“We Need A Half”
August 20th, 2019
Joe would expect hungry football players to be eager to play at all times.
Still, this is interesting.
Bucco Bruce Arians talked after practice today about the challenging balance of playing starters in preseason games to get them ready for the regular season. Reps are good; injuries are not.
Arians has admitted that for him the decision is more urge and feel during a game than anything else. Today, he told reporters he sought the opinion of his veteran offensive linemen to gauge their interest in banging during Friday’s meaningless game against the Browns.
The answer surprised Arians, he said.
“It’s odd because I went to the offensive line, I said, ‘How much do we need to play?’ They said, ‘We need a half.’ I said, ‘I don’t think you do. We’ll see about that.’” Arians said. “But, they wanted to play a half to get into a little bit more rhythm. It’s a catch-22. It always has been and always will be. It’s just like going out and tackling in practice – you’ve got to do it and you’ve just got to hold your breath that nobody gets hurt.”
So the offensive feels it needs a half of work to be ready for the 49ers on opening day at the Den of Depression. Well, if the linemen really believe that, then Joe would give them the snaps.
The biggest issue with the O-line over the past couple of years has been mentality. They’re talented but they trend too soft. Priority No. 1 for Arians should be to get these guys playing angry. Perhaps they sense a need to push themselves harder?
August 20th, 2019 at 2:47 pm
Everyone on this team should feel like they need to push themselves harder than before. The only exception to the few that don’t need to physically play harder should be the ones that need to play smarter.
August 20th, 2019 at 2:50 pm
I don’t want #13 anywhere near that field on Friday!
August 20th, 2019 at 2:56 pm
Yeah, Evans is fine to hold out. Let him be healthy for opening day. The other startersshould play a half. I like the first half and first series of the 3rd quarter as was customary in the past for starters. I would like to see Griffin come in after Winston against the Browns.
August 20th, 2019 at 3:01 pm
Can’t wait until the next negotiation between the players union and owners. 3 preseason games with 2 weeks between the last PS game and the start of the season. Expanded roster eliminating the practice team…the NFL needs 3 QBs on every roster for the good of the game and some creative cap formula for starting QB cap hit so it doesn’t hamstring the rest of the roster
August 20th, 2019 at 3:06 pm
Imagine if thw game had no wrs and was just the 5 lineman vs 4 dlineman. Where would our squad rank… Thats how you can guage our team. The line needs to hold each other accountable. Like yell at eqch other for missing block$ and leaving others out for dry.
They need to get a chip on their shoulder and play angry. Beat the other players…. Beat them not win. Beat them, ice up son….
August 20th, 2019 at 3:09 pm
you could give that oline until the rest of the year and it won’t change the fact they suck…. they need at the very minimum two starting tackles, starting center and both starting guards are better backups than starters. scary scary scary… stay healthy jameis and escape the black hole.
August 20th, 2019 at 3:14 pm
Well, at least we have two kickers. They can play a half each and pray that they do not get hurt. Let the OLine play the whole darn half.
August 20th, 2019 at 3:23 pm
Well, play angry but smart. Don’t need the stupid penalties and it’s good they drive BA nuts.
August 20th, 2019 at 3:28 pm
D@%& y’all so spooky when it comes to injuries. It’s football man, kinda part of the game. Simulate a game of Madden if you want NFL with no chance of injury. If it’s in the cards you gone win regardless. That Aaron Rodgers lead team that beat the steeler some years back ended that season with 15 members of their original 53 man roster on IR that year. Not to mention Woodson and the I forget his name #85 WR both left the game in the first half with injury. Didn’t matter, they won the superbowl.
August 20th, 2019 at 3:34 pm
Does it really matter if they get injured getting ready to play or get injured in the first game? Out is out. Only the strong survive. New England doesnt care who is out. They play badass either way. Even with Brady out.
August 20th, 2019 at 3:52 pm
Arians is doing them no favors by playing the weakest part of the offense so little
August 20th, 2019 at 3:58 pm
They don’t have to be in the game to practice on the blocking sled. That’s where I would have them 30 minutes every practice. These guys are decent at pass blocking because it doesn’t require bending their knees. They suck at run blocking because they can’t bend well at the knees to explode and generate a push.. They get stood up at the line of scrimmage way too often. Even with the advantage of knowing the snap count. Sled time. drive ..push ..drive.
