Todd Bowles & Mike Biehl: Baker Mayfield is the Leader of the Krewe | Bucs Total Access

Team Reporter Casey Phillips sat down with Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Todd Bowles & VP of Player Personnel Mike Biehl following the Week 7 game against the Detroit Lions. They discussed the importance of player versatility, QB Baker Mayfield's influence on the team, and Rookie WR Emeka Egbuka’s ability to set himself apart.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Three.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
What's three?

Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is Buccaneers Total Access with head coach Todd Bowles.

Speaker 3 (00:09):
That the hell of a job going back, go back,
Go back, Robbie Big Throos, a sideline route. It is
pot Paw, Pop Paul, my Cabots or the guy try
all over it touch down.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Tampa Bay Fire, the Cannons.

Speaker 4 (00:24):
Get up Going.

Speaker 5 (00:25):
Brought to you by Advent Health.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
Whether you're in the stands, on the field, or celebrating
with your greatest fan, Advent Health, make sure you're ready
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Health Exclusive Hospital of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Fire the Cannons,
now your host, Bucks team reporter Casey Phillips and head
coach Todd Bowles.

Speaker 6 (00:46):
Welcome into the Todd Bowles Show Casey Phillips here with
head coach Todd Bowles. A tough one against the Lions.
Tell me just big picture overall takeaways. There are some
definite highs and lows of that one, for.

Speaker 4 (00:56):
Sure, Big Pike.

Speaker 7 (00:57):
There was a lot of fight, a lot of effort,
too many mistakes, too many small things. We didn't do
all the little things right. We got behind the eight
ball too many times on third down, offensively, defensively the
first drive, I thought we missed two tackles that set
them up, and we misfit the run that let them
get out for the seventy eight yard touchdown. And you know,

(01:18):
a lot of fight, but again too many small things
and going into place like that to play against the
team with that talent, you can't make those mistakes.

Speaker 6 (01:25):
Yeah, and I know losing Mike definitely didn't help, but overall,
just the emotions of that were the high of getting
him back and the excitement of that, and then to
lose him again in that same game. What were the
emotions of that and how that affected the game both
from again kind of the mental side, but then also
the game plan side.

Speaker 7 (01:41):
Well, it was tough just seeing the man. You know,
he did so much just to get back out there,
and then for him to go and try to make
a big play and then get hurt on that play.
And the emotions when you see somebody like that, knowing
who he is and what he's accomplished in his career
and what he's done for our team and for each
person in that locker room, is just tough to say. See,
and the guys fought after that. We just made too

(02:03):
many mistakes.

Speaker 6 (02:04):
So what do you know about Mike's health at this point?

Speaker 7 (02:07):
Yeah, the broken claviagle right now, it will be out
most of the year. Toward the end of the year,
if we can get to the playoffs and make a
little run, we'll see if we can get him back.

Speaker 6 (02:16):
I know, you guys finished with two hundred and fifty
one yards, but at halftime they were only fifty eight.
What was the struggle offensively, especially early in the game.
After last couple of weeks it had looked like the
faster starts were becoming a bit more routine.

Speaker 7 (02:30):
Kind of had trouble running football early, and we had
trouble converting on third downs. We couldn't stay on the field.
They were getting soft, the field pretty good with some
covered sacks, and we couldn't get established in the run game.

Speaker 6 (02:41):
I know, Baker having to throw fifty times isn't always
the ideal plan. How much was that just being behind?
How much was that what you were seeing about what
was and wasn't working in the run game and what
all went into him having to throw so many times.

Speaker 4 (02:54):
We weren't behind that much.

Speaker 7 (02:56):
I mean halftime it was like fourteen to three, so
we could have ran a ball a little bit more
and got things going, but we weren't getting much when
we did run, and we can't get our quarterback hit
that many times when he does throw that many times.

Speaker 6 (03:08):
I know, a bit of a lower completion rate than
usual for him, especially a couple games he's only had,
you know, maybe three or four incompletions, and it just
felt like the completion rate was a little lower. And
there's just some misconnections, especially I can think of a
few with him and a Mecca what seemed to not
be working as well efficiency wise in Baker's game.

Speaker 7 (03:26):
It was an off night, a connection between him and
Mecca might get in practice all week as well, so
and then he was not all the way one hundred
percent there. So we were going with half a deck there.
But at the same time, we got to make plays.
We got to find different ways to make plays. We
got to coach it better, We definitely got to play
it better.

Speaker 6 (03:43):
I know Tes now has a touchdown in back to
back games. Tell me what stood out about that play
in particular for.

Speaker 7 (03:49):
Him, He's grown well, he's an act of an athlete
when he gets the ball in space, he got the screenplay,
he can make a couple people miss. He's very elusive
that way, and he found the end.

Speaker 6 (03:58):
Zone knowing now, so again just kind of the injury
situation in your wide receiver room. Is he going to
be asked to maybe even do more or is what
we've seen these last couple of weeks. Is this kind
of the role that you need him to play moving forward?

Speaker 4 (04:10):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (04:11):
It is.

Speaker 7 (04:11):
I mean he's been doing more in the last two weeks.
And as he gets comfortable with the offense, we understand
where he's going to be. He gets a good understanding
of how Baker is going to be and he knows
where to go with the ball, and the more he plays,
the smarter he gets within the offense, and the better
he'll be.

Speaker 6 (04:27):
And then I know Baker took a few sacks. Now
none of them were from Aiden Hutchinson, which is probably
not how we would have gambled that would have happened.

Speaker 2 (04:34):
But overall, how.

Speaker 6 (04:34):
Did you feel about the pass protection and then facing
a guy like Aiden Hutchinson, who we had seen last
year in that matchup, how much he can wreck a game.

Speaker 7 (04:42):
There were some games they had that got us off,
got him off his spot, but really we had some protection,
and when we weren't anybody opened down the field at
times and he had to hold the ball to move
out of the pocket.

Speaker 4 (04:53):
And get moving.

Speaker 7 (04:54):
So when you have to keep the tight end in
the back end the help out in protection, it's tough
to get three guys open when they got a five
or six back there covering.

Speaker 6 (05:01):
It's going to be fascinating if there's ever a game
where the offensive line is the same as it was
the week before completely, But getting Mike Jordan back into
the lineup after he had been banged up a bit,
what did you see If what he provides in that
right guard.

Speaker 7 (05:14):
Spot, Mike is key in pass protection. They got a
lot better in the run game. For him to be
out as long as he hasn't come back, he was
a big plus for us.

Speaker 6 (05:22):
I know we talked a bit about how maybe you
guys could have run the ball a little bit more.
We saw Rashad had ten carries for thirty eight yards.
What did and didn't work well? Whenever he was able
to get the ball.

Speaker 4 (05:32):
We didn't stick with it.

Speaker 7 (05:34):
We couldn't get a groove going and the offensive flow
going as far as the play calling was concerned, and
we got behind the eight ball a few times with
a few penalties, but we got to stick with it
no matter what. We got to make sure we get
those fifty plus passes down.

Speaker 6 (05:49):
And what did you see from the offensive line in
the run game in particular.

Speaker 7 (05:52):
They fought, I mean they were hitting Detroit was bringing
one more than we could actually block. And you know,
sometimes the back has to make a miss, sometimes.

Speaker 4 (05:59):
They make good play.

Speaker 7 (06:00):
But that was a good defense we played, and you
got to give them a credit.

