Bucs Sign Frank Okam

[Ft Myers Buc Fan]

First Al Woods, now Okam...very interesting.  It seems like out defense is getting ready to evolve

[bucs63]

They might want to see if he can be the nose tackle when this hybrid defense is in a 3 man front, which seems to be pretty often.  He's only on the practice squad, so he could be gone as soon as they see someone else they'd like to check out. Nothing to get too excited about.

[BucNY]

This is true it could be nothing, it could be for a 3-4 look or it could be that our FO realizes that we need to be able to stop the run to win a playoff game. Either way you wouldn't find many buc fans that say we don't need a serious run stopper in the middle. 1st and 2nd and short would be nice to have a 350lbs monster inside to clog up a few lanes. I hope this guy can learn the defense in the next couple weeks and then we'll see what he's got going for him. I'd love to see a huge Pat Williams type with a big ole belly standing in the middle of the bucs defense.

[Bucsfan x]

Lmao wow, this guy is a monster.

[1sparkybuc]

You gotta' love it. The Bucs never stop trying to fix things.

[John Galt?]

Who was that guy that Gruden picked up one off-season who was approaching 400lbs? I think he was Samoan and might have played college at Nebraska.

Toniu Fonoti. His pass protection was HORRIBLE! His run blocking was one of the best though. Cut because he kept on getting pancaked during pass protecting.

Yeah, that's the guy. He started out with the Chargers and the Bucs picked him up in 2006 after he was cut by the Vikings. When he left the Vikings, he was tipping the scales at 400lbs. He does hold the following school records at Nebraska though....


    * Nebraska school record with 32 Pancakes vs. Texas Tech, 2001
    * Nebraska school record with 201 Pancakes in 2001
    * Nebraska career record with 379 Pancakes

yeah, but those weren't pancake blocks, those records were for actual pancakes eaten-with syrup!!!

[NavyBuc19]

Frank Okam is a big highlight name that had success in college at first then did nothing to solidify a high draft pick. He has the size and ability but no effort or determination.

Given who are atrocious and god awful DL coach is, I think we can say to the very least that this guy will not be doing much here.

Plus why get Okam? We already have Al Woods who has looked very impressive in his short appearances. The DT position is getting stockpiled while the DEs are being ignored.... I smell a change to the 3-4 or 3-3-5 coming.

[NavyBuc19]

He is however, a big giant with a heart of gold and a very smart man.

When Okam was thirteen years old, he reportedly saved four people from drowning while on vacation in Miami. In a local interview about the incident Frank was quoted as saying "I just put em on my back and got to paddling, they was in rough shape." Okam was later given the key to the city. As a senior at Lake Highlands, Okam achieved a 345 lb. bench max, 500 lb. squat max, 29 inch vertical, and an impressive 4.9 40-yard dash for a man of his size. He weighed in at 300 pounds on a 6'3" frame.

[CyberDilemma]

Since when has this much attention EVER been given to practice squad players on the Bucs? C'mon, I mean really? Most of those guys are rotated on and off ever few weeks anyway depending on what kind of looks they need for the scout team and added depth for injuries.

[PassThePigSkin]

Since when has this much attention EVER been given to practice squad players on the Bucs? C'mon, I mean really? Most of those guys are rotated on and off ever few weeks anyway depending on what kind of looks they need for the scout team and added depth for injuries.

Larson,Blunt, Parker, soon to be Brisco, Penn, Lee, Woods, Huggins, Lorig, Bennett. TB always puts PS players who work hard on the team. All Okam need to do is make a impact in rotation stopping the run, with Morris i'm sure TB can get something out of him.

[CyberDilemma]

Since when has this much attention EVER been given to practice squad players on the Bucs? C'mon, I mean really? Most of those guys are rotated on and off ever few weeks anyway depending on what kind of looks they need for the scout team and added depth for injuries.

Larson,Blunt, Parker, soon to be Brisco, Penn, Lee, Woods, Huggins, Lorig, Bennett. TB always puts PS players who work hard on the team. All Okam need to do is make a impact in rotation stopping the run, with Morris i'm sure TB can get something out of him.

Larsen, Blount, Parker, Penn, Woods and Bennett have all NEVER been on the Bucs practice squad. And Briscoe is being paid what a player on the 53-man active roster is getting paid not the $5,200 per week that other PS players are getting paid, so he is not really viewed as a practice squad player in the Bucs' eyes.

