Hey everyone! I decided that I had better jump on the bandwagon and get started with my own blog. If you can’t guess, the topic of this blog is going to focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the rest of the NFL as it relates to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I will also spice it up with lots of other information and opinions from around the Bay Area. In the beginning I will rely more on my own opinion, provide some argument fodder for the rest of you.
In light of this being the Buccaneers bye week and also sufficiently close to the midpoint of the season, I am going to pull a Dr. Z from Sports Illustrated and hand out some midseason awards for Tampa Bay.
MVP: Hands down this deserves to go to Jeff Garcia who has stood tall in the pocket all season and led what in all rights should be an offensively inept offense to a respectable season. With the rash of injuries at tailback and the hot and cold receivers around him, it would be too easy for him to give up, but it seems every Sunday he is there willing the offense to points.
Offensive Player of the Year: This also goes to Jeff Garcia for being the captain of the ship, but kudos must also go to Joey Galloway for keeping the defense on their toes. That Galloway can move as fast as he does while being 35 is amazing to me. I certainly did not expect him to have such a great season, the man is averaging over 17 yards a catch and leads all Tampa players with 5 touchdown receptions!
Defensive Player of the Year: This one is a little harder because the entire defense is stepping up. I am handing it to Jermaine Phillips though because he puts a lot of fear into opposing receivers with his huge hits. He is third on the team in tackles and also leads the team with three interceptions. His ability to stalk downfield has been a huge plus for the defense.
Surprise of the Year: Barret Ruud. When Quarles was let go, I expected to have some growing pains at middle linebacker. Ruud had stepped up in years past and he has defintely shown that he can play, but he is leading the team in tackles with 79 and is projected to have 140 tackles. Pretty good numbers for a new starter.
Rookie of the Year: Tanard Jackson. Gaines Adams and Arron Sears have both played very well but both still have more growing to be real factors in the NFL. Jackson has played superbly while racking up 37 tackles-36 of which were solo. He also leads the team in pass deflections. Great job for the newbie.
Interesting point of the day from around the league. Adrian Peterson is going to wear down. Not this year, probably not next year, maybe not the year after that, but he will wear down before long. He got hurt too much in college and will likely carry too much for the Vikings-at least in the short term. He is an electric player who is certainly top 3 running backs in the league right now, but he is fragile and especially with the way that he runs. I wish him the best of luck and give props to the coaches for waiting as long as they did before giving him the starting role. I do not believe in giving a large workload to running backs, to quarterbacks, to pitchers to whoever. Bodies are only meant to take so much, even Mike Alstott has him limit.
Interesting non-football comment. Damn the Tampa Bay DEVIL Rays for dropping the Devil! I know they are trying to remake their image and that they feel that they have a shot next year. The best way to remake the ‘Devil’ Rays as winners and forget the losers is to incorporate a new image, but for God sakes, did you have to tamper with the name? The new colors do look nice, not the green and black-but nice, and the new logo seems necessary if deficient, but why the name? It’s not a new ball club, just a new image! There is such a rhythm to Tampa Bay Devil Rays, it just rolls off the tongue. Plus, Rays is so ambiguous. The term does not instill any fear or opposition. Hell, Rays could refer to us being in the Sunshine State. I think the name overhaul was not needed ans overkill in the new image. For now I am going to refuse to call them anything but the ‘Devil’ Rays.
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On the Offensive MVP i think Earnest Graham deserves a mention. When Cadillac left the field on a cart, i kissed our season goodbye. However, Graham has stepped up and proved he can tote the rock for the Bucs.
Defensively Gaines Adams has been a bit of a let down. For a #4 pick he’s not really made the impact I would expect. He’s shown flashes of good play but he really needs to start making an impact.
Tanard Jackson is certainly the rookie of the year for the Bucs and I’d even say the defensive player of the year. For a guy that didnt play safety at Clemson he’s made huge strides.
You are correct that Earnest Graham does deserve an honorable mention, but he really has has only two great games, while the rest have been more solid than spectacular. He’s had 324 yards in the five games since Pittman went down which stacks up to about 65 yards a game. Respectable, but not Offensive Player of the Year. Jeff Garcia has had several spectacular games, if only because they were mistake free and only one noticeably bad game.
Gaines Adams has not had a breakout year, but he certainly has not been a bust. He has done better against the run than I thought, if not yet a reliable first down player. I would expect to see him produce more as the season advances and if he really was worth a first round selection, than to have a good year next year. It takes time to develop most players, especially when they are used to college skill level offensive linemen.
I’m glad you agree with the Jackson pick! He has not had enough of an impact all around to warrant a Defensive Player of the Year award, but he has been a very pleasant surprise. I expect him to learn a lot form Phillips, including when to look for the run and how to attack the run. He should be a starter for a long time.
I read this today on the Adrian Peterson website:
“Peterson becomes the first Vikings rookie since Randy Moss (1993) and first Vikings rookie running back since Chuck Foreman (1973) to be named to the Pro Bowl.”
“The Vikings have the No. 1 rushing offense in the league, and that success has helped get center Matt Birk and guard”
What a god he is and he is only just starting, if he can avoid more injuries…dammmm.
Mike.
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation
Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Cainozoic.