Forgetting Ryan Jensen’s Year
January 23rd, 2020
Year in review.
You hear that, the silence? Kind of loud, isn’t it?
Compared to years’ past, the hollering and foot-stomping over the Bucs offensive line hasn’t been so bad, almost dead, at least from Joe’s perspective. Oh, there will always be muttering about an offensive line. That will never change no matter who is playing.
Maybe one reason for the quiet is the play of center Ryan Jensen.
Jensen was plucked in 2018 free agency and at the time had the richest contract for any center. At least in 2018, some Bucs fans didn’t believe Jensen earned his keep.
That seemed to change last year. Brandon Thorn, who traffics as an offensive line analyst and writes for several publications including The Athletic, has finished his review of Jensen’s 2019.
In short, as he demonstrated on Twitter, there was a whole lot to like about Jensen’s blocking last season.
Jensen hasn’t missed a snap in 3 consecutive seasons and was only called for 3 total penalties in 2019, a remarkable feat considering his unmatched level of physicality & aggressiveness. There is not a more fun player to study along the OL in the NFL either.
Finished up all 16 games (1138 snaps) of Ryan Jensen’s 2019 campaign & put together a 15+ minute highlight tape of his best blocks. I can make a very strong case that he was the best center in football last season.
Full video/scouting notes: https://t.co/dmDBuEvBOb
Preview 👇 pic.twitter.com/BZ5yFkA4PK
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) January 22, 2020
January 23rd, 2020 at 5:24 am
Jensen is not the problem he is a keeper we need to find a replacement for Dotson, and a running game.
January 23rd, 2020 at 5:25 am
I like Gordon at running back from the Chargers
January 23rd, 2020 at 5:36 am
Jensen and the emergence of Cappa as a bit of a mauler give the right side of our OL some grit. Now if we find the nastiest big ugly in the draft to plug in at RT we could emerge with a top ten OL.
January 23rd, 2020 at 5:45 am
The problem with our line is that we can’t get a run game going. We haven’t had a thousand yard rusher since Doug Martin. Our offense is one dimensional without a run game.
I like Jensen. He’s an enforcer. We could use another one
January 23rd, 2020 at 6:19 am
Kareem Hunt in FA with Patrick Taylor (Memphis) in the 4th rd. Trade OJ for a 2nd and 4th.
Draft a couple of nasty OL in the 1st and 2nd. That will help improve our run game. Build the trenches with big physical lineman.
January 23rd, 2020 at 6:22 am
He had a good year. Lets not mince words though, there needs to be some upgrading.
It’s not a good combination when the OL can’t run-block and your RBs have zero vision.
January 23rd, 2020 at 6:46 am
We need to draft a RT in rounds 1 or 2…….period……no messing around…..no getting cute.
Finally we have a team that needs only a few pieces…..add a RB and perhaps a S depending on Justin Evans’ health.
We could go QB, RT, RB, S & I would be fine with that as long as we brought back our entire defense…..
If we can’t bring back Suh then….I’m thinking DT, RT, QB, RB…….
January 23rd, 2020 at 7:15 am
Get rid of Brate, keep OJ
January 23rd, 2020 at 7:15 am
Yet the ignorant, slack jawed Bucs fans continue to claim that he was a waste and the offensive line sucked.
Neither is true. You cannot point to Jay-Miss’ sacks and QB hits as a reason why the offensive line was bad because most of those were self-inflicted. You can’t point to the run game either as both backs are below average. The offensive line was average to above average all year.
January 23rd, 2020 at 7:35 am
Still need the center of the future….Jensen is more than adequate but not the guy 2 years from now…we desperately to upgrade the OL and DL with young long term starting quality draft picks…because the pig in a poke lucky UDFA and “developing” late round draft picks is not working
January 23rd, 2020 at 7:38 am
Great addition to team. Worth every penny. Line was poorly coached the previous year.
January 23rd, 2020 at 7:39 am
If our C & both of our guards are soooooo good then how come even an avg back can’t rush for a 1,000 yds. If the line is soooo good how come Jameis gets sacked a lot. He does hold onto the ball at times but they also get beat plenty… I understand the downfield routes called also contribute.
It just feels like for the praise they get and how much $ we spent we should see more production. I mean if Dot is the only weak link then having OJ etc on that side to chip etc… should have helped for our only weak spot..
Seems like something is off here in the analysis of the entire line…
January 23rd, 2020 at 8:00 am
You guys don’t get it, the Bucs aren’t a running team by design. Arains offense relies on running the ball enough to keep defenses honest to throw the ball. Look at Dotson. BA said himself he’s not that good at run blocking, but kept him anyway because he could still pass block. Could you ever see BA throwing the ball only eight times in a game like the 49ers did last week? In order to run the ball you really have to commit to it. Getting someone like Gordon would be a waste of money. That back for the 49ers who broke records last week was a 6th round pick that’s bounced around the league. The only reason he’s having success now is the 49ers are a run first team. If we had him on our roster he wouldn’t crack 100 yards a game because he’d never get enough carries.
January 23rd, 2020 at 8:02 am
The issue with our running game isn’t the oline or running back it’s the scheme!!!!! We need to commit to the running game.
January 23rd, 2020 at 8:04 am
Well, the lousy running game was a combination of some or all: Poor blocking, poor running, poor play-calling, poor situation (losing or following Jameis TO).
Every aspect of those four needs an upgrade. Can an equal C be had for less money? Can a better RB be found than Jones? Can the QB stop turning the ball over? Can Arnold Jackson call better plays?
January 23rd, 2020 at 8:32 am
jensen looked like trash playing next to benenoch….lol….
amazing how cappa helped 2 positions….the C and RG…..
leave cappa at RG…..draft a RT early and maybe sign one in FA like we did with earl warford and we’d be good