August 20th, 2019 at 4:04 pm
Good luck with that.
I think the oline is frustrated because they didn’t even play an entire series this past week. There were substitutions all through that first series. They just want on the field for an extended time.
But I don’t think Arians will let them.
August 20th, 2019 at 4:22 pm
Agree with you Joe that this OLine NEEDS at least a full half to work out the remaining bugs (or at least some of them). I wasn’t at all impressed with what I saw in the second game.
Still convinced that their biggest problem is LEADERSHIP since Mankins retired. Nobody has stepped up to the plate to grab that bull by the horns. Every position group needs at least one guy they can look to for leadership. Donovan Smith? Nope. Marpet? Don’t think so. Jensen? Thought he’d be the guy but so far doesn’t appear so. Cappa? Rookie. Dotson? Nice open guy to talk to but leadership doesn’t appear to be his thing.
Until one OLineman steps up to the plate to ‘motivate’ these guys to kiss a$$ and take names ours will just be a middle-of-the-pack OLine at best. Would still love to find a quality veteran OLineman before Sept 8th built in the same mold as Mankins to fire this group up.
August 20th, 2019 at 4:22 pm
“But I don’t think Arians will let them” … maybe BA doesn’t want any film on them playing as a unit … for DC’s to exploit when the season starts
August 20th, 2019 at 4:33 pm
“The biggest issue with the O-line over the past couple of years has been mentality. They’re talented but they trend too soft.”
This is a joke, right? You are on the sidelines seeing how these guys are acting when Jameis is running for his life and RBs are getting hit in the backfield? Are they collectively saying, “Whoopsie-daisy!” ? Nah, I think it’s pretty much impossible to break out of the mindset of SUCK.
Smith – Marpet – Jensen – Kappa – Dotson. Sounds like a unit that D lines will be shaking in their boots about.
AND if this offseason has shown me anything, it’s that if any of these guys go down for an extended amount of time we have absolutely nobody that we can feel confident about trotting out. The neglect of the O line in the draft and FA has reaped the crop of dudes on the roster right now, as much as this site tries to push the narrative that fans just want to complain about the line and we have rockstars on the line it’s far from the case.
August 20th, 2019 at 5:16 pm
Their problem isn’t “mentality”….it’s “ability” or lack thereof.
August 20th, 2019 at 5:22 pm
You guys our o-lineman are soooooo good. They just trend soft
😂😂😂
August 20th, 2019 at 5:30 pm
I say let’s get Emanuel hall the whole game . Very Raw but had-the best vertical ( 43.5), best standing long jump is legit 6’2” and ran a 4.39 . The Guy has serious top end speed he absolutely ran past every corner he faced at the 15 to 20 yard mark . If D Lock could hit him in stride his numbers would hv been substantially better , Hey it was college but the kid pulled away from corners with ease and was top 3 in in three of the er drills at the combine , talk about ingredients needing a coach and some time . Hands aren’t great but not awful either .
August 20th, 2019 at 5:41 pm
Agree 100% Joe.
August 20th, 2019 at 6:01 pm
Isaac… Emanuel had surgery, and that is one of the reasons the Bears showed him the door. Hope he can play…but wouldn”t expect to see much. More likely he will be a practice squad guy.
August 20th, 2019 at 6:21 pm
#BubbleWrapEmBitchezzzzz
August 20th, 2019 at 6:44 pm
If Im.Arians I let them play the half, but I remind them that whoever wins the gane is irrelevant..Go.out there get your reps, communicte but done kill yourself.
August 20th, 2019 at 6:51 pm
Joe.
