Graham fits the offense better than Caddy

[bradentonian]

Why in the world do you have Darby over Pittman?

Because Darby can run between the tackles, turn the corner, catch the ball and run block and he's very young and can match Caddy as a feature back.

Objection!  Speculation!

[caradoc]

Why in the world do you have Darby over Pittman?

Because Darby can run between the tackles, turn the corner, catch the ball and run block and he's very young and can match Caddy as a feature back.

Objection!  Speculation!

Sustained

[Pulling Guard]

Gruden won't hand the ball off enough to Graham because he's not a "Gruden" guy.

That would explain the 32 touches he got in detroit.

God, you're the most addle-brained football fan I've ever had the displeasure of encountering.

[#2Linebacker32]

OK here's the deal. Caddy will come back and play when he gets healthy. Graham will be on the team but I think Caddy will be the starter with Bennet, Pittman behind. That is one sick backfield. Caddy struggles in the last season had nothing to do with his ability and everything to do with a Rookie QB being at the helms. Teams don't respect Gradkowski and it showed last season. 8 or 9 in the box and for the Caddy Struggled. Even though he started off slow this year playing through the rib injury we saw what was about to happen during the Panthers game before he got hurt. He was about to have his breakout game and i'm telling you if Caddy didn't get hurt you don't think he would have benifited from Garcia being able to throw the ball downfield your crazy. he's to good of a runner not to be able to. But he got hurt and now other people has to step it up and that is what they are doing with the help of the Offensive line and Garcia making the right reads.. I don't know why fans in this town always cheer for the back-up more that the starter. I thought you would have learned a lesson after last season when you all begged for Grads to be the starter. Don't think for one minute that Gruden and the offense wouldn't want to have Caddy in the line up. That/s one more weapon that teams have to to worry about and he's still very young and his receiving skills can get better

OK here's the deal. Caddy will come back and play when he gets healthy. Graham will be on the team but I think Caddy will be the starter with Bennet, Pittman behind. That is one sick backfield. Caddy struggles in the last season had nothing to do with his ability and everything to do with a Rookie QB being at the helms. Teams don't respect Gradkowski and it showed last season. 8 or 9 in the box and for the Caddy Struggled. Even though he started off slow this year playing through the rib injury we saw what was about to happen during the Panthers game before he got hurt. He was about to have his breakout game and i'm telling you if Caddy didn't get hurt you don't think he would have benifited from Garcia being able to throw the ball downfield your crazy. he's to good of a runner not to be able to. But he got hurt and now other people has to step it up and that is what they are doing with the help of the Offensive line and Garcia making the right reads.. I don't know why fans in this town always cheer for the back-up more that the starter. I thought you would have learned a lesson after last season when you all begged for Grads to be the starter. Don't think for one minute that Gruden and the offense wouldn't want to have Caddy in the line up. That/s one more weapon that teams have to to worry about and he's still very young and his receiving skills can get better

blah, blah, blah.

[BUCarino]

Why in the world do you have Darby over Pittman?

I am the biggest Bama homer you will meet, but I also disagree with that and I was pulling big time for Darby as he is a great kid!  I think Bennett will end up being our home run threat!  I remember in 2002 when he was with the Vikings you used to hold your breath everytime he touched the ball as he could take it the distance!

[BornaBuc47]

Gruden won't hand the ball off enough to Graham because he's not a "Gruden" guy.

That would explain the 32 touches he got in detroit.

God, you're the most addle-brained football fan I've ever had the displeasure of encountering.

You need to learn how to read and check your stats.

[Boid Fink]

Why in the world do you have Darby over Pittman?

Because Darby can run between the tackles, turn the corner, catch the ball and run block and he's very young and can match Caddy as a feature back.

Darby is slow.  He is probably the slowest running back on the Bucs roster.

He runs between a 4.6 and a 4.8.  Askew is faster than  Darby.

[dbucfan]

Gruden won't hand the ball off enough to Graham because he's not a "Gruden" guy.

