Here We Go Again
July 19th, 2018
New Bucs target.
What is this hangup these guys who traffic in statistical debris have with the Bucs offensive line?
These spreadsheeters, man they stick together. It’s like some friggin’ new age Heaven’s Gate cult. One concocts some jibberish and the rest jump aboard like a litter of hungry newborn Labrador puppies squirming for mom’s teat.
Joe was told recently — Joe sure as hell isn’t going to pay the PFF tribe hard-earned cash to read about their comical offensive line grades — that the PFF tribe has already started a drumbeat against new Bucs center Ryan Jensen.
In the past, the PFF tribe has had convulsions over J.R. Sweezy (before his back injury) and their vile hatred of Donovan Smith is well-chronicled. Man, these guys just despise Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht.
(To be fair, the PFF tribe hailed the attributes of noted former Bucs left tackle Anthony Collins.)
But again, the groundswell of the keyboard tappers against Jensen is growing louder. One of the tribe’s brethren, folically-challenged Billy Barnwell of BSPN, sort of a Marshall Applewhite, recently typed a list of most overpaid players in the NFL and guess who made the list? Yup, Jensen.
The Buccaneers made a guy who was a tackle in college and a guard for most of his pro career the highest-paid center in the league this offseason, which is a testament to how desperate they were for offensive line help, and how Jensen looked in his first season at the pivot since high school. The Buccaneers are aggressive about maintaining flexibility in their long-term deals, so this is really a two-year, $22 million deal with two team options at $10 million each, but when teams make a guy one of the highest-paid players at his position after one season in the role, it rarely works out.
Joe glanced quickly through Billy’s list and frankly there are some damn good players he thinks are overpaid. So Jensen is in good company.
The way Joe looks at contracts, what is overpaid today is underpaid tomorrow. When exactly have salaries gone down?
If a guy produces, he has earned his check. That’s all there is to it.
July 19th, 2018 at 11:03 am
Joe will not use any of their information unless it is to back up Jameis Winston. Then it is as good as gold.
July 19th, 2018 at 11:21 am
joe knows jameis’ backside
July 19th, 2018 at 11:35 am
I would much rather overpay for a good player than underpay for a bad player.
July 19th, 2018 at 11:36 am
Not worried about Jensen, or Marpet learning his 3rd new position, or Smith. But the right side of the line scares the hell out of me.
July 19th, 2018 at 11:40 am
DBS nailed it.
But to the author’s point, I agree with you Joe I really don’t care how much a guy is being paid. That said, he’s right about how desperate we were for o-line help.
Our run-blocking was atrocious the last 2 years
July 19th, 2018 at 11:46 am
Could be why Licht went out and got Jensen. Probably knew Sweezy couldn’t return from injury.
You are right, suddenly that right side is anything but reassuring.
July 19th, 2018 at 11:59 am
we’ll see how it goes…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
July 19th, 2018 at 12:06 pm
Ravens had good Oline for years. Now Jensen was only a starter last year.
However , everything I read says he was most consistent / best blocking /nastiest olineman they had. They hated to see him leave.
And to get the best , you have to pay up
Anyone think Nate soldier is worth 15 mil per after getting average reviews for his career. ?
July 19th, 2018 at 12:13 pm
Football can’t come sooner.
Just bought our tix for the game last night- upper corner deck section 643 – 7 of us are going together which is great. I can’t afford nicer seats lol but we sat upper deck last year and any seat is pretty good in that dome.
Looking forward to more details on the takeover plans. We’re kind of doing a lot of our own things since it’s my wife’s 30th but we will definitely be out partying Friday & Saturday night; and hopefully there is some sort of tailgate sh1t planned because we’d definitely be there for that.
Go Bucs!
July 19th, 2018 at 12:32 pm
Overpaying for subpar talent? Say it aint so!
July 19th, 2018 at 12:49 pm
Stats are for losers. The team with the highest score at the end of the game is more winners Also, the team with the more intelligent quarterback often wins more than not. Hence, why we lose with dumb as a bag of hammers winocheo.
I speak the truth, I am the truth, and the truth hurts!
July 19th, 2018 at 1:20 pm
JameisNot I don’t know how you can use the word hence and write something that, in general, appears like a second grader composed it.
If you are the truth then the truth hurts my eyes.
July 19th, 2018 at 1:55 pm
@SC
And what stats is he even talking about?
This article isn’t about stats.
And newsflash but points scored vs the points given up is a stat. Winning and losing is a stat. Everything in the end is a stat.
Winning isn’t an emotional thing that you can’t measure. It’s measured statistically on a scoreboard. By a bunch of losers apparently. The truth is f*cking weird today.
July 19th, 2018 at 1:57 pm
Lord C.- Happy birthday to the wife! I remember when I turned 30….like 20 years ago!!!! 🙂
unbelievable- How dare you propagate the narrative that our o-line struggled in ANY way! There can be only one scapegoat!