Speaker 6 (06:04):
And do you feel like just giving them kind of
credit on the third downside, I know, four of sixteen
not necessarily the third down conversion.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
Rate you're hoping for on offense?

Speaker 6 (06:12):
Was it more about what the third down situation was
in terms of you know, third and longs or was
it execution?

Speaker 2 (06:18):
What did you see in that area?

Speaker 7 (06:20):
We didn't execute, But they did a good job. I mean,
they really did a good job plaster and receivers and
we tried to chip and keep guys in more.

Speaker 4 (06:26):
But they did a good job of.

Speaker 7 (06:28):
Matching up the routes and kind of game planning us
and scouting us.

Speaker 4 (06:31):
So we got to do a better job.

Speaker 6 (06:33):
I know Kate had some tough calls go against him.
It felt like all the most controversial plays of the
game who were with Kate involved, but they were also
happening while he was playing very tough. He was definitely
our leading receiver. Seven catches, sixty five yards. What did
you see from his game?

Speaker 7 (06:49):
He started about a week ago. He's continuing to pick
up where he left off at and the more the
receivers get hurt, the more his play picks up. But
Kate's capable of doing that. Very good receiver, very underrated receiver,
and he helps us a great deal.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (07:02):
Over the last three games, he has sixteen receptions for
one hundred and ninety seven yards, which is the second
most receiving yards by a tight end during those weeks,
do you see him needing to step up even more
in the receiving route because of the wide receivers going down?
Kind of similar to last year. How are you also
still now needing him to be helping from an offensive
line standpoint? And the way that that's sort of a

(07:24):
tug of war.

Speaker 4 (07:24):
Game with him, Kay, he can do both.

Speaker 7 (07:26):
I mean, as the receivers go down, his production picks up,
but they can pick up when they're healthy as well,
And he still does a great in a run game.
He blocks, he chips, he does everything from a fullback
to an h back to a tight end standpoint four,
So very vertatile piece for US.

Speaker 6 (07:41):
Casey Phillips here with head coach Todd Bowles, I know
the run game is always something that this defense tends
to pride itself on. One hundred and sixty four rushing
yards for them, we knew that their two headed monster
is definitely a rough thing to go against.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
What did you not like about the.

Speaker 6 (07:57):
Run game and just the challenges of facing someone as
fat actually like Gibbs.

Speaker 7 (08:01):
It was really just the one play. The one play
went for seven eight yards that puts you over one
hundred right there. We misfited. We had it gapped out,
everybody had a one gap defense. We gotta play it better.
We had a young guy in there. He misfit the
play and we got to play it better. Other than that,
they did a good job in a run game for
the most part. So but the one play you can't

(08:23):
take back with seven eight yards.

Speaker 6 (08:25):
What have you seen of the challenges this season overall
and then this game in particular of facing running backs
when it comes to the screen game them out in space,
a little bit. What are the ways that you'd like
to see a little more from your defense in that area?

Speaker 7 (08:38):
Got to take better angles. It's all fundamental and technique.
When we play it the right way, we make the play.
When we don't play it the right way, we get
overly aggressive trying to run over the top and they
cut back unless we miss tackles. And we miss tackles
in the first drive.

Speaker 6 (08:51):
What's the challenge of when it is missing tackles, when
that's not something you really get to practice a whole
lot in terms of actually live tackling. What are the
ways you guys try to make improvements in that area
when that is something struggling.

Speaker 7 (09:03):
Oh, we try to get to the ball, make sure
the efforts there. We practice fundamentals and bags all you want,
but in the game, you really have to make plays,
and you got to be dialed in. You got to
have body position, you got to have body control, you
got to have your head up, and you got to
hit and wrap.

Speaker 6 (09:18):
I know that we knew that, Gibbs and then I'm
on Ross Saint Brown. We're going to be you know,
their top two guys that they go to, very talented people.
What did you see from aman Rossaint Brown, especially in
that first half, and then the difference of being able
to limit him more in the second half.

Speaker 7 (09:32):
Oh, we fell down on the touchdown, that was one
of the plays we fell down on.

Speaker 4 (09:36):
If you take away.

Speaker 7 (09:37):
That, you kind of limited him, Okay, and it wasn't
that much of a factor. So we played decent football
when we didn't step on our own.

Speaker 6 (09:46):
Foot It did seem like there were a few times
that the footing wasn't quite there for the guys. Was
there something turf wise or was it just kind of
a few individual.

Speaker 7 (09:54):
Circumstances individual circumstances.

Speaker 6 (09:57):
How about some of the other struggles of chunk. I
know that aman Rossaint Brown had the twenty seven yard touchdown,
and then he had a twenty four or sixteen and
a twelve. What did you notice about some of those
individual plays and what could have gone a little better?

Speaker 7 (10:09):
Uh, twenty seven yard or twenty four year id one
ed a two We didn't even take them. We had
a guy on them, the guy didn't take him, so
he's wide open and he ran down the field. The
other two, again were miss tackles. Miss tackles, and when
you miss tackles against a guy like that he's gonna
burn you, and he did.

Speaker 6 (10:26):
I know that. You guys held them to three of
thirteen on third down, which is only twenty three point
one percent. That is the lowest third down conversion percent
for them this season.

Speaker 2 (10:36):
What did you guys think you did really well there?

Speaker 7 (10:38):
Tried to take away Saint Brown, really tried to take
away Saint Brown.

Speaker 4 (10:42):
He was their first look.

Speaker 7 (10:43):
We had some pressures dialed up a little bit for
golf that we got home with and they did a
good job disguising.

Speaker 6 (10:50):
I know Tyke Smith had a team leading thirteen tackles,
which you know, whenever it's a dB leading the team
in tackles, we can talk about whether that's a good
thing or a bad thing. But thirteen tackles for him,
two tackles for loss and a sack. How impressive was
his game overall from what he ended up being asked
to do in some of the plays, he made.

Speaker 4 (11:07):
Like he's tough.

Speaker 7 (11:08):
He's a linebacker on the safety's body and the Nickels body,
but he plays the run. We asked ot strong safety
to do a lot and we put him down in
the box and he becomes an extra backer. So him
having thirteen tackle is not a surprise because he can
make those plays than he did.

Speaker 6 (11:23):
And then I know he's one of only two defensive
backs with ten plus tackles, a sack, and multiple tackles
for loss in a single game this season. You kind
of mentioned the way that you use him, but him
getting tackles for loss on such a consistent basis, it
feels like such a specialty for him this year. What
do you feel like it is about his skills and
then the way that you like to use him that
have added up to that particular stat being something he's

(11:46):
getting a lot of.

Speaker 7 (11:47):
Very instinctive football player, knows how to play the game,
studies it well, tough competitor when he's in there. He'll
go up against anybody, as he saw against San Francisco
the week beforehand. But very smart, very tough, has a
nose for the football and he makes place.

Speaker 6 (12:04):
And how about Servasier's game. He had the next highest
on the team in tackles with twelve. He also had
a sack. What did you see from his game overall?
And then especially that sack and what went so well
well once.

Speaker 7 (12:14):
He settled down He got over aggressive in the first
series and missed the tackle or two as well. So,
but he got back to the quarterback very well.

Speaker 4 (12:22):
He avoided the block.

Speaker 7 (12:23):
On the running back, got back to the quarterback well. Again,
it's just the open field stuff. He's got to play
the back hip and go inside out.

Speaker 6 (12:31):
I know you said we don't know yet Hassan's health situation.
Waiting on the MRIs to come back. What did you
see from his game before he got hurt.

