@bucsbits CJ Allen in the first round or Josiah Trotter in the 3rd round.
@alldaway - you’re not wrong, but it also has to do with the type of ILB we draft. Bowles likes his ILBs getting downhill, yes. But a guy like LVD was able to do it all and had great LB instincts.
Dennis is a smaller and slower version of D. White. Both are great at getting downhill, but neither is good playing in space, and have horrible instincts. Both are “catch” tacklers. They’d prefer to catch a guy from the side or behind rather than meet a runner head up or in a hole. That’s what scares me about rookie ILB, Rodriguez. Although he plays much better in space and can cover, he is a “catch” tackler as well.
Bowles wants to get bigger and Anzalone being on the smaller side is okay. But if LVD comes back then what? Also the Bucs DEs are too big to play in coverage as they are not nimble enough. So Bowles must make a choice because smaller edge rushers bring more sacks but larger edge rushers are typically better at run contain.
Bucs need edge rushers that can play in space but also bring some juice. That is how the Steelers defense did it back in the day under Cowher.
Lloyd and Greene may have been considered big LBs back in the day but they were very nimble and agile defenders on the perimeter and rushing the passing. By today's standard they are considered on the smaller side for OLB. Kirkland was a monster in the middle but he was always filling A gaps or moving downhill. Chad Brown/Nickerson were on the smaller side and did both fill A gaps but also dropped into coverage.
Bowles likes to run the Steeler's style defense but he doesn't have the agile OLB to pull it off or the the ILB that can fill gaps downhill with size. Something has to give.
@bucsbits CJ Allen in the first round
Interesting that you'd have a 1st round grade on Allen and a 3- round grade on Rodriguez.
@donkey_hunter - there’s some analysts that think he is a top 10 player in this draft. I think he’s more 20-30. He’s a dawg. Great tackler. His side-to-side agility does worry me a little bit, but he’s good in m2m coverage on backs and TEs.
@bucsbits CJ Allen in the first round or Josiah Trotter in the 3rd round.
FAB 5
"While the Bucs signed Alex Anzalone to a two-year contract in free agency, the team isn’t done at inside linebacker and needs another starter, which will come via the 2026 NFL Draft.
Allen, who is generally regarded as the second-best linebacker in this year’s draft class behind Ohio State’s Sonny Styles, checks a lot of boxes at the linebacker position. He’s been a three-year starter at Georgia since his freshman year due to his high football I.Q., his athleticism and his physicality."
@biggs3535 - don’t get me wrong, I like Rodriguez, but I like his value in the 3rd or 4th round. Some on PR are saying maybe we should trade back into the bottom half of the first and grab. That is horrible value. And having Rodriguez and Anzalone is like having two Will LBs. We need a true MLB.
Prior to the offseason, I would have agreed that he was a 3rd/4th as I had questions about his athleticism. But he had a great Senior Bowl and did very well at the combine, having the 4th highest athleticism score amongst all Linebackers - to go along with his excellent game tape. He aced his job interview this offseason. He made him some money and shot his draft projection up a lot of people's boards.
I'm not sure he's a late-first, but I would be surprised if he lasted the until the 3rd round at this point.
With the 11th pick in R2, Jacob Rodriguez ending up being the second ILB drafted, after Sonny Styles @ #7. He was followed by Trotter, Golday, CJ Allen, & Anthony Hill Jr. - all in the second round.
7th overall - Sunny Styles
43rd overall - Jeremiah Trotter
51st overall - Jake Golday
53rd overall - CJ Allen
60th overall - Anthony Hill Jr.
It will be very interesting to see how these guys pan out as pros, as almost everybody had Trotter below all of Allen, Hill, & Golday.
For the LB pick, the fan premise (myself included) all off season has been clearly and understandably the need for a coverage LB or at least a two way LB. The Bucs dont seem to agree, at least not in the sense that coverage was primary.
But, if you accept the fan premise and look at that list above isnt Anthony Hill the guy they maybe should have taken? True two way LB?
Golday is more a close to the line LB like Trotter? CJ Allen sort of a green dot guy (Anzalone) but maybe good at a lot but not great at any one thing, maybe a little slow? Maybe Trotter was more of the immediate need guy, versus someone like Allen?
