B.J. Askew: gimmie the rock

Okay, I'm kidding. Maybe he didn't quite say it like that. But the Bucs fullback did make a case on Wednesday to get a few carries.

He told me a pretty interesting story about his days with the Jets. Said when coach Eric Mangini started last season, the coach wanted to get a feel for what sort of speed he had on his team. Askew felt like he made a statement.

"I thought for sure last year I would get a chance to run," Askew said. "Before we went into the season, Mangini had everybody timed in the 40. I ran a 4.4. And I had to fastest 10-yard time on the team. I still have my speed and everything. I was 235 (pounds) then. I'm 235 now. I'm ready to carry a load. I'm hoping."

With Zack Crockett now on board, maybe that'll be possible. Crockett has played a lot of fullback and could serve in that capacity if and when the Bucs use Askew as a tailback. And remember, Askew was recruited to Michigan as a tailback. He only switched to fullback because coaches wanted to get him on the field as soon as possible. Unfortunately for him, he was pretty good at it, and the rest is history.

I asked Gruden about the possibility of Askew having a few carries, and he said he is open to the idea. We'll see whether it actually happens. I'd be curious to see what he could do, truth be told. He's a pretty good athlete.

Guess we'll see soon enough.

Comments

[R Mitchell]

Give him the rock...we need to think outside the norm and try a lot of different looks. With trial and error maybe we find a hidden talent in Askew.

[aaron]

i agree, we need help at rb and if askew can do that then give him the ball. he could be a back the like we havent seen since the early days of alstott. zack, i dont think will help all that much in the carrying department. he can plow the way though for graham and hopefully askew. this move is still a little strange. we already have a fb, and a good one. why didnt we get more of a pure tailback? i know zack knows the system but he isnt a tailback. isnt that what we lost. maybe grudens plan IS to use askew at rb, i am just a bit confused by this move as im sure, others are too.

[Jay]

Ooh! Maybe Gruden can use him just like he did with Alstott and flare him out to the flat and pass for a gain of two yards! We could have him run sweeps and lose three yards! Then, as a change of pace, we can have the smallest RB on the team run it straight up the middle for a gain of 1. Third and 10, and then Clayton can run a reverse, or maybe another dump off out of the backfield. I swear sometimes the playcalling will drive you insane. I think that Josh Bidwell is lobbying for team MVP.

[William]

I think Jay wants Dungy back so we can have no creativity on offense! Remember Jay it is the players not blocking or not catching the ball that creates the problems. Players must execute! By the way we are 3-2 and in first place. Stop complaining!!!!!!!
Enjoy the moment!

[Mike]

I don't know a lot about askew but if he can carry it without fumbling I say give him a shot.

[Tom]

Jay, what the heck are you talking about? Are you talking about Dungy? I think you meant Dunn when you said smallest RB? If you remember correctly, Dunn went to Atlanta before Gruden got here.

Don't use your last remaining brain cells on typing and thinking. You need it for respiration.

[Alex H]

Give Him The Damn Ball!!

[Doofus Dan]

Pitch it to him, if he can break threw would be tacklers like Alstott did early in his career, we may have a nice package with Askew, Graham and Derby.

[DR]

TFS, this article isn't talking about the rock that you smoke.

[Tampabaysportsfanatic]

If he wants it that bad, than give it to him and see what he's got. He is a big strong guy and seems passionate about running. Lets see what we have.

[peyton18]

I seem to see alot of disrepect toward Tony Dungy. I hate to see that. I just read his book, and it said nothing but good things about Tampa Bay. I know this, if Tony had not come there and changed Tampa's Mentality, the Bucs may have left Tampa. Read his new book, andd see how close you came to the Bucs leaving. He said before 1996, there were only 30,000 fans in the seats. He not only changed that, but he made the Bucs what they are today. I know because it was the same way here before Dungy got here. So you could say he saved Indianapolis and Tampa Bay form seeing their teams leave. Just think about it.PS As for Tony's offense, if that was true, then why didn't he do that to the Colts!!!

[Tom]

You guys only had 30,000 fans in the stands to watch the best QB-WR tandem in history? What's wrong with your fans?

As for your offense, Dungy is hand's off on that offense. Tom Moore is the brains behind that side of the ball. Just like our defense is run by Monte here and Gruden runs the offense.

[Tom]

BJ Askew is a stud. Just watch the tape and see him clear out a massive hole for our running game.

[Jay]

I was actually talking about Gruden, not Dungy. When Jon joined the Bucs his play calling was exactly as I described - run Alstott out on the flat and dump it off, run a sweep to Alstott, or Pittman up the middle (admittedly, he's not tiny, but he has the worst center of balance I have ever seen, and if he doesn't hit the hole, he doesn't break tackles) or later the same play with Caddy. For someone so offensively minded, I rarely see ANY screen passes, or even counter draws to offset pressure brought against the o-line. This isn't a "I hate Gruden" rant, it's more of a continual frustration that I've had with the usage of big, powerful running backs in the Bucs system. They have been consistently mishandled. Alstott never had break away speed, but he would punish tacklers after breaking through the line (mainly because d-linemen don't usually dive at an RB's knees like DB's do). I worry that if you get a talent like Askew or Crockett, they too will be misused. Instead, you'll see Graham (who I love regardless) running those inside the tackles type of plays. That's all I'm driving at. And believe me, I'm not complaining that we're 3-2 and leading the division, but it's a long season and you always like to see continual improvement.

[Tom]

Jay, the reason that we run a lot of plays between the tackles is because the guards are by far the strength of the O-Line. Jeff Fisher even has said that they may be just as good of a tandem as any in the NFL.

It will be a challenge running there this week against Haynesworth. This defense is really impressive. If we score more than 20 points, I will be very shocked.

[peyton18]

"Tom" The dome is always sold out now, with a 60,000 person waiting list here. What I was trying to say was that at on time in the late 80's and early 90's, we would only draw 30,000 to 40,000 a game like the Bucs. My point was that Dungy has helped both teams turn the corner. PS Indiana used to be all basketball and racing before Peyton, Marvin, and Dungy. But now we are a football town, and Dungy played a big part in that. Since he's been here we have sold out 66 strait games out. 20 years ago we would be lucky to sell out on a year. GO COLTS

[Dolly]

As someone who watched Askew play for both Michigan and the Jets, I second the observation that Askew doesn't get to run too much because he's such a good blocker. (At Michigan he blocked for Anthony Thomas and Chris Perry, so he must have been doing something right.) And, unfortunately, he can't block for himself. But if you're curious to see him in running action, I seem to remember one of the bowl games, I think his senior year, he had a break-out running game. And when he played for the Jets, he was the leading tackler on special teams at least one year and maybe two, so the special teams coach was reluctant to share him. So now I'm following him with Tampa Bay. He's a lot of fun to watch, and I hope he has a great career there.

[Dolly]

Oops. Just checked my stats. The bowl game I was thinking of was BJ's junior year-- he was named Michigan offensive player of the game in the Citrus Bowl against Tennessee.