The Sweezy Smear Campaign
June 7th, 2016
Victim of unfair criticism?
Over at BSPN, editors have been assigning the task of breaking down the rosters of every NFL team, from No. 1 to No. 32.
Sadly, this was assigned to a high priest of the PFF tribe, Sam Monson.
He has the Bucs with the 18th-best roster, middle of the pack. He loves America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, but as much as he likes Jameis, Monson and his fellow tribesmen believe Jameis cannot overcome what they perceive to be a bad offensive line.
The offensive line is an issue, and PFF does not see Sweezy as a player who will improve it. He has graded negatively in each of his four seasons in the league, getting progressively worse over the past three. He allowed five sacks and 35 total pressures in 2015.
OK, first, someone must point out to Joe how an offensive line that allowed the fourth-fewest sacks in the league and blocked for a running attack that compiled the fifth-most rushing yards is “an issue.” But maybe Joe’s definition of “an issue” is vastly different than the stat geeks’?
And lest we forget the PFF tribe’s temper tantrum when Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht signed Sweezy. The PFF tribe freaked out on Twitter like their mom confiscated their mouse after getting caught surfing porn.
These spreadsheeters like to traffic in math, so Joe decided to turn their math tables on them.
Using Monson’s own figures, cited above, Sweezy gave up five sacks and 35 pressures in 15 games. So 40 times, Sweezy’s man got pressure on the quarterback or sacked him. In those 15 games, the Seahawks attempted 451 passes (Sweezy missed the final regular season game against the Cardinals).
Joe isn’t a math major, but that comes out to Sweezy’s man getting pressure on the quarterback once every 11 passing attempts. In other words, in over 90 percent of pass plays, Sweezy’s man does not get to the QB.
For some odd reason — and Joe could be way off base here — that doesn’t seem like a terrible amount of breakdowns by Sweezy, or any offensive lineman.
And if Joe is on target, that means the PFF tribe, for reasons unknown, is on a smear campaign to run Sweezy out of the league — or simply conning folks that they have a clue to what they are typing.
June 7th, 2016 at 8:06 am
Yikes!!!
June 7th, 2016 at 8:22 am
this is what is wrong with statistics, poll and others “scientific” calculations of this kind.
It’s not the number, it’s the analysis.
It’s still strange to see that the issue in Tampa is still on the offensive side. I thought that a defense almost unable to stop anything bigger than a fly is a bigger concern than our offensive line.
June 7th, 2016 at 8:24 am
I say they are just conning folks that they have a clue
June 7th, 2016 at 8:27 am
They must count “hits on Qb” when scoring the O-lines!!! Considering how much the Bucs were in garbage time and seeing prevent defenses in many 3rd and 4th quarters does not point to good things!!!!
June 7th, 2016 at 8:42 am
I still see as a right guard.
Especially since he’s missed – most of the offseasoning conditioning programs.
I know metal reps are important – so are walkthroughs.
But an offense line needs cohesion – an you only get that through repetition.
In the trenches
So Unless Coach Warhop, has found Raheems Rosetta Stone CD’s
I expect a steep learning curve – for OG J.R Sweezy
June 7th, 2016 at 8:47 am
Maybe they compare to Mankins numbers and that is how they figure worse?
June 7th, 2016 at 8:47 am
*I still see him as a right guard.
June 7th, 2016 at 8:48 am
So you move Marpet to center?
June 7th, 2016 at 8:52 am
I believe Sweezy can get done what the Bucs are trying to get done with a balanced offense. Russell Wilson did run a lot, so maybe some of those pressures came from Russell’s movement. I will say this if Sweezy can’t get it done, let him and Pamphile switch roles, that way he is on the field when we are in run formation and I like them odds
June 7th, 2016 at 8:57 am
Why not Left Guard?
Should be a natural fit – since he played Left tackle in College.
Speaking on coheshion – He and Donovan seem like buds.
They’re hanging out all the time – same rookie class in all.
Constantly working out together, going over the playbook – etc.
Should be a natural fit
Outside of that – with his foot speed and strength.
Dedication to his craft – currently cross training at the postion.
I can see Marpet as a future All-Pro at center
June 7th, 2016 at 9:05 am
Last year at this time they were saying the same about the Bucs Rbs. That assessment didn’t pan out so well.
June 7th, 2016 at 9:14 am
Stanglassman
True
How U doing brotha – everything good?
