Development Vs. Safety
October 23rd, 2018
Bucs right guard Caleb Benenoch
Bucs starting right guard Caleb Benenoch is having a lousy start to his season.
Joe’s tempted to call him Caleb I-Can’t-Block, but that’s not fair to a 24-year-old, developing fifth-round pick from the 2016 draft class of Jason Licht.
The Benenoch files are intriguing. He plays about 75 percent of each game in a bizarre rotation with Evan Smith. Dirk Koetter won’t share the reasoning behind that with media.
Regardless, because of that rotation, it’s fair to say Benenoch can’t be having conditioning issues. He gets plenty of breaks and, presumably, is coached up during that time on the sidelines. It’s actually a great learning opportunity for a young player. Benenoch also gets to watch game film of Smith working on the same guy he is.
But the bottom line is Benenoch is struggling and Joe’s wondering how patient Koetter and Licht will be with him.
A young player isn’t going to improve without playing, but jobs are on the line and the Bucs can’t run the ball and Benenoch’s pass blocking is subpar. He’s a safety hazard for America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston.
Something has to give, although it really doesn’t. Bucs fans saw the offense stick with struggling J.R. Sweezy and Doug Martin last season.
Koetter was asked Monday about the status of rookie guard/tackle Alex Cappa. Koetter made it clear that the best players dress for games and Cappa isn’t one of them. But Cappa is making “adequate progress” through what he’s asked to do during practice, Koetter said.
Yeah, it’s a bit troubling that the regime views Cappa as less valuable than Benenoch and Smith. But again, Benenoch deserves the patience being afforded to him; Cappa likely would need the same thing.
Ironically, Sweezy has been a key run-blocking cog in the NFL’s seventh-ranked rushing attack, a mark owned by the Seahawks, who scooped him up when the Bucs cut him before the season.
October 23rd, 2018 at 2:26 pm
He’s bad man this guy needs to go
October 23rd, 2018 at 2:27 pm
COACHING and SCHEME!! If Licht chose the coaching staffs- He only has to blame himself. However, if Koetter chose them-BE GONE!! We are terrible at almost every position except WR. QB is what it is. Whomever keeps putting Jaquizz Rodgers back to return kicks-BE GONE!! Warhop-BE GONE!! Every DB coach- BE GONE!! Duffner and Buckner can stay–for now.
October 23rd, 2018 at 2:28 pm
Freaking SWEEZY!! Our coaches do their best to ruin players careers, just sayin’
October 23rd, 2018 at 2:29 pm
What is Licht doing now ? We’ve needed secondary help since the season Started and now we are need of linebacker help. He seems to stop working once the season begins whine the good teams add more help .
October 23rd, 2018 at 2:30 pm
He has a great smile. But he’s..Softer than Charmin!
October 23rd, 2018 at 2:31 pm
This is seriously the most mind boggling move I’ve ever seen. Has anyone ever seen RGs rotate throughout the game? Caleb is absolutely horrible yet we make zero moves to improve the position. If Cappa can’t beat out Smith or Caleb then cut him cuz all three are complete garbage.
Jameis getting hit as he throws, rbs running the wrong routes all causing interceptions (per Koetter) yet you yahoo blame Winston. Smh
October 23rd, 2018 at 2:40 pm
Caleb I-Can’t-Block, Jameis I-Got-To-Get-Better Winston
I know where you are coming from Joe. lol
October 23rd, 2018 at 2:41 pm
If Jameis is the franchise QB that licht feels he is why not get him a legit NFL starting OL the past 4 years, licht failed at that and now you have this liability there. Young QBs need a solid defense, that is a negative here, and a solid NFL running game, again the bucs have not had that and then obvioulsy a above average OL, the bucs do not have that….licht has done malpractice on the bucs team, if jameis is to stay here with the next gm hope he gets him a run game, OL and a playoff defense…..tons of holes on this team right now
October 23rd, 2018 at 3:09 pm
We had the same problem at R.G. last year, and Licht’s answer was to sign a center, cut Sweezy, and draft Cappa. When are fans going to realize Licht is a bad G.M., and Koetter is clueless?
October 23rd, 2018 at 3:19 pm
The rotation and cross training guys has hurt their development. From Caleb to Ryan to Cappa to pamphil. The cross training hurt them because instead of them learning a position becoming comfortable with it and sticking with it u are moved to another then put something new and foreign on ur brain and u start to think to much. Caleb was a tackle in college and played there his rookie year. His second year he is a guard and his third year he is now a starter and honestly idk why or what the rush is. Now Cappa is going thru the same thing and his development is most likely being hindered.
