Stevens Resigns…Bucs Cut Grads
Published: May 30th, 2008By Buccaneer Harbour
The Bucs resigned Stevens to another league minimum one year deal, probably as an insurance policy for if Troupe doesn't pan out. His signing prompted the Bucs to cut a player...QB Bruce Gradkowski.
Well, we knew this one was coming. I mean...really...his play just wasn't effective. In this league you have to have an arm strong enough to threaten the field 30-40 yards down field. Yes, it's even better if you can threaten 60+ yards, but the middle deep routes are crucial to getting defense to keep from stacking the box and coming hard on passes while stuffing runs. Bruce couldn't hit those passes. He wasn't accurate beyond 20 yards, and that allowed defenses to risk a couple of extra defenders in the box. The result was the horrid lack of offense in 2006 and again in the Washington game last year. We had 7 turnovers, didn't cough it up once, and still barely won the game. Quite frankly, while it would of been nice if he could have worked out here, and he seems like a good guy, I'm glad he's no longer a threat to stifle our offense. He had the opportunity to make something of himself here and blew it. McCown and Griese will battle it out for the back-up spot while Johnson learns and Simms does something...err...anything, until he gets traded, whacked, or, by some miracle, beats somebody out of a position. The fact he hasn't been in the OTA's seems to show he's likely a goner as well.
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Well, we knew this one was coming. I mean...really...his play just wasn't effective. In this league you have to have an arm strong enough to threaten the field 30-40 yards down field. Yes, it's even better if you can threaten 60+ yards, but the middle deep routes are crucial to getting defense to keep from stacking the box and coming hard on passes while stuffing runs. Bruce couldn't hit those passes. He wasn't accurate beyond 20 yards, and that allowed defenses to risk a couple of extra defenders in the box. The result was the horrid lack of offense in 2006 and again in the Washington game last year. We had 7 turnovers, didn't cough it up once, and still barely won the game. Quite frankly, while it would of been nice if he could have worked out here, and he seems like a good guy, I'm glad he's no longer a threat to stifle our offense. He had the opportunity to make something of himself here and blew it. McCown and Griese will battle it out for the back-up spot while Johnson learns and Simms does something...err...anything, until he gets traded, whacked, or, by some miracle, beats somebody out of a position. The fact he hasn't been in the OTA's seems to show he's likely a goner as well.
Read the rest of this story »
