Your New Left Tackle
August 24th, 2018
Manned up in the spotlight
No joke.
Joe plans to order a Michael Liedtke jersey in a matter of hours.
Yeah, Joe is a little partial to Liedtke after bowling with him back in May. (Wise podcast consumers heard that story on the recent Ira Kaufman Podcast.) But what really matters was his manly performance tonight against the Lions.
Liedtke was thrust into the starting lineup to play left tackle for Donovan Smith. And Liedtke was stout and consistent. Not perfect, but pretty darn good. Even CBS color analyst Bruce Arians lauded him during the third quarter and later said he’d give Liedtke the game ball.
Liedtke, 26, was undrafted out of Illinois State and bounced between the Dolphins, Jets, Browns and Chiefs before landing with the Bucs, where he made it to an active roster for the first time in December of last season.
Tonight, Liedtke showed he could hang with the first teamers. There’s nothing that notable about him other than he battles and grinds. Coaches call guys like him “football players,” and it helps to be 6-3, 310 pounds.
Joe’s not going overboard here, but Liedtke showed tonight that the Bucs not have to worry about him losing a game or two for them while/if Donovan Smith is sidelined.
What an easy guy to root for.
Now the backup right tackle, Brad Seaton, who came in tonight to replace Demar Dotson, well, he was downright scary and owes Jameis Winston an apology.
August 24th, 2018 at 11:35 pm
He played well. We need contribution from these guys if we are to be successful and tonight he looked up to the challenge for sure. But we need more of the same. It’s the one position that an unknown player could come from nowhere all of sudden and become a starter.
August 24th, 2018 at 11:37 pm
Joe singing a very different tune now.
Really? From today:
“*Joe is not delusional, but Joe is optimistic about what Michael Lietdke might do tonight starting at left tackle for Donovan Smith. Lietdke stuck around since 2016 for a reason and he’s looked solid in preseason, albeit against a lot of opponents who will be working substitute teaching jobs next month. Keep an eye on Lietdke.”
From earlier this week. https://www.joebucsfan.com/2018/08/take-comfort-donald-penn-story/
And some practice video for you. https://www.joebucsfan.com/2018/07/video-michael-liedtke-eats-up-jason-pierre-paul/ —JOE
August 25th, 2018 at 12:02 am
Whoa, I guess there is a limit to the Donovan Smith love then
August 25th, 2018 at 12:02 am
I’ll need to see more than a preseason game before I’d feel comfortable with him there. But luckily Fitz can be the crash dummy if he’s terrible, hopefully by the time Winston is back we’ll know if the kid is any good or not, or we’ll have back Smith.
August 25th, 2018 at 12:09 am
Yeah Joe is right Brad Seaton owes Jameis Winston a serious apology from Titan’s games penalty which negated the touchdown pass to Godwin.
Mike Smith owes all of us an apology for losing the last quarter of this game. He had nothing for the lions and allowed them to beat my team without any pushback in the forth qtr.. No matter what–Mike Smith needs to be gone next year.
August 25th, 2018 at 12:19 am
@fire the cannons
why wait till next year
August 25th, 2018 at 12:22 am
Good call Joe. He looked great. Excellent footwork and hands.
August 25th, 2018 at 12:40 am
Bird
August 25th, 2018 at 12:42 am
Test
So many contenders. If you got solid , sucks for them. Weird offseason
Liedke
August 25th, 2018 at 12:46 am
Here is the thing
They said boozer , Gardner , and Wester
They talked about right guard this year . Benenoch reminds me of Benedick
August 25th, 2018 at 12:54 am
I was excited to see him play when you wrote that article Joe when you were giving him some praises and showed that video of him man handling JPP. Don’t think Smith is worthy of the money they will probably give him next year so I’m hoping this guy can come out of right field and dominate. Played very well tonight, wait till Ali returns next to him and see what that looks like.
August 25th, 2018 at 1:13 am
It’s all about the beard yo!
Everyone just needs to grow a beard….
August 25th, 2018 at 1:58 am
You guys remember Ted Larsen?
August 25th, 2018 at 7:26 am
seaton should be cut today. he’s been awful all preseason. but really hard not to be impressed with what basically a back up o line was able to do against the lions starters. ill say the lions really didn’t impress me and wouldn’t shock me if they stumble to a 5 or 6 win season.
August 25th, 2018 at 7:30 am
“The only skill Donny has is he is dependable. He is terribly flawed against a skilled speed rusher. Donny is below average and whe will be making a huge mistake paying him top dollar…there is some Baker in him”
Kobe Faker
August 25th, 2018 at 7:59 am
He was solid tonight no doubt. It’s good to have depth like him when starters go out.
August 25th, 2018 at 8:42 am
I agree that the defensive coaching in the 4th quarter was horrible. They knew what was coming each play and still could (or did) not adjust.
August 25th, 2018 at 8:53 am
Mike Smith still haven’t learned you can’t back 10 yards off the wr 2nd or 3rd and 9 and under . He needs to go if he won’t change. That hurts the pass rush cause they will throw quick slants or curl routes not giving the pass rush a chance to get sacks or pressure the quarter back.
August 25th, 2018 at 11:53 am
Just think how good Liedke would be if he had played LT for three years like D. Smith has been able to do with Warhop lavishing him with undeserved praise. The Bucs will be very foolish if we give D. Smith a lavish Long Term LT Contract. The smart move would be to move D. Smith inside to LG when he comes back and let Marpet retake his RT position. After all Warhop just loves to move everyone else around except for his prized D. Smith. Then next year we can draft a first round LT for the future.
August 25th, 2018 at 12:15 pm
Now if Warhop had not kept playing Pamphile out of place at Guard, we would have had Pamphile playing RT yesterday instead of Seaton and proving he was capable of replacing Dotson when Dotson is injured or retires. The Titan’s realized Pamphile is a Tackle and not a Guard and play him at RT. Why didn’t Warhop figure that out? We need a OL Coach as capable as Buckner instead of a Cleveland Brown’s reject OL Coach—Warhop. If he was any good Cleveland would have given him a big raise and kept him. The success of our makeshift OL is due to Licht finding and signing good undrafted players this year; not any skill on Warhop’s part!
August 25th, 2018 at 1:12 pm
LT? That is a premier position, isn’t it? Joe…you can’t keep these ISU boys down. It just takes us a little longer. Now all we need is a Panther at the other corner.
August 25th, 2018 at 1:17 pm
I feel so much in common with him as an ISU grad…only that he has about two inches and about seventy or eighty pounds of muscle that I don’t have, and I have about forty years on him.
August 25th, 2018 at 1:24 pm
Oh, and he is faster and more athletic than I ever was. Come to think about it, I don’t have much in common with any NFL player…but still, great to see a Redbird fight his way to the top.
August 25th, 2018 at 5:16 pm
Bruce Arians publicly ridiculed Mike Smith by saying the Lions did not need to run, because they could pick up 10 15 yards on check downs anytime they wanted, due to Mike Smith playing a 10 yards off the receiver soft zone.