Definitely NOT saying "immediate needed guy" approach is good, just offering as a potential understanding of the move. Definitely a Bowles-ish player. He used White very effectively early on. Trotter sort of a White-ish LB, unless until he shows differently.
As I posted before, like it or not, the Bucs were not going to keep Bowles and then have an offseason built around the future after him. LOL. They were going to give him the kind of help he wanted. Bigger, meaner, run stopping, blitzing.
The Bucs have Todd "I can figure things out on defense" Bowles as HC and DC. "What, Me Worried?" MADD Magazine cover boy.
It will be very interesting to see how these guys pan out as pros, as almost everybody had Trotter below all of Allen, Hill, & Golday.
Yes, it will.
Again, Trotter is definitely a “Bowles Pick”.
And, hope he works out, because passing on better/superior talent because our moron HC has a hard on for Devin White-type players is criminal.
@biggs3535 - don’t get me wrong, I like Rodriguez, but I like his value in the 3rd or 4th round. Some on PR are saying maybe we should trade back into the bottom half of the first and grab. That is horrible value. And having Rodriguez and Anzalone is like having two Will LBs. We need a true MLB.
Prior to the offseason, I would have agreed that he was a 3rd/4th as I had questions about his athleticism. But he had a great Senior Bowl and did very well at the combine, having the 4th highest athleticism score amongst all Linebackers - to go along with his excellent game tape. He aced his job interview this offseason. He made him some money and shot his draft projection up a lot of people's boards.
I'm not sure he's a late-first, but I would be surprised if he lasted the until the 3rd round at this point.
With the 11th pick in R2, Jacob Rodriguez ending up being the second ILB drafted, after Sonny Styles @ #7. He was followed by Trotter, Golday, CJ Allen, & Anthony Hill Jr. - all in the second round.
7th overall - Sunny Styles
43rd overall - Jeremiah Trotter
51st overall - Jake Golday
53rd overall - CJ Allen
60th overall - Anthony Hill Jr.
It will be very interesting to see how these guys pan out as pros, as almost everybody had Trotter below all of Allen, Hill, & Golday.
These needed correcting, as I skipped Rodriguez with a brain fart:
7th overall - Sunny Styles
43rd overall - Jacob Rodriguez
46th overall - Jeremiah Trotter
51st overall - Jake Golday
53rd overall - CJ Allen
60th overall - Anthony Hill Jr.
The Bucs have Todd "I can figure things out on defense" Bowles as HC and DC. "What, Me Worried?" MADD Magazine cover boy.
Bowles' last defensive savior at MLB didn't work out to well, no matter how much leghumping he received from the regulars. Maybe he'll finally find his guy in year eight with the franchise.
Yes, it will.
Again, Trotter is definitely a “Bowles Pick”.
And, hope he works out, because passing on better/superior talent because our moron HC has a hard on for Devin White-type players is criminal.
If Trotter doesn't work out, it may send Licht to the unemployment line with Bowles.
The Bucs have Todd "I can figure things out on defense" Bowles as HC and DC. "What, Me Worried?" MADD Magazine cover boy.
And the GM and VP and owners believe him.
2026 could set the Bucs back a few years . . or see Bowles get an extension LOL
Well after the draft the Ravens now have Hendrickson, Robinson, Green, and Young. Trading for Crosby may have limited what they could do with the draft. They invested high picks in Green and Young along with Robinson so I am sure they want to give these guys reps while Hendrickson does his work.
The other suitors were the Bengals themselves having Murphy and signed Mafe in the off season. But they still ended up with C. Howell and have Shemar Stewart as reserves.
The Cowboys have Rashan Gary, Houston and Ezeiruaku (if he can come back 100%) and they drafted M. Lawrence in round 1.
Goes to show you that trading a 1 for an edge rusher is a huge roll of the dice. The Packers edge depth chart looks like this: Parsons, Van Ness, Sorrell, and Dennis-Sutton was drafted in the 4th.
The Raiders are holding onto Crosby also have Koonce, Snowden, and Paye. They also drafted Crawford in round 3.
Bowles' last defensive savior at MLB didn't work out to well, no matter how much leghumping he received from the regulars. Maybe he'll finally find his guy in year eight with the franchise. . .
Bowles won a super Bowl with White . . . right?
Trotter is more like White (downhill etc) than the other LBs in your list. You're comparing him to SVD?
#makeitmakesense
#unpossible