Turnstile Todd speaks

Anyone know if Wharton is injured? I did not see if he was practicing today or not. Willig was working as a starter so if Wharton is healthy he has not beaten out Willig yet.

Meadows looked to be in shape but he did not practice. Tylski was working with the starters today at right guard.

 

They are working Wharton out at Left Tackle, so he's working exclusively with the 2nd team. I can understand that, LT is the hardest position and it will be good to have someone who can play the positition competently in case Gross needs to come out. He needs reps at one position to learn, so we shouldn't be passing him around like a duchea. I didn't like that about Nelson last year.

Once he learns LT, he can look at other positions. I think the plan is to have him be the top backup at both tackle positions.

 

How did Tylski look? I haven't heard anyone mention M. Tuten at all. Was he backing up at RT?

 

..."Steussie is a big man who loves football and doesn't like making mistakes,'' Gruden said Wednesday...

:xyzthumbs

 

My single-sentence smart ass contribution to this thread...

I'm not sure that signing as many old ass FA's as possible and then running through them like using a coal sifter in an attempt to find a few diamonds constitutes "a barrage of awesome offseason moves".

 

no doubt.

 

Jake was not getting eat up by the second string DL. I did not watch Tylski close enough to know how well he did though.....

 

We're talking about the bucs THIS season aren't we? I am fully aware that many of their moves were based purely on the present and not necessarily future success. Since we are playing them at least two times THIS year let's focus on the here and now. They have some old guys in key positions . . . guess what, SO DO WE lets move on from that. Here's the barrage that I'm refering to . . . smart ass:

1). Gold – The guy can flat out play and if he’s 100% (word is, he’s almost there) he is a perfect fit for that D. He’s fast and a sure tackler.
2). Garner – If he is even 90% of his former self Gruden is probably going to have a blast re-molding much of their O around him. He already knows Grudens scheme and he is his type of RB. They plan on keeping him fresh during the week so they can give him at least 20 or so shots at the ball on Sunday.
3). Steussie – As I previously stated he is likely to help them against us more than any of us will ever know before we even face them, preparation-wise by spillin those ample guts. On the field at RT? He's probably better than what they had last year and here is a little insider info for ya that you're not going to like . . . apparently Walker has stepped it up a couple of notches ever since Todd was brought in to repace him at RT. Here's one more point for ya - A durable and healthy Stuessie is worth a lot more than a gimpy Meadows since at least Todd is likely to be on the field of play in every game. It has even been confessed here (by a guy or two who’s opinions TBR posters DO trust) that Steussie would have probably been just fine at RT for us.
4). Deese – Due to his age no one is counting on him for next year and beyond but once again it has been confessed right here that the guy is still a quality LT (even if for this year only and this year IS what we are talking about right?).
5). Stinchcomb – All I can say is “I wish WE had this guy”. He will probably be the strongest component of their line for years, and someone name a G on OUR roster who is this good.
6). Clayton - was my 3rd favorite WR coming out and third best in THIS yrs crop is like a top 10 pick from any other year. This years Boldin? Maybe so, because the way it looks right now he is kicking ass already and he’s likely to be starting for them on opening day. By the time we face them he will probably be about as experienced as whatever corner we have on him.
7). Galloway – He gives them the deep-threat that they have been missing but he’s not an every down 1 or 2. He belongs in the slot and I’m sure that’s where Gruden will end up using him.
8). Comella – He can still knock the snot out of just about anybody. Even if Alstott can’t go they’re covered at FB, especially from a blocking stand point.
9). Edwards – Though he has his faults he’ll be an effective nick for them and actually I wouldn’t mind having him to play the same role for us with Hawkins looking suspicious right now. He is another guy that was spoken well of here as a 3rd corner and that was what they were looking for.
10). Bidwell – Excellent punter, he might be the best in the league . . . once Sauerbrun retires.
11). Allen – He’s yet another pick up of theirs that I wish we had. He’s a ball hawk and an overachiever who just might be future starting caliber eventually. He’ll probably only make some plays on ST this year but keep your eye on him as he develops.
12). Key & Sapp – Addition by subtraction. Kudos to the enemy for finally being clever enough to get rid of two guys who eventually probably did more harm than good.


If a dozen solid additions for this season isn't enough for you there are plenty more reasons why they will be an improved team. Brain Kelly is back to 100% after being put on IR last October and he was a bigger loss than I realized at the time (to be honest I didn’t even remember it until I started doing all this homework on the enemy). Shelton Quarles arm has healed and he is expected back at 100% this year. The emergence of two young guys who continue to impress (Jermaine Phillips & Ellis Wyms) are expected to make more than suitable replacements for Sapp and Lynch. They may have found a better DE than Spires to pair with Rice in Dewayne White. White has apparently shown rapid improvement in camp so far . IF Jurevicius comes back, Rice stays healthy, and Johnson stays healthy and sharp there is not a stronger team on paper this year IMO. Their overall depth looks impressive too and that’s one of the biggest factors that pushed the Panthers to the next level last year. I've already talked about their WR situation and they will probably even add one more guy in the coming weeks that may or may not help. Their TE situation is a little up in the air right now (much like us). I could go on for a while but I’m friggin tired right now and since I'm probably just typing this for my own edification and most of the homers here stopped skimming over this post around 11) or 12) I'm going to hang it up for now. If you can't appreciate one of your own scouting out what appears to be THE competition this year then you just go right on believing whatever you need to believe to stay happy and feel safe.)

 

tampa lover

 

weak