June 7th, 2016 at 9:15 am
*cohesion
June 7th, 2016 at 9:17 am
Fair or unfair remains to be seen. Sweezy has not played a down for us yet and god knows all of our free agent selections over the last two years have not exactly panned out. He has a cool name though, it sounds like he should be good, lol.
June 7th, 2016 at 9:19 am
I wouldn’t mind seeing Marpet and Sweezy switch positions. You want your best players protecting your franchise QB’s blindside right?? And with all this that I’m hearing of Sweezy not being a good pass protecter is kinda worrying me. I could see teams overload the left side and send a speed rusher off the edge and around Smith and overwhelming Sweezy. The bucs are banking on Warhop to develop Sweezy’s footwork in the passing game and fix his pass blocking issues. And if they can, he would become a terrific guard, he’s already one of the better run blockers in the leage and brings a naday streat with him wich i love. Let’s hope the line can pick up where they left off and continue to develop and be a solid group all together. I hope Mankins absence doesn’t hurt Donovan’s development as well because he was a huge help for Smith at pointing out his pre snap assignments and blitzes. I guess we will find that wander out soon enough. Only 3 more months…can’t wait!
#DEFEND THE BAY
June 7th, 2016 at 9:26 am
Dreambig
As someone else stated
He has one of the Best DJ Names of All-Time
OG J.R Sweezy
Gangsta
June 7th, 2016 at 9:26 am
Gonna guess Bucs considered this and came to the conclusion Marpet is better suited at right guard before he moves to center at some point in his career.
June 7th, 2016 at 9:27 am
Joe
Right or Wrong brotha – Just spitting my POV
June 7th, 2016 at 9:28 am
PFF is not alone. This writer feels that the Bucs made 2 of the 10 biggest mistakes of the offseason and Sweezy is one of them.
I don’t know this guy from a house cat, but I’ve read several doubting opinions about Sweezy as a pass blocker. Everybody has an opinion and here’s another.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2644497-the-biggest-mistakes-of-the-2016-nfl-offseason-so-far
June 7th, 2016 at 9:29 am
If Tampa were the NY Giants we would have an elite offensive line. Just that simple.
June 7th, 2016 at 9:31 am
LUVMYBUCS Says:
Sweezy was a DL in college. Tom Cable converted him to OL and the rest is history.
He has some real nastiness in his on-field demeanor, a positive trait IMO…
June 7th, 2016 at 9:32 am
macabee
Thanks for the link
June 7th, 2016 at 9:32 am
That Bleacherreport story is just regurgitating PFF. It says “Pro Football Focus rated Sweezy…..”
June 7th, 2016 at 9:35 am
It should be clear to all that Licht’s vision for the Bucs is to be a run-first team with passing feeding off success of the run. That takes enormous pressure of the OL in the passing game.
If you run the ball well, the D will have fewer opportunities to load up with pass rushers and bring the house down after down.
June 7th, 2016 at 9:35 am
Cobraboy
No doubt the kid playz with a nasty desposition.
I LUV his get down – trust me
With his transition from Defensive – he’s a mualer at RG
But IMO a work in progress in pass pro – at LG
June 7th, 2016 at 9:44 am
Ali Marpet played LT @Hobart
June 7th, 2016 at 9:49 am
Can’t figure out why folks put so much credence in groups like PFF. JR Sweezy will either cut it or he won’t. If he does, Licht looks brilliant. If he doesn’t cut it, he’ll become a backup very quickly and someone else will step in … Bucs have some decent depth on our OLine. We’ll know soon enough which scenario plays out.
June 7th, 2016 at 9:55 am
DONVAN – Leans too much and gets beat too often, should carrying Winston’s bags and polish his shoes for constantly evading would be sackers. If he gets position and hands on edge rusher its over.
MANKINS- Prep work was off the charts, lost a step and started getting beat.
SWEEZY- Great run blocker, can improve on the pass. Slight upgrade from AGING Mankins.
HAWLEY-Stepped in and played great, if he can match is play from last year we have a solid center.
MARPET- Slow startet then Beast, enough said.
DOTSON- kicks back too fast closing the pocket instead of engaging and winning point of attack
CHERILUS- Can get pushed around, but solid foot work.
Overall we have a good running block and an ok passing blocking offensive line. Our Rookie QB did an amazing job of eluding and getting the ball out.
June 7th, 2016 at 10:11 am
Think about it Joe. If every lineman on your line is losing 40 times out of 451 plays, your line is breaking down on almost half of your plays. That’s TERRIBLE! Someone on our team must think they can teach him how to pass block and further his development. You can’t argue that those are good numbers.
