Welcome Too, Books Insider Live, presented by Verizon Casey Phillips. He was senior writer and editor Scott Smith. And this is our saddest show of the year. I felt like we needed to start with like the Debbie Downer like sounds yes, it's so sad um. You know, we were hoping we were talking about advancing this week, but we did not. So this is what we're all here for. I said this as we recorded Tampa Too this morning,
and Britan I did it. If this is our space to all come together as a Bucks community commissariate, have our moments, but also get excited about the future. And we're going to do both of those things on this show. So let's start off with the takeaways from the Cowboys game. What stands out to you now that you have a few days to hear from people about it, digested, look
back at it, what stands out well? The Bucks actually got off to a decent start on defense at least and two straight three and Ounce made a lot of nice plays, and it looked like it was going to be, you know, a tight game where maybe be a game in the high teams or something. Because the Bucks offense also the Dallas defense also did two straight three and outs, so four drives into the game, neither offense had gotten a first down. Then Dallas broke through with the long drive. Unfortunate,
but it happened. Then the Bucks came back with their own driving. It was really nice drive with a lot of makeable third downs that were converted, and you get down there inside the tin yard line and then Tom Brady throws maybe his most unfortunate pass of the season. It's intercepted in the end zone. You know, they go the other way for a touchdown, and it was kind of it just kind of snowballed from there. Yeah, it's so interesting the way that the momentum is such a
real thing. And I know that also, you know, the run game never really got going. It's interesting. Coach Bowls on our show talked about how he felt like they were getting some decent runs. It actually just the the inability to stick with it because of what ends up happening with the overall flow of the game. And yeah, it makes you feel like it could have gone so differently the way they were moving in the run numbers are misleading in two different ways. I think it was
maybe twelve for fifty two something like that. It's it's misleading because obviously in the second half we were almost exclusively throwing the ball. But then the average, which is pretty good four and a half per carrier something, is also a little bit misleading because on those last desperate drives we got a couple of third and ones and converted them with runs which they weren't defending against it.
That so seven eight yard runs on third and one just to move the sticks kind of inflated the average a little bit. So in both ways the numbers are a bit misleading. But what is it misleading is that Tom Brady through sixty six passes in the game. You know,
not how you want to draw that up. You get to three and fifty one yards passing two touchdown passes, the trio of outside receivers and Chris Godwin and Julio Jones and Mike Evans combined for two d thirty three receiving yards, which, if you tell me before the game that's gonna happen, I'm feeling pretty good about that. But when it takes you sixty six throws to get there and you're completing about of them, then it's not a particularly efficient passing attack. And that's what we see in
the final numbers. And then you look at it at the end and you look at those numbers and sixty six passes, that's a lot. It is a lot. Look at this. It's almost the most that any quarterback has ever thrown in a postseason game. And it's only you know, a couple of years after Ben Roethlisberger set the record at eight, but only one game on there is a victory, and so you don't need to be throwing sixty passes
in the game. Not the goal. And I know that one of the people that we threw to some but not nearly as much of this season, in particular as I'm sure a lot of Bucks Sands thought we would as Julio Jones. This is a guy who there was so much excitement about what he could bring to this team, but then of course health complications. Just felt like he was banged up on and off that injury report all season long. But what did you end have seen on the times he was healthy and able to go of
what he brought to this offense. Well, you're seen in here in some of these highlights, and um he had he basically was dealing with a knee injury the entire season. In some weeks he could go, in some weeks he couldn't. But you can see when he's feeling okay on like on this thirty year ago route. Um, you know, he's definitely an asset and he's been this way throughout his career. As he could see that these are all of his
uh postseason games. He's played in ten playoff games in his career, and every single one of them, he said, more than fifty receiving yards. So that's a streak of ten obviously, which is that I for the second longest ever. But you can see what he can still give to a team when he's feeling good. It's just that I think it's getting harder and harder for that to be an every week thing for Luo Jones. Maybe by the start of next year, if he's with us or somebody else,
he'll be in in good shape. But that's what they said when he was coming in this season. If you recall, Um, you know, because I had the injury issues with Tennessee the year before and even in Atlanta before that, but he was considered healthy coming into the season. It just didn't last very long and realy that Dallas game. Yeah, the first game and speaking of health issues all season, Ryan Jensen made his triumphant return, which was so excited.
First of all, I loved using him for a hype video and when he get introduced as part of the starting lineup man, this stadium went the nuts and I loved that for him. What an amazing experience and just such a reward for him having stuck with it and worked so hard. That had to be a very lonely road all season when you don't even know if the team is going to make the playoffs, to give you long enough so you are rehabbing on this hope that without you you have no control over this, they give
you enough time to come back. And the faith that showed he had in this team, and you know, the desire he had to get back, and then for him to not only come back but play every snap that is outrageous and to do it at a pretty high level. I mean, we're not seeing him just getting run over out there, which really would not have been that shocking.
