“Towards The End Of The Year”
August 27th, 2015
New Bucs right tackle Gosder Cherilus
After 100 NFL starts with the Lions and Colts, new Bucs right tackle Gosder Cherilus knows plenty about his position.
So it only makes sense to ask Cherilus about the development of rookie left tackle Donovan Smith, the No. 34 overall pick. Also, Bucs general manager Jason Licht talked Monday about Cherilus giving Smith his wisdom and “all the different intricacies of pass protection and technique.”
Cherilus was asked today about the timing for Smith to learn his position and the offense. Cherilus said “towards the end of the year” is when all the coaching will make sense for a rookie tackle.
That was sort of a comforting answer, only because the original question by a reporter asked Cherilus if it would take two years. He was down on that amount of time, thankfully.
Joe gets that Bucs fans are euphoric after owning the Bengals on Monday, but the offensive line remains a work in progress.
Remember when Jameis Winston had his ankle rolled badly? He was sandwiched in the pocket by two Bengals’ defensive linemen, and it was Smith and rookie guard Ali Marpet beaten on the play.
Imagine if Jameis was significantly injured and questionable for Week 1 right now. There would fans screaming everywhere about the incompetence of the Bucs’ O-line and the men that built it.
August 27th, 2015 at 3:34 pm
Almost….could have..,,there are thousands of those situations in the NFL
August 27th, 2015 at 3:34 pm
In the 2013 preseason, it was obvious that Josh Freeman was a hot mess. But Schiano told us everything would be fine — and it wasn’t.
In the 2014 preseason, it was obvious that the O-Line was a hot mess. Licht tried a Hail Mary with Mankins. The line was awful.
This year, it is obvious that the line is either too young or still too bad to support a strong offense. Let’s not look for any result that doesn’t add up. We’re going to need a strong D and just enough O to win.
August 27th, 2015 at 3:39 pm
Rome wasn’t built in a day Joe. We do have 2 (potentially 3 if you include Warren) rookies starting on our OLine. It’ll be fun watching them all grow together. This really is a very young offense for the most part.
August 27th, 2015 at 3:45 pm
NewTampaChris …I’m with you except I’ve whittled down to an average offensive line and a good pass rush. If we don’t have both of these. It’s going to be a long season. Can’t just have one and not the other either imo.
August 27th, 2015 at 3:47 pm
I’m imagining Winston being slightly injured and the folly of him playing at all until the season starts.
August 27th, 2015 at 3:51 pm
We have two rookie linemen, it’s preseason and we are getting a glimpse of what could be. I like to think most fans understand they will have ups and downs throughout the season. These two guys are improving every week and hopefully that development continues right on through the season.
August 27th, 2015 at 3:54 pm
NTChris
You had me with 2013 and 2014 but you lose me here…
This year, it is obvious that the line is either too young or still too bad to support a strong offense.
It’s not obvious to me. They went up against one of the best DL’s in the league, a team that has won 40 games in the past four years and been to the playoffs four years straight. I get that we had a huge intensity advantage and the Bungles seemed to go through the motions. But we didn’t just beat them we manhandled them.
The Cowboys did fine with two rookie OL, in fact their OL was considered one of the best in the league and a big difference for Romo’s improved play.
If Cherilous can hold up the right side we’re going to actually have depth on the OL. Dotson and Evans could very well be backups and the only 2014 OL starter still starting would be Mankins who clearly came to camp this year on a mission.
It’s all sooo good and yet everybody wants to be Debbie Downers.
What is obvious to me is that so far this OL has more than lived up to expectations and shows signs of being very good. And based on Cherilous year growth curve they could be great by the end of the season.
August 27th, 2015 at 4:07 pm
Remember when Jameis Winston had his ankle rolled badly? He was sandwiched in the pocket by two Bengals’ defensive linemen, and it was Smith and rookie guard Ali Marpet beaten on the play.
**********
I don’t remember that play. – j. Winston
August 27th, 2015 at 4:09 pm
The Oline is still incompetent and so are the men that built it
August 27th, 2015 at 4:18 pm
@StPete — No one will root harder for the offense than I will. I’m optimistic about Smith and Marpet. But on some plays, Smith looks like his feet are in concrete. There’s no depth on the line and national analysts like Greg Cosell say things like “Winston will have trouble behind that bad offensive line.” If they can run block the way they did on Monday and if they can stay away from penalties, they could be OK. The O-Line is still a clear weakness of this team.
