TAMPA, Fla. -- Go ahead and say it. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers never should have given up on LeGarrette Blount.
I know that opinion has plenty of backers after Blount rushed for 166 yards and four touchdowns for the New England Patriots in their Saturday night victory against Indianapolis. I see the logic.
But the fact is, even after Saturday night, I still believe the Bucs made the right move when they traded Blount to the Patriots for Olympic sprinter Jeff Demps and a seventh-round pick last April.
Yeah, I know some will say the Bucs sure could have used Blount after starter Doug Martin got hurt early last season. But Mike James and Bobby Rainey filled in adequately for Martin.
The bottom line is that former coach Greg Schiano never was sold on Blount. The running back had fumbling issues, problems getting to practice and meetings on time and he was one-dimensional. Blount wasn’t much of a receiver and he failed to pick up blocking assignments.
Blount’s only real strength is running straight ahead and it’s not like he has great vision. Blount was more of a headache than he was worth. New coach Lovie Smith likely wouldn’t have wanted someone like Blount around.
Maybe Schiano did the Patriots a favor by trading Blount to them. But Schiano did the Bucs an even bigger favor by getting Blount out of Tampa Bay.