Dotson Savoring Shot At Left Tackle
July 30th, 2012Joe’s tossed around the term “manbeast” over the years, but on the Bucs it best applies to Carl Nicks, the human armoire, and Demar Dotson, the Bucs’ backup tackle. The guy stands 6-9, 315 without a gut.
Dotson has come back to the spotlight lately with Donald Penn’s calf injury threatening to keep him out of preseason games. Penn has made 76 consecutive starts.
Today, close-to-the-vest coach Greg Schiano said he’s been “impressed” by Dotson. This weekend, Rick Brown of the Lakeland Ledger penned a feature on big No. 69.
Center Jeremy Zuttah has seen Dotson grow from insecure rookie to confident backup.
“He’s such a raw athlete; a, powerful dude,” Zuttah said. “The more experience he gets, the sky’s the limit for the kid.”
Dotson will likely get the start when the Bucs take on the Miami Dolphins in both teams’ first exhibition game on Aug. 10. He knows all eyes will be on him since it will be his job to protect the backside of quarterback Josh Freeman.
Click through above to read the whole thing. This is a hell of an opportunity for Dotson, the former college hoopster. This is how Penn made his mark, jumping in when Luke Petitgout went down in 2007. Penn hasn’t sat down since.
If nothing else, it’s got to be good for Adrian Clayborn to mix things up in practice and work against Dotson. And it can’t hurt for the Bucs to see what they really have in him at left tackle.
July 30th, 2012 at 1:07 pm
He is just HUGE!
July 30th, 2012 at 1:22 pm
I’ve always been a fan of Dotson. I’m still hopeful of the day that he replaces Trueblood in the lineup, permanently. Even if Dotson proves to be very good at LT, perhaps Penn moves over to RT, either way, if Dotson ever gets it, he’ll be a huge upgrade over Trueblood.
July 30th, 2012 at 1:41 pm
Man, nest time they need to work on the Gandy Bridge they can just have Dotson lay down over the Bay and folks can drive across. He is massive!
July 30th, 2012 at 2:16 pm
That is one BIG dude!! Unfortunately, you need more than just stature to play LT in the NFL….you need quick feet, strong arms and hands, great balance and smarts to be a top LT. I hope Dotson can show he has all of those things because you can never have enough great OL on your team…and we have some good ones on this team now!!!!
July 30th, 2012 at 2:32 pm
Let’s not experiment too much during ore season games and get our QB hurt. Let’s give him tons if help until he’s proven.
July 30th, 2012 at 3:53 pm
I like Demar but he is showing signs of being a perennial project. I will keep a close eye (or ear, on radio) on him in the pre-season games.Hope he does well.
July 30th, 2012 at 4:34 pm
Yeah, I’m a little nervous of him protecting Freeman in the preseason games. Nothing would deflate our high hopes like an injury to Free in a practice game.
July 30th, 2012 at 4:42 pm
Id like it if Penn came back and we slid this guy on over to RT
July 30th, 2012 at 4:42 pm
Again, he’s been getting some work in with our tight ends. He was eligible a lot last year and would’ve been wide open if they’d ever actually thrown to him. Imagine our running game with an additional lineman with the threat of going out for a pass?
July 30th, 2012 at 5:51 pm
Can never have enough quality depth on the line. This is good to hear.
July 30th, 2012 at 6:58 pm
The ideal thing would be for Dotson to play better than Penn, even if Penn is doing well. That would mean Dotson would be a stud.
I don’t think Penn would do well at right tackle, and if this Dotson is getting the training at LT, and if he does better than Penn…it gives us the option of trading Penn.
And Penn would get a great value.
But I would only trade Penn if Dotson was a step above him or better.
July 30th, 2012 at 7:04 pm
Joe…exactly how well is Zuttah doing so far? Since they put on pads?
He is the wild card on the offensive line this year. How he does as a starter will determine the offensive success of the team.
Trueblood is not a wild card. He’s good for drive killing penalties usually, but he started reducing them in the last few games. If he can keep reducing them, he could end up being good enough at RT.
Right tackles in Tampa are notorious for getting penalties though.
One thing we might see from Trueblood this year…violence. A more aggressive team means a possible return of the old Trueblood…the one that took shots at players.
July 30th, 2012 at 9:10 pm
Glad Dotson is getting some exp, I agree about the tackle eligable 6’9 319 catching a pass makes CB’s pay attention.
July 30th, 2012 at 10:14 pm
dotson need to show more power.
July 30th, 2012 at 10:15 pm
dotson need more power.
July 31st, 2012 at 12:23 am
“One thing we might see from Trueblood this year…violence. A more aggressive team means a possible return of the old Trueblood…the one that took shots at players.”
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That’s not happening under Schiano. I pity the fool that commits a stupid personal foul penalty. And Trueblood has cut down his penalties in the last couple years, not games. He still may not be very good, but penalties are not his problem. I personally don’t have a problem with a penalty or two if you are mauling opponents, but that unfortunately is not usually the case with Trueblood.
July 31st, 2012 at 10:12 am
When he was getting personal fouls he was playing better. He needs to intimidate without getting the penalties.
I firmly believe Trueblood and Talib are the reasons refs targeted the Bucs for so many penalties.