Are we a couple of players away....

[bullg8rdaddy]

From being a playoff team?

Not a Super Bowl team..but a playoff team.

If so, do we trade up into the bottom of the first to take another CB?

Looking at some mocks from the web, FSU's Rhodes looks like he will be the third or fourth college CB taken.

IF we go with Banks or Milliner (I hope!) with our first pick, would you be upset at trading up and snatching up Rhodes Ala Martin this year?

In this scenario, I'd assume that we used our extra fourth along with our second to move up into the bottom of the first.  Possibly swapping thirds, if need be.

I would love to double up and walk away with two 6'1+ CBs after the first night.

Still would like a young receiving threat at TE and competition for Miller and Quincy Black later on. I'm not worried about replacing Ronde, because.I think he could come back. If not, I like Ahmads playmaking skills enough to give him a season to prove he can or can't do the job. Jmho

[chace1986]

If you are wanting to talk anything beyond week 17, not only will new CBs need to be added, but possibly a new QB as well.

[The Anti-Java]

I would think so.  A little better defense down the stretch and they would of grabbed the wildcard.

That and an improved #5 would be nice.

[bucinnj]

Possibly swapping thirds, if need be.

Wouldn't want to move deeper into the 3rd since that would virtually become a 4th.
Trading the 2nd and extra 4th to get two first rounders and an early third sounds great if the opportunity present itself.

As for the original question, it's far too soon to tell.
Really need to see who is brought in during FA and who is drafted.

CB is a huge need along with others.
Also, what lessons were learned by the coaching staff?
That's going to be an important factor.

[Benchwarmer#1]

QB- at least until next season, check.
Rb- could use a late rounder or FA backup for martin. But otherwise, we're better off than we have been in the past.
WR- could possibly use a slot guy, but I believe Underwood is good enough.
Te- stocker won't cut it and Dallas is aged. This group needs a mid rounder who can at least be a good blocker, but hopefully has good hands as well.
OL- if they keep all the guys they currently have, it sounds like a damn-fine group.

DL- They need one more servicable de, and a replacement for Miller. Besides that, I believe they're better than what they've shown.
LB- replace Black asap with a 2-3 rounder. Could not be much worse, and much, much cheaper besides that.
CB- biggers might stay, but he's not a #1 corner. This unit obviously needs a complete overhaul to even have a chance next season, period
Safety- Barron we have to play, because we don't know yet, and we have to wait for barber's retirement, or not, first. If barber is unwilling to risk another season on his older frame, I don't think Tampa has to reach too far as Black looked good in limited gametime. If not, they still shouldn't spend much on the position.

But to answer the overall question at hand...

IF Dom can sign either A) top tier FA CB & 1st round corner (banks,milliner, or Rhodes), B) select two CBS in draft (both in first), or C) sign two "top-tier" free agents, I believe we will have a more balanced team. If that ends up coming to fruition I think there is an excellent chance of playoffs.

Afterall, there is much more talent on this offense than the Superbowl winning group. I think it's pretty safe to say that if this pass defense ever gets better, this team would be pretty deadly.

[1sparkybuc]

If you are wanting to talk anything beyond week 17, not only will new CBs need to be added, but possibly a new QB as well.

And the crusade continues.

[DonkeyHunter]

If you are wanting to talk anything beyond week 17, not only will new CBs need to be added, but possibly a new QB as well.

And who would that be?

[captainjimbo]

Maybe Favre will come out of retirement.

[JC5100]

Dynamic pass rusher and a couple of DBs. We had the lead in the 4th qtr in 10 games (6-4), were tied in another one (1-0) and lost a game where the offense had 500+ yards and 0 turnovers.

[nitey]

I believe we are only a better secondary away from a playoff berth IF the players that played well this year, play as well or better next year. Depth is probably more the issue than top players. Take for example this last season, IF Nicks and Joseph play all 16 games it's not a stretch to think that the offense might have pulled out another one to two wins. If Talib and Wright had avoided their suspensions and Talib hadn't been traded, the same could have been said about the defense, there are easily 2 games there that those two would have made a difference in. The result, a possible 3-4 game swing into the win column with the team getting 10-11 wins instead of only 7.   The playoffs could have happened last season.

