Bucs Offensive Line No. 20
June 27th, 2010
Last year Joe was truly geeked about the Bucs’ offensive line. Joe really thought the O-line was on the cusp of being great.
But during the process of trying to implement zone blocking, the line seemed to fall apart. It didn’t help that there was no Arron Sears at left guard.
Jason Cole, of Yahoo! Sports, believes the Bucs line is slightly below average. In ranking each team’s offensive line, Cole has the Bucs at No. 20.
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Bucs were awful when it came to running the ball (No. 31 overall in run efficiency), but really did a pretty good job of keeping the quarterback clean (No. 11 in pass blocking). They did that despite the carousel of quarterbacks that started with Byron Leftwich and ended with rookie Josh Freeman. There’s still a long way to go, but the group is steady and anchored by center Jeff Faine and guard Davin Joseph.
That ranking, by the way, is the lowest for any NFC South team.
Now Joe is assuming Cole is including Donald Penn as the starting left tackle. Joe really doesn’t want to think about how the left side of the line could crumble if Penn holds out.
June 27th, 2010 at 11:38 am
Tampa’s line is solid, but it does not blow me away
June 27th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
Yeah, not a lot of research on that listing. Who is our starting left guard? Who are our backup tackles? Guards? Center? I really like some of the free agents they picked up- Render,Grimes, Hardman. Think they will develop nicely. But ain’t got much this year. Couple injuries, I’m coming outta retirement and trying out, cause we’ll be a hurting
June 27th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
That doesn’t sound good for a team that wants to establish the run to help out their young QB. When you are forced to throw; teams just let the dogs loose and don’t even worry about the run.
June 27th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
Fair enough. You’re only as good as your numbers, and our numbers running the ball were atrocious.
June 27th, 2010 at 5:10 pm
Fair ranking. They underachieved last season. The run blocking has to get better. I thought it did get a little better in the second half of the season. Really need Ward to produce more and Graham to get more touches. Had to go to ESPN to figure out who Tim was talking about. Never heard of any of those guys. I guess 1 of them might make the active roster if they keep 8 OL. The rest are practice squad candidates.
June 27th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
Eric S
” one might make the roster”
You wanna fill out an OL depth chart?
June 27th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Joe,
I know the Penn issue might getting old for some people. What about an article on who the Bucs might be able to bring in to at least give depth to the offensive line. I’m sure there will be some movement when early cuts are made. Also; after looking at all the Offensive Lineman to sign tenders (over 30) way haven’t more of them gone Penn’s direction and held out? I see a few of them are potential pro bowlers. Is Penn a special case or could he be getting bad advice from his agent? Just wanted to get your thoughts. Man; the money really isn’t there for any these guys that’s for sure…..
June 27th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
Sorry for the type O’s
June 27th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
Bucnjim:
While Joe understands some fans may be tired of Donald Penn stories, Joe’s not going to bury his head in the sand. There’s not one issue close to being as important as the status of Donald Penn.
As for backups, to paraphrase an empty Derrick Brooks quote, the Bucs have who they have. Might the Bucs, if Penn is not signed, pick someone up off the scrap heap prior to the first game of the season? That’s likely but guessing who that may be is beyond speculation, that’s literally throwing s[p]it up against the wall.
Joe has written several times before he thinks Penn will sign. But no one, not even JimBuc, knows for sure (unless he really is Donald Penn). Players have done crazier things. At the end of the 2003 season if someone told you Ricky Williams was going to blow off a year of football in the prime of his career to smoke dope with the aborigines, you would have thought the messenger was out of his mind.
June 27th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Any numbers/stats that this reporter relied upon in compiling this ranking is both skewed and flawed. The Bucs paltry running numbers directly correlate with their lack of a vertical passing game last season. Hopefully, The additions of Arrelius Benn and Mike Williams coupled with the continued improvement of Josh Freeman will result in the Bucs facing less eight man fronts. Faine and Joseph will ensure that the interior remains solid while Penn and Trueblood are both very solid run blockers.
If Penn is signed within a week of training camp coomencing this is a top fifteen line and possible a top ten line of Jeremy Zuttah establishes himself at the other guard spot opposite Joseph.
June 27th, 2010 at 8:26 pm
What, spending a year smoking dope with the aborigines? Nah, that makes sense, no problem there. But sitting this season, and missing next year due to a strike? Wow that’s crazy! Ricky got his money up front, lots money for the herb, mon! Penn still ain’t hit the big money yet. Poor guy will be toasting oregano with the Aborigines if he ain’t careful!
June 27th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
JimBuc is not Donald Penn but he does no for sure! 🙂
J/K — there is always some uncertainty but even Joe seems to concede that Penn would have to do something crazy.
Joe, my apologies for my “story #118” joke. Only meant it as a joke, Understand my point of view is not universally accepted, to say the least. Puzzles me that it is not even the majority view here, but hey. . .
June 27th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Opps “know” — maybe that typo was karma 🙂
June 27th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
JimBuc
“puzzles me it is not even the majority view here” Jesus, you frikkin Comment Nazi, when have you EVER been even close ta the majority?!??
As I’ve said before, you’re the damn Jerry Falwell of Bucism.the extremely vocal minority! Give it a rest would ya!
June 27th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
Capt. Tim — I only meant my view on Donald Penn’s holdout. The reason I am puzzled my view on Penn’s holdout is not the majority view is because it is an UNDIPUTED FACT that the Bucs hold nearly all the cards. FACT: to holdout Penn would lose $3 mill and lose a year. Yet the majority view here is that the Bucs should give him a new deal now because he is holding out? Really? That’s silly. Thinking Penn deserves more or is worth more is one thing. Saying that the Bucs should give him a new deal right now is ridiculous under the circumstances.
