Throwdowns > Closed

Marlins Fan said 03/29, 10:27 PM
From everything I've been hearing lately it seems as if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are preparing themselves to draft Trent Richardson with the 5th overall pick in the upcoming draft.

Sounds like a boatload of nonsense to me.

Taking a RB that high is completely overvaluing the player or undervaluing the pick, one or the other.

If anything is certain in today's NFL it's that the League in general is being dominated by pass-heavy teams and the few teams that still have "franchise" running backs are nowhere near contention, with the possible exception of the Chicago Bears. (IMO the Bears are a poor example because they still have a pretty damn good QB in Jay Cutler and they proved they're buying into the pass first philosophy by trading for Marhsall and NOT resigning Forte long term)

Richardson is a great RB but he's just not worth a top 5 pick. IMO he's not worth anything in the top 15-20 but this TD is just about TB's #5 pick so we'll leave it at that.

The Bucs already have a pretty good RB in LeGarrette Blount and adding another RB just makes the pick even worse. Even if TB was starved for a RB it would still be foolish drafting T-Rich that high.


Good luck.

Marlins Fan said 03/31, 12:46 AM
Good to TD with you as well, DetroitFan2255.

It's true that TB already has the required pieces for their passing game but there are always better options to take with such a high pick other than wasting it on a RB.

Richardson is a great talent and he's probably gonna be a better NFL RB than Blount (it's arguable, but I'll give Trent the benefit of the doubt) but the Bucs could use that pick for someone much more valuable than a low-priority position like RB.

Out of the 32 NFL teams, Tampa Bay finished 2011 ranked 30th. Defense is obviously a huge need for them and they should spend as many quality draft picks as possible shoring up their sorry unit, particularly when the perceived upgrade from Blount to Richardson would probably be small anyway.

How many good defenders can you think of on TB? Maybe Barber, maybe Talib?

They've spent picks on defense lately that never blossomed into what they had hoped (i.e. Brian Price) but that shouldn't stop them from try, try, trying again.

TB's biggest need is clearly defense, and with the way the NFL has shifted into a passing League I just can't see any way that taking Richardson with the 5th pick could be a smart move.

Marlins Fan said 03/31, 05:58 PM
Based off the NCAA stats you presented it would appear that Blount IS the superior player. Now obviously he played in Oregon's system which at the time had them throwing more than running so his overall total of carries is lower than Richardson's was, but the average yards/per/carry is better, and the percentage of carries that resulted in TDs is also better, so IMO the stats are what they are. I'm not saying Blount is the better RB but his stats sure do stack up nicely against Richardson.

Anyway, this isn't about which college athlete outperformed the other. This is about what should the Bucs do with the 5th pick in the Draft.

And I stand by my statement that TB should NOT draft Trent Richardson. They already have a very capable runningback in Blount and the potential upgrade of Richardson just isn't worth a pick that valuable.

Instead, TB should focus on the defensive side of the ball. Ronde Barber is getting really old and there's gonna be an excellent cornerback available: Morris Claiborne.

Claiborne would be a much wiser and more valuable pick for the Bucs. Any defensive player would be a smarter choice than Richardson.

TB should NOT draft Richardson.