Barrett Ruud Will Wait Patiently

The Times posted a brief interview with Barrett Ruud, who is currently in Tampa for offseason workouts, and his attitude toward this season has a different tone to it than last season. This time he’s just going with the flow.

“There’s definitely no animosity right now. I know its a business and I’d like to get something now. But I’m approaching it like a one-year prove it thing.”

He’s not talking about loyalty or the five years he’s already put in “proving it” to the Bucs. He’s just working without complaint because he knows he’s stuck and there’s no point in it. If Ruud escapes Tampa next season, some team is going to get a player with the biggest chip on his shoulder they’ve ever seen as he spends all season showing the Bucs that they fucked up.

Remember Jon Gruden’s book, “Do You Love Football?” Barrett Ruud loves football.

“But this year, seeing how last year didn’t work out as well because obviously I didn’t get what I wanted to accomplish, I figured why not do all the OTAs. I think they’re helpful.

“Practicing football is pretty much going to be better than most things you’re going to be doing otherwise. And I’ve always been a workout guy. I don’t like getting out of shape. I take about three to four weeks off and start right back at it.”

I’m not sure what else the Bucs want out of this guy. The biggest complaint I hear about him is that too many of his tackles happen too far beyond the line. But do they really need to bring in a whole new player to correct that? Isn’t that what coaches are for? If it’s a technique thing, his linebackers coach should help him out with his anticipation. If it’s a strength thing, the strength and conditioning coach should be helping him develop more strength at the point of attack without losing his speed. If the player is 90% of what you want, wouldn’t it be easier to develop the other 10% than to invest a draft pick on a new guy and start from scratch?

If the new Bucs DT (whoever it is) turns out to be as good as advertised and Roy Miller develops nicely, Ruud is going to have a monster year behind them and he’ll be able to write his own ticket with the Bucs or whoever. And it’s going to cost the Bucs more at that point to keep him than it would now.