[JDouble]

He's getting attention because we never show any interest in giant nose tackles. We always get DTs that are 290-310lbs....so signing a 350lbs NT is interesting to some folks. Why does that bother you?

[Handiman1031]

Most likely he is being used for our scout team defense to emulate the 3-4 defenses we will see in the coming weeks.  But even so with the potential he has there is nothing wrong with having him on the PS.  Playing at Texas, Houston and Seattle he is certainly more familiar with the 4-3.  I have always wanted the Bucs to install the defense Mike Tomlin put in place out in Minnesota for the Vikings with Pat Williams manning the nose.  Plenty of 350 pounders have had success in the 4-3 in the same vein like Pat Williams, Tank Johnson, Ryan Pickett, Kris Jenkins, Corey Williams, Shaun Rogers and Albert Haynesworth.

I am a fan of Roy Miller, but he is much better suited to play the UT position along with McCoy and Price.  We could use a good mammoth in the middle.  Whether Okam is that guy or not we don't know, but it is awesome that we are looking at guys like him and Al Woods.  I'd rather see us shut down the run and get hurries from the DL.  Sacks are great, but great defenses stop the run.

I hope we improve the DL position coach in the offseason to get the most out of our young guys.  It obviously worked great when we replaced Mann with Yarber this year.  Two guys I really like are Karl Dunbar (Vikings DL) and Clarence Brooks (Ravens DL).

Dunbar was talked about replacing Tomlin as DC back in 2007:

Vikings | Dunbar has support for DC job
Comment (0)   
Sun, 28 Jan 2007 10:35:14 -0800

Don Seeholzer, of the Pioneer Press, reports Minnesota Vikings defensive line coach Karl Dunbar is a candidate to become the team's next defensive coordinator. DT Pat Williams said, "I think Karl made all of us a lot better. He used to keep us calm. He never changed from the meeting room to the field, and he never talked behind guys' backs. If someone played bad, he always said it right in front of everybody so we all knew where we stood."

He helped Kevin Williams reach first round Status as well as the continued success you see in Minny and also helped Tank Johnson and Tommie Harris to a very productive rookie campaign with the Bears in 2004.

[PassThePigSkin]

Since when has this much attention EVER been given to practice squad players on the Bucs? C'mon, I mean really? Most of those guys are rotated on and off ever few weeks anyway depending on what kind of looks they need for the scout team and added depth for injuries.

Larson,Blunt, Parker, soon to be Brisco, Penn, Lee, Woods, Huggins, Lorig, Bennett. TB always puts PS players who work hard on the team. All Okam need to do is make a impact in rotation stopping the run, with Morris i'm sure TB can get something out of him.

Larsen, Blount, Parker, Penn, Woods and Bennett have all NEVER been on the Bucs practice squad. And Briscoe is being paid what a player on the 53-man active roster is getting paid not the $5,200 per week that other PS players are getting paid, so he is not really viewed as a practice squad player in the Bucs' eyes.

But they are practice squad players, the Bucs look hard at those type of guys.  Clifton didn't get a lot of attention? Graham? Briscoe is still on the practice squad not the 53.

[CyberDilemma]

Since when has this much attention EVER been given to practice squad players on the Bucs? C'mon, I mean really? Most of those guys are rotated on and off ever few weeks anyway depending on what kind of looks they need for the scout team and added depth for injuries.

Larson,Blunt, Parker, soon to be Brisco, Penn, Lee, Woods, Huggins, Lorig, Bennett. TB always puts PS players who work hard on the team. All Okam need to do is make a impact in rotation stopping the run, with Morris i'm sure TB can get something out of him.

Larsen, Blount, Parker, Penn, Woods and Bennett have all NEVER been on the Bucs practice squad. And Briscoe is being paid what a player on the 53-man active roster is getting paid not the $5,200 per week that other PS players are getting paid, so he is not really viewed as a practice squad player in the Bucs' eyes.

But they are practice squad players, the Bucs look hard at those type of guys.  Clifton didn't get a lot of attention? Graham? Briscoe is still on the practice squad not the 53.

Larsen, Blount, Parker and Bennett have NEVER been on ANY NFL team's practice squad, so I do not know where you are getting that they are practice squad players.