That would explain the 32 touches he got in detroit.

God, you're the most addle-brained football fan I've ever had the displeasure of encountering.

You need to learn how to read and check your stats.

Buccs47, When you said he wasn't a Gruden guy what are you talking about?  In 2004 wasn't Gruden here - or are you saying he was a McKay pick?  Just wondering how Karen you are

[bucs8ball]

I don't know why fans in this town always cheer for the back-up more that the starter. I thought you would have learned a lesson after last season when you all begged for Grads to be the starter.

The same reason the same people are calling for the coach's head... the grass is always greener on the other side.

BTW... great post. I like what Graham's been doing, but he's not Caddy!

[1sparkybuc]

It is time to accept the fact that Williams is too fragile to play in the NFL. He is also a one diminsional player in that he lacks receiving and blocking skills. His injury this season makes it likely that he won't be ready to play next season. Who here is willing to stand up and say he will be outstanding in his fifth year in the league? Yugo Williams is not dependable. So far, Graham is, and if a player's position in the draft is a priority for you, we have Bennett who is fast and healthy.

Yugo Williams has not produced lately, and is at least a year away from any opportunity to. Now is the time to cheer for the players who do produce.

[alldaway]

OK here's the deal. Caddy will come back and play when he gets healthy. Graham will be on the team but I think Caddy will be the starter with Bennet, Pittman behind. That is one sick backfield. Caddy struggles in the last season had nothing to do with his ability and everything to do with a Rookie QB being at the helms. Teams don't respect Gradkowski and it showed last season. 8 or 9 in the box and for the Caddy Struggled. Even though he started off slow this year playing through the rib injury we saw what was about to happen during the Panthers game before he got hurt. He was about to have his breakout game and i'm telling you if Caddy didn't get hurt you don't think he would have benifited from Garcia being able to throw the ball downfield your crazy. he's to good of a runner not to be able to. But he got hurt and now other people has to step it up and that is what they are doing with the help of the Offensive line and Garcia making the right reads.. I don't know why fans in this town always cheer for the back-up more that the starter. I thought you would have learned a lesson after last season when you all begged for Grads to be the starter. Don't think for one minute that Gruden and the offense wouldn't want to have Caddy in the line up. That/s one more weapon that teams have to to worry about and he's still very young and his receiving skills can get better

*claps*

Good post.

[Pulling Guard]

Gruden won't hand the ball off enough to Graham because he's not a "Gruden" guy.

34 carries enough to make you realize you were wrong?


That would explain the 32 touches he got in detroit.

God, you're the most addle-brained football fan I've ever had the displeasure of encountering.

You need to learn how to read and check your stats.

[John Galt?]

Gruden won't hand the ball off enough to Graham because he's not a "Gruden" guy.

Well, BornaBuc is right.  Just his reason is wrong.
Gruden did not hand the ball off to Graham one single time.  But Garcia did 34 times.

[BornaBuc47]

Gruden Guy(Caddy, Pittman)=A guy that Gruden sticks with no matter what until he is forced to play somebody else because of injury or because he has no other choice(see Michael Clayton, MIke Alstott, Thomas Jones). In this case, after last week's 3 int performance with 41 throws and a loss Gruden had no choice if he wanted to win but to revert to running the football with Graham. He'll be back to trying to throw again before long and will forget all about our success running the football with Graham. 14 carries vs Jacksonville. We'll see what he decides to do after the bye when Pittman comes back. To be honest, I'm a little surprised that Gruden decided to change his normal gameplan of run on 1st, pass every other down this week. I was shocked to see us run the 1st two plays of the game. Pleasantly surprised more like it.

As you can tell by reading this thread, many fans don't even include Graham in the top 4 running backs when Caddy and Pittman get healthy. I think it's sad really. Graham's been the most consistent back we've had in years. He can do it all, run inside the tackles, run outside, catch passes and not just swing passes but passes, blocks well, and plays special teams. I personally don't understand why after three excellent pre-seasons and camps in a row that we hadn't seen more of Graham before now.