mcveyrl
May 4th, 2009, 09:41 AM
Story from the Bucs website:
QB or DB?
Without the tryout players that fleshed out the rookie mini-camp roster, the Buccaneers would have only one quarterback on the field. In order to take at least some of the burden off Josh Freeman's arm, the team brought in prospect Rodney Landers from James Madison.
Landers started 26 games for the Dukes and put up impressive career statistics, including a 35/9 TD/INT ratio and a 159.5 overall passer rating. Still, he is most likely a fringe prospect at the quarterback position, and despite the fact that everybody in the weekend camp was getting a fair look, Landers would have a tough time cracking the Bucs' overcrowded depth chart at that spot.
However, Sunday's practice might not have been the end of the story for Landers in Tampa. After the rest of the players left the field following the final workout, Landers was run through some drills by Morris, Defensive Backs Coach Joe Baker and Special Teams Coordinator Rich Bisaccia. The Bucs wanted to get a look at Landers as a defensive back, so they watched his back pedal and his hip turn and some of his other fundamental skills.
"We had to get another arm in here to play quarterback and we happened to run into an athlete," explained Morris after Landers' workout. "He showed some stuff in special teams periods. He's a six-footer who's 220 pounds and moves around pretty good.
"I'm a project guy so I want to see if I can get a project down here to work with. Maybe he comes back and he's a Wildcat quarterback, I don't know. Maybe he comes back and he's a DB for you. He can do some things for you. It's interesting. I don't know where it's going to go from here but I just wanted to get a look at him moving around in space a little bit as a defensive back. We were trying to get an evaluation of him."
The idea didn't completely come out of the blue. Landers worked out for scouts at several positions during the JMU Pro Day, though he was unable to run a 40-yard dash at the time due to an injury. He is certainly an unproven commodity, but that's essentially the case for most of the players on tryout contracts, and the Bucs seem to find interesting talent during this camp every year. Morris wants that to happen again, even if it means thinking a little bit outside of the box with Landers or another prospect.
"Anybody out here I try to evaluate," said the Tampa Bay coach. "I want to give everybody a fair chance. Some guys you stay on longer, some guys you get off a little bit, some guys bring you back as they perform. You try to evaluate everybody. You want to see them all. These guys are talented guys. You never know what you've got out there. Don't take anything for granted; look at them all."
http://www.buccaneers.com/news/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=7078
Still sounds like a long shot for Landers, but progress none the less.
QB or DB?
Without the tryout players that fleshed out the rookie mini-camp roster, the Buccaneers would have only one quarterback on the field. In order to take at least some of the burden off Josh Freeman's arm, the team brought in prospect Rodney Landers from James Madison.
Landers started 26 games for the Dukes and put up impressive career statistics, including a 35/9 TD/INT ratio and a 159.5 overall passer rating. Still, he is most likely a fringe prospect at the quarterback position, and despite the fact that everybody in the weekend camp was getting a fair look, Landers would have a tough time cracking the Bucs' overcrowded depth chart at that spot.
However, Sunday's practice might not have been the end of the story for Landers in Tampa. After the rest of the players left the field following the final workout, Landers was run through some drills by Morris, Defensive Backs Coach Joe Baker and Special Teams Coordinator Rich Bisaccia. The Bucs wanted to get a look at Landers as a defensive back, so they watched his back pedal and his hip turn and some of his other fundamental skills.
"We had to get another arm in here to play quarterback and we happened to run into an athlete," explained Morris after Landers' workout. "He showed some stuff in special teams periods. He's a six-footer who's 220 pounds and moves around pretty good.
"I'm a project guy so I want to see if I can get a project down here to work with. Maybe he comes back and he's a Wildcat quarterback, I don't know. Maybe he comes back and he's a DB for you. He can do some things for you. It's interesting. I don't know where it's going to go from here but I just wanted to get a look at him moving around in space a little bit as a defensive back. We were trying to get an evaluation of him."
The idea didn't completely come out of the blue. Landers worked out for scouts at several positions during the JMU Pro Day, though he was unable to run a 40-yard dash at the time due to an injury. He is certainly an unproven commodity, but that's essentially the case for most of the players on tryout contracts, and the Bucs seem to find interesting talent during this camp every year. Morris wants that to happen again, even if it means thinking a little bit outside of the box with Landers or another prospect.
"Anybody out here I try to evaluate," said the Tampa Bay coach. "I want to give everybody a fair chance. Some guys you stay on longer, some guys you get off a little bit, some guys bring you back as they perform. You try to evaluate everybody. You want to see them all. These guys are talented guys. You never know what you've got out there. Don't take anything for granted; look at them all."
http://www.buccaneers.com/news/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=7078
Still sounds like a long shot for Landers, but progress none the less.