June 7th, 2016 at 10:17 am
Stats can be misleading – maybe most of the pressures he gave up were when the Seahawks were behind and throwing on almost every down in the 4th quarter. The Bucs broke down the film and rated him based on game situation plus believing that they could coach him up. When the Bucs get behind and need to throw a lot maybe there is a back-up that pass blocks better and plays in those game situations.
June 7th, 2016 at 11:09 am
While 90% may be good when looked at alone, the big deal is whether or not that is as good or better than everyone else at his position. What if the league average is at 95%? Then that doesn’t look so good. Would you be happy if our new kicker completer 90% of his pat’s? Or what about Winston completing 90% of his passes? 90% may not be that great in comparison to what everyone else does. It also may be much better.
June 7th, 2016 at 11:20 am
They have the Eagles at five with Sam Bradford….LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 7th, 2016 at 11:26 am
I wonder how Marshawn Lynch felt about J.R. Sweezy over the last few years. You know a guy that actually played football for living. This S@$! be so comical.
June 7th, 2016 at 12:30 pm
Nole on Sat.-Bucc on Sun. Says:
He retired, didn’t he? 😉 😉 😉
Pretty strong statement…
June 7th, 2016 at 12:32 pm
Joe, I totally disagree with your conclusion that a 10% sack/pressure rate is OK for an individual lineman. That would mean if each of the 5 linemen had that rate the total would be 50%….and if you added the TE position……60%…….I pity that QB.
It would be similar to conclude that a penalty rate of once every 2 games per player is OK….that would be a total of 16 per year……x 22 for a team would be 176…..a record (and that doesn’t include special teams)
June 7th, 2016 at 12:41 pm
OMG you can’t be serious cobra. How about having a moniker like “beast mode” means you’ve taken a great deal of punishment and feel it best to shut it down while you can still use your legs bro. I call it smart on his part bro.. But do some research man,most of his yardage over the last three seasons came off runs behind Sweezy man.
June 7th, 2016 at 1:01 pm
I have to say Im not too excited that the Bucs gave him such a large contract. The guy is known for being a good run blocker but not so good for passing which is what I thought the Bucs were trying to switch to. I do feel like it was kind of a desperation signing after Logan left that cost a lot of dough. Hopefully Im wrong about all this and he becomes the number 1 guard in the league
June 7th, 2016 at 1:23 pm
Nole on Sat.-Bucc on Sun. Says:
You missed the sarcasm & 3 winks 😉 😉 😉
I think Sweezy is an excellent signing, possibly an upgrade over an aging Logal Mankins, and fits well with the Bucs run-first philosophy.
Once again for clarity: 😉
SOEbuc Says:
It’s clear the Koetter’s offenses, pretty much wherever he’s been, have been run-first offenses, with combinations off play action.
There is a reason the Bucs signed Martin to a big contract: he fits that plan very well.
While some exceptions from time to time exist, winning football teams STILL have to run effectively and play sound defense…and both start in the trenches.
June 7th, 2016 at 1:50 pm
Oh okay I got you Cobra. I was thinking to myself Cobra always usually on it what’s this. I better understand now tho. Good look.
June 7th, 2016 at 6:08 pm
Interesting to note that going into 2015 Dotson was considered the best OL and freaked when he went down.
Now he’s the forgotten man.
I expect a great season from Dotson in 2016 if he stays healthy.
June 7th, 2016 at 6:46 pm
Wins and Losses.
Are pretty much the only stat I care about.
The only time I look up stats is when other fans are talking about them and even then they mean pretty much nothing to me.
June 7th, 2016 at 6:48 pm
Frankly, I’m not sold on Sweezy either…but it has nothing to do with him. It has to do with Licht’s record in free agency.
Sweezy will have to earn props just like everyone else.
As to these people thinking we have a bad offensive line???? Are they freaking blind??????
Ah well…I kind of like the idea of catching teams off guard.
June 7th, 2016 at 8:01 pm
They fail to account for the fact that he was blocking for a QB that usually held on to the ball for waaaaay too long. Wilson is notorious for not giving up on a play and running all over hell, as a former offensive lineman, it makes things really hard for the guys up front to stay on blocks.
June 7th, 2016 at 8:41 pm
Joe, you continue to igbore the massive amount of hits and pressure that winston took last season. Not a lot of sacks, but a ton of hits. That is not a good thing. Pressure lead to mistakes leads to turnovers. Not good when your o line leads the league in pressures.