October 23rd, 2018 at 3:19 pm
He does not look like he should be out there.
Evan Smith is better, but he is a penalty machine.
The Bucs need a replacement at this position badly.
October 23rd, 2018 at 3:19 pm
jjbuc
I agree 100%….
sweezy might make the PB!!!!…..its coaching and scheme!!!!!
clean house and get competent coaches in here!!!!!!!
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
October 23rd, 2018 at 3:21 pm
I’m no expert in line play but to the naked eye something is very off with the line. I believe the coaches see these guys every day and are making the best choices they can to put the best players on the field but for Cappa to not warrant even a look see to see what he can do is telling….even if just to get his feet wet. I know that would mean sitting either Smith or Benenoch but if he truly adds nothing that narrative is scary from a draft where we really needed to come away with 3-4 starters THIS year if we wanted a realistic shot at 10-6. Young players need time to develop and far too early to be worried for long term but we really needed to hit immediate gold with these picks and that hasn’t played out for us unfortunately so far.
October 23rd, 2018 at 3:25 pm
Only Joe can blame an offensive line that can’t block on a freaking running back.
Have you not realized the running game is just as bad (actually worse) this year without Martin? but it’s probably still his fault, right?
Just #BlameDouggie #LivingInAFactFreeWorld
October 23rd, 2018 at 3:41 pm
Love how everyone thinks that JL is the only one to make the decision on a player and it’s suppose to be A+ player every time. JL is an amazing scout that has good drafts every year. Bucs fans thought RoJo was going to finally be our savior at RB when they saw how good he was in college and he was the third best looking RB in the draft and now they want JL kicked outta town for it. Ppl think there is no cap so we are able to get nothing but All-Stars but we have already have a lot of good players we have to pay a lot of money to every year.
I believe so much more it’s on Koetter with this team being what it is. Guarantee it wasn’t him that fired Mike Smith and a week later our defense looked 10x better with a LB coach taking over. Koetter is the HC and large part of getting these players and he is the one that makes the decisions on when, where, and how long to keep these sh!tty guys on the field.
By the way. Donovan Smith is way over rated.
October 23rd, 2018 at 3:41 pm
Connor Williams with the 38th pick would have been nice
October 23rd, 2018 at 3:44 pm
Dude is awful!
October 23rd, 2018 at 3:45 pm
How does George Warhop continually get a pass for having an O Line that can’t get the job done? There shouldn’t be a safe job for any of the coaches. Dirk might get the majority of the heat but nobody should be safe. Yet again, the feel is that a whole new regime might be in order. I personally want the new Head Coach to be Jim Schwartz. The same guy that should have been hired by Licht and Dirk to lead our defense when he was available. All he has done is lead the Philly defense to a SB win and hold it down enough to still be in the division running with bad QB play.
October 23rd, 2018 at 3:45 pm
Best available RG in the second round and decent (or great if the money’s there) vet RTin 2019.
October 23rd, 2018 at 3:55 pm
I just looked at the rest of our schedule and while I want to say we can run the table, the reality is I believe we win 3 more games. I think we beat the Giants in NY, 49ers at home and ATL at home. Unless our defense continues to get noticeably better and the offense clicks, that’s just reality. I hope I’m wrong. If it’s worse than that or I’m not wrong, I don’t see any way in the world that Dirk keeps his job. I do think Licht keeps his. The talent on this team is there. Admittedly, we have had some major injuries on defense but this is the NFL and every team deals with it.
October 23rd, 2018 at 4:01 pm
Somehow it always comeback to Jameis – people always want to bring and defend Jameis in here.
Just let Jameis stand on his own. His body of work is what it is man!
Benenoch sucks and shouldn’t be more than a backup.
Why bring this into the direct reason Jameis turns over the ball 2-4 times a game????
October 23rd, 2018 at 4:09 pm
It doesn’t matter how much he sucks apparently he doesn’t suck enough to be benched.
October 23rd, 2018 at 4:09 pm
These problems start at the top with Koetter. His refusal to get rid of Smith until he was told to or else cost this team almost 2 years of garbage defense we had to watch. His other coaches are incompetent also as example, Sweezy playing lights out in Seattle. Continuing to stick with player such as Smith in the secondary and our right guard fiasco are more examples of Dirk not knowing how to run a football team. Get rid of all these coaches and start freaking over. There is too much talent on the offensive side of the ball to be so erratic every game.
