The Pewter Plank » John Gilmore

Thursday Bucs Link Roundup

Dustin Staggers — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:09:19 +0000

Michael Clayton will get the start this Sunday vs the Bears with Joey Galloway likely to be out.

”I’ve been told I will be starting, so we’ll see what happens,” Clayton said. “It’s a lot of opportunity for every wide receiver that will be out there…This is one I’ve been waiting for. It’s a tremendous opportunity. It couldn’t have come at a better time. It’s early in the season, so I’ll get a lot of plays out there.”

Greg White finally got his contract extension. Bruce Allen and the Glazers will reward good players who shut their mouth and show up. White was unhappy but reported only one day late, and now has a new two year extension to show for it.
Brian Kelly takes real offense to ex Buc players being reffered to as “Rod’s Guys.” Kind of flew off the handle here a little.

“I mean, look, everybody goes in and says, ‘These are Rod’s guys’ or whatever. We’re football players. We were brought here to play football. So if Rod was here or Rod wasn’t here, the type of defense we play just so happens to be the type of defense we played in. I’m … We’re getting real sick of hearing this whole ‘Rod’s guys.’ Everybody in this room is Rod’s guys.”

Nice little video with some stuff on the upcoming game from Derrick Brooks and BJ Askew and some talk from Carmella “Jeffrey” Garcia about being the backup.
It might not have been apparent to many Bucs fans over the past two years, but WR Michael Clayton still sounds very hungry.
The Bucs activated Jerramy Stevens and released TE Ben Troupe. It appeared as though Troupe had a chance to be a productive player in this offense, but never really seized that opportunity. With John Gilmore, Alex Smith and the recently unsuspended Stevens, Troupe had to go.
The Bucs have appealed the one game suspension imposed on CB Elbert Mack for his helmet to helmet hit on Matt Ryan. The NFL will hear said appeal either today or tommorow and make a decision before this weekends’ game vs the Bears.

Postgame Thoughts From Falcons vs Bucs

Dustin Staggers — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:28:37 +0000

Gaines Adams was a beast. 6 total tackles and 2 sacks. If memory serves me correctly, one was from the left side and one from the right side. He has a chance to be a special player.
We are committing way too many penalties. After leading the league in the preseason in penalties, we are now worst in the league. Multiple drives were stalled offensively, and 6 of their 9 points truly came off of drives that were sustained by our penalties.
Outside of a couple of penalties, Jeremy Zuttah I thought blocked extremely well. He is a nice luxury when Davin Joseph gets back.
Once again, Barrett Ruud and Tanard Jackson were all over the field. Ruud reminds me so much of Zach Thomas, the guy is everywhere. We morphed our defense a little bit to accomodate his limitations, but his ability to tackle is top tier.
The Sabby Piscatelli “forward lateral, personal foul, change of possesion, we don’t what the hell we’re talking about so we’ll just give the team thats getting their ass kicked the ball back for a first down,” was ridiculous.
2nd thought on that play…what the hell was Sabby thinking. This isn’t college guy. Make a big play, fall on it. End of story. We gave them the ball back regardless of the stupid call by the ref because of that bonehead play.
Although Brian Griese missed a few long shots down the field, the plays were right there for the taking. A few more practices with the first team and those passes aren’t missed.
John Gilmore showed up in the passing game today. The guy, for being what was called a blocking TE, shows great route running skills in my opinion.
We once again ran for 250 yards. Ernest Graham for the 2nd week in a row busted off a long run. Yesterday’s was for 69 yards. Warrick Dunn does not look like an old player to me. The 17 yard 3rd down draw play was a spectacular run.
It was nice to see rookie Aqib Talib get his first NFL regular season INT. If Phillip Buchanon misses more tackles like he did yesterday, PBuc is going to end up being the 3rd down back and Talib will be starting.
I felt a little bit of pity for Matt Ryan yesterday, tough place to come play in your 2nd NFL start, especially when you’re getting pounded all day.
Hey Michael Turner fantasy football owners, that first week high wore off huh?!! We’re not the Lions!
LB Michael Boley, who is a great player by the way, needs to learn to shut his mouth. He made a big play late in the game when the Falcons were getting trounced, and couldn’t stop running his mouth.
Jeff Garcia was inactive for the game!! I love it. Goodbye Jeffrey, so much for your new deal. ESPN reported yesterday that the Niners didn’t even have interest in him when approached last week.
Derrick Brooks kept him active games streak alive, although I didn’t see him on the field much.
Oh by the way…we spanked that ass. Off to Chicago to face another below average offense this week.

Camp Breakdown – TE

Dustin Staggers — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:35:23 +0000

Tight end is a position that Bruce Allen, and Jon Gruden felt they needed some upgrades at this offseason. Gone is mainstay Anthony Becht, and he has been replaced by two free agent acquisitions. The TE spot is a position that Gruden loves to utilize in his offense, with lots of multiple tight end sets in both throwing and running downs.

Currently on the Roster – Daniel Fells, John Gilmore, Alex Smith, Jerramy Stevens, Tyrice Thompson, Ben Troupe

Gauranteed Roster Spots – John Gilmore, Alex Smith, Ben Troupe

John Gilmore was brought in to replace the blocking that Anthony Becht brought to the table. Gilmore is an excellent run blocker, and a solid chip blocker on passing downs. Alex Smith will start for the 2nd straight season, and looks to expand on his 32 catch, 385 yard season. He has yet to establish himself as a go to downfield threat, or even a red zone threat at this point in his career. Three touchdowns for a tight end in our offense is not sufficient. Ben Troupe has a ton of upside, and a ton of speed. He has the ability to stretch defenses down the middle of the field. He had a 55 catch 530 yard season in 2005, but has been plagued by injuries since then. A tag team receiving tandem of Alex Smith and Ben Troupe has the ability to really open up the sidelines for our receivers on passing downs.

No Chance – Daniel Fells, Tyrice Thompson

Battling for Roster Spots – Jerramy Stevens

Stevens finished the season real strong for the Bucs, that culminated in the game winning touchdown vs the Saints. The last two games of the season he had 8 catches for 103 yards and 3 touchdowns. Everyone has harped on his troubled past, and rightfully so, but the coaching staff and players seem to like Stevens. He should have a solid chance of making the team, although I’m not sure who he might unseat!