Koetter Defends Benenoch, O-Line
December 14th, 2018
Coach has his back.
The Bucs’ offensive line had a bad game Sunday against the Saints. And so too did right guard Caleb Benenoch.
Since the demise of fan favorite J.R. Sweezy, Benenoch was basically handed the job at right guard and one could argue he’s better suited for tackle.
Even last year filling in for injured Demar Dotson at right tackle, Benenoch struggled in pass blocking. That’s still a bugaboo for him at right guard. And the folks who like to play offensive line coach on social media are just having a field day with Benenoch.
Yesterday in his daily presser, Bucs Bit-O-Honey-snacking, Ozark-watching, yams-eating coach Dirk Koetter was peppered with questions about the offensive line in general, and Benenoch’s poor play in particular.
Koetter defended them by going on the offensive.
“We would never play a guy at any position if we didn’t think he was our best option,” Koetter said of Benenoch. Notice he said nothing about Benenoch’s play, only that Benenoch is the best option at right guard.
Koetter then was hit with questions about the line. Yeah, they had a rough outing, particularly in the second half. But Koetter reminded folks that the offensive line must be doing something right for the Bucs offense to rack up stats.
“Your players are your players,” Koetter said. “Whoever your players are, you’re going to coach them; you’re going to game plan them; you’re going to try to do the things that we believe in. We’re going to try to play to our strengths and hide our weaknesses.
“There’s plenty of criticism to go around, starting with the head coach and working all the way down. Our offense is also top 10 in seven categories. We’re [complaining] about the O-linemen – they’ve contributed to that top 10 in those seven categories. … I’m not going to whine about who’s playing what.
“The object of the game is to win games – that’s it. We can make those stats and those grades that other people do. I can make those grades say whatever I want them to – you guys probably can too.”
We are nearing Christmas. Barring a Christmas Miracle, the Bucs are not going to make the playoffs and it is unlikely the Bucs will have a winning record. There’s nothing a team can do about its lineup now. Good or bad.
It is safe to assume that whoever is coaching the Bucs next year, and whoever is the general manager next year, knows or will know full well there must be an upgrade at right guard, if for no other reason than to keep America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, in one piece.
December 14th, 2018 at 8:13 am
“your players are your players” sounds like a real ringing endorsement doesn’t it? And it sounds similar to the comment he made about coach Smith and what difference will it make.
December 14th, 2018 at 8:19 am
and it is unlikely the Bucs will have a winning record..
Joe….I think at 5-8 with 3 games left it’s more than unlikely….don’t mean to nitpick but….
December 14th, 2018 at 8:31 am
Maybe…maybe he’ll get better…..but I doubt by much…if he could he would…he is depth behind a non existent starter at best
December 14th, 2018 at 8:35 am
@Koetter … ““There’s plenty of criticism to go around, starting with the head coach and working all the way down.” Starting with the HC Dirk? Nah, how about ‘starting with the ownership and then the GM’. Kudos for not throwing them under the bus …yet.
December 14th, 2018 at 8:44 am
Fire Koetter so we can get some young guys like Alex Cappa reps. Firing Dirk before the end of the year helps this Organization. It gives us a jump on hiring, and it gives opportunity to truly see what we have in players that Koetter refuses to play as he fights for his stats…he’s not fighting for his job because he knows hes gone
December 14th, 2018 at 8:48 am
Wtf that’s his answer I coached online and I remember there were two kids one kid was enexpricance and the other I know would gotten our QB & RB killed so I went with the enexpricance kid and had him talk to the other gaurd to go over what are the things u can get better he started off rough I will admit but ending up dominating I say that to say this yes I know this is the nfl but when ur gaurd is one of the most important position in football when one gaurd screw up believe me it’s a domino effect it effects the other side so kotter please spare me ur bs and resign as head coach f$&@!!!!!!!!!!!! #gobucss$$&!
December 14th, 2018 at 8:48 am
My head wants to explode every time someone mentions “top 10” ANYTHING, when our record is 5-8.
Top down, we need to replace EVERYBODY! Get some football people in here, STAT!
December 14th, 2018 at 8:52 am
Part of fixing a problem is admiting you have a problem
Houston we have a problem at every position execept tight end and wide receiver
December 14th, 2018 at 8:53 am
Think that was a shot at jason licht and the divide between koetter and licht and what a crappy job licht does with personnel moves
December 14th, 2018 at 9:14 am
I will happily trade out every single one of those top tens for a winning record and a chance at the playoffs
December 14th, 2018 at 9:16 am
I am in for getting a new coach
December 14th, 2018 at 9:18 am
conte
i agree…..
dirk drafted benenoch so he cant bash him…..because dirk and his staff never developed him…..the coaching staff cant coach…..sweezy is a perfect example of that…..he doesnt even look like the same guy that was here in tampa….
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!…GO BUCS!!!