October 23rd, 2018 at 4:11 pm
Architeck
Sorry man but that’s one of the dumbest posts I’ve read in a while. Why blame the oline? Hmm bc they’re supposed to block! Winston fumble is bc the oline can’t block, the first INT he’s getting hit as he throws and third the receiver ran the wrong route.
You guys want Winston to be perfect but that’s simply not possible with the supporting cast he has. Even Brady has 6 ints thus far this year.
October 23rd, 2018 at 4:17 pm
Benenoch is a complete liability and is going to get our quarterback killed. He gets embarrassed week in and week out. Also, maybe the run game is struggling because the running plays are so incredible predictable. They bring in Auclair and stack the box so the defense mirrors and penetrates instantly. This is a different league now we need to pass to set up the run, not the other way around. Spread out the defense and get creative!
October 23rd, 2018 at 5:50 pm
^^BINGO^^. So predictable, remember Kuechly laughing because he called every play we were doing before the snap.
October 23rd, 2018 at 6:17 pm
DB55 cmon bro –
That’s shaping the narrative a little bit. My posts spoke to the body of work that we all can’t deny that starts with Jameis as a sophomore and continues to this very day and that’s his decision making and accuracy.
I stated that Benenoch is trash and he shouldn’t have a roster spot or be a backup at best based on what I’ve seen from him since he’s been drafted but I commented on how we as fans somehow make him one of the reasons for Jameis failures. Yes he’s part of the collective problem and he and Dotson are not good in the run game but Winston issues [for the context I was speaking of] are far from an anomaly or happenstance.
I’m not going to accuse you of being a FSU robot and I truly don’t believe Winston doubters are racists (all of them at least) but I hold Winston accountable for his actions on and off the field. I also hold him accountable for the decisions he makes in the game. He’s not a captain, he still turns over the ball, he still shows tendencies to not show touch, and personally after 4 years there is enough resume to question if you paying this Guy franchise money.
Best believe once you pay him you are married to him and it ripples throughout the roster (hello Seahawks).
So, no my post was on target and it wasn’t stupid because we fans in here or should I say Winston Stans find a way to defend him at all costs.
Can I ask you a real question? Have Winston ever strung multiple games together as a Wentz or Mahomes or even a Goff in his 4 years where he shows sustained brilliance?
If he has I would stand corrected and say there is something there to build on but I’m sorry I haven’t seen it sustained and I see the well documented issues weekly.
October 23rd, 2018 at 6:19 pm
DB55-
I responded to your posts but it might’ve gotten filtered
October 23rd, 2018 at 6:37 pm
DB55- it’s actually laughable that you are so quick to dismiss Jameis’ faults at every step.
Yes, the online stinks. Yes the run game stinks. Yes the defense and kicker are lousy.
Nobody with any football sense expects perfection from Jameis nor should they. He made some AWESOME plays, he also made some really bone-headed ones too. I have no idea what game you were watching if you can’t admit that.
He’s our QB, he needs to play better. Is that too much to ask. You always complain that GMC doesn’t elevate his teammates play. I think it’s more than fair to ask that of your “franchise” QB, don’t you think?!
Just be fair. He needs to be cleaner in games.
And heck yea, Benenoch SUCKS!
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:11 pm
Why was Joe all over Mike Smith, but OLine coach gets a pass?
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:07 pm
Anonymous,
The Offense is #1 in the league total yards . #8 in the league scoring.
My question is wtf are you watching, offense is the best the franchise has had period. That’s with a rg and rt that are on their best day below avg.
If only someone could have seen that the rg and rt positions might be problematic. I mean who’da thunk the rt side of line could be anything but …a new age maginot line.
( And don’t come praising sweezy because ain’t no one, not one, of jbf posters wanted him to stay. )
A GM should maybe consider the possibility that the secondary was a injury or two away from starting rookies at the corners, nickel and safety spots and sign one or two of the many available FA’ s just in case. I mean it’s not like VH3 was a sure thing or Grimes was healthy during training camp.
October 23rd, 2018 at 10:01 pm
D1,
You probably the only one I’ve read with any sense. People have a short term memory about how terrible Sweezy was for us. Also, outside of Mike Smith I think our coaches are killing it, our offense has been one of the best in the league. I’ve never once said that since I’ve been a Bucs fan (1993).
October 24th, 2018 at 11:43 am
First, get rid of Warhop. Second, go get Jackson from Oakland, & see who else Gruden wants to get rid of. Really nice trade would be to get Peterson form Cards.