Gil Brandt nominated two Buccaneers first-year players to his annual All-Rookie team.
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Once the time for team accolades is over, it’s always exciting for players to get noticed on an individual basis. For the Buccaneers, two of their rookies were recognized by a top analyst.
Gil Brandt is a name that is synonymous with the NFL and NFL evaluation. For our younger readers that don’t know much about him, he spent 28 years as the VP of Player Personnel for the Dallas Cowboys (1960-1988). He was the first to begin advanced use of computers to aid in the scouting of players, which as we all know is what the entire league does now.
Every year, Brandt puts his evaluation skills to the first year players, naming an All-Rookie team. The Bucs two top rookies were named to the team, Noah Spence and Vernon Hargreaves.
First here are Brandt’s words on Spence:
"A situational pass rusher who was limited to three starts as a rookie, Spence nonetheless contributed 5.5 sacks and 12 quarterback hits. I think he’ll be a steady professional in the years to come."
Now here are his thoughts on Hargreaves:
"Hargreaves was targeted 114 times and gave up touchdowns on just two of his burns. He’s a really good man-coverage guy, and it’s very hard to get separation against him."
Congratulations, of course, to both players.
I do wonder about the choice of Hargreaves for this group. His stat is accurate, but he also allowed over 1,000 yards receiving to his opponents. He has great potential, so Brandt puts him on the list. It’s hard to argue with a man as accomplished as Gil Brandt.
He did nail it right on the head with his Noah Spence assessment.
Next: Five Bucs with Hall of Fame Chances
Congratulations to our two Bucs future stars.