Speaker 7 (12:38):
Now, he was helping us. He was helping us. He
had a player too, he'd liked to have back. But
you know, he held up good in the run game.
They tried to run it that way, didn't get anything
going from there, and we.

Speaker 4 (12:48):
Was just close to a couple of sacks that he
got a close on.

Speaker 6 (12:51):
If he does miss time, who are the guys that
you really see needing to step up? And how do
you try to fill a hole like that that Hassan has.

Speaker 7 (12:58):
Well, Nelly and Brads played and those two guys have
to step up. We have full confidence in them because
they've played the last two years.

Speaker 2 (13:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (13:06):
Yeah, two tackles for loss and a sack force fumble.
It really feels like he's kind of turned to a
page in a corner of vamping it up a little bit.

Speaker 2 (13:14):
In these last couple of weeks.

Speaker 7 (13:15):
He's starting to come around. You know, he keeps working,
he's getting off blocks, he's using this counter move. Now,
early on he was just using one move and he
was staying with it, but he's using this counter once
it doesn't work and he's coming back the other way
and it's paying off for him.

Speaker 6 (13:29):
Which of his plays really stands out to you from
that game as being something that you were really excited
to see in the moment for what it means for him.

Speaker 4 (13:35):
Really the sack fumble.

Speaker 7 (13:36):
You know, he just gets sacks and he doesn't go
for the ball, and trying to get him to go
for the ball for the longest, tell him it counts
just the same.

Speaker 4 (13:43):
So for him to get the sack fumble, that was good.

Speaker 6 (13:46):
And then I know that you guys now rank tied
for second in the NFL with three stripsacks this season,
and since you got here in twenty nineteen, you guys
lead the NFL with forty nine.

Speaker 2 (13:57):
That's five more than any.

Speaker 6 (13:58):
Other team during that Clearly, that's something that you're trying
to emphasize. And why do you think that is something
your team has been so good at throughout the entire
tenure review being here.

Speaker 7 (14:08):
They turnovers. We try to practice it all the time,
especially in the summer. Those guys carry it over. They
understand the importance. They're given the offense, the ball back,
and they carry it out.

Speaker 6 (14:17):
You mentioned with Hassan potentially going down, Anthony Nelson being
one of the people who would have to step up.
He got his first sack of the season. What did
you like about that play?

Speaker 4 (14:25):
This effort and now he gives great effort.

Speaker 7 (14:28):
He cut him off for the contain on the boot leg,
then he fell back in and made the play.

Speaker 4 (14:32):
And he makes those kind of plays all the time.

Speaker 6 (14:34):
What are the things about him that we don't always
know to appreciate if he's not making a play like
that that you know, we give Yah yah a lot
of attention, Hassan a lot of attention. What is it
about Anthony that fans might not know?

Speaker 7 (14:45):
Solid extremely smart, he's very reliable, he never.

Speaker 4 (14:50):
Gets fools on a boot leg.

Speaker 7 (14:52):
He's a lot stronger than you think, he's a lot
quicker than you think he's Actually he's not our most
athletic guy, but he's a very good athlete and you
know he does this euro step every time he makes
a play that he looks like he was a good
basketball player on air. But Nellie's very smart, He's very heavy,
he's very reliable. He can play along the line of scrimmage,

(15:15):
he can play in space, and he is always in
the right place at the right time.

Speaker 6 (15:19):
What did you think of the pressure you guys were
able to get on golf overall?

Speaker 7 (15:24):
I thought we got some. I thought when they were
time to get pressure, I thought we got some. We
have four sacks. We could have gotten a few more.
Let him out of the pocket once or twice. But
when we got him in passing situations, I thought we
got to him.

Speaker 2 (15:36):
Jamelle, another interception.

Speaker 6 (15:38):
He's now gotten three and four games, is third for
the season, is tied for third most in the NFL
so far. Just tell me the level that he's been
playing at and what especially these last few games, consistently
getting these interceptions.

Speaker 2 (15:51):
What do you think has led to this point.

Speaker 7 (15:53):
He's really been studying and the game slowed down for him.
He's really been locked in understanding situations and playing the
right technique, and coach Ross has done a great job
preparing him every week, getting them out of practice early
and going through little things that.

Speaker 4 (16:06):
He uses in the game.

Speaker 2 (16:07):
And what did he do well in that interception?

Speaker 7 (16:10):
He read his keys, He read his keys, he sunk back,
he was in the cloud cover similar to last week,
and he saw a three level pass and he showed
up early. Then he backed out late and I don't
even think he saw him, and he made a head
of a play.

Speaker 6 (16:23):
What did you see from the rest of your secondary,
and especially you know, seeing Morrison getting back in there,
and you had Zion.

Speaker 2 (16:29):
And Parish posta.

Speaker 6 (16:30):
This was the closest to healthy you've been in that
secondary in quite a while.

Speaker 2 (16:33):
So what did you notice from the rest of them?

Speaker 7 (16:35):
Started out a little Jumpie had to calm him down.
Once they calmed down, they played very good man coverage,
and you know, he still got to work on some
tackling from an angle standpoint. We got to get that
taken care of. But for the most part, they play
solid ball on the back end. We just got to
be consistent throughout because one play for a dB is
like ten plays.

Speaker 4 (16:53):
For anybody else.

Speaker 6 (16:54):
Let's get into that Saints game a bit. Is it
better or worse to face a division opponent on AH
You have more familiarity, which might help from a game
planning standpoint, but it's also a more important game on
some levels, So what are the feelings on that for you?

Speaker 7 (17:08):
It's better to face anyone in a short week, especially
after loss, because you can get it to try to
get it behind you right away and you got to
go right to work and you don't have time to
drag it out. But the division opponent is the division opponent.
They are the Saints, but they have a new coaching staff,
so they have new schemes on both sides of the ball,
So we really got to do our homework.

Speaker 6 (17:27):
How about Spencer Ratler, what have you seen about him
to start this season is compared to maybe facing him
in the past and his role on that offense we.

Speaker 7 (17:34):
Faced him as a rookie. He's a lot more confident now.
He's really doing a lot with the football. He's using
his legs a lot more. They have design quarterback runs
for him, and he's really spreading it out all over
the field. So you can see the confidence he's playing
with and you can see how they open the offense
up for him, and you know he's making plays.

Speaker 6 (17:51):
And what do you see from Alvin Kamara and just
who he is at this point in his career, the
way they like to use.

Speaker 4 (17:56):
Him, he's exactly the same.

Speaker 7 (17:58):
I mean, he's elusive, he's quick, a lot of power,
He's got a lot of speed. He's gonna remind you
a little bit of Gibbs from last week. So that's
not good news for us. So we got to make
sure we gang.

Speaker 6 (18:08):
Tackle when you facebook player like that that is a
little similar to someone recently? Does that help to go
back to back weeks? Facing someone that can have a
similar challenge.

Speaker 7 (18:17):
Never helps Facing talent like that. You always want the
slow guys. So when he face talent like that, you
got to be very disciplined, and we got to be
on our p's and q's.

Speaker 6 (18:26):
Well, if you want to face the slow guys, Chris
Olave not gonna help on that front. What have you
seen from how he's developed and grown into such a
weapon for them?

Speaker 7 (18:33):
Came back and he's playing really well. Him and Shahida
both playing really well. On the outside. They're putting them
all over the field, moving them around. He's running all
the routes and you know when he catches it, he
knows what to do with it.

