Ryan Fitzpatrick made a good initial impression with Tampa Bay. The rest was so-so. Fitzpatrick completed his first series with a 6-yard touchdown run before the Cincinnati Bengals pulled away to a 23-12 victory over the Buccaneers on Friday night.
The Bucs travel to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars on Saturday. While both teams are looking for their first victory, the coaches are trying to use these games to look at those who can help them once the season begins. Tampa Bay somehow got 84 players onto the field in Philadelphia during Thursday’s 17-9 loss to the Eagles. Those numbers will steadily decrease over the next two weeks. The Jaguars did not send nearly as many players into action, but…
The Bucs rookies and other hopefuls reported to camp on Monday. On Wednesday, they will be joined by the veterans. The beauty of training camp, and opening day for that matter, is that all teams are tied for first place. Expectations are higher for some teams than for others. Some are Super Bowl contenders while others can satisfy their fans just by making the playoffs. It was exactly 40 years ago when the Bucs opened their first training camp. Expectations…
The NFL Draft concluded on Saturday. From the top pick of California’s Jared Goff by the Rams, to Southern Mississippi’s Kalan Reed by Tennessee, 253 players were chosen over the three days. The final selection is traditionally crowned “Mr. Irrelevant.” The draft is a time where schools other than traditional football powers send along top quality professional talent. Harvard, Minnesota, Indiana, William & Mary and many others have high draft choices or multiple players heading to the pro ranks. This…
There are no brainers in the NFL draft and there are cases of rolling the dice. Florida’s three NFL teams took some risks over the first three rounds, but they also hit the draft lottery. Thursday was all about the tale of Miami selecting Ole Miss offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil with the 13th overall pick. Tunsil’s history of NCAA rule violations in college and the photo of him smoking something with a bong dropped him from a top-five pick into…
Thursday’s first round of the NFL draft provided some surprises and disappointments along with plenty of cases where the mock drafts were accurate. Players from Florida schools and native Floridians fell into all three categories. Meeting expectations were the two who were always projected to be chosen within the top 12 picks. Florida State cornerback Jalen Ramsey was in the top five in nearly all mock drafts and his selection by the Jacksonville Jaguars at number five was well received.…
Next Thursday a few Floridians will hear their names called when the NFL Draft begins in Chicago. No fewer than four of the first dozen selections will have Florida ties. Cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey of Florida State and Florida’s Vernon Hargreaves III from Tampa are well known to most college football fans. Both are certain to go among the top dozen picks with Ramsey poised to be among the top three. Another projected top five pick is Ohio State defensive end…
