a good idea when talent is elevated….

The Breakdown of the Buccaneers

The ’09 Tampa Bay Buccaneers are looking into the eyes of their worst season in almost 25 years…. They have atleast won one game, which saved us from going winless( thanks Packers), so they can’t be as bad as the Lions in modern free agent era…. Still they have to overcome the fact that they are not finishing games….. Tampa Bay comes out explosive and fired up….. But by the time the fourth quarter rolls around…. The teams slowly gets fatigued and the plays aren’t being made….. Since businessmen are making athletic decisions in the organization, Tampa Bay released one of the best LB’s in Derrick Brooks…. Him alone could change the play of Tampa’s LB’s on the roster….. Tampa Bay’s trouble comes from a weak LB corps…. Nothing against the starting LB’s…. It’s just without Brooks…. They become average at best….. Tampa is open to crossing and short routes across the middle…. Which inturn pulls up the strong safety for support and it leaves Tampa open for the deep pass…. There is a reason that they have a defense named after them…. Tampa 2….. With a good player in each level of the defense, an offense has to assure good blocks are created in each level…. If not, the offense will spend 4 qts guessing where the opening is….. Very difficult for inexperience coaches…..

My ’10 prediction is if Tampa drafts a Defensive Tackle and a Linebacker in the first two rounds…. We will see the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back to being the measure of a good defense and a playoff contender.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The 2008 season went astray the last 4 games of the season. Perhaps fatigue or bad coaching could be the reason. So they fired John Gruden and released some good veteran players. In this off season , the Bucs went after some big name players. The biggest signing for the Bucs was Tight-End Kellen Winslow this off-season . With the addition of Winslow, the Bucs now have a blocking TE/ receiver that can attack the middle of the field. Imagine pounding the ball for close to 5 yards a carry and running a play-action. Linebackers are gonna have to respect the run at that point, so a TE pass will kill defenses. In the past, we had decent TEs on our roster but they were not as big as a threat as Winslow. In Cleveland , he complimented Jamal Lewis and the running game to a okay season. Here in Tampa, Winslow will lead the running game with his ability to block and generate a double team once in awhile.  The Bucs are already praised for having the best offensive line in the league lead by Davin Joseph. The only weak link on the OL of the Bucs would have to be Jeremy Trueblood.  The oldest OL is Jeff Faine at 27 years of age.

In this upcoming Draft the Bucs should go for a defensive lineman or linebacker. With a quick secondary like the Bucs have, they need an interior lineman to assist “the last chance” Gaines Adams.  Everyone is yelling that we should draft a QB first then worry about defense. Last time i checked a QB doesn’t make a game changing tackle or a 3rd down deflection. We have a strong cast of QBs with Griese, McNown, and Johnson. If all three are given a fair chance to try and start, hands down it would be Johnson, Griese,and McNown. Griese is a great QB as long as the pressure isn’t on him. Coming in as a back up has shown some of his greatest games he’s ever played. The Tampa offense is intact with good enough talent to score. We all know the saying, “If they don’t score, we can’t lose”