Speaker 4 (18:44):
So he has a lot of yak yards after the catch.

Speaker 6 (18:47):
I know, defensive Endcarl Granderson's leading the team in sacks
and tackles for loss. What kind of a challenge does
he present up front?

Speaker 7 (18:53):
Tough, physical, hard nosed as they always have been. So
it's gonna be a tough challenge for us.

Speaker 6 (18:59):
And then of course tomorrow Davis, a guy that's been
solid for quite a while.

Speaker 2 (19:02):
He's leading them in tackles per usual. So what are his.

Speaker 6 (19:06):
Biggest strengths and the things that are hard to face
about him?

Speaker 7 (19:09):
Three down backer, He's a heck of a blitzer. He's
a heck of a sideline the sideline linebacker as well,
and he can cover, so he's a three down backer.
He has the whole gamut. He plays everywhere, he moves everywhere.
He's the leader of their defense, and you know, you
got to know where he is on the field.

Speaker 6 (19:26):
Why do you think their record is maybe deceiving of
their talent and ability to make sure you don't kind
of get the team doesn't just see the record and
overlook them.

Speaker 7 (19:34):
You can't see the record, you can see the talent.
The talents there. They have a new staff, so they
getting their feet wet and they getting grounded every week
and you can see you come in this league, you
gotta play every week or you're gonna get beat.

Speaker 6 (19:45):
Well, coach, thank you so much as always for your
time and good luck this next week.

Speaker 4 (19:49):
Thank you.

Speaker 6 (19:49):
Coming up next is Vice President of Player Personnel Mike
Beeal on Buccaneers Total Access brought to you by Advan Health.

Speaker 2 (19:55):
This is Buccaneers Radio.

Speaker 1 (19:57):
Buccaneers Total Access brought you why advant Health, Exclusive Hospital
of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Dropping back before we've buttoned
the flitz of coming after the home fussy sack from
the back field. That's a forty two yard line.

Speaker 4 (20:10):
Petavea has his fourth sack of the season.

Speaker 1 (20:12):
Now more with Bucks team reporter Casey Phillips.

Speaker 2 (20:15):
All right, welcome back.

Speaker 6 (20:16):
In first half of the show on Buccaneers Total Access
brought to you by Advan Health, we had head coach
Todd Bowles. Now I am so excited to be joined
by Vice President of Player Personnel Mike Beal.

Speaker 2 (20:25):
Mike, thank you so much for joining us.

Speaker 5 (20:26):
You bet, thanks, Casey.

Speaker 2 (20:27):
Uh like, I'm imagining what two or three hours of sleep?
If that?

Speaker 5 (20:31):
Yeah, that's probably about right.

Speaker 6 (20:32):
You just watched the film, which I'm sure again great
great mood coming into the show.

Speaker 2 (20:36):
So you drew the.

Speaker 6 (20:37):
Short straw on it being a late night and a loss,
So I really appreciate you coming in to chat with us,
and I just figured we'd kind of start with just
takeaways from the game overall, especially now that you've seen
the film again.

Speaker 8 (20:47):
Yeah, I mean, it was one of those games where
we knew going into it was gonna be a tough
opponent and it's gonna be a physical game, and that's
what it was. And we didn't have our best last night.
But it's one game, so we just got to put
that one behind us and move on.

Speaker 6 (21:00):
In New Orleans, I was thinking about you all the
injuries this season. It's been such a huge storyline for
the Bucks and then even the league overall. It just
feels like so many big name guys, quantity of guys
going down. How do injuries affect the scouting department in
particular that we always talk about Maybe you know the
training staff and all of that, but for you guys,
whether it's one injury, a bunch of injuries, how does

(21:20):
that affect what you guys are doing the rest of
that week?

Speaker 8 (21:23):
Yeah, I mean really it's when you have a number
of injuries at a certain position that's when it really
gets tough. So then we have to step up and
try to you know, have workouts and bring guys in
to just.

Speaker 5 (21:34):
Fill out the roster.

Speaker 8 (21:35):
First of all, it's it's hard to find, you know,
really good players this time of year that are going
to help you. But you at least have to be
able to put people in practice squad and things like
that to where you can actually have a practice. So
that's that's the big thing is when we have lots
of injuries, it's just we got to put everything in
motion as far as having workouts, bringing guys in, making
roster moves, things like that, and that gets tricky sometimes,

(21:57):
especially like I said, if you haven't met a bunch
of injuries at one position.

Speaker 6 (22:01):
I know that Tayke is a guy who has had
some really great games recently. We saw another great one
in last night's game, and leading the team in tackles,
you know, getting multiple tackles for loss in multiple games,
getting sacks. What are the things that it's been like
for you guys as scouts? Did you realize the level
he could play at? And then especially being able to
do it now at different positions, to see what he's done,

(22:22):
you know, as a rookie coming in at a difficult
position in this defense and then now moving so seamlessly
to safety and still putting up these kind of numbers.

Speaker 8 (22:30):
Yeah, I think we all thought ultimately he was going
to be a safety. So I think he's at his
natural position now. He did a heck of a job
last year when he filled in a nickel to your point,
in Todd Bowles defense, that's one of the hardest positions
to play. So I just think that he's at his
natural position now. He's playing fast, he's playing physical. He's
been one of our most consistent defenders the whole season,

(22:51):
and we're just we're excited to see what he's going
to do going forward. But I really love the physicality
that he brings to our defense, and he kind of
sets the tone out there.

Speaker 6 (22:58):
Yeah, And so there's the physical and then, of course,
like we said, the versatility. And I feel like I've
heard a lot of you guys on your staff talk
about the importance of versatility as you evaluate a player.
I'm trying to imagine, if all things are equal, of
a player who is just maybe unbelievable at one thing
versus a player who's almost as good but maybe at
multiple things. Is that gonna win out in y'all's mind

(23:19):
in the department, because we've seen, especially in that secondary
guys like TAIKEI, guys like Izzy and even Jacob Parrish
already of how important it is to you guys that
they can be able to do multiple things.

Speaker 4 (23:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (23:29):
I mean, ultimately, we just like good football players. I mean,
that's the bottom line. And usually if they're smart, they're
able to move around and do different things. I think
when you get somebody who's just like the old school
strong safety for example, that it could just play in
the box and he can't play deep and he doesn't
have the range, like those guys are kind of a
dying breed. There's not a lot of those in the

(23:50):
A League anymore. So you have to be able to
come down in the box, you have to be able
to play deep from depth, you have to be able
to step out at nickel if we need it. Like so,
we're definitely looking for versatility. Christianizzy is another one of
those guys. Parish you said, like, those guys can do
it all. And then of course Antoine you know, he's
he's been the staple back there and played about every
position possible. So that's definitely something as a scouting department

(24:13):
we're taking into account and we're looking for you know,
you being.

Speaker 6 (24:16):
A part of Jason leistaff. You guys have been here
through several different coaches. How much does a coach's scheme
on both sides of the ball you get a different
coordinator or a different head coach, how much does that
affect the scouting that you do, because you'll hear things
like oh, bolls loves like you know, a long corner,
like a long fast corner, things like that, or is
it just for you guys, like, hey, we're drafting good

(24:37):
players it you know, it doesn't matter and then we'll
figure it out. How much can the staff changing affect
what you guys do going into.

Speaker 2 (24:44):
The next year.

