As I start, dear reader, I freely beg for your indulgence. To get to the point we must first understand the context, and as such we must first talk soccer.

In 2005, Malcolm Glazer finalized his buyout of Manchester United Football Club and placed his son’s Joel and Avram as co-chairmen. Certainly one of the most successful teams and additionally one of the worlds most recognizable brands. The Glazer’s now held ownership of two “football” teams, one playing a sport known worldwide as football, soccer and as the Canadians refer to it “that kick puck game!” As well as the American Football franchise, the Buccaneers. Whilst both games are referred to as football, one prides itself on tough play and hard hits, the other game is littered with players pretending to be shot at the slightest contact.

When the Glazers took control at Manchester United, they were in a perfect position. The club had clear direction and stability. A purpose that had been in place since 1986 with the incumbent manager, Sir Alex Ferguson. Player recruitment, youth development, and everything else that came with running a soccer club was already in place. All the young Glazers had to do was sit back and count the money.

This all changed dramatically in 2013. After 27 years in charge, Sir Alex retired. Stepping down and recommending a successor for the role. This changed the focal point and put Joel and Avram in a position where they were now responsible for pointing the club in a new direction. As executive positions and coaching roles were vacated, the Glazers had to fill these with the right people.

In the years that have followed, the fortunes of Manchester United have declined. Many inside the club have pointed toward a distinct lack of direction, issues with recruiting new players, overpaying some players who are well past their prime, and low balling up and coming talent. The players who are brought in don’t seem to match the system they are being asked to play in. Ultimately this has lead to 5 managers in 6 seasons.

Does any of this sound familiar?

On January 26th, 2003, Malcolm Glazer and the Bucs finally realized a dream. So far that Super Bowl is the sole glory for this Tampa team. In April 2006, Malcolm Glazer suffered a stroke, and this put his sons front and centre as the people responsible for steering the ship.

Is it mere coincidence that both teams have suffered since the younger Glazers have taken the reins?

A new coach and a new scheme were needed in Tampa. No one can argue with that at all and most fans were ready for it. What we weren’t ready for, however, is just how different the defense was going to be. The veteran presence is all, but entirely gone.

Wrap your head around this: If McCoy moves on and JPP is out for the season then the entire defense with the exception of 3 guys (2 of which will not be starters) are still on rookie contracts. That’s LB Lavonte David, DT Beau Allen, and DE Will Gholston that are our veterans as it sits. S Justin Evans (3rd year), DE Noah Spence(4th year), CB Vernon Hargreaves III (4th year) are the longer tenure guys behind them.

So, do you know anyone who is a fan, but doesn’t follow the Bucs as closely as you do? You may want to clue them in. The Buccaneers defense just made a hard transition to a very youthful core. Whether it wanted to or not.

Soon after the 2018 season started, Dolphin fans were screaming for their team to tank the season along with the 2019 season in order to secure the number 1 pick in the 2020 draft and guarantee their chances of drafting who they had hoped would be their new franchise quarterback with Tuanigamanuolepola “Tua” Tagovailoa at the top of that list.

The Dolphins subsequently traded for what they now hope is their new franchise quarterback in Josh Rosen which effectively took them out of the Tua sweepstakes. While it removes the Dolphins as the team most likely to tank for Tua, it leaves open the possibility that another team will view Tua, as that once in a generation quarterback worthy of tanking their entire season to draft -if you believe a team is willing to throw not only a game but an entire season.

Every team that has struggled at the quarterback position or who have had a revolving door of quarterbacks, will undoubtedly have many fans screaming for changes at quarterback, and the Buccaneers are no exception, with many fans already hoping that Buccaneer quarterback Jameis Winston plays so poorly that the team will be in the position to draft Tagovailoa.

Yes, there are actually fans hoping the team does so poorly that they wind up as the worst team in the league and secure the number one draft pick which they then can use to draft a new franchise quarterback. If you happen to come across fans actively cheering losses, this is the reason why, but a reason that ultimately will prove to be for nothing.

In order to believe that the Buccaneers organization would tank an entire season to draft a quarterback, you also have to believe in a variety of other issues that come along with that.

First, you have to believe that not only an owner, but also an entire coaching staff and an entire roster of players care so little about winning that they would willingly choose to lose. This means every player who steps on that field would have to willingly make an intentional effort to not only lose the game, but also to lose every game while risking their health and future after having already sacrificed everything for the opportunity to simply step on that field as a professional football player.

Secondly, you have to assume that no other team in the league would also have the same plan to put themselves in the best position to draft Tua, as their new quarterback, which is a hard thing to imagine, given that several teams have had quarterback issues over recent seasons and are heading into 2019 with questions at the position.

