Breaking Down Pewter Report’s All-Time Bucs Draft

With the Bucs on their bye week, Pewter Report’s Matt Matera and Josh Queipo used Thursday’s edition of the Pewter Report Podcast to hold an All-Time Bucs Draft.

Matera and Queipo drafted full offenses and defenses, then selected a head coach for their respective teams. While it would be a joy to see these two teams actually line up across from one another in real life, we’re having to settle for the hypothetical. Nonetheless, this entertaining exercise resulted in two stacked rosters.

But whose roster was better? Let’s go position by position to break it down.

Quarterback

Team Matera: Doug Williams

Team Queipo: Tom Brady

Williams deserves his respect. Despite spending only five seasons with the Bucs, he ranks sixth all-time in passing yards (12,648), fifth in passing touchdowns (73) and seventh in completions (895). He was the starting quarterback of Tampa Bay’s 1979 team, which reached the franchise’s first NFC Championship Game. And despite going on to play his best football in Washington (where he won a Super Bowl), he is a member of the Bucs’ Ring of Honor.

But there’s a decided edge for Team Queipo here. Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time, and his two-plus seasons in Tampa Bay have been stellar. He made the team into a winner in 2020, throwing for 4,633 yards and 40 touchdowns in the regular season before leading a run to the franchise’s second Lombardi Trophy. After being named Super Bowl MVP, he returned in 2021 with an even better season, throwing for a career-high 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns. In his age-44 season, he helped the Bucs to a franchise-record 13 regular season wins and now, in his age-45 season, he’s looking to get the team to its third consecutive postseason.

Advantage: Team Queipo

Running Back(s)

Team Matera: James Wilder, Mike Alstott

Team Queipo: Warrick Dunn

You have to love Team Matera going old school here. The fullback is nearly extinct in today’s NFL, but Matera is bringing it back with Buccaneer great Mike Alstott. The A-Train is responsible for the most rushing touchdowns in team history, plus he holds the second-most total touchdowns of any Buc. Pairing him with Wilder, the franchise’s all-time leading rusher, is tough to beat. Wilder, who played with Tampa Bay for most of the 1980s, remains a glaring omission from the Ring of Honor inside Raymond James Stadium.

Queipo counters the Alstott/Wilder combination with a fan favorite in Dunn. The 1997 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year ran for 4,986 yards and 19 touchdowns in six seasons with Tampa Bay. He also caught 306 passes for 2,704 yards and nine scores. The former Florida State Seminole made two Pro Bowls as a Buc before eventually spending the second half of his career with the Falcons.

Advantage: Team Matera

Wide Receivers/Tight End

Team Matera: Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Jimmie Giles

Team Queipo: Mark Carrier, Joey Galloway, Keyshawn Johnson, Rob Gronkowski

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

There’s a quality vs. quantity argument to be made here. Both Matera and Queipo went with one tight end, but Queipo going with just one running back meant he had room for another wide receiver. Despite that, Matera arguably has the better 1-2 punch here. Evans is the best offensive player in franchise history, and Godwin has played a phenomenal 1B to Evans’ 1A over the last few years. Add in Ring of Honor member Jimmie Giles and his 4,300 receiving yards, 34 touchdowns and four Pro Bowls, and you’ve got a lot of weapons for Doug Williams to work with.

Queipo did well for himself here, though. Gronkowski was fittingly the first weapon he selected for Tom Brady. Between 2020-2021, Gronkowski totaled 100 catches for 1,425 yards and 13 touchdowns. At the wide receiver position, there’s an interesting mix of eras. Carrier, who spent 1987-1992 with the Bucs, was the franchise’s all-time leading receiver until Evans came along. Johnson was a central figure on the franchise’s first Super Bowl team, posting 76 catches for 1,088 yards and five touchdowns in that season. Galloway was excellent for Jeff Garcia and the Tampa Bay offense in the mid-2000s, recording 3,912 yards and 28 touchdowns over five years with the team. The triple threat of Carrier-Galloway-Johnson combined with Gronkowski earns a “push” here.