That wasn't the plan though, it wasn't the plan for the players that Robert Haynes was still active and although he was dealing with hamstring injury, he was going to play in that game. And they started, Um, they started Ryan first because they thought if we start Robert Hanzy and he gets hurt, now you're down to Ryan and we're not sure you can play every snap of the game. So you start Ryan. See how far it can go. Well,
he just kept feeling better the whole guy. Crazy, typically how it goes in a football game where you feel better but well, I know, but maybe you've been waiting so long, it's just keeps fueling you. That adrenaline was probably going. So it was impressive. It will be interesting interesting to see where it goes from here because he didn't have surgery on it on an injury you usually would, so as he fully recovered now or what I mean,
we don't have all the details. In fact, we really didn't have the details on what the injury was until he finally said so after the games. And it was pretty significant like m C L A c L P c L, which a big deal. Who needs those needs those? Um, yeah, it is a pretty remarkable story. Yeah, that's going to be interesting. You're right to see how this looks moving forward. That will be one of the storylines of the off season,
I'm sure, is the offensive line. And one of the things that we'll talk about sure with that is the draft of is this a position that you address how early, how often? And so now one thing we do know since the buck season is over, is where they'll be drafting. So take us through that and what you think this is going to mean to the team. So the Buccaneers end up in the nineteenth slot because the first eighteen
teams were already ordered. Those are the ones that didn't make the playoffs and the rest of it depends a lot on when you exit the playoffs. And so the six teams that were eliminated this past weekend are then added in slots nineteen through twenty four. And since the Bucks record of eight and nine was the worst of those six teams, they get the nineteenth pick. And I show you the teams here right around them before and
after them. Should note that number twenty one Miami they're slotted there, but that pick is actually forfeited because of all the stuff that happened earlier this year. But um, you can see the Buckets are gonna be picking after the Packers, the Commanders, the Steelers and the Lions. So well, as we start to do mock draft seasons and so on, we'll see, you know, what kind of players we think those teams are looking for and how that could affect
the Buccaneers. But at least they know their nineteenth. And one interesting thing about that is because because of that eight and nine record doesn't match any of these other teams around them, um, they are not in a segment of teams that rotates through the draft, So they'll be picking nineteenth in every round that they have a pick. Yeah, that makes sense. So for you looking at what we
know about just typically what is available at nineteen. Let's say, of some of these top positions you think the Bucks could be interested in, how likely is it you get someone you are excited about at nineteen. I think it depends on the position. I mean, there's usually some good cornerbacks there at that time, and the Buccaneers do have, um do have some issues with free agency and the potential departure of some cornerbacks. So I think or safety, I think you can get one of the best, you know,
one of the three or four best corners. Or safety is probably the best safety at pick number nineteen unless there's some superstar out there and I haven't really done my draft home. Yeah. Yeah, we have plenty of time over the next few months, and I'm sure we'll talk about it. If you want an interior a linement, it should have no problem getting one of the key ones
there tackles. Usually the premier tackles are gone by there and you're looking at sort of the second tier by the nineteenth pick, and who knows what if the Bucks are looking for a quarterback, nineteen isn't really I mean, we did get Josh Freeman at seventeen a few years ago. Um, can you pick it went around that area as the first quarterback of this past year, So it's possible. But generally the premier quarterbacks tend to rise into the top ten.
So um, you know, more like the less premier positions like defense, you know, edge, rusher and quarterback less likely to have studs there at nineteen. And then as you go down the list of you know, the less premier positions, you might be able to get the top ones. It's so funny how once now the season ends, all of our shows that we do for the next few months is all of the prediction stuff right of what they're going to do in free agency, what they going to
do in the draft. And I feel like, now until there is some sort of decision made about tom Brady, every one of our shows is going to have this asterisk there of like pending tom Brady. And it's amazing to see the way that will end up affecting free agency and the draft of what you think your needs are, you know what you're trying to bring back, what you're trying to do in terms of the rebuild, reload, all of that, and how aggressive you are and how much
people want to come back. If we just compare this to last year when Tom Brady made that sort of late in the like eleventh hour decision before free agency to not retire and come back, then you start seeing
Domino's fault. Ryan Jenson re signs, Carlton Davis from Science, Chris Godwin after getting the franchise tag resigns, and so it could make a big difference depending on what your plans are a quarterback, whether some guys how motivated they are to come back, and how motivated you are to continue this aggressive style of free agent signing where you do sort of have to pay for it a little bit down the road, bucks are you gonna have to
pay for some of that this year? There's some catishes, some pretty big capishes they have to work through because of these types of contracts over last two or three years. But it was worth it, of course to win the Super Bowl and be Super Bowl contenders for this window and hopefully a little longer. Yeah, that's going to be interesting. And I know this week we did at least hear
about some futures contracts. Uh, not quite as newsworthy and exciting as all of the other free agency decisions wind up hearing about, but it is something to tell everybody a little bit about a remind people what futures contracts are and some of the names that stood out to you. What the futures contracts do is allow every team, even the ones that are in the playoffs, to um sign guys now that and the contract takes effect when the
new league year starts. I think that's on March fifteen this year, but you don't have to wait till then to sign these guys. And generally what they are, what they're used for, are the guys that were on your practice squad because as soon as your season ends, whenever it does, all your practice squad contracts expire, so those guys become free agents, and so if you want to bring them back, you sign them to these futures contracts, and they almost always happened like just a day or
two after the season and did so. So far, we've brought back third fourteen I think fourteen of our sixteen guys that were on the squad at the end of the season, and then one other guy. I'm not gonna lie. I don't think I can think of alternately in my head right now. But um, it's a lot of the guys.
I mean, some of the names are very recognizable because we've been using them this J. J. Russell for instance, the guys that either were elevated multiple times and got into action there or eventually got promoted to the active roster and then, in JJ's case, was released right before the last game because to make a spot for Ryan Jensen. So it's a lot of you you would recognize a lot of the names, but um, I can't name them already. Yeah, no,
that's very understandable. All right, Well, that is going to do it for us on this edition of Bucks Insider Live presented by Verizon. Thanks as always for being with us, and again we'll be here throughout the offseason to talk about all of these upcoming pre teen major decisions and things going on to build the team for next season. So we'll see you next time.