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Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Bucs should not fear Guice reports

By James Yarcho

BATON ROUGE, LA - NOVEMBER 25: Derrius Guice of the LSU Tigers runs for fist down during the second half of a game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Tiger Stadium on November 25, 2017 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU won the game 45 - 21. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LA - NOVEMBER 25: Derrius Guice of the LSU Tigers runs for fist down during the second half of a game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Tiger Stadium on November 25, 2017 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU won the game 45 - 21. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /
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There have been some recent reports of LSU running back Derrius Guice’s “immaturity” issues which should not scare the Tampa Bay Buccaneers off in the least.

You can always tell when draft season is in full tilt. This is the time when we start hearing all these crazy reports from every angle about every team and all these prospects. Some positive, some negative, most a load of bull manure. The latest regarding a player many fans would love the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to draft.

Derrius Guice is regarded by many as the second best running back in this class behind Penn State’s Saquon Barkley. Recently, he has had some heat brought on him regarding his maturity and ability to succeed at the next level.

Tom Pelissero of NFL.com reported that teams are hesitant towards Guice due to his being a “high-maintenance kid” and that he would need strict structure and a mentor at the next level to not fizzle out and be a bust.

Check out the video below for Pelissero explaining it more;

Here’s the thing – we’ve reached the point in the off-season where we are less than a week away from round one kicking off and all of a sudden one of the best running back prospects is getting knocked for personality issues? Smells a lot to me like teams trying to drop someone’s stock so they can (hopefully) get a steal later in the first round. *See Dalvin Cook last year*

For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, if this is a target of theirs, there is literally nothing to worry about with this report. This isn’t a kid with a rap sheet a mile long. This isn’t a kid getting in any trouble on or off the field. It’s simply a 20 year old kid being, well, a 20 year old kid.

Ultimately, this seems like much ado about nothing. It’s a pretty weak and semi-meaningless report. It’s tough to dismiss it entirely as we’ve seen immaturity issues derail careers for some of these young prospects – Johnny Manziel, Justin Blackmon, Josh Gordon, etc. That doesn’t mean Guice doesn’t deserve to be drafted within the top fifteen, where he is still likely to go despite this report.

Next: Buccaneers Draft Profile - DE Sam Hubbard

Guice, a former teammate of Buccaneers’ linebacker Kendell Beckwith, would be a dominant force in the backfield for an offense in desperate need of a running back. If Barkely isn’t available, many Bucs fans look to Guice as their second favorite option to address the position.

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