1/3 of Bucs game roster on Injured Reserve

by Niko Houllis on Dec 23, 2009 5:00 AM EST Comment 0 comments

A while ago, I showed a chart that lists the teams of the NFL and the amount of players they have on injured reserve. It wasn't 100% conclusive, but for the most part, you can conclude that teams with the least amount of players on IR tend to do better in the win column.

In no way do I intend to portray that this Bucs team would be a better team if not for injuries. They are a part of life in the NFL, and you have to prepare your team to live through them. Yes the scope of it is simply amazing, and its becoming common place around here. The last two years under John Gruden a great many members of the Bucs ended up on the IR list, which means simply, that your season is finished. You cannot come back and play on the team once put on the Injured Reserve list like you could in the old days. Back in the day, if you got put on IR, that just meant you didnt count against the roster. Then you could come back after 6 weeks, or whatever the number was depending on the year. Not now, a trip to the I.R. is permanent.

But when you have 15 players end up on the list, that represents 1/3 of an active players roster for a team for a given game. You can't say the Bucs would not have been more competative with some of these guys on the field this weekend.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
FB Byron Storer May 20th 2009--- Showed valuable FB skills when replacing BJ Askew before.
DE Greg Peterson August 16th 2009--Shows potential as a DE.
P Josh Bidwell – Hip Injury – August 17th 2009--One of the leagues best punters.
WR Joel Filani August 21st 2009--Practice Squad fodder.
LB Angelo Crowell August 25th 2009--major free agent acquisition in 2009.
WR Kelly Campbell August 30th 2009- Practice Squad fodder.
T Xavier Fulton September 6th 2009--Unknown commodity.

DB Donte Nicholson September 8th 2009 ---veteran Defensive Back

CB E.J. Biggers September 20th 2009---showed promise at DB during Camp & OTAs

FS Jermaine Phillips September 24th 2009
FB B.J. Askew October 22nd 2009
DE Maurice Evans November 18th 2009
QB Byron Leftwich November 24th 2009
CB Torrie Cox November 30th 2009
P Dirk Johnson November 30th 2009
RB Clifton Smith – concussion - December 8th 2009
WR Sammie Stroughter December 21st 2009

Just getting THESE players back alone will help out next year, especially in the secondary. We heard good stuff about E.J. Biggers like we did about Sammy Stroughter, and we know how he turned out...before ending up here too! Angelo Crowell was a free agent linebacker brought in to compete, and he will add to depth next year or compete.

Special Teams? We could go into 2010 with all three guys who returned kickoffs for touchdowns, how is that for competition?

And the running game virtually never had a chance. Earnest Graham is an unselfish person, but he's not a real fullback. Byron Storer and B.J. Askew will be like getting free agents coming in.

While these guys probably would not have added much to the win total in 2009, they could make the difference between a team that runs out of gas, or one that has quality depth, in 2010. The Free Agency period begins March 4th, but for Tampa Bay, it starts the day the season, and the injuries, end.

0 recs | Comment 0 comments | Share