So while we need some better starters, the real reason was that our depth was lacking at key points in the season and that not all the existing coaches couldn't 'coach up' the reserves.

When Nicks and Joseph went down (and to some extent Trueblood), coach Bostad was able to still get mostly decent performances from Larson, Meredeth and Dotson. Those players will provide good depth this season, but the real reason that the offense played well was because Bostad was able to get those reserves to play at a reasonable NFL level in most of the remaining games.

However, Cooper was never able to get his players to play well enough. Even at the start of the season, Talib and Wright got torched in the New York game where if they had played better we would have won that game. Later when those two got suspended, the reserves were mostly awful during the season. Even if we got two new starters, the reserves behind them still need to be upgraded.

The issue of whether the Bucs can go to the playoffs next season is more than just getting better players, the coaches need to be good enough to get reserves that need to play, to play at a reasonable NFL level, but the scheme that the talent is used in has to be the correct one for those skills. Take for example the last two games of the year. In both of those games, the secondary played much better than they did all season. Was it Cooper's coaching (unlikely since he was allowed to leave) or that the scheme was changed to make better use of the personnel? IMO, it was the latter. I like coach Schiano a lot, but I do see a stubborn streak in him where he tried to force the players to play his way and then when they couldn't, he finally changed. I don't know if Sheridan was the reason or if it was Schiano that ultimately made that change, but it's clear to me that IF they take the same attitude into next season, even with new defensive players, that defense may still not work.

So, while on the surface we are probably only a few better starting players away from contending next season for a playoff berth, the reality, at least in my eyes, is that there are several positions were depth is still an issue and there are questions around their position coaches. Last season Sullivan and Bostad proved themselves, they will need to do so again. Fraser seemed to do a good job with the linebackers, Byner did a good job with the running backs and Fleck did a good job with the receivers. Melvin/Cox were only so-so as a defensive line coaches and need to get more out of his players, Angelichio didn't do anything special with the tight ends, Sheridan didn't do that good as the defensive Coordinator. Turner as okay as QB coach, but clearly some of that 4 game funk that Freeman was in at the end of the season lies at his feet.

So IF Schiano is a true evaluator, there are other issues that need to be addressed this off season. We have already seen that there are some coaching changes. Replacing those coaches with better coaching is paramount. I don't know anything about McNulty other than he worked with Schiano in the past. Is he better than Turner, can he get along with Sullivan, can he do more with Freeman than Turner was able to accomplish? Those are some big questions in my mind.

Defensively, did we learn anything last year or are we going to continue to try to play Schiano's/Sheridan's aggressive defense? If it doesn't work, are we willing to adjust quicker? We got 27 sacks last season and probably need to get into the mid 30's at least. Do we even have the coaching/personnel to pickup that 8 extra sacks? What could have been done better in the secondary? Was it all Cooper's fault? Was he a bad teacher or did the scheme not fit the personnel? If there is one coaching position that the Bucs HAVE to get right this season, it's the defensive backfield coach. We need another Bob Bostad back there.

JMO.

[JavaRay]

The Bucs are only 1 player away from making the playoffs.    Trade Freeman for Tebow and the team will be in the playoffs next year with Tebow at QB.

[Dolorous Jason]

Every team in the NFL is a couple players away.

[DonkeyHunter]

The Bucs are only 1 player away from making the playoffs.    Trade Freeman for Tebow and the team will be in the playoffs next year with Tebow at QB.

Tebow will set us back at least 5 years. Besides, he'll be unemployed this year. Or wait, there's always the CFL....

[RogerGoodellSucks]

I truly think if we add 2 CB's, a pass rusher, and a slot receiver or TE, we're in the playoffs next year. This team is very close to the playoffs, IMO. You have to remember we went 7-9 in the first year of a completely new coaching staff and had a lot of significant injuries.

[chace1986]

If you are wanting to talk anything beyond week 17, not only will new CBs need to be added, but possibly a new QB as well.

And who would that be?

I'm not gonna keep posting different variations of the same response..so I'll link you to a few previous posts that have answered that question.

The QBs from the draft are more likely to produce a QB who could be better on this team than the other three options named.