Speaker 5 (24:44):
Yeah, we have.

Speaker 8 (24:45):
Every time we've had a coaching change, we always have
meetings with the you know, the coordinators of the head
coach whoever it is, to figure out what they look
for at every position. So that does factor in. But
I think as a scouting staff and really as a team,
we've we've done a very good job of not putting.

Speaker 5 (25:00):
Parameters on certain players.

Speaker 8 (25:02):
I know there's certain teams that they have to have
six foot corners otherwise they're not They're going to take
them off the board. Like, we don't do that because
I think you eliminate a lot of good football players
when you do that. So to your point, I think
we just we try to take really good football players
and the best players that are available. But I do
think that you know the scheme and what the coaches
are looking for does factor into it a little bit.

Speaker 6 (25:23):
We're talking to Vice president of player Personnel Mike Beale,
so looking at the depth of that being a huge
part of what you guys do is not just finding
you know your stars, but really making sure that knowing
injuries will happen at some point. The depth and I
was thinking about wide receiver of unfortunately just seeing how
many injuries you guys have dealt with this season, but
to see people liked Tez like Shep, you know, like

(25:45):
Cam Johnson stepping into these roles.

Speaker 2 (25:47):
How proud are you.

Speaker 6 (25:48):
Of the depth that that position in particular, and why
does it feel like that is a position you guys
have been pretty good at finding some more of these
unsung potential heroes.

Speaker 8 (25:57):
I think I'm super proud of our staff because you know,
you're talking about not high picks and a lot of
these guys, you know, with Tesbyan picked where he was
in the seventh round, Cam was a free agent. Like
these things are what a scouting staff you get excited about,
right because this is what we spend all of our
time doing. Our area scouts are out there pounding the
pavement and trying to find guys like this to come

(26:18):
in that they see something in these players that think
that they could can eventually contribute to our team and
you and then when you see it come to fruition,
it's exciting as a scouting staff. But I just think
that you know, receiver and then you know, we've had
a rash of injuries at corner two, and I think
our depth that both of those positions is, you know,
really had to step up this year, and I think
those guys have And it's just those those positions are

(26:40):
such a hard position to play, just with the sheer
volume of running and hitting and everything that they have
to do. You're gonna have injuries throughout the season. And
we've probably had a little bit more this year than
we would like, but I think the guys have really
stepped up and done a nice job.

Speaker 6 (26:55):
Yeah, let's talk a little bit more about a Mecca
in particular, take us through the draft process with him.
Of way, he came on y'all's radar and when you
started realizing that no matter what you might have thought
about position of need, which turned out this ended up
being one, But at the time it didn't seem like
as big of a priority. Maybe at what point did
you guys just know if he's there, this is our guy,

(27:16):
like who cares about position?

Speaker 2 (27:18):
Almost at this.

Speaker 8 (27:18):
Point, well, when he came on the radar, it was
probably his sophomore year, like when he was just making
plays at Ohio State, you know, in a crowded receiver room,
but you you know, this a Mecca BUCA guy just
kept stepping up and catching your eye.

Speaker 5 (27:30):
So he was on our radar for a long time.

Speaker 8 (27:33):
And then he did it the right way and you know,
went back to school and tried to you know, finish
with national championship, which they did. But then when we
start through the draft process, like when we talked through
guys like it's I wouldn't say it's very rare, but
It is kind of rare when you have a unanimous
opinion on a receiver, and everybody that read their reports

(27:53):
on a Mecca, it was it was unanimous. It was
just like, this guy is just a good football player.
He understands the game, he knows how to play the position,
he knows how to get open. He may not be
elite in some areas, you know, athletically, but he just
he's just a really good player. And then of course
when the coaches get involved and you know, it was
the same thing with them, it was just like, yeah,
this guy's a kind of a no brainer. So when

(28:15):
you go through the draft process and you know, when
you're picking where we were picking too, it's not like
we had a top five pick, so to me, like
when you get down on those the later picks in
the first round, you're just looking for quality football players
that will fit into your culture and what you're doing,
and a Mecca.

Speaker 5 (28:30):
Was all of that.

Speaker 8 (28:31):
So and when you have, you know, unanimous between the
coaches and the scouting staff, like it's it's just it's
a no brainer. So it was an easy pick for us.

Speaker 6 (28:39):
Yeah, and we hear so much of course about his
off the field, his mental side, the preparation, the fact
that he's never acted or operated.

Speaker 2 (28:45):
Like a rookie.

Speaker 6 (28:47):
It just feels like people can't say enough about the
person that is a Mecca, tell us about some of
the x'es and o's of what makes him so NFL
ready at that and playing that position at such an
elite level that it separates him from maybe other wide
receivers or other rookies.

Speaker 8 (29:00):
I mean, I would say the first thing is just
his maturity and his decision to go back for a
next year at Ohio State. You know, if he would
have came out the year before, it probably would have
been the same. But I think just the mature decision
to go back and do that is where you kind
of start with. But then he's just a natural instinctive
football player and not everybody has that. You know, there's
a lot of people that are, you know, off the

(29:21):
charts athletically that don't have the instincts. That don't they're
not as good a player as a guy like a Mecca.
To me, so he's just I mean, his maturity, his
willingness to come in and to learn from Mike and
Chris and the good room we've had, and you know,
developed the relationship he has with Baker. I mean, you
don't see that from rookies a lot. And again, I
think we kind of knew that coming in, and we

(29:42):
knew what we were getting when we drafted him, and
then he's almost exceeded expectations.

Speaker 6 (29:46):
I know that maybe last night is not the game
that Baker would say is his best so far this season,
but watching no matter who has been out there at
wide receiver, no matter what injuries have occurred, the fact
that to this point Baker was just delivering no matter what.
How impressive is that from his angle and just the
way that you hear how important that chemistry is, and
it felt like he somehow had chemistry with everybody, no

(30:09):
matter who was out there. So how impressive was that?
And how do you guys feel like they were able
to build that?

Speaker 8 (30:13):
Yeah, I mean, I just Baker Mayfield's a stud. Like
That's where what I'll say. I mean, he's he is
the leader of our team. He's and he's been like
that since the day he got here. You know, he's
endeared himself to everybody on this team. And it's and
it's not just the way he carries himself, you know,
on the field, everybody sees the competitive nature. It's the
things that he does off the field in the locker room,

(30:35):
and I think that's where you kind of developed the
chemistry and.

Speaker 5 (30:37):
In practice and things like that.

Speaker 8 (30:39):
And Baker is one of those guys that it doesn't
matter who's out there, He's just you know, he's gonna
go to work, he's gonna practice, and he's gonna you know,
prepare regardless of who's playing.

Speaker 5 (30:48):
So I can't say enough about him.

Speaker 8 (30:50):
And you know, the job that he's done this year,
and you know, yeah, last night probably wasn't his best night,
but that's a tough place to play, and you know,
there's a lot of factors that go into that. But
I'm glad he's our quarterback.

Speaker 6 (31:01):
Yeah, I am too, and I know everybody in Bucks
Nation is. And it's funny because I feel like my
algorithm has become a series of videos showing old takes
of Baker's done, Baker's wash then now and showing how
everybody's chanting them VP and things like that. Why do
you feel like your scouting staff was able to identify

(31:21):
that Baker could work well here?

Speaker 8 (31:24):
I mean, I just think that he was the number
one overall pick for a reason, right, Like it wasn't.

Speaker 5 (31:29):
Because he couldn't play this game.

