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BY IRA KAUFMAN
The draft of the weekend arrived and left. We are three months from training camp and the opener of the season will be at the rendezvous.
So where is your favorite football team? On an unstable ground.
After the smoke has disappeared from the Victory Cigars distributed in the milking parlor, the Bucs seem to have significant depth problems throughout the watchtower. A new coaching staff has a difficult role to play if this franchise expects to play relevant games by the end of the fall.
GM Jason Licht
Jason Licht is right on one point: you can not meet all your needs with a single writing course. Not if you have as many needs as the perennial inhabitants of the basement of the NFC South.
What happens if Jameis Winston or Peyton Barber goes down?
Can the Bucs realistically expect the same durability of the offensive line?
Can someone replace Jason Pierre-Paul, if necessary?
All NFL teams need more depth, but the Tampa Bay holes seem deeper than most, even after adding eight choices.
Devin White has the look of an impact artist. He shares Kwon Alexander's natural leadership qualities and is a better player. He is not part of this team unless Todd Bowles leads the charge. White will therefore have every opportunity to showcase his prodigious talents.
Buc supporters have not seen a defensive player at White's closing speed since Derrick Brooks wandered into Raymond James Stadium to expose Michael Vick. But let's not dwell too much on the rest of this preliminary class for the coming season.
"Lost souls"
Sean Bunting, Jamel Dean and Mike Edwards may have their day, but that day should be in 2020. I'm focusing on the old choices of premium projects that have not left their mark, the # Lost soul of the past Buccaneer.
Start with Winston, with a career record of 21-33 and a penchant for gifts. Enter Bruce Arians, Byron Leftwich and Clyde Christensen, who are committed to improving Winston's game, even as the stakes are high for its future in the NFL.
And we have not forgotten you, Ronald Jones. You have an average of 1.9 yards per race as a second round pick, which is hard to do even if you try. Yes, you have been hit too often in the backfield because of a bad block, but you have given no reason to believe in Buc supporters that you are a guardian.
Another former second-round pick, Noah Spence, has spent the last two seasons both injured and ineffective. He was selected as defensive and in a 4-3 pattern and will now be asked to play the linebacker in a 3-4 base. He will take up the challenge or launch into the free agent market in 2020, desperate to find a job.
Come down, Vernon Hargreaves, and sit down. You teased Buc fans with a decent rookie season, starting all 16 games in 2016 and posting your only interception in the NFL. Bowles wants you to return to your natural position around the corner and play the cover of the press. You're excited, but do not overdo it … Julio Jones and Michael Thomas are waiting for you.
And as for you, Justin Evans, you have explanations to make. Instead of building a strong rookie year in safety, you took a step back in 2018 before a toe injury landed you in the casualty reserve in December.
There is your troupe of five, a group that will largely determine the fate of the buccaneers of 2019.
They say that coaching is important. I say prove it.
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