Ask the expert: Should Bucs have drafted Aguayo?

by Gary Shelton on May 6, 2016 · 0 comments

in general

Jerry Angelo is a former personnel director for the Bucs and former general manager of the Bears. Each week, Angelo answers your questions regarding the NFL. Send your questions to GarySheltonsports@gmail.com with "ask the expert'' in the subject line. The most interesting question will be selected.

Friday, 6 a.m.

One unnamed general manager called the Bucs' selection of Roberto Aguayo as “the dumbest pick ever,” which seems to mean he's forgotten JaMarcus Russell. I kind of liked the pick. What was your opinion?

I thought the pick was a little rich, because the Bucs are still rebuilding their roster. At that pick they could have gotten a potential quality starter. Drafting a kicker that high makes more sense and is more essential for a team who built their roster around their defense and special teams.

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Teams that are constructed that way usually have an offense built around their running game and kicker, not their quarterback. That’s not the case with the current Buc team. That’s why I would have questioned the pick.

On the other hand, they have all but taken the potential of a kickoff return out of the game.

Both Jaylon Smith and Myles Jack went high in the second round. What was your philosophy in dealing with injured players?

It’s a major risk when you draft players with their concerns medically (nerve damage is very concerning to any injury). Anytime you have players that have extenuating circumstances as they do, with their particular injuries, you have to think long and hard before you draft them.

Because you’ll never know for sure if they will ever come back 100%. What you saw may never be a reality again. I think in the Cowboys situation, with Jerry Jones being their owner and GM, he can afford the risk because he’s not going to fire himself if it doesn’t pan out. In Jacksonville's case, head coach, Gus Bradley, has to win next year or he’s gone.

So that old saying “desperate people do desperate things” applies to both teams. There is the possibility that one or both players will come back totally healthy and in that case they will look like geniuses.

Was the problem with Laremy Tunsil what he did, or that it happened on draft day when teams didn't have time to investigate it thoroughly?

Teams do their homework and knew Tunsil had baggage. He’s a product of a very poor upbringing. Some people rise above their plight and some survive their situation and just keep moving on.

To watch a visual like that on national television during the draft tells me he’s still got a lot of growing up to do. I’ve never seen anything like that before. It looked terrible and I would have been too embarrassed to draft him.

It's one thing to hear about it and totally another to see it. Does it make him less or more bad? Probably not. But that picture will forever be in people's mind when they see him or his name comes up.

Is he that good? No one is that good and, unfortunately, my bet is that Tunsil's worst days are still ahead of him.

Ryan Leaf said this about Johnny Manziel this week: “It's like holding up a mirror.” Are the two comparable in your mind?

In some ways, yes. Both self-destructed before their careers began. They both had addictive behaviors and when they were exposed to more free time and money their problems manifested to unprecedented levels.

Both are very selfish and could care less what anybody thought of them. To me, they needed professional help and a lot of it. Their actions where exonerated by their prospective teams, both in college and the NFL. Their bosses treated their misgivings as venial, until their pathological behavior had them and their franchises imploding before everyone eyes. Their stories may have been different, but their endings were the same. Amen.

Between Jared Goff, Carson Wentz and Paxton Lynch – which quarterback will start the most games as a rookie?

You’d have to go with Goff, given the fact of where he was picked and he’s going to a solid team. I believe the Rams are on the cusp of being a playoff team.

All the pieces are in place for the Rams to take a major step if they can get some quality play out of the quarterback position. Goff is the most ready, given the level of competition he played against vs the other two. They have a quality runner in Todd Gurley and have added some receivers to go along with their run game and play-making scat receiver Tavon Austin.

Do you believe there is a 2017 mock draft out already. Supposedly, the Bucs will draft 12th and will take JuJu Smith-Schuster of USC. Should fans rush out to buy his jersey?

Only if they don’t like any of the current Bucs.

How crazy is that? They already got their fortune tellers predicting next year's draft. Tell those people (football junkies) to get a life. Go watch a baseball or basketball game. There are other great athlete who don’t play football.

How much of a concern would you have if you had drafted Noah Spence, seeing is how he used to be addicted to ecstasy? And how much that he's only 252 pounds as a defensive end?

I’d be more concerned about his off-field issues. His penchant for drugs and his credibility in terms of telling the truth are big concerns.

He’s a non-predictor as far as I’m concerned. I love the talent, but can’t trust the kid. You won’t know him until you have to live with him.

Teams have to or will take risk to fill needs or to get a potential star at a discount. That’s part of the game. I’m no more picking on the Bucs as I would any other team. I’ve done it myself, unfortunately. History is not on your side when you do. My words to the Bucs: "Good luck and I hope you don’t ever hear the words, “I told you so".

Sam Bradford is upset that the Eagles drafted Wentz. But wasn't there a veteran around when the Rams drafted Bradford?

There probably was. Regardless, why he’s so upset is disturbing.

They signed him for a lot of money on a two-year deal. Keep your trap shut and go play. If he plays well he can opt out after 2 years and play for someone else.

The Eagles aren’t going to start Wentz; that’s not the plan. So why would Bradford be so upset? In the end, I wouldn’t  care what he thinks. He’s a well-paid professional who really hasn’t done anything throughout his career to deserve the money he’s made for underachieving or maybe he’s just a bust.

His ego is bigger than his brain right now. Just to show him his true value, I’d give his agent permission to shop him around the league in terms of a trade. Then he’d see his true value and you know what they’d see? The same thing you or I would see if we shut our eyes…Nothing.

The NFL has already warned players against eating meat in Mexico and China during the preseason. Does that mean we have a new excuse when players test positive for PEDs? “I ate a steak from Bejing?”

I don’t know how the league keeps up with all of this, but they do a great job of educating players as far as what they can’t take or in this case eat.

They are very strict and 100% accurate in their assessments and evaluations of players. So, if I were a player I would be very careful and sensitive to anything they tell me and follow their research and rules very closely.

Eddie DeBartolo is going into the Hall of Fame this summer. What do you think of owners going into the Hall and, in particular, DeBartolo?

As owners go, he’s done as much as any in terms of making his franchise into a dynasty.

He hired Bill Walsh, who as you may remember was passed over by the great Paul Brown to be his head coach after he retired as the Bengals head coach. Brown opted to go with his offensive line coach, Tiger Johnson, over Walsh.

That didn’t go over well with Walsh and it certainly didn't do anything for his credibility in terms of his pursuit for other head coaching positions. DeBartolo was also instrumental in keeping his young talented team together for a long period of time.

I would rarely say this about an owner, but Walsh couldn’t have done what he did without the Eddie as his owner. Their relationship in the end was not very good, but that usually happens when a team experiences the success they did.

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