Speaker 8 (31:31):
And sometimes it just takes a change of scenery and
you know, a certain organization to rally around you to
help that.

Speaker 5 (31:39):
But I again, I don't think it's just the Bucks.

Speaker 8 (31:42):
I think it's Baker too, and his maturity and just
his willingness to do whatever it takes. And I just
it's been a great marriage to right. I mean, we've
embraced him, he's embraced the players and the culture that
we have here, and he's taken us to, you know,
a different level, which is really fun to see.

Speaker 6 (32:00):
We're going to take a quick break here on Buccaneers
Total Access brought to you by Advan Health. We'll have
more coming up here with Vice President of Player Personnel
Mike bial This is Buccaneers Radio.

Speaker 1 (32:08):
You were listening to Buccaneers Total Access with head coach
Todd Bowles and Bucks team reporter Casey Phillips, brought to
you by ad Van Health, Exclusive Hospital of the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers.

Speaker 6 (32:21):
Welcome back into Buccaneers Total Access brought to you by
advent Health. We have Vice President of Player Personnel Mike
Bile here with us. You know, we talked a little
bit about the secondary earlier, but I wanted to dive
in a little bit more to these draft picks from
this year, Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish. Let's start with
Benjamin Morrison. I know it's always tough when a rookie
has some injuries early on of how hard that can

(32:41):
be for getting them ingratiated into the team and getting
them dialed up to NFL speed. When he has been
able to be healthy and active and out there, what
are the things that most excite you guys about what
he could.

Speaker 2 (32:50):
Do for this team.

Speaker 8 (32:51):
Yeah, I mean, I just think it's, first of all,
you know, we talked about it earlier, with his size
and length and his athletic ability, Like he's got a
lot of skills that you look for to play the
corner position in our league.

Speaker 5 (33:00):
So that's where it starts.

Speaker 8 (33:03):
He's another you know, smart, mature young man that has
has just been really coachable and learning from the coaches
and the guys in that room. And then I do
think that injuries factor into that, right because I think
before his latest injury, he was actually starting to play
really good and he was getting more reps and you
can kind of see him coming on a little bit
and then.

Speaker 5 (33:23):
He has another setback.

Speaker 8 (33:24):
So it's just one of those things where it's tough
and hopefully we get him healthy and we're gonna need him.
I mean, as we've seen with the you know, the injuries,
and we're just gonna we're gonna need him at some
point in the season. So we're expecting big things from him,
not only the season, but going forward. I think he's
you know, he's got a chance to be a really
good player.

Speaker 4 (33:39):
In this league.

Speaker 2 (33:40):
Yeah, and then how about Jacob Parrish.

Speaker 6 (33:41):
Tell me what you remember about the draft process with
him and when he started really standing out.

Speaker 8 (33:45):
Yeah, he was one of those guys that was a
little bit late to the process because he was an
underclassman that nobody, not a lot of people were talking about.
So he ended up going to the Senior Bowl, So
we got that was kind of my first exposure to him.

Speaker 5 (33:57):
Our scouts you know, of course.

Speaker 8 (33:58):
Knew about him, but he wasn't getting a lot of
buzz like in nationally, in the media and things like that.
So he did okay in the in the Senior Bowl
enough to like catch your eye a little bit. But
then when you when I turned on the tape, it
was like, holy smokes, this guy's like might be one
of the stickiest cover corners that's in the draft. I
mean he's undersize, which you know, so that you know,
going back to what I said, some teams probably discounted

(34:19):
that a little bit, but he's a competitive kid that
he's super twitchy. He just understands how to play the position.
And again, stepping in and playing Nickel and Todd Bowles
defense is not an easy thing, especially as a rookie,
and I think he's handled it well. And then of
course with all the injuries we had to you know,
he had to kick outside and play.

Speaker 5 (34:35):
Corner there too.

Speaker 8 (34:36):
So he's another guy with the versatility, the intelligence. He
just kind of puts his head down, goes to work
and grinds, and you know, he's We're excited about him.

Speaker 6 (34:46):
Too in his future as we talk about the importance
of depth and versatility. I think the offensive line has
been a wild thing to watch this year. I can't
imagine that you feel like maybe you've even dealt with
a situation like this very much before, where it's not
just injury of the next man up, but it's the
idea of how much they need to be that cohesive unit,
and that you had guys moving all over the place.

(35:06):
It wasn't just oh this guy's hurt, sub this guy in.
It was oh, move this guy and do that.

Speaker 2 (35:10):
It's just a.

Speaker 6 (35:11):
Crazy thing to watch and how they handled it. For
you guys from a scouting standpoint, what was that like
to try to help with and build and decide and
to create an offensive line that can even try to
do something like this.

Speaker 8 (35:23):
Yeah, I mean it and it started in training camp, right,
So it's you know, from the very beginning of the season.
And it probably helped a little bit that it did, because.

Speaker 5 (35:31):
Then we were able to try Graham at left tackle.

Speaker 8 (35:33):
And I mean a lot of people didn't know that,
but I mean that was going on for, you know,
weeks behind the scenes. It wasn't just something that we
decided the night before the first game, we're gonna throw
Graham at left tackle. So but it just speaks to
you know, the player that he is. He played it
in college, so he had an experience out there.

Speaker 5 (35:48):
It wasn't like we were just throwing him in there
for the first time.

Speaker 8 (35:52):
But his ability to do that and then of course
Ben moving into center, like there was a lot of
moving parts there, and again it goes back to to
the depth and that that room was challenged big time
early on, and I think that all the guys that
we threw in there like stepped up, you know, And
that's something you're always looking for in this league as
offensive lineman. It's because they're really hard to find. And

(36:14):
I just think that room as a whole, and what
Carbs and Bakuci have done, you know, from the coaching standpoint,
and it's a really cohesive unit. I think they really
enjoy being around each other and playing with each other,
and that's a big part of what we do as
scouts is try to find guys that are like minded
like that, and I think I think we've done a
really good job of building that room.

Speaker 6 (36:33):
We're talking to Vice President Player of Personnel, Mike Biel,
So when I look at a guy like Graham, how
does it work evaluating guys when you're thinking about playing
them at a position different than the majority of their
time in college. It's not that he hadn't played any center,
it was just a much limited, much more limited part
of his college career. How do you guys weigh a
player that has been playing center maybe their whole career,

(36:55):
versus someone like that, where you're sort of having to
hypothesize what this could look like and what ends up
making you feel comfortable about a guy having to play
a different position than what you're used to seeing on tape.

Speaker 5 (37:05):
Yeah, and that's the.

Speaker 8 (37:07):
Center position is very unique, just because it's so hard
to play from a from a physical and mental standpoint.
I mean it's it's he's the quarterback of the offensive line.
He has to do a lot of things up there
from a you know, id in and changing protections.

Speaker 5 (37:19):
And things like that.

Speaker 8 (37:19):
So that's always a challenge to say, somebody who hasn't
played it a ton, how is he going to be?
And we did have a small sample size of him
playing as a freshman, and he was probably like two
hundred and seventy five pounds then, so it wasn't just
a wee little thing.

Speaker 5 (37:33):
Yeah, it wasn't a true picture of what he really was.

Speaker 8 (37:35):
But but by talking to the coaches and then spending
time with Graham from an intelligence standpoint, we had no
questions there. And now it's just a matter of him,
you know, putting the ball in his hands and you know,
pulling it and seeing if he could.