December 14th, 2018 at 9:29 am
If your 5th round pick is a better option then your 3rd round pick Cappa, who you gave up a 4th, and 6th rounder to move up for, you’re not drafting, or developing very well. If Koetter were to admit his line isn’t very good, he’d then have to admit him, and Licht are incapable of fixing it.
December 14th, 2018 at 9:48 am
I’ll bet you that this a quick fix with the new regime. There’s no accountability with this staff. If you suck you get benched simple. The other question I have is where does this team rank in run offense?
December 14th, 2018 at 9:52 am
27th in run offense. That’s why the defense was gassed in the second half last week.
December 14th, 2018 at 9:54 am
I wouldn’t be surprised if they get crunched by the Ravens. This may be Koetter’s final curtain call.
December 14th, 2018 at 10:05 am
That’s such garbage logic by Koetter(and he says that all the time whether it’s week 4 or week 16. The guy never replaces players in a line up unless they are hurt. Doesn’t matter how they play, he is the guy. Just like last year he kept trying to tell us Doug Martin is the best option at running back. Stfu Koetter you either have blind loyalty to your starters or you can’t evaluate talent
December 14th, 2018 at 10:12 am
I hope Licht is right on Cappa !! As of this entire year there clearly is no reason outside of Cappa for him not to be starting .
Didn’t Spence have like 5 sacks as a rookie and now he can’t even dress , so that’s three second round picks in four years that don’t dress on Sun . WoW , I mean WOW , Koetter is as clueless in certain areas as a head coach as I have ever seen but Should it be Licht punching Koetter right in the mouth or Vice Versa .
Jack Wagons Dirk And Jason, the fans don’t have to decide we know you both need a good bitch slapping from each of the Glazer Boys !!! Btw im not even referring / counting MJ Stewart
December 14th, 2018 at 10:15 am
Get over yourself with involving the whole USA with your self-proclaiming title for Jameis Winston as America quarterback. The GM and headcoach has surrounded your so called “America Quarterback”with all kind of weapons and what do we get from him indecision, poor passing choices, overthrown or underthrown and as many interception as TD passes. This guy is a looser of a QB…I’ve envision this in my mind if you were to take a QB like Drew Breese or Russell Winston and a few dozen other ones and the leadership and knowledge they have of the game and we’re to switch Winston to any of these teams they will be in the same predicament TB bucs find themselves”Losers” So keep your self proclaiming *America Qb ” for Winston to yourself and simply as it should be, “My favorite QB”
December 14th, 2018 at 10:28 am
Their is no defense for the OL. I would keep Marpet and get rid of the rest. I don’t even want Smith, Benenoch and Dotson as reserves much less starters.
December 14th, 2018 at 10:39 am
Benenoch makes Kenyatta walker look like a all pro
December 14th, 2018 at 10:46 am
Jamies is the real America quarterback !!!!! Why don’t bucfan4 go root for another team. Jamies will be here the next 10 or 15 years. You just mad cause he’s a black quarterback and he’s the real America quarterback who represents what the country should be. He is the real face of the Tampa bay Buccaneers . So why don’t you just leave the country we don’t need people like you that can’t see the real America quarterback!!!!!! Go bucs and The real America quarterback!!!!!
December 14th, 2018 at 11:02 am
There is NOT a SINGLE stud in the entire oline room including the very average marpet….
Jameis is the most important buc of all time outside of sapp and selmon… the rest of the underachieving legends are laughable jokes with there pathetic 5 career playoff wins…. barber, brooks and the rest of the has-beens never won a single meaningful game without sapp carrying their overrated underaciing arses…
December 14th, 2018 at 11:03 am
This article just pisses me off. I don’t care who you think your best options are you are freaking wrong.
Every fan in this city knows Benechot is horrible. We also saw first hand vs the Skins & Giants that there are lineman on the streets who easily outplay your precious Benechot.
There is no excuse to not replace that liability and we all see right through your BS. By the sounds of it this MF is gonna start this bum again. It’s a slap in the face to all us fans who see how bad this guy is.
My God this freaking coach is so friggen helpless. And it’s to the point, for me, that it just feels like this HC doesn’t even care. There is no acceptable reason for this bum to not have been replaced by now.
Go stick it up your rear Dirk. This fat lard of s**t is going to get somebody hurt out there and our coach could care less. Good greif I am friggen mad after reading this!!!!
**END RANT**”
December 14th, 2018 at 11:07 am
No friggen way this bum would have survived 3 weeks as a starter on 31 other teams…..Let alone 14!!!!!
You’d have to have the worst coaching in the league to have no way to replace this guy.
December 14th, 2018 at 11:14 am
Destinjohnny Says:
“Part of fixing a problem is admiting you have a problem”
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Haha, good one man. – Something I will need to remind myself of as I slam… oh, probably about 14 beers during the Bucs game on Sunday.
