During the draft the Buccaneers addressed essentially their entire defense, not by adding 11 new players, but by finding players who will fit into their schemes more effectively than last year. Carlton Davis, who is 6’1 and 205 lbs. was one of those choices in the second round, and with his bigger frame he changes what our team has looked for previously in our corners.
See Davis comes out of Auburn, an SEC school who faced plenty of hard nosed college competition. If you watch his tape you will notice at times he may play too loosely with his hands as he covers receivers down the field and to some that was a major knock on his potential at the next level. Ill be honest, if you pull up some clips you will see it if you look for it, but to be honest, being dropped down boards for that is a mistake on the other team’s part. Sure its a gamble to say right now, but I’ll say it’s being a bit too nit picky for me.
During a game you can call a holding almost every play. The same goes for the wide receiver/secondary battles on the outside. Regardless if its the offense or the defense that’s guilty, it happens after being 5 yards down the field all the time. With that being said I am not that worried about it. We will soon learn what exactly is a catch, and with the new rules regarding head hits and lowering of the helmet, I don’t see this being a major concern. Sure if it develops into a habit in which its something the defender relies on then it may need to be addressed. At that point, let’s hope Mike Smith gets himself a perfectly brewed coffee in the morning because I will say, with what looked like a lack of instruction, criticism or concern, Vernon was on a long leash and did not seem to adjust well last year. I won’t get involved in that too much, it’s the coaches who need to correct players and I don’t know exactly how that was handled last year or how long it went on before it was addressed, but if there is a problem it needs to be talked about, understood, discussed and remedied.
So as we move on to the next phase of the off season, let’s show not only our drafted rookies, but all rookies the same support and excitement we have for this upcoming season. I think Carlton will adapt well to the NFL, I think the selection was a great one as our division has some of the best large bodied receivers in the game today with Julio Jones and Michael Thomas. If we want to make it to the playoffs you must draft to win your division and we did that. Let’s show this team some optimism, some encouragement and some faith that they are the best team in the division and only a few weeks away from the start of proving it.
