PREE-season!

[Garv]

I know this sounds strange coming from a season ticket holder wanting WINS for my money, but I'm looking forward to what amounts to a VERY long pre-season for next year and beyond!
With an offense starting so many young players like Grads, Caddy, Clayton, Smith, Buenning, Joseph (soon), Trueblood, Mahan and Davis we're going to  see some growing pains to be sure! But now at least this team is COMMITTED to youth and the total rebuilding effort on offense. We WILL get better as the year goes on and it will be fun to watch with NO pressure as far as making the playoffs are concerned.
I believe we will soon be seeing even more of Ruud, some Zemaitis, more of Smith and Bryant and even some more of the OLB's on defense too.
Guys, by the end of this season we will know exactly what we need to win the South in 2007 AND have the high draft picks and FA jack to go out and get it. In the meantime, our kids will get experience and develop enough to be dependable next year for a playoff run.
I'm excited to see how Grads could open up the offense with his speed and ability to throw on the run.
By next year we WILL have a "Gruden" WCO ready to go and it starts NOW! Very cool.
BTW, if we actually compete for the South THIS year? GREAT! But I'm not crying over not doing that this year anymore.

[flyinbuc]

It would be such a hoot if we could get a roll going and make things interesting

[Garv]

Sure, we start winning right away and the town goes nuts like in 99 with King, but I'm just not counting on it.
Just win somes game where the kids KNOW they're good enough to play here and win and we could have the nucleous of a very goodteam for years to come.

[OpTiOnMaStA]

Garvey man I couldn't agree more. All this negativity on here doesn't do any good. There could be a lot of good things coming from these next few weeks and this season ultimately.

Get them in there and see what they have.

[TURBO]

winning this year, with our start and the remaining schedule is almost impossible.

I look for a 2-14 or 4-12 season at best, and a high draft pick.  Not gonna get all wound up after each loss the rest of the season, we are what we are, and right now, we are just a bad football team.

[joedav01]

Agreed.

Now the only question is which young team will develop faster, the Rays or the Bucs.

Right now I think its about a tie, because I think the Bucs defense is going to need a total overhaul very soon.

The Rays need Kazmir to get healthy and Jeff Niemann to be next year's Justin Verlander.

Should be an interesting few years in Tampa sports.

The Bolts seem pretty solid going forward.  It looks like our hockey team may have to carry this town's hopes for a year or 2.

[InChuckyITrust]

LOL jd...

[joedav01]

LOL jd...

I am confused as to what I said that was funny...

[InChuckyITrust]

lol..

[caradoc]

I like Football for football's sake.  Playoffs are icing -- yummy yummy fruit salad icing.  I'll enjoy this season just as much with the new faces as I would the old.  The goal is the same (playoffs) but the timeline is different -- next year.  I'll have fun watching these guys develop, and learning where the new strengths and weaknesses are, etc.  I'm guessing that last year we decided to go young but try and win some, and we did WAY better than we hoped last year.  Now I think we have seen the potential in some of these guys, and we feel we have nothing to lose by going full rebuilding -- the half rebuild is not doing it now that we have a tougher sched.  And I think the decision is in no small part due to the faith Gru has in Grads.  The kid has more potential than any new QB we've seen around here in a long time.Looks better than Simms did as a rook, better than Luke, Rob, Brian, or Tim.  Gru really seems to like him.  I think Gru may have already decided on him as the future, and may even have decided that before the season, was just waiting for Simms to give him an excuse.  If we were 3-0 we would be rebuilding slowly, but now it's gonna come fast.  The staff is looking at this right I think:  as an opportunity, not a disaster.  Yeah it's a lost season for the playoffs in all likliehood, but it's an opportunity to get a lot of new guys working together.  THe circumstances are unusual for a team to be in, but they are good for us:
How often is a team already moving to youth When they get injuries like this?
(Simms was struggling to hold on to the No.1 spot, no question -- Jets last year had their no2 injured like our planned #2, and nothing behind him)
How often does a team haveso many younger players that could realisticly be playing, but are stuck behind entrenched starters that are only barely better?
(always some, but DJ, True, Stovall, Grads, White, Winborn, Ruud)
How often does the season realistically disappear so fast?
(Unusual that enough key injuries follow drasticly poor performances -- usually the starters are doing well, then it crashes, and you suck it up because you have no intention of NOT going back to them when they heal.  Clear now that Yatta isn't coming back even though he probably could have)

If we had simms and were 2-1, or 1-2 and playing poorly, we wouldn't be changing like this.  It would still be slow-mo.  If Yatta didn't have a tolerable but serious injury, would we contemplate this?  If he was 100% healthy no way he sits.  If Mahan was playing serviceably would we?

With a shot season due to the guys expected to give us a best chance to win getting hurt, and having it shot so early, you have a ton of time to try out all those young assets, without the pressure of trying to make a playoff run.  Had it happened later in the year, and we were say 2-5 or 4-6, we might be pressured to try.  Instead you redefine success as an opportunity to start a much improved team next year.