Speaker 5 (37:47):
Snap and do all that stuff.

Speaker 8 (37:48):
And by the time we ended up selecting him, we
had no doubt that he could do that. And then
to me, if you got a guy like that that
you're projecting to move to center if he doesn't work
out there, we knew Graham Barton was going to be
a good player one way or the other. Whether he
ended up a guard tackle like, he was going to
be a good player. So we just kind of envisioned
him from the very beginning though, of stepping in there
at center, and he's done an unbelievable job.

Speaker 6 (38:10):
Looking at a couple other the draft picks this year,
David Walker and Elijah Roberts, So starting with David Walker,
that just broke my heart for him as a human.
But then also I just felt like I was hearing
a lot of hype about this guy and the role
he could play. And I'd love to hear your thoughts
on you guys choosing him and what it's like to
evaluate someone who maybe had a little bit of a
smaller school experience and trying to extrapolate what made you

(38:32):
guys so excited about what he could be already as
a rookie.

Speaker 4 (38:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (38:35):
Well, first of all, it broke my heart too, I mean,
as few said, as a person, but also for our team,
because I do think that he was going to be
a contributing player for us this year. He's one of
those guys that you know, he played at a lower
level and had opportunities to go to bigger schools in
the nil era that we are in now, and it's
very rare that you don't see guys make that jump,

(38:56):
you know, And to me, it was almost a testament
to him, and like I was excited that he just said,
I'm not gonna worry about the money right now.

Speaker 5 (39:03):
I'm gonna go play hard and.

Speaker 8 (39:04):
It's all going to take care of itself. That's pretty
rare nowadays too.

Speaker 5 (39:08):
So that was the first thing.

Speaker 8 (39:09):
And then of course when you turn on the tape,
I mean, the guy's just making every play on the field.
I mean he's at a lower level competition. And when
you look at those you know, Division two, Division three guys,
like that's the first thing they have to do. They
have to dominate that level, and David by all means
did that in every way as a pass rusher, playing
the run, they drop him in coverage like he was awesome,

(39:30):
and then he gets a chance to go to the
Senior Bowl and it was the exact same thing there.

Speaker 5 (39:34):
They couldn't block him.

Speaker 8 (39:35):
So he's he's we're excited about David Walker.

Speaker 2 (39:39):
I mean, he's feels like an extra draft.

Speaker 8 (39:41):
That's kind of the way I always look at it,
just to look on the bright side and be optimistic.
But it's it stinks for this year, but I think
I think it's gonna be fun watching him develop going forward.

Speaker 6 (39:51):
And then Elijah Roberts got his first start in the
game last night, and you know, because of Elijah's injury,
has definitely had a step up in some different ways.
So what if you say from him and the way
he was used in college and the way that you
guys were trying to deploy him here.

Speaker 8 (40:05):
Yeah, he was the one thing that he could do
that jumped off the tape in college was he could
rush the passer. So in a D lineman, that's a
good place to start, right for him. It was kind
of like where was he going to fit positionally because
he was a little bit undersized to play, you know,
defensive line in our scheme. But he's done a great
job of, you know, building up his body, and he's
gotten bigger and stronger, and he's able to hold up

(40:27):
versus the run now a little better and he did
in college. And he still has that pass rush ability.
So he's he was very disruptive last night. Again, like
it's like one of those games, one of those things
where every game he just kind of sneakily has production
and it may not show up in the statue, but
he's getting pressure on the quarterback, he's hustling, he's playing
with physicality, like he's doing a lot.

Speaker 5 (40:46):
Of good things.

Speaker 8 (40:46):
So I mean, I think we're very optimistic about his.

Speaker 5 (40:50):
Future as well.

Speaker 6 (40:51):
We're gonna take one more break here on Buccaneers Total
Access brought to you by advent Health. We're talking to
Vice President of Player Personnel Mike Beial. This is Buccaneers Radio.

Speaker 1 (40:59):
Buccaneers Totally laxas with head coach Todd Bowles. Now continues.
Brought to you by Advan Health, Exclusive Hospital of the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Speaker 6 (41:09):
Welcome back into Buccaneers Total Access brought to you by
Advan Health. We're talking to Vice President of Player Personnel
Mike bel So, looking at kind of the big picture
of scouting and just the strategy that you and Jason
Light and the whole staff have has clearly been to
build through the draft.

Speaker 2 (41:23):
That's the like, that's always the goal.

Speaker 6 (41:25):
How do you guys weigh the idea of draft, free agency, trades,
all of those potential ways to build a team, the
pros and cons of them, and just even where your
team is at in any given time. We saw, you know,
obviously in the Brady ear it was like, we're going
all in. We're doing things a little differently than normal.
Forget that cap situation. We'll deal with that later.

Speaker 2 (41:44):
So how does this.

Speaker 6 (41:45):
Work on kind of the pros and cons and the
strategy that you guys have for how to handle it.

Speaker 8 (41:49):
Yeah, I mean I would say that the easy way
to look at it is the draft is always going
to be the meat and potatoes, Like that's where you're
going to build a team predominantly, and then you're going
to sprinkle in with you know, quality free agents that
you think fit your culture, the Ben Breticines of the world,
like Ben's been a unbelievable pick up for us, And
then you're always looking at trades, you know, poaching from

(42:10):
other practice squads. I mean, there's always ways that you
can continue to improve the roster, and that's that's what
we do this time of year. I mean, it's just
constantly churning, and we have an unbelievable pro department that's
looking at the whole league and trying to figure out,
you know, if there's players that can make us better.
So but if you look at any good team in
this league and the teams that win the Super Bowl,
predominantly they are built through the draft. And that's always
been Jason's philosophy and it's been my philosophy. And we

(42:33):
just I mean, I think we've we've started with the
eyem that man stuff, you know, the last seven eight years,
like we've really implemented that and it's you know, I
think it's just taken our drafts to a.

Speaker 5 (42:43):
Whole different level.

Speaker 2 (42:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (42:45):
I was going to ask how you guys feel like
you have improved as a scouting staff over the years.
What are the different areas that if you were to
scout yourselves going back, you know, eight, nine, ten years
and if you look at now, what are you going
to say if you're giving yourself a scouting report?

Speaker 2 (43:00):
Are the things that you think you've improved the.

Speaker 8 (43:01):
Most in Yeah, I mean I would say that right there,
just that you know, and Jason said this a thousand times.
We we very rarely miss on the player because we
all are experts in scouting, Like we can watch the
film and we can determine, you know, if this guy
has the ability to play in our league. But we
were missing more on the person, you know what I mean.
And I think that we just took a step back

(43:21):
and we looked at the way we were doing things
and the way that we were putting character grades on guys.
And it's it's easy to get blinded by talent in
this league. I mean, there's there's a lot of guys
that you you know, you watch on tape and you
just you know, you get really excited about and then
when you start hearing the character stuff and it's it's
not great and he's you know, he's not a great teammate,
he doesn't fit in the locker room very well, he's
not very smart. Like those are the things that you

(43:44):
have to keep your mind on yourself when you get
closer to the draft, not to be blinded by this
talent over here.

Speaker 5 (43:48):
So and then when you get the.

Speaker 8 (43:49):
Talent and you married up with the intangibles. That's when
you you know, you hit home runs. So I just
think that we've done a really good job and a
lot of it's continuity, right, We've had a lot of
the same guys you know are especially you know with
Rob Me and you know Spy was here for so long,
and Tony Hardy and Shane Scanner like all those guys,
We've all been together for so long that I think
that we've just kind of learned as a staff together

(44:11):
and done a lot of reflection and self scouting, and
and we've improved the process over time.