And as others had said, losing 10 percent of the time, for an o lineman, is way too much. If that were considered good then your QB would be getting killed on nearly 50% of his drop backs.
You may not like the stat geeks, but the info they provide is useful to some degree. Alone it doesnt mean much, but conbined with proper game film analysis, it can paint a more clear picture.
Seahawks fans all say he is a liability in pass pro, but a stud in run blocking. The stat geek mirror that sentiment. In this case, the numbers and film paint a clear picture. Sweezy is not improvement for pass protection. Like it or not, that is what the viewers and stat geeks say.
June 7th, 2016 at 11:06 pm
Trubucfan22 Says:
Many of those “hits” were Winston’s fault—by his own admission—for hanging onto the ball too long to make a play. Don’t forget that teams crap defense put a LOT of pressure on the O to stay in games. Don’t forget Winston was a rook playing behind two rook OL and a guy brought off the street to fill a hole because of injury.
That math is incorrect. If each player loses 10% of their battles, that does NOT mean the team wins only 50%. It’s NOT .10+.10+.10+.10+.10=.50. It’s collectively (total failures)/(total plays x # of players). If each player only loses 10%—i.e. “winning” 90%—then the line as a whole loses 10%. Additionally, if each player loses 10%, then the predictive probability that the entire line will WIN on a given play is .9 to the 5th power (assuming 5 linemen), which is 59%. Funny how that’s close to the average completion percentage league-wide.
Stat geeks. LOL…
The Seahawks, like the Bucs, are a run-first team. They do NOT depend on the drop-back pass, opting for options off play-action.
Wilson is not a drop-back passer. He also often keeps the ball too long to make a play. That is NOT the fault of the OL.
Sweezy is in the right place. The Bucs have a young, powerful, athletic guard with serious grind, attitude and finish…and another team paid the price to convert him from DL to OL. The Seahawks wanted him back, but had to manage a salary cap problem the Bucs did not have.
Besides, if Seahawk “viewers” are as unaware as many Buc fans are, why should anyone but casual fans pay attention to what they have to say? Who are you gonna believe: Licht & Tom Cable, or some fan who screams at his TV in righteous microbrew hop-fueled angst? 😉
June 8th, 2016 at 12:07 am
Just a little to add here Joe, I’ve noticed that Jamie’s like to set his hb’s up for success. I’ve also noticed that sweezy does an excellent job getting to the lb’s and the secondary in the running game. Stat sheets don’t account for scheme or technique, only numbers.
June 8th, 2016 at 12:33 am
Very true!
Yeah, have noticed Sweezy get to the second and third level quite a bit. Good observation.
June 8th, 2016 at 12:36 am
Hardly! Joe’s referenced it many times.
June 8th, 2016 at 12:38 am
LOL!!!
June 8th, 2016 at 12:37 pm
I feel like pass protection can be coached up, but run blocking is more of a natural thing. Obviously at this level, technique is important in everything. But I feel that pass protection requires technique to be much more on point. You aren’t just firing off the ball and getting after someone. Players have to be patient and disciplined, and they have to wait for defenders to come at them, so I feel that technique is much more important.
With run blocking, an aggressive mentality and a high motor can compensate for technique issues. That’s why a guy like Sweezy, who just looks to punish people, was able to transition from defense and be a pretty good run blocker right from the start.
Basically this is my long drawn out way of saying I’m not overly concerned about his perceived issues in the passing game. He is already regarded as a great run blocker, which shows he is tough, strong, and has the right mindset. Now if he gets coached up and cleans up his technique, his pass protection is sure to improve.
June 8th, 2016 at 7:53 pm
Big Marlon B Says:
The #1 way to slow down a pass rush is having the ability to jam the running game down an opponent’s throat nearly at will, and having a D not give up many points.
A D can tee off and blitz an OL in 3rd & 8 when far ahead, but not so much on 3rd and 3 in a close game.
That’s what many great teams do. Look no further than the Kitties.
Sweezy adds significantly to establishing a brutal running game.
I don’t understand why this simple concept is so difficult for many to understand.
The Bucs did NOT acquire Sweezy for classic drop-back pass blocking skills. They signed him as the nasty roadgrader as he was in Seattle.
That is where this team is headed: not a huge amount of finesse, but a serious running game and killer play-action attack. Again, like the Seahawks who forced teams try to stop Lynch, and then Wilson would light them up on play-action.