Advantage: Push

Offensive Line

Team Matera: Paul Gruber, Logan Mankins, Ryan Jensen, Shaq Mason, Donovan Smith

Team Queipo: Donald Penn, Ali Marpet, Tony Mayberry, Davin Joseph, Tristan Wirfs

Matera’s offensive line features a whopping three players who are on the Bucs’ current roster. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. Jensen anchoring the offensive line is a plus, as he’s certainly among the best centers in franchise history. The 2021 Pro Bowl selection is a tone-setter, and he’ll line up next to Mason, the newest Buc on either of these all-time teams. On the other side, there’s Logan Mankins, who spent the final two seasons of his career in Tampa, starting 31 games. Where things get tricky, though, is at tackle. Matera has Gruber, a Bucs Ring of Honor member, slotted in at left tackle. That means he’s moving Smith to the right side.

Quite frankly, Team Queipo DOMINATES here. Having an interior of Marpet, Mayberry and Joseph is impressive enough, but to flank them with left tackle Donald Penn and right tackle Tristan Wirfs is almost unfair. Mayberry ranks sixth all-time for games played, while Marpet and Joseph posted three Pro Bowls between the two of them. Penn was a constant for Tampa Bay from 2007-2013, failing to miss a game for the last six years of his Bucs career. And then there’s Wirfs, who already has one All-Pro season under his belt. He’s on his way to another one in 2022 and at this rate, he’ll eventually play his way into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Advantage: Team Queipo

Defensive Line

Team Matera: Shaquil Barrett, Warren Sapp, Lee Roy Selmon, Chidi Ahanotu

Team Queipo: Jason Pierre-Paul, Vita Vea, Gerald McCoy, Simeon Rice

Bucs Hall of Fame DT Warren Sapp – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Until the last few years, the Bucs were known for nothing more than their defense. That started in 1976 with Selmon, the original Buccaneer. He was the organization’s first star, as well as its first Hall of Famer. Matera pairs him with fellow Pro Football Hall of Famer on the interior in Sapp. If these two teams were lining up against each other, you’d love the chances of that duo creating that interior pressure that Tom Brady hates dealing with. Add in the pass rushing ability of Barrett and Ahanotu off the edge and you have a formidable front.

It’s hard to beat a defensive line that features two Hall of Famers up the middle. But Queipo sure gave it a shot. Pierre-Paul and Rice rushing from the outside is an outstanding advantage to have, as the two posted a combined 102.5 sacks during their respective careers. Rice has a case for the Hall of Fame, and he’ll be in the Bucs Ring of Honor soon enough. Up the middle, Queipo boasts his own impressive duo. Vea and McCoy overlapped in 2018, but Vea wasn’t a fully developed product yet. Put this current version of Vea next to a prime McCoy and it creates quite the threat. But it doesn’t match up with Selmon and Sapp.

Advantage: Team Matera

Linebackers

Team Matera: Derrick Brooks, Hardy Nickerson

Team Queipo: Lavonte David, Shelton Quarles

It’s hard to beat Matera’s linebacking duo here. Brooks, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, is widely considered as one of the best Bucs of all time. Spending 1995-2008 with Tampa Bay, he made 11 Pro Bowls and earned five All-Pro nods. Of course, he was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2002, helping lead one of the best defenses in NFL history as the Bucs went on to win their first Super Bowl. Nickerson, who was with Tampa Bay from 1993-1999, made two Pro Bowls and earned two All-Pro selections as a Buc. He pairs really well with Brooks in the middle of Team Matera’s defense.

Queipo countered well here. David and Quarles are two of the best linebackers the team has ever had. David has been particularly underrated throughout his career. He’s earned just one Pro Bowl nod and one All-Pro selection during his 10-plus seasons so far, but he’s deserved far more recognition. His playmaking ability and coverage skills are among the best Tampa Bay has ever had, and he’ll see his name in the Ring of Honor one day. Quarles was a career Buccaneer, playing with the team from 1997-2006. He was a Pro Bowler during the 2002 Super Bowl season and owns the fifth-most tackles in franchise history. The duo of David and Quarles would be formidable, but Brooks and Nickerson get the edge here.

Advantage: Team Matera

Cornerbacks

Team Matera: Aqib Talib, Carlton Davis, Ronde Barber

Team Queipo: Darrelle Revis, Donnie Abraham, Antoine Winfield Jr.