Speaker 2 (44:17):
We're talking to Vice president of Player of Personnel Mike Biel.

Speaker 6 (44:20):
How about the way you guys were able to come
out of literal like cap hell and be competitive the
whole time, where I think everyone would have assumed you
had to go through some years of just things not
being great to get out of that. How do you
feel like you guys were able to still build a
competitive team throughout that process where we never, as Jason said,

(44:40):
we got to reload instead of rebuild.

Speaker 5 (44:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (44:42):
Well, I mean it starts with Baker Mayfield. Like if
you don't have a quarterback it's really hard to win
this league. And Baker's been awesome ever since we've signed him,
So it starts there, But then it also goes back
to what we're just talking about with the draft.

Speaker 5 (44:54):
I mean, I think even.

Speaker 8 (44:56):
Those years when we were pushing the cap down the
road and we were resigning our own and we were
making another run at it with Tom, like, we still
were having good drafts and so we had these young
players that were ready to step in. And that's what
you have to do, like because if.

Speaker 5 (45:09):
You draft really well, you can't pay everybody. It's just
the way it is.

Speaker 8 (45:13):
We're in a salary cap league that you know, requires
you to make some hard decisions sometimes, so there's gonna
be guys that leave your building that you maybe don't
want to, but you also have to have young guys
that are gonna step in and fill those, you know,
positions when they do leave.

Speaker 5 (45:26):
So I think that that's that's the.

Speaker 8 (45:29):
Key, is just to continue to draft well. Those hard
decisions are fun to have, right, I mean, that means
you're doing something right. So and I think that we've
done a really good job of that. And then you know,
with Greeney and Jackie and Jason, you know, with the
cap stuff, we you know, they can get creative and
we try to keep as many of these good players
as we can. But but just continue to draft and
have the depth that you know, if people do leave

(45:51):
that you have people to step in and fill those spots.

Speaker 6 (45:54):
Do you think there are certain positions that are harder
to draft than others?

Speaker 8 (46:00):
I mean, I ultimately the quarterback is probably the hardest
one because you have to get that right, you know,
and if you you know, look at the history of
this league, the first round quarterbacks, the percentage is not great.

Speaker 2 (46:11):
Yeah, a little hit or miss.

Speaker 8 (46:12):
Yeah, there's a lot of hit and missing that. So
to me, that's the hardest one. And then the rest
of them, it's just you know, and you'll have certain
scouts that are better evaluating certain positions, and then you know,
as a staff, once you go through meetings and stuff, you.

Speaker 2 (46:26):
Kind of see that maybe assign them that position.

Speaker 8 (46:29):
Yeah, I mean, we do a little bit of cross checking,
so that will factor in that into that a little bit.
But for the most part, I mean, everybody they have
their own areas and they're great and every player that's
in that area, and.

Speaker 5 (46:41):
We got a good staff, as you.

Speaker 6 (46:43):
Brought up the cross checking. I know you probably don't
have like exact numbers on this, but the idea of
how many people have seen a prospect before you draft them,
how many hours of tape have been watched, like give
a sense of how much a certain player has been
looked at before.

Speaker 2 (46:58):
We pick them.

Speaker 8 (46:59):
Well, I would say the top four or five rounds.
I mean, we probably have ten reports on those guys
between you know, Jason myself, Rob Shane, you know, the
Area Scout, the National Scouts, you know, Tony Hardy, our
director College scouting, like and then you factor in the
coaches when they get involved in the process too. So
the fun thing for the Area scouts and the National

(47:19):
Scouts is when you know, you start getting into that
sixth seventh and then especially as rookie free agents, like
that's kind of where they come into play because we
may not have as many looks at those guys or
by the time the draft gets here, I'll see most
of those guys, but I won't I won't see those
guys unless they recommend them or they stand on the
table and get excited about them. So the number of hours,

(47:40):
the number of miles that our scouts travel is.

Speaker 5 (47:44):
I mean, it's it's a lot. I don't have.

Speaker 8 (47:46):
Exact numbers the number of reports that they write every
every year. It's it's it's astonishing, you know, if I
did have them, but it's in the thousands.

Speaker 5 (47:53):
I'll put it that way. With reports like but.

Speaker 8 (47:57):
It's just a it's a it's a tough job, and
it's a thankless job. The area scouts and the guys
that are on the road, but I can't thank them enough.
And there's such an integral part to what we do
as an organization.

Speaker 6 (48:11):
You brought up in il and I would love to
hear how that has influenced affected your evaluations of players
the drafting. Like I think about how it used to
be you never knew how a player was going to
handle money. And I imagine that this in some ways
has been helpful that now you do get a sense
of that. But then it does also throw a wrench
into all the transferring all this. I mean, there's just

(48:32):
so much that I feel like it's changed. How have
you seen this make your jobs harder or easier? On evaluation, I.

Speaker 8 (48:38):
Would say that there's two things, and you just mentioned
the one that you know. I think it's actually been
a bonus for us to see how guys will react
with money in their pocket, because some of these guys
are making you know, two three million dollars than they
might and even the guys that you know that aren't
making that are still making you know, hundreds of thousands.
So you do get a sense of that because we
would ask every year, you know, certain guy, certain players,

(48:59):
you go into schools as the sources there, you know,
what's he going to be like when you put millions
of dollars in his pocket?

Speaker 5 (49:03):
And they'd be like, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (49:05):
I mean, nobody can know.

Speaker 8 (49:06):
Nobody can know, Like you know, they'd have an idea,
but like they don't know.

Speaker 5 (49:09):
So that's the first thing.

Speaker 8 (49:10):
And then the second thing is just I think it's
affected guys coming out in the draft.

Speaker 4 (49:16):
Right.

Speaker 8 (49:16):
We were getting to a point there for a while
where we were having over one hundred underclassmen come out
in every draft. And now you get guys that if
they don't feel like they're going to be drafted in
like the probably first four or five rounds, they can
go back to college and actually make more money. So
I think, and I and to me, in the long run,
that's probably gonna make a better product for us. Going

(49:37):
back to my example with a Mecca like his decision
to go back to school.

Speaker 5 (49:40):
Now he could have come out and made millions of dollars,
it was just more of a personal decision.

Speaker 8 (49:45):
But I think guys going back to school and maturing
and coming out a little bit later than you know,
just jumping in the draft after three years in college,
I think it'll help the product, you know, eventually, especially
those later round you know, free agent type guys.

Speaker 5 (49:57):
So it'll be interesting to see.

Speaker 8 (49:59):
I mean, I don't think anybody really knows in this
nil transfer era because college football is a little bit
crazy right now, and it's going to be interesting to
see how it's regulated going forward.

Speaker 5 (50:08):
But as a as.

Speaker 8 (50:09):
An NFL staff, all we can do is do, you know,
work with what we have, and I think that I
think we do a.

Speaker 5 (50:15):
Good job of that.

Speaker 6 (50:16):
Yeah, as if there weren't already enough factors you guys
were playing with, now you got even more. Well, Mike,
thank you again so much for being with us. We
really appreciate you taking the time on a day when
I'm sure sleep has been very minimal. We really appreciate it.
And that's going to do it for us. Here on
Buccaneers Total Access, brought to you by Avan Health. This
is Buccaneers Radio.