Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Projecting LeGarrette Blount's Sophomore Campaign

A quick, theoretical question for you:

If you had to give up one of these two, which would it be?

A. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' first-round pick (20th selection) in the 2011 NFL Draft.

OR:

B. LeGarrette Blount.

Now there's something to chew on.

How valuable is the diamond that started to become very polished at the end of the 2010 season, that previously unpolished diamond from the rough, so to speak, that GM Mark Dominik swiped from the Tennessee Titans' practice squad?

If there is a season this year, what can we look forward to from big No. 27?

"He's big, he's explosive," is how Mike Alsott described him Tuesday morning on WDAE 620.

That comes from a guy who was very big and explosive at times.

"And he can hurdle tacklers," Alsott added.

Yes he can.

Blount's a guy who really didn't get his hands on the football until Week 7 against St. Louis, and he went for 72 yards on 11 carries. By the time that 10-6 campaign was in the books, Blount put up 1,007 yards on only 201 carries.

Was there any running back who was more impressive last year, anywhere?

Not many 250-pounders can hurdle a tackler. Blount was flat-out a difference maker for this Buccaneer offense, and unless you've been hibernating under a rock somewhere, the notion that this guy will have an even better grasp of the offense come September HAS to be exciting.

So what can we expect from Blount?

Don't be surprised if this big cat goes for 1,500. Now that the Bucs know what he can do with the football, it's got to be even more exciting for Josh Freeman, who declared on Tuesday that if there is indeed a lockout, he will conduct his own training camp starting next month.

Freeman's already talking to local high schools in the Tampa area, he has his receivers on board and you can bet some other members of this exciting young team will be with him, perhaps Blount as well.

It's a credit to Freeman's leadership and that's bound to rub off on guys like Blount. Those 1,000-plus yards made a lot of folks forget about his bad behavior at Oregon.

Blount can also benefit from this draft as well. Right now, the main question mark in the backfield is Cadillac Williams.

He's a free agent, if there is free agency. I'm not sure what he'd get on the open market, but if he'd be willing to sign a two-year deal with the Bucs, then it might be worth a shot. He'll never again see the kind of money they paid him as a first-round pick.

The emergence of Blount has changed Cadillac's role to that of a part-time back.

Blount is and has to be the man in 2011.

Predictions?

Why not?

LeGarrette Blount, 2011

315 Carries, 1,450 yards and 10 touchdowns