Thanks for being accurate in your reporting. Other outlets said the he asked the offensive coaches were asked and it was the offensive line. You are always on it. Just wanted to say thanks. So many others just throw stuff at the wall whether it sticks or not but this site is very reliable in the accuracy of your information
August 20th, 2019 at 7:05 pm
Offensive line minus marpet is soft as hell… especially Donavan smith straight garbage …. got to be the worst offensive line in football …lol same results as the past 3 years … we will have no more than 3 wins … does not matter if this line plays a half or a whole game in the pre season … the line is the weakest link … the question is this … with a 3-13 record what is the prediction … litch gets fired and arians retires? Or arians retires first and litch is fires after …. kind of like who came first the egg or the chicken
August 20th, 2019 at 7:13 pm
Jean Lefitte may have a French name.
But hes 100% right.
More sled time. Especiallybecause Cappa is a 6-6 guard and Dotson is a 6-8 tackle.
They both need to get lower and run block better.
August 20th, 2019 at 8:13 pm
Hold out Evans and Winston. And put Griffin in with the first team to see what this guy can do in a “real” game
August 20th, 2019 at 8:15 pm
Play em all 4 quarters. See what they’re made of! It’s a Bucs life!
August 20th, 2019 at 8:26 pm
Lol love to see some of you call benonoch or anyone soft to their face. Big talk on this site with a keyboard, you agree with Joe who thinks they need a half a guy who has not played a single down of professional football or coached and BA had no idea what he’s talking about really? Blocking sleds don’t push forward, left or right like real people. Same geniuses who probably put Cleveland in the superbowl.
August 20th, 2019 at 8:32 pm
Off topic here. But I was looking at the first few games and not only are we screwed by the long road stretch but our first game against San Francisco is at 4:25 then we travele to Carolina for Thursday Night Football. Meanwhile Carolina has a 1pm start on the Sunday prior to our Thursday game……Who did we pi$$ off?
August 20th, 2019 at 8:42 pm
JW and OL should go the half but I would have Watson, Wilson, Schnell, Miller, Dare, Auclair and Hudson playing as we keep all the starting skill players ex JW on the bench watching. There’s nothing we’re going to learn by exposing any of them whereas there is lots to learn about the next tier. Feel totally different about D where I want to see the starters gel a bit more.
August 20th, 2019 at 8:54 pm
No amount of time will help a slow footed O-line. I don’t think they are soft, just lacking in technique and slow. DEs and LBs blow by Benonoch before he can even get out of his stance and Dotson is so hampered by his knees he can’t react to a DE with good moves and speed. Our guys are overmatched and Leftwich will need to game plan in order to hide our O-line weaknesses. Koetter never did.
August 20th, 2019 at 9:33 pm
I love preseason football. 6 months without the game is a long time happy to get any football in. The only thing I hate about it when fans brag about a player measurements and then you watch them play and they are whack. IE Bruce Anderson ll and Justin Watson are weak and should be coming up as camp meat soon.
August 21st, 2019 at 2:14 am
It’s hard for any UDFA walk-on with only 4 spots, and a pecking order to crack the 53. It doesn’t mean they suck. Ask Bobo Wilson? Bruce Anderson really hasn’t gotten any play time. He will probably sign onto the PS. We’ll see Bruce playing with 3rd and 4th teamers in the last preseason game. I hope under the circumstances that you can see he does have talent. And it’s not like he’s a big secret either. There are a few teams who have shown interest. One is Chicago
August 21st, 2019 at 7:55 am
A half is good for the starters, but keep ME13 on the sideline the entire game! He’s proven himself and shown in TC he is ready to ball out!!
August 21st, 2019 at 9:00 am
Cappa can block just fine. Watch him block as he pulls to lead the RBs on film in our first game this year. I have noticed some NFL teams have blocking sleds with netting over the top as the linemen approach the sled that make all the OL bend down when they hit the sleds. The Bucs need to do the same thing to improve their run blocking.
August 21st, 2019 at 9:10 am
I agree as well, Joe. I think the whole offense needs a half too. I thought they might get a couple of drives against the Fins, but the weather wasn’t conducive to keeping them on the field. This franchise has had extremely bad luck with injuries, no need to push that in game two of the preseason.
August 21st, 2019 at 11:00 am
If the OL wants more game practice, BA should listen to them. Good OLines play as one unit and develop a telepathy between the players. Big part of the problem is 5 HCs in 12 years. That’s way too much instability. The rough schedule is SOP for this team and we fans know it. Buc Luck.