I'd guess a decision was made with the Glazers approval, to go full youth and focus on next year, without the fear that heads will roll.  Next year we could be fielding a young but experienced team, bolstered by a big splash in FA where needed (*cough*Center &UT*cough*) and Nice drafts.  It's a win-win for the next year: if we do well enough to get a bad draft spot, then we know we have a great core, and can tweak it.  If we do poorly enough for a good draft spot, well, thats youth, and we have nice picks and a big FA upcoming to fix it.
I hope this mentality phases over to the defensive side too.  Winborn splitting some time with Brooks, Ruud getting = time with Q, white taking over for spires.  Some safety and nickle time splitting to see what we've got back there?  Zemitas isn't close to there IMO, but maybe more for him too?  Maybe experimenting with other guys in Boogers spot (not just wyms).

[Garv]

I like Football for football's sake. Playoffs are icing -- yummy yummy fruit salad icing. I'll enjoy this season just as much with the new faces as I would the old. The goal is the same (playoffs) but the timeline is different -- next year. I'll have fun watching these guys develop, and learning where the new strengths and weaknesses are, etc. I'm guessing that last year we decided to go young but try and win some, and we did WAY better than we hoped last year. Now I think we have seen the potential in some of these guys, and we feel we have nothing to lose by going full rebuilding -- the half rebuild is not doing it now that we have a tougher sched. And I think the decision is in no small part due to the faith Gru has in Grads. The kid has more potential than any new QB we've seen around here in a long time.Looks better than Simms did as a rook, better than Luke, Rob, Brian, or Tim. Gru really seems to like him. I think Gru may have already decided on him as the future, and may even have decided that before the season, was just waiting for Simms to give him an excuse. If we were 3-0 we would be rebuilding slowly, but now it's gonna come fast. The staff is looking at this right I think: as an opportunity, not a disaster. Yeah it's a lost season for the playoffs in all likliehood, but it's an opportunity to get a lot of new guys working together. THe circumstances are unusual for a team to be in, but they are good for us:
How often is a team already moving to youth When they get injuries like this?
(Simms was struggling to hold on to the No.1 spot, no question -- Jets last year had their no2 injured like our planned #2, and nothing behind him)
How often does a team haveso many younger players that could realisticly be playing, but are stuck behind entrenched starters that are only barely better?
(always some, but DJ, True, Stovall, Grads, White, Winborn, Ruud)
How often does the season realistically disappear so fast?
(Unusual that enough key injuries follow drasticly poor performances -- usually the starters are doing well, then it crashes, and you suck it up because you have no intention of NOT going back to them when they heal. Clear now that Yatta isn't coming back even though he probably could have)

If we had simms and were 2-1, or 1-2 and playing poorly, we wouldn't be changing like this. It would still be slow-mo. If Yatta didn't have a tolerable but serious injury, would we contemplate this? If he was 100% healthy no way he sits. If Mahan was playing serviceably would we?

With a shot season due to the guys expected to give us a best chance to win getting hurt, and having it shot so early, you have a ton of time to try out all those young assets, without the pressure of trying to make a playoff run. Had it happened later in the year, and we were say 2-5 or 4-6, we might be pressured to try. Instead you redefine success as an opportunity to start a much improved team next year.

I'd guess a decision was made with the Glazers approval, to go full youth and focus on next year, without the fear that heads will roll. Next year we could be fielding a young but experienced team, bolstered by a big splash in FA where needed (*cough*Center &UT*cough*) and Nice drafts. It's a win-win for the next year: if we do well enough to get a bad draft spot, then we know we have a great core, and can tweak it. If we do poorly enough for a good draft spot, well, thats youth, and we have nice picks and a big FA upcoming to fix it.
I hope this mentality phases over to the defensive side too. Winborn splitting some time with Brooks, Ruud getting = time with Q, white taking over for spires. Some safety and nickle time splitting to see what we've got back there? Zemitas isn't close to there IMO, but maybe more for him too? Maybe experimenting with other guys in Boogers spot (not just wyms).

We are on the same page! Good post. These can be seen as exiting times if we look at the positives. Anyone remember the second half of 1996 when the young Bucs started to gel and get some wins? You could say we were a bad team that year and the record showed that. BUT, the fact was that we had a team coming together and by the end of the season setting the tone for a playoff caliber team for years to come. I'm typing that THIS team has the youth AND the talent to do that too, this time with the emphasis on offense. And the defense will be morphing young too.
These are exciting times and we can all be a part of it, unlike the bandwagoneers who simply jump on the backs of already successful teams. ENJOY!!!

I'm with Garv on this one.

The silver lining to this sudden mess is that now we have no choice but to put our "future" on the field.

While the liklihood of competing in 2006 has dwindled a great deal, it will be interesting to watch the kids grow up.

[cheveliar]

I'm with Garv on this one.

The silver lining to this sudden mess is that now we have no choice but to put our "future" on the field.

While the likelihood of competing in 2006 has dwindled a great deal, it will be interesting to watch the kids grow up.

While true, I'm just pissed...I wish they'd have done it from the start.  Don't pass me the Kool-aide with no Grey Goose in it...

[ABuccs Fan]

I'm excited to see how Grads could open up the offense with his speed and ability to throw on the run.

Yes he's got legs, but the bios I have read coming out of college say one of his weaknesses was inaccuracy passing on the run.

[CadillacPower24_2006]

Yes he's got legs, but the bios I have read coming out of college say one of his weaknesses was inaccuracy passing on the run.

from some of the highlights isaw on him i thought he was pretty accurate on the run, granted it was highlights he did do some good things on the run...