Third, you have to assume that the entire organization has come to the consensus that not only is Jameis Winston simply not their guy and is already looking to make a change, but that Gabbert, Griffin, and Fitzgerald are also not good enough to take the starting quarterback role. This is not very likely since they chose to let Ryan Fitzpatrick play elsewhere, and newly hired Head Coach Bruce Arians has known Winston since the 9th grade, and sees no reason why Winston can’t be “really, really successful”.

Assuming all those things came to fruition, and the stars all aligned, you then have to take a look at Tua and if he’s the once in a generation quarterback he is being touted as by the likes of Mel Kiper Jr., who already has Tua listed as his number 1 quarterback entering the 2020 NFL Draft,

When one takes a look at Tua and what he brings to the field, he is undoubtedly a very good quarterback, but being good at the collegiate level doesn’t always translate to the professional level as seen by Tim Tebow, Johnny Manziel and AJ McCarron who were all unable to find the same success as a pro as they did in college.

Alabama University has not been able to produce an NFL caliber starting quarterback since the likes of Joe Namath and Ken Stabler, and there is no reason to expect Tua to be any different. Alabama is a run-heavy offense with bare bones passing game and a coaching staff that implement a system which makes it unnecessary for the quarterback to run the offense, but rather they are simply tasked with calling the plays relayed to them with little freedom to audible the play at the line.

This style of play has proven to work great at the collegiate level with Alabama being a top 5 team every year before they even play a game, but it has never proven to translate well at the professional level, leaving their quarterbacks unprepared for the NFL and being so far behind other players, that they simply aren’t given the time to catch up, as an NFL team can not commit the time and money it would take to spend 4 and 5 losing seasons just hoping their quarterback can get to the point that the other quarterbacks in his draft class were at when they were drafted.

When you factor in all the issues that a team would face in trying to tank for the number one draft pick in the hopes of landing a quarterback that will not be NFL ready, while wasting the talent they already have under contract, and the millions of dollars that will be lost in the process, there is no logical reason to think the Buccaneers will ever contemplate forcing the entire organization to Tank For Tua, nor should they.

For better or worse, Jameis is the starting quarterback for the Buccaneers and will be through at least the 2019 season. Arians and Leftwich are determined to get every ounce of ability out of Jameis, and there’s no reason given their track record to think they won’t be able to give us the Famous Jameis that we’ve only seen glimpses of.

                                    Image credit: (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire)

After reading a quote from Head Coach Bruce Arians, I’m definitely confident in his knowledge of the sport!

Arians on the importance of picking up the playbook:

“It’s everything. If they are going to contribute – first of all, special teams – make your niche on special teams, find a spot. The fourth running back or the fifth safety is not going to be the best safety, it’s going to be the best special teams player because you’re going to dress on Sunday, so find your niche on special teams. We threw a lot at these guys, and these guys coming out of college have so much to learn because so many of them, offensively, have never been in a huddle. They don’t huddle, they don’t get down in a three-point stance. Like I said yesterday, I said, ‘Put your hand in the dirt’ and the guy didn’t know what I was talking about. That’s the new wave – that’s how we have to coach now. It’s totally different than it was 10 years ago, but we are ready for it. Offensive linemen, especially, it’s a real tough learning curve.”

He’s prepared, focused, and confident. Now it’s time to go through the preparation and into the preseason to see what kind of team we have.

Players still need to produce on the field, no matter how prepared the coaching staff is!

I feel that the Bucs chose the right man for the job and I can’t wait for the season to begin!

Go Bucs!

The Bucs managed to make some improvements at certain positions through free agency and the draft. All in all, this is a better team than last season, but out of all positions on the team, none has improved more than the LBs. With little salary cap room available the Bucs still managed to sign OLB Shaquil Barrett from Denver. Barrett can play at any LB spot, but is best when he can pin his ears back and rush the passer. Playing behind Von Miller and with limited playing time, Barrett showed that he is a very capable pass rusher, and could be due for a breakout season.

The Bucs weren’t finished there, with the 5th pick in this year’s draft the Bucs took MLB Devin White. I consider White to be a once in a decade type of player, and one that I’m sure has many Pro Bowls in his future. He excelled at the combine and when paired at MLB with Lavonte David they could be the best MLB duo in the league.

Yes, I know some of you wanted to keep Kwon Alexander and he was a good LB. One that could rack up a lot of tackles with his excellent sideline to sideline speed. On the other hand, he wasn’t very good at plugging the run or in pass coverage. Trust me the future of this team starts with Devin White.