Definitely concerned about that right side.
July 19th, 2018 at 2:14 pm
Hey Joe I wanted to give you a shoutout in that I (living in Ohio) passed a car the other day and the license plate read, “JOE B FAN”. I am assuming s/he has to be referring to you!
July 19th, 2018 at 2:28 pm
You’ve been posting PFF tribe articles all summer
July 19th, 2018 at 3:10 pm
“One concocts some jibberish and the rest jump aboard like a litter of hungry newborn Labrador puppies squirming for mom’s teat.”
Sounds like the liberal mainstream media ..they’re all controlled by a single brain. They all almost simultaneously have the same talking points at the same time as if they have one central brain.
July 19th, 2018 at 3:14 pm
Man Joe,
the Bucs haven’t won ANYTHING in over a decade and have had a horrendous offensive line most of those years.
PFF was right about Collins.
They were right about Sweezy.
As much as you won’t admit, they are right about D. Smith. He is a below average starting left tackle in the NFL. He’s just not good.There are so many metrics, stats, and pure “watching the actual film” that supports that.
The hype against Jensen is that he’s had one good season and got paid like he’d already had 3-5 good seasons. Historically, the one season wonders in their contract year don’t always pan out… so they are not wrong to question that either.
I’ve been very vocal about FIXING THE TRENCHES and FIXING THE BUCS…
I applaud the defensive line moves the team made.
But as long as D. Smith is the LT and without another interior lineman to add REAL depth, this line is paper thin at best and one inevitable injury from becoming a liability again.
There’s nothing that can be brought up to defend the quality of the offensive line other than wishful thinking.
July 19th, 2018 at 3:21 pm
Licht has screwed up the OL draft after draft, Laremy Tunsil should have been a buc, a franchise LT, but licht picked vh3, hope im wrong but 5-11, 6-10 is coming
July 19th, 2018 at 3:22 pm
Over the last couple of years, the oline evaluations represent the main disconnect between Joe and his sharpest cadre of commenters. We didn’t see average; we saw Jameis running for his life and shoulder-slammed to the ground, an uncanny ability to get holding penalties at the worst of times and no running backs hit in the backfield–before they could get started.
You could blame several other factors. The defense put us behind the 8-ball and we couldn’t go run/play action; too many seven-step drops; Jameis holding the ball trying for the big play; no hot routes or blitz attenuating route options; etc. The mantras of your best comment cadre, “build from the trenches, big three (which at the 7-spot meant Nelson) or trade down, sign or draft a right tackle, improve the running game by improving the oline,” all point to a feeling that the oline has issues and that, Jensen aside, it was going to be an issue going forward unless something was done about it.
July 19th, 2018 at 3:23 pm
should be “running backs git in the backfield…”
July 19th, 2018 at 3:57 pm
@gambelero
Neither one makes sense, but I know what you are getting at.
Can’t blame Douggie if he gets hit while Jameis is handing it to him 🙂
July 19th, 2018 at 4:15 pm
“PFF was right about Collins”
They had him rated as a stud and he sucked……
And I’m still confused as to why people are obsessed with Laremy Tunsil as if he’s been some stud LT for the last 2 seasons. He’s only played 1 season at LT (last year) and graded about the same as D Smith on PFF.
let it go!
July 19th, 2018 at 5:08 pm
Uh, oh!
July 19th, 2018 at 5:08 pm
I agree. Licht lovessss risking Glazer capital. One year starter at a new position and we made him the highest paid in the league.
Barf.
July 19th, 2018 at 5:54 pm
Drafting Harhreaves instead of Tunsil was flat out stupid and Tunsil is a franchise LT, when he was drafted to the fins they had all pro at LT and a top end RT, so tunsil played guard, but Tunsil is better than any OL we have on the roster but licht passed him up for a part time player
July 19th, 2018 at 6:07 pm
“but Tunsil is better than any OL we have on the roster but licht passed him up for a part time player”
Not according to any grades by anyone I’ve seen. But I respect the opinion.
Tunsil should be an all pro this season if you’re right. AT a minimum he should make a pro bowl.
he graded out as like the 50-something ranked OT last year on PFF
July 19th, 2018 at 8:06 pm
JameisNOT Says
“Stats are for losers.”
Ah, a quote from one of our worst coaches.
If stats are for losers, the why are they used to get into the Hall of Fame?
July 19th, 2018 at 9:55 pm
PFF just likes to engage in the rage of our day…”Alternative Facts”.
Just ignore your eyes and take their word for it and it’s ok.
July 20th, 2018 at 7:56 am
The guy on the right is the most orangutan-like
July 20th, 2018 at 8:14 am
@bonzai: let me clarify my “stats are for losers” comment. Joes self proclaimed America’s QB JameISNOT pads his stats late in games due to his turnovers earlier in the game. He also pads his stats the last 4 meaningless games of the year.