December 14th, 2018 at 11:34 am
The Ravens are going to expose our Oline worse than anyone has all year – they are so physical and we are physically and mentally weak –
Get ready for 8 sacks and negative run yardage
I am not looking forward to Sunday, or the next one for that matter – Dallas is peaking and we are falling off a cliff
It’s a joke listening to the HC – yeah – nothing they could have done – so full of crap
December 14th, 2018 at 11:40 am
John B Says:
“The Ravens are going to expose our Oline worse than anyone has all year
………..Get ready for 8 sacks and negative run yardage”
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Dude, I am usually the most optimistic fan that you will find… but I fear that you are right on the money about this. Hope we are wrong.
December 14th, 2018 at 11:54 am
Screw it I don’t care. I’m betting we give the Ravens a game.
O-line players get a little chip with all the ridicule they took this week and give us their best game of the year.
I won’t bet on this part but predict Bus win 24-14 on a game clinching fumble return for TD.
GOO BUCS!
December 14th, 2018 at 12:11 pm
@JimmyJack
Hell YES man, that sounds good. Hope you are spot on.
GO BUCS
December 14th, 2018 at 12:12 pm
^ Great point, by the way, about the O-line having a chip on their shoulder. Let’s see if they can hopefully come out with some kick ass attitude!
December 14th, 2018 at 12:25 pm
Demon…..Benechot darn well better play a good game.
Everybody and their brother gonna be watching Benechot on Sunday. Gotta remember not all Bucs fans are as die-hard as us. A lot of fans probably can’t tell you one name of any Olineman……..But a lot of fans that didn’t know Benechot know who he is now from all the mention on the talk shows and what-not.
Pressure has just mounted!! Benechot you bum!!!
December 14th, 2018 at 12:34 pm
Koetter has no clue on how to determine the best player for our OL and just parrots the excuses given by Warhop to excuse his negligence in continuing putting worthless Benenoch out there 14 games in a row! It is time to fire both Koetter and Warhop and cut Benenoch. The Redskins OL Coach is an OL wizard to pick the right OL players off the street and develop them to start knowing their Offense in two weeks. You can bet he could have already developed Cappa to play both RG and RT better than both starters we have now, if he was our OL Coach. Instead Warhop hired a retired All Pro Center to teach Cappa to play Center which was totally stupid because we have a trained veteran backup Center, R. Smith, already on our roster should our starting Center go down!
December 14th, 2018 at 12:38 pm
JimmyJack Says:
“Benechot darn well better play a good game.
Everybody and their brother gonna be watching Benechot on Sunday.
Pressure has just mounted!!”
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Lmao brother, that is SOOO true. At some point, PRIDE must KICK IN!!!!
December 14th, 2018 at 12:44 pm
So this new coach comes in and all of a sudden all these scrubs are going to turn into all pros? Marpet is the only one with keeping
December 14th, 2018 at 1:02 pm
“Your players are your players.” All signs point to Licht with that statement
December 14th, 2018 at 1:11 pm
That’s Koetter throwing Licht under the bus, then rationalizing the team’s failure by insinuating it’s not his fault because the offensive stats are so good
December 14th, 2018 at 1:16 pm
Coaching changes can make a big difference-evidence:
Rams
Eagles
Chargers
Bears
With whole season on the line, Bucs deflated in 2nd half vs Saints-no fight, just one mistake after another, and sorry , but Humphries comment about disguised coverages is loser talk.
December 14th, 2018 at 1:23 pm
What the f**k is Dirk even talking about above. Why is our moron of a head coach talking about stats for Offensive Line? What kind of freaking idiot thinks you can judge a lineman based on stats.
And shut up about grades. I can give a crap less about a made up numerical grade somebody has.
All I know is what I see with these players. I don’t sit around studying stats. And all I see is Benechot getting pushed around and flat out beaten off the snap. Meanwhile every fan has been b**ching about Caleb all year long cause we all see him losing plays all day long.
And our egghead of a coach is trying to weasle out with some lame ass stats and grades argument? This MF is our leader? WTF man.
For some reason his stupid stats and grades argument above reminds me when he is so lost on the sidelines he throws a red flag…….Meanwhile and preteen whose been following football knows you can’t friggen challenge this play?
WHF is wrong with this guy?
December 14th, 2018 at 2:42 pm
RoJo rated as 2 Nd round pick by every team in the NFL but Dirk can’t get him ready to play !!!
December 14th, 2018 at 4:03 pm
I hope the HC and both coordinators remain. I hope we upgrade our offensive line (either with new players or the young guys improving) such that we can be consistent running and have fewer let downs in pass pro. I hope our young DBs improve from the playtime they got this year but that we draft or trade for a real playmaker at the position, such that we can be better and more consistent on Defense. I hope we don’t change HC and coordinators because it will introduce new issues ADDED to the ones I mentioned, and short of a transformational coach (and staff) coming in, will start the 3 year cycle this team (and most others) face when they change head staff often. We’ll see what the owners say. Either way, go Bucs!
December 14th, 2018 at 5:21 pm
This idiot really needs to stop backing all the terrible decisions he’s made if he’s trying to go somewhere else in the NFL.