2016 first round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Vernon Hargreaves has not gotten off on the right foot with his new coaches.
After an offseason of high praise from the lips of head coach Bruce Arians, 2016 first round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Vernon Hargreaves was on the sideline for day-one of OTAs. Arians’ comments as to why did not instill the same confidence into the fanbase as he had into Hargreaves earlier in the offseason.
“He has got to get his mind ready” (via Greg Auman). That is the reasoning Arians gave as to why Hargreaves was not practicing today with his fellow Buccaneers teammates. Probably poor timing on Hargreaves’ behalf as Tampa Bay selected three defensive backs at the end of April.
Speaking of the rookie defensive backs, Sean Murphy-Bunting and Jamel Dean lined up as the starters with Hargreaves on the sideline. The new regime obviously does not favor the draft picks of the regime a year ago as Carlton Davis nor M.J. Stewart saw first team reps (Stewart is moving from cornerback to safety this season).
Buccaneers: “Big splash” could be on the way
The Buccaneers picked up Hargreaves’ fifth-year option last month, maybe as a way to continue to instill confidence into the former Florida Gator entering his fourth season. However, Hargreaves is not off to a great start to earning the trust of his new coaches and to proving their confidence was not spoken foolishly.
After just three seasons since being the first round pick of general manager Jason Licht and the Buccaneers, Hargreaves is no lock to make the final 53 man roster at the end of camp. Well, he needs to make it to camp first, and given the surplus of defensive backs taken over the past two seasons by the Buccaneers, Hargreaves appears to be in a fight for his life.