June 27th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Joe this is too funny. You’ve got former Buccaneers commenting here, the current Bucs are watching obviously, and now you’ve got a sponsor chiming in on the thread. Go Matt Dolman! What’s next, will Mark Larsen call us all idiots? lol
June 27th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Dave:
Just more proof that wise, intelligent folks who just happen to include heavy hitters read Joe.
June 28th, 2010 at 3:15 am
Tim-I gather the sure things on the OL would be Faine, Trueblood, Joseph, Dotson, Penn and Zuttah. Fulton should get a good shot since he was drafted in the 5th round last year. That leaves 1 spot. The Bucs probably want players with some experience backing up the starters. All of those guys are rookies. From what I read, Grimes might have a shot. So like I said, 1 player on the active roster possibly.
June 28th, 2010 at 5:23 am
Ah, no Eric S.
A depth chart is the starter and the backups! A depth chart at QB would read- Josh Freeman(s),Josh Johnson, Rudy Carpenter, Jevon Snead. Every position list who the backups are if an injury occurs. That’s when the OL depth becomes horribly thin.
June 28th, 2010 at 5:26 am
Didn’t know what a depth chart was!
Slow squad know even less than I thought( if that’s possible!). No wonder they’re haters, they are confused about even the little things!
June 28th, 2010 at 6:12 am
What’s Clayton making? About 5 mill per year? Yet they refuse to pay Penn even average salary for his position! Intelligent folks, them Glazer Boys! I doubt the O-line will be ranked as high as #20 this year!
June 28th, 2010 at 7:36 am
With all due respect to Matt Doleman; it has been my experience that running teams are able to run the ball without any passing game what so ever. I’ve seen the Ravens run the ball against 9 man boxes all day long and the same goes for the Jaguars. Take a look at your top 10 running backs and tell me which one comes from a passing team: Chris Johnson, Stephan Jackson, Adrian Peterson, (maybe) Jones Drew, Frank Gore, Ray Rice, DeAngelo Williams, Ronnie Brown, Thomas Jones, Jamaal Charles, Jonathan Stewart. With the exception or Peterson; most of these teams don’t have a passing attack to speak of. Of course what they do have is all pro offensive lineman to clear huge holes for the runners. I want to see Penn signed because he has great value to the club right now. Could be the difference in 2 or 3 wins in my opinion. The problem is the other 30 RFA Tackles across the NFL have all signed their tenders. Penn’s tender would be 1.5 Million more than anyone else in the league and there are some big time lineman in this group. Is he better or more important than these other lineman. I would honestly have to say NO……Sign the contract ASAP and save your career. You are getting seriously bad advice from your agent…..
June 28th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
Comments not showing up. Let me test this out.
June 28th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Ok. I will test it out again. This may be the 10th version of this post. Hopefully this will show up.
LT-Penn, Dotson, Fulton
LG-Zuttah, Fulton, Dile
C-Faine, Compas
RG-Joseph, Dile
RT-Trueblood, Dotson
Tim-I wasn’t being snarky about not knowing the 3 players you mentioned. I honestly did not know. I do not appreciate your comments. I listed the players who I thought would make the team. There is your depth chart. I personally don’t consider myself a “hater”. I just don’t like the direction the team has gone the last few years. Especially from the ownership side. Some people seem to give the Glazers every benefit of the doubt which is ludicrous. The tax payers paid for the brand new stadium they are playing in. They expect the owners to hold up their end of the bargain.
June 28th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
The bucs vertical passing game will get better minus AB?
Nope.
June 29th, 2010 at 7:55 am
Eric .S
You are right, forget that there is an Eric and an Eric S. Sorry. Fulton and Dile are both tackles, not guards, and neither has played a down in the NFL. You see my concerns with the depth chart- it’s lacking guards, and no experience ANY line posistion. If we have an injury at guard and tackle, we have two rookies starting. That’s scary! And that’s if Penn us in the lineup! Picture this lineup – LT-Penn,LG- Zuttah, C- Faine, RG- Render(r), RT- Fulton(r). Now that’ combination could happen with injuries at either Tackle or Guard position. Now IF Penn shows up at the start of the season, and takes 3 games to get game ready, you throw Dotson in the mix, it gets even less experienced. Who is our back-up guards and Tackles? Even our backup Center (compas) has very little experience. The O-Line looks like a hoise of cards. I really Hope that Dotson is as good as they say. That would be great! But if he starts, who is his Back-up?? You see my point?
June 29th, 2010 at 8:02 am
Eric,
Oh, yeah, AB is a great team player. That’s why every team he’s played for has released/ suspended him! That’s what the NFL does, releases great players for no reason. That’s also why he sat home for a year, that great team spirit. Does no one here have any long term memory? The Bucs kept franchising him, because if he gets a big contract, you’ll get a skinny Albert Haynesworth. Watch the Bengals and see!
June 30th, 2010 at 12:56 am
I didn’t say that the OL depth is good. They are in trouble if someone gets hurt. All the info I’ve read online says that Fulton may challenge Zuttah for a starting role. I’ve seen places where they have Dile listed as a guard, so that is what I went by. I wish the Bucs did draft an OL for depth purposes. I also wish they would have drafted a RB, but they didn’t. If the injury bug hits any of these areas, the Bucs are screwed.