August 27th, 2015 at 4:24 pm
You simply can’t design a strategy to avoid injuries…..who are we going to add to Martin sitting out until the season?….Winston, Mankins, Jackson, LVD, GMC?
You could sit Winston out and he could be injured on most any play….sure more likely if protection breaks down….but he could have been hurt on both his rushing TDs….what are we going to do, tell him not to run?
Play the game and hope/pray for the best…..
Kelvin Benjamin went down in practice….what should we do, throughout the season….have no practices?…..rediculous.
August 27th, 2015 at 4:33 pm
The Oline is still competent and so are the men that built it!
“It’s as simple as that” – Lovie Smith aka “Mr. Competent”
August 27th, 2015 at 4:34 pm
TBBF…EXACTLY!
August 27th, 2015 at 4:36 pm
Tbbf
It’s all part of the game. Playing through pain.
August 27th, 2015 at 4:50 pm
Lovie spent premium picks on the oline and QB position this year.
Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Yeah, I know, we coulda kept the old oline that we had such fabulous success with before.
And kept diddling along with no QB.
Great job Lovie, keep it up.
August 27th, 2015 at 4:50 pm
it doesn’t take every rookie until the end of the year to get it. pro bowl tackles come out of the draft every single year, not saying he will be but considering what we had last year we have less concerns with this rookie starting than we did the vets
August 27th, 2015 at 5:05 pm
NT
I certainly take your point. If you finish my moniker of course fan is short for fanatic. I sometimes take glee at the pundits ripping us this year. In fact in a perverse way I think it might be good news.
How badly did the pundits screw up last year on the Bucs. We were supposed to be good and we sucked. Now we’re supposed to suck and I predict we’ll be good.
I think the pundits are OK on the top half dozen teams…clearly Aaron Rodgers and the Pack are a great team…Seahawks..yeah…Patriots..meh but they still have Brady…Dallas appears pretty good…Denver
But after that it’s a pretty big crap shoot. I write off very few teams…our next opponent is one of them. Cleveland will suck again this year. I don’t care if we beat them or not in the pre season but they’ll suck when it’s real football.
I can’t see much from the Jags…Deadskins…I think the Panthers and the Saints have huge questions and who knows what the Falcons will do. They actually scare me.
My point is aside from the cream of the crop the pundits rarely get it right anyway. And they RARELY spot real breakout teams. Who thought KC was going to go from 2-14 to 11 wins in one season?
August 27th, 2015 at 5:51 pm
The flip side to Ali “Mongo” Marpet and D Mac Smith getting beaten on one play, is both of them coming back with blood in their eyes for the next.
August 27th, 2015 at 7:00 pm
Did anyone else catch the look on Koetter’s face he shot to Lovie when Jameis got up limping badly?
August 27th, 2015 at 7:41 pm
DB55 Nice Fameis quote ! I like how you do bidness! I just hope Gosder “Chet” Cherilius can impart some vast wisdom on our young Bucs to help reduce that learning curve because we all know EDS can only show them how to have an “international kegger” under their jersey
August 27th, 2015 at 7:59 pm
So tired of all the negativity. All you can ask for is improvement week to week which we saw in week 2. OLines take time and good coaching. I believe Dirk has a handle on this and it will get better. These guys have 3 more weeks together before week 1 and could also add talent after cuts. Get a grip people.
August 27th, 2015 at 10:30 pm
For everyone who says they are so tired of all the negativity just be patient. The a$$ holes like the Animosity Amigos crew will fade soon because those wins will be piling up. Rest assured.
August 28th, 2015 at 1:01 am
Don’t forget Atlanta had a bad OL last year but that didn’t stop Koetter from getting great Offensive Production. He is not tipping his hand on his new playbook this year yet and look what Offense we just put up. We will be exciting to watch this year!!!
August 28th, 2015 at 10:34 am
@ Eric
“we coulda kept the old oline that we had such fabulous success with before”
Sarcasm? I hope so. It has been a long long time since our Bucs have had any fabulous success.