Take Care Of Jameis, Please
July 12th, 2016
America’s Quarterback must be protected as if he is Old Glory himself.
Joe likes to brag that a previously thought of ragtag group of offensive linemen — two rookies, including a Divsion-III player, one savvy vet on his final legs and two guys pulled off the street after preseason began — allowed the fourth-fewest sacks in the league blocking for America’s Quarterback, rookie Pro Bowler Jameis Winston.
It was no less than remarkable how that group bonded and molded so quickly to become of the top lines in the NFL, also blocking for the NFL’s fifth-best rushing attack.
But quarterback hits? That’s another story.
Jameis took a pounding last year. The Bucs allowed 109 hits last year and Jameis took every snap. The three teams that allowed more quarterback hits — Cleveland, Indianapolis and Seattle — their starting quarterbacks did not take every snap.
Well, Scott Kacsmar of Football Outsiders has more alarming numbers. In the past three seasons, no quarterback has taken as many hits per snaps played as Jameis.
It seems Kacsmar has less hits for Jameis than the official NFL stats — not many less — but the percentage of hits per snaps taken is far worse than the next NFL punching bag, Andrew Luck.
Kacsmar’s full list is embedded below.
Some of these hits can be blamed on Jameis himself, because he made rookie decisions. That’s fair. How many of those hits were absorbed because Jameis was wet behind the ears in the NFL? One can only guess.
As underwear football began, new head coach Dirk Koetter noted he wanted Jameis to move about the pocket more often. The ugly numbers below are likely a good reason why. Perhaps Jameis was too much of a stationary target, and defenders were pinning their ears back on him and teeing off?
This much is clear: It is unreasonable to expect Jameis to stay healthy for a full 16 games getting pounded like he did last year. Eventually, those hits will take a brutal toll.
The very last thing this team needs is for Jameis to get the holy hell beat out of him like Luck did last year, or like another quarterback who gets hit and hurt a lot, Carson Palmer.
Joe is beginning to understand why Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht was so resistant to trade Mike Glennon.
July 12th, 2016 at 8:10 am
RT tackle needs an upgrade. Dotson is average at best. Gos is better locker room guy than player at this stage. Hopefully the new kid can rise up and put the old guy on the bench and upgrade Dotson. I’m hoping we will see big improvement from Smith and future center marpet.
The rules are simple
1. Protect Winston
2. Give Winston reliable weapons
3. See rule 1
July 12th, 2016 at 8:42 am
@Tmax
You really think they will shift Marpet over to C? I think we have a solid guy in the middle already, and by shifting him over u create another hole at RG. Hawley proved last that he can hold it down and be a better than average C. Not to mention he’s still fairly young at the age of 26. We will find out soon enough weither last season was a fluke or not.
I think Dotson can hold it down at RT till the bucs find their long term solution there. I don’t get why so many ppl are down on Dotson, before he got injured he was the best lineman we had, now all of a sudden he’s not worth crap?? I don’t buy that. He’s getting older but he still has a couple of good yrs left in him imo.
I’m not as confident as other Buc fans when it comes to this line having another great year, not when you lead the league in QB hits, that’s a recipe for disaster and eventually u won’t keep getting lucky like last year. There were plenty of times I didn’t think Winston was gonna get up, he’s one tough SOB, u gotta give him that.
July 12th, 2016 at 8:45 am
Luck hit a whopping g 305 times in a 3 yr span, no wonder he regressed last year, a guy can only take so many punches before he goes down. The bucs should be looking at that as a example. Andrew has not been so Lucky of late. Neither will Winston if those numbers stay consistent.
July 12th, 2016 at 8:49 am
Many hits are on Winston, staying in the pocket too long trying to make a play.
I suspect the game slowing down, his mastery of the offense and a situational moving pocket will reduce that number significantly.
I’d be curious to see what that stat might be for the first half vs. the last half of the season might be, because we saw two different Winstons & OL based on development.
July 12th, 2016 at 8:54 am
DemBoyzFromDaBay727
I’ve always believed the long term plan for Marpet is center. Hawley is fine but just like Dotson he could be upgraded. I like Dotson but he can be upgraded that is not hate. Remember talent and play out way popularity. Too many buc fans have gotten attached to mediocre players mainly out of lack of options. I want the team to win consistently. Players will always come and go.
July 12th, 2016 at 9:23 am
tmaxcon, based on offensive performance, where the OL sets the tone, the Bucs OL is now a team strength.
Every position could, in theory, be upgraded, but there are only so many *available* players that could do so and there are salary cap considerations. The Bucs have other pressing needs…
I disagree about Hawley. The guy is a nasty brawler-go look at some of Martin’s inside runs and see what I mean. The O didn’t get cranking until Hawley was inserted after Smith’s injury.
July 12th, 2016 at 9:38 am
Weren’t 5 of those hits made when Jameis ran all over the ATL defense for the first down
July 12th, 2016 at 10:54 am
Cobraboy
Unless you have a top 5 player at a position a good GM will look at all options to improve that position. In my opinion fans confuse popularity or their favorite player and settle for mediocrity too often. Dotson is a perfect example. Likeable guy, hard working good story basketball to nfl football but the fact is he’s never been better than average. Average doesn’t win playoff games. No I’m not blaming Dotson just using him as an example…players come and go bring in the best players not the best stories…
July 12th, 2016 at 12:30 pm
No tmax, his point is that you can’t have a top 5 guy at every position.
Of course you try but that’s completely unrealistic.
July 12th, 2016 at 12:35 pm
A good OL, and a solid ground game along with the experience of another year should help Jameis stay upright. It really doesn’t matter “how” or in what combination.
July 12th, 2016 at 12:39 pm
“Joe is beginning to understand why Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht was so resistant to trade Mike Glennon.”
That’s quite the concession from the source of dozens of “Why the F*#! haven’t the Bucs traded Glennon yet???” articles over the last 6 months.
IMO, the “hits” were high last year because the OLine needs to improve quite a bit in protecting the passer. And the sacks were low because Winston is extremely good at avoiding them and getting the ball off.
Even so – last year’s OLine exceeded my expectations and we can only hope that the group continues to improve moving forward. The across the board talent up front looks way better to me than what we had just 2 years ago so Jason Licht has done a good job in that regard.
July 12th, 2016 at 12:43 pm
Hopefully Jameis is a little wiser this year.
July 12th, 2016 at 1:06 pm
tmaxcon Says:
You assume Licht hasn’t?
Perhaps your opinion and the GM & Coaches opinion on Dotson differ.
July 12th, 2016 at 2:19 pm
While I do not dismiss Pickgrin’s point about #3’s athletic ability helping him avoid even more hits.
But I think Cobraboy is onto something as well. Football is still a team sport. It’s not ALL on the OL. The QB is just as responsible for many of those hits.
#3 had more heart and competitive fire last year than was perhaps smart….but he was a rookie.
Another part is performance from the WR’s and TE’s. Not just catching the ball but getting some separation by running awesome routes. Not sure our receivers helped #3 that much. Although Brate and Humphries certainly tried to help out there.
#3 will have so many targets..the 2nd best rusher in the NFL..and a HC who made his bones as an offensive guru…and most importantly to me at least is what Phil said….hopefully #3 will be better and make superior decisions. #3 will figure it out.
July 12th, 2016 at 2:41 pm
FWIW: look at the bottom of that list. Those guys move well. Look at the top. Basically statues.
I don’t think of Winston as a statue at all. I’ve seen enough to know he has some escape skills.
I have little doubt many of the hits he took were on him, trying to wait too long to make a play.
I wonder if the “clock in his head” needs re-calibrating. There is a point in elapsed time that no offensive line can hold back a rush.
I’d be surprised of Koetter isn’t working on several skills: 1) Head clock, 2) understanding not all plays will work and to throw the ball away instead of getting shanked, and 3) Subtle foot and body movements to buy another fraction of a second of time and avoid big, direct hits..
July 12th, 2016 at 2:42 pm
The sack number is excellent. Span it out over three seasons and it compares better then anybody. Sacks are huge plays in football, much greater then a hit.
The hits are not good. I never paid mind to this last year. What I did notice is that the line gave Winston precious time to read the field……..Would love to see these hits put into context……….Hits really should be catorgized. We’re they created because a lineman biggest off the line? The the QB hold the ball longer waiting for a play to open? Did the QB lack the mental clock needed and unnecessarily take a lick? There is a huge difference between each of those. Without having context of the hit it is a blanket stat that tells very little……….The most important thing is that Winston got up from those hits and it never hindered his play.
GO BUCS!!!!!!
July 12th, 2016 at 2:46 pm
Another thing…….Are hits beyond the line of scrimmage counted? That matters and missing info deems the list less important.
July 12th, 2016 at 4:31 pm
I would think the hits only count behind the line. Once he crosses the line he becomes just another ball carrier. Could be wrong.
July 12th, 2016 at 6:58 pm
I would think that too Eric…….The more I look at the stat and try to think about it and put it into context the more irrevalant it becomes. I also think the list is wacked set in a three year which is really an undefined period. Our own Mike Glennon being a perfect example since he has been far less then a full time starter. The list would hold a ton more merit with an extra column for the number of snaps taken and could even be broken into the number of passing attempts……still though, those numbers wouldn’t tell the whole story. IMO the stats shared are worthless.
One thing though. It will get me paying more attention to if Winston got hit on a play and where the blame, if any, should lie.
July 12th, 2016 at 6:59 pm
Joe’s there’s a trade-off for moving around a lot in the pocket…may buy more time, avoid less hits…but you’re spending less time looking downfield progressing through all the reads. Jameis’ bugaboo is that he has locked onto one target, not looked defenders off and often goes to his first read on the play. If he is moving around that will make the task much harder to do. sure, if there is a breakdown he must move to avoid the hit/sack…but primarily we want him to stand tall with good mechanics…feet work…set and fire the proper throws to a window on-time to the “open” player.
July 12th, 2016 at 7:08 pm
And Joe as far as your stationary assessment of Jameis, not according to the Washington DE – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NTo6K_fSPg 2:55 mark….”we just thought he was going to be a stationary target….usually a rook. qb will stand in one spot and we can start teeing off on him…but this cat will not stand around.”
July 12th, 2016 at 7:35 pm
Wasn’t suggesting Jameis was a statue. He clearly wasn’t. However, Jameis’ offensive coordinator last year and head coach this year believed different.
That’s not coming from Joe, that’s coming from Koetter’s own mouth.
July 12th, 2016 at 7:38 pm
Sure, but don’t think that applies so much with Jameis. One of his greatest attributes is he is always looking downfield.
But yeah, just because you run around doesn’t mean you won’t get hit. There’s a fine line am pretty sure Koetter wants Jameis to find.
Don’t think anyone is suggesting Jameis turn into Fran Tarkenton.