Former Bucs CB Ronde Barber – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Barber revolutionized the nickel cornerback position and put together one of the best Bucs careers in history. He and Charles Woodson are the only two players in league history to record 40-plus interceptions and 20-plus sacks, and he certainly had a knack for big moments. His pick six that sent Tampa Bay to Super Bowl XXXVII is one of the most iconic moments in franchise history. Five Pro Bowls and three All-Pros in 16 seasons tell the story, and his streak of 240 consecutive games played adds to his legend. Talib started his career with the Bucs before playing his best ball elsewhere, while Davis adds some modern talent to this trio.

Revis is an interesting pick. He was one of the top cornerbacks in NFL history, but he only played one season in Tampa. It was a strong season, though, as he made the Pro Bowl before a regime change meant a swift end to his time with the team. Abraham made a Pro Bowl of his own with the Bucs. Out of his six seasons with the team, he posted five seasons with five-plus interceptions. It’s a shame he wasn’t around for the Super Bowl season in 2002, but he still holds a special spot in team history. Queipo rounds out his cornerback trio with Winfield, who he’s playing at nickel. The versatile Winfield has been fantastic for the Bucs over his first few seasons, and he’s on his way to a great career. This one is tough to call. I like Barber over Abraham and Revis over Talib, but with Davis/Winfield being something of a wash, this feels right as a push.

Advantage: Push

Safeties

Team Matera: John Lynch, Dwight Smith

Team Queipo: Dexter Jackson, Cedric Brown

The Bucs have had some great safeties in their history, but Lynch is unquestionably the top dog at the position. He’s in the Bucs Ring of Honor and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, plus he made five Pro Bowls and two All-Pro teams during his Tampa Bay career. He will forever be remembered as one of the hardest-hitting safeties in NFL history, though he’s someone who would find today’s NFL tough to adapt to. Nonetheless, he’s a great pick here for Matera. Smith is an interesting pick. He only spent four seasons with the Bucs, but he was one of the key parts of their defense’s dominant showing in Super Bowl XXXVII, coming through with two pick sixes.

Jackson was the Super Bowl XXXVII MVP, intercepting two passes in that win over the Raiders. That was enough to cement his spot in franchise history, but he had a solid four-year stint with the Bucs before coming back for two more years. Over six seasons with Tampa Bay, he intercepted eight passes and tallied 19 passes defended. Queipo pairs Jackson with Brown, a member of the Bucs’ original 1976 team. He was with the organization from its inception until 1984, and he was one of the key players on the 1979 NFC Championship team. Totaling 29 interceptions over his nine seasons, he may be one of the more overlooked figures in Tampa Bay’s history.

Advantage: Team Matera

Head Coach

Team Matera: Bruce Arians

Team Queipo: Tony Dungy

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians and GM Jason Licht – Photo by: USA Today

It’s hard to fault both of these guys for who they chose to coach their respective teams. Matera, whose team features an absolutely dominant defense, went with the offensive-minded Arians to get his offense up to speed. Arians only spent three seasons as the Bucs’ head coach, but his offenses were the best the franchise has ever had and he won a Super Bowl during his impressive tenure. His name will be in the Ring of Honor come January.

Queipo’s strategy mirrored Matera’s. With such a strong offense, he decided to go with the defensive-minded Dungy. While Dungy never got the Bucs over the hump and into the Super Bowl, he remains one of the most influential people in team history. When the Bucs fielded their best defenses, it was Dungy in charge. His winning percentage (.563) is second only to Arians’, as he led Tampa Bay to the playoffs in 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2001. Arians may have the edge here in terms of leading the Bucs to a Super Bowl, but Dungy’s body of work and what he meant/means to the organization makes this a push.

Advantage: Push

Team Matera and Team Queipo remarkably ended up being pretty even. Matera’s defense wins out, but Queipo has Tom Brady — and you can never rule out Tom Brady. Team Queipo also has the better offensive line. That offense matching up with Matera’s defense — which is littered with Hall of Famers and Hall of Fame talents — would be a sight to see.

Be sure to head over to the Pewter Report Twitter account (@PewterReport) to vote on who you think came away with the better team. And if you missed the All-Time Bucs Draft on Thursday’s Pewter Report Podcast, catch it here:

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