Donovan Smith And “Enough Was Enough”
August 28th, 2016
For some reason, the spreadsheeter crowd and former Bucs rockstar general manager Mark Dominik have little faith in Bucs left tackle Donovan Smith.
Joe just doesn’t get it.
In Smith, Joe sees a guy who had a great rookie year. He played every snap and was a key cog in an offensive line that spearheaded a dangerous two-man rushing attack and allowed among the fewest sacks in the league.
Smith was at least good. And for a rookie left tackle, that’s great!
Also, Smith has the raw talent, the size and the feet. He’s leaner this year but is still 6-6, 330 pounds, a pure nimble manbeast.
Yesterday, Dirk Koetter singled out Smith for being a dominant force in the Bucs not allowing a sack to the Browns on Friday night. “Donovan [Smith] had his best game from a technique standpoint,” he said.
Early last season, Koetter called Smith was a “jackpot” score in the second-round of the draft.
Joe has seen nothing to think otherwise. Shame (again) on the stats nerds.
Koetter added that a whopping 40 early plays by the starting O-line cut their night short Friday. “Enough was enough,” he said. They were expected to come out and play after halftime but didn’t.
August 28th, 2016 at 8:55 am
Mark Dominick doesn’t know his a$$ from a hole in the ground when it comes to offensive linemen or other talent in general.
August 28th, 2016 at 9:06 am
People all have opinions. The fact is the people in charge choose the people they want to fill positions. The success rate is usually what keeps you employed… Some are lucky to keep coaching jobs longer than others (Norv Turner, Rex Ryan) and some get one chance. The same with every position in the NFL. The longer the tenure, the more adept to change you are. If you get stuck in a certain style, you are not long for this league. Dominick was a product of working his way up through an organization and was rewarded with a GM position. It was at this point that his skill level was not up to par. It happens in every workplace in America. Just because you have been there the longest, doesn’t mean you are able to handle the next position higher. Dominick may be a great Asst. GM somewhere….
August 28th, 2016 at 9:07 am
D Smith was one of our top 5 graded offensive players of the week according to pff
August 28th, 2016 at 9:10 am
Exactly Wombat. Didn’t some guy named Peter write about that principle?
August 28th, 2016 at 9:13 am
The detractors or spread sheeters score the whole O-line low!!!! And it is from a pure pass protection that gets this O-line the poor score. But the Offensive Coordinator is covering up this weakness in their game by using the most 6 man lines in the NFL!!! Lots of playaction and a heavy run game that instead of the O-line pass Blocking has our Huge O-line in attack run block that suits their strengths!!!!
Coaching and scheme is what makes this Oline not only work, but look good!!!!!
August 28th, 2016 at 9:18 am
“The best way to build an NFL franchise is to ignore the Offensive line. Successful GMs NEVER draft OLine players”
– Chapter 9 from Mark Dominik’s book – ‘My 5 years as an NFL general manager – and why I will never work for the NFL again’.
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To this point, Donovan Smith is the best Tackle to have come out of the 2015 draft.
August 28th, 2016 at 9:21 am
Love D Smith keep chopping wood young man!!
August 28th, 2016 at 9:39 am
I won’t say that I agree with the stat nerds but I am definitely not a fan of Smith. Did he fill a hole at LT as a rookie yes . But to say he was good I think is a stretch. He consistently gets beat horribly by no name DE’s. Furthermore, he takes way too many plays off. I will use to the game against the Browns. He was absolutely whooped by the browns # 90 on an inside rip. Smith got turned around and watched Winston run for his life. Second example was the game against the Jags,. Smith was supposed to be one of the lead blockers for the screen. He completely missed his assignment and gave up on the play. These are just a few examples I could think of off the top of my head. He will be exposed when we actually play some teams with off the edge talent. I can handle getting blown up, or completely beaten on a play. But when there is lack of effort… Thats another story in its self.
August 28th, 2016 at 9:56 am
Dislocated I remember that play. One of the worst whiffs I’ve ever seen. The guy barely made the move and Smith fell over. I’m not sold on him either and believer Koetters play calling masked some of the lines weaknesses last year. Just like he did in Atl.
August 28th, 2016 at 10:14 am
I’ll take Koetter’s weaknesses regarding the offense over the combined strengths of every O coach the Bucs have ever had. He’s building a quality offense, and he knows how to game plan. I had more questions about Smith and the D than I did Koetter and the O after Friday nite’s game. Go Bucs!!
August 28th, 2016 at 10:31 am
I give him a B grade. I use fananalitics
August 28th, 2016 at 11:50 am
I like to use my eyes as opposed to fake stats. He’s slow, extremely inconsistent and he has almost no potential to be a great pass blocker. I don’t hate him or nothing, but I sure would like to see him move to right tackle once Demar Dotson moves on
August 28th, 2016 at 12:27 pm
You’re telling me dominick doesn’t like a player thats actually good? Shocker.
August 28th, 2016 at 3:29 pm
PFF gave Smith decent rating for the Browns game. And they hate him.
August 28th, 2016 at 5:19 pm
Love Donovan Smith. He has played fantastic, and will be a pro bowler
To his detractors- you are some clueless Zombies- go learn something about football before you post
As I have stated before- Mark Dominick is the dumbest S.O.B to ever work in the NFL
August 28th, 2016 at 6:28 pm
Joe you think Donovan smith can have a career like Donald penn?
August 29th, 2016 at 12:08 am
I remember watching Smith stonewalling Kuechly on the Charles Sims touchdown pass off the blitz at Ray J. He’s had his moments, but held his own quite well for a rook.
August 29th, 2016 at 12:30 am
Donovan Smith was a great draft pic which is one thing that Dom can’t recognize even after a year of starting.Wow
August 29th, 2016 at 9:31 am
Theres a reason why Dom is sitting in the ESPN studio and not in a team facility. Dude was terrible at Evaluating talent. I could care less what he thinks. My money says he envy Licht cause of his success so far. Say what u want about his FA SO far but the dude can draft and that’s the no. 1 thing. U can do that at the rate of what Licht has, U will have a successful franchise in the future
August 29th, 2016 at 10:22 am
Whatever Mark Dominik’s opinion, I’ll take the opposite, go all in, and retire a very wealthy man.