With Alex Smith, the ceiling seems to be much lower, and I'm not so sure he would be a championship QB. Sure, he played excellent in the playoffs last year and San Fran certainly can't place much of any blame on him for the loss against NYG...I just don't know how much long term success he would bring, and how it would be any different than Freeman. Flynn is basically unknown, but I think it speaks volumes that he lost the QB competition rather quickly to Russell Wilson. There was much growth by Wilson throughout the year and January Russell Wilson was not that same as August Russell Wilson. Matt Moore, we know he sucks.

Overall point. I agree with. There is no way to say that none of the QBs in the draft will be successful or some other QBs in the league like Smith or maybe even a guy with potential in Ryan Mallet.

Freeman will be the QB in '13, and will have his shot to prove his doubters wrong. It would be great if he did, if not...the '14 draft could be our best option at finding a replacement.

I agree that a QB from this draft is more likely to produce a better option so do you think they should draft a QB?

I keep sifting through the QBs and I'm still not too enamored with any of them. It's an odd year. Usually we would have a guy or two that have separated themselves from the pack. While Geno and Barkley seem to be the present top 2 QBs, I honestly don't see too much separation from them and Mike Glennon, Tyler Wilson, Ryan Nassib, and Zach Dysert. In fact, I would say that if a successful QB comes from this class, it will come from that second group of names I mentioned.

Based upon how we have seen teams reach for QBs in previous draft, I don't think that it's inconceivable to see 3 or 4 QBs selected in the first. So we definitely aren't going to use a pick on one of those guys. Then you have the 2-3 guys that will be on the board when we pick in the second. I dunno. I think there will still be a lot of other talent out there that can improve the secondary or help out with another weapon on offense. So I don't think we take a QB in the 2nd unless one of those 4 fall to the late second and we decide to jump back in and grab a Wilson or Nassib. I think they will all be gone by the 3rd.

Based upon the above, I would probably wait. I mean, I probably wouldn't be too upset if they drafted one of those guys after Barkley/Geno, but I do understand that we need to fill some pretty big holes on this team and that can be done with that 2nd rounder currently in our possession. So, I would wait, see how Freeman does..and if he stinks again, let him walk. Then we load up and try to grab a guy like Aaron Murray at the top of next years draft.

when does the 'one more year' stop?

I expect we'll be hearing "but, but, he's only 28" soon...

The freepologists and excuse machines will use it til he is 30...or would be willing to say.."it's only been 100 games and he has had different coaches and systems...blah, blah, blah"

Once again, what is the solution at QB for next season?

Don't know who the "once again" is directed at. I have let my stance on the future of the QB be known many times. There are many different routes that we can take at the position. The one that I have stated will most likely happen is that Freeman will be the starter on opening day and we will draft a QB in the mid rounds this offseason. From there we will determine if we need to let him walk, or resign him. I'm fine with that scenario, and if he plays like he has the last 2 years again, then you let him walk and play the QB just drafted, or draft a guy in the '14 draft.

I believe that, unless the organization feels that there is a "diamond in the rough" QB in the 2nd-3rd rounds, that we should just build up the team this offseason and possibly try to grab a pick or two in the '14 draft and try to load up and grab one of the '14 QBs. Another option could be to trade for Ryan Mallett, and insert him in if Freeman pulls a Freeman next year.

I just dont see anybody who can replace him. I feel like fans expectations for what they want out of their QB is unrealistic. Either you get a elite guy like a Brady, Rodgers, or Manning or you get a guy whos gonna have his issues. If you get a guy with issues its non stop with the fans that they need to replace him. My response is the same who the hell can they get right now? At least your giving suggestions.

Suggestions have been given by plenty. The suggestions just are not well received because there is no immediate upgrade available.

For me personally, I don't see us ever winning a championship or even winning a playoff game with Freeman. So the thought of bringing in a new QB to start, even though they might have less experience than Freeman, doesn't bother me that much. It's highly doubtful that Freeman will not start next year, and pretty much everyone has accepted that and most hope he is successful, but if a guy like Mallett, Cousins, or any of the 2nd/3rd rounds QB prospects are brought in...that would at least give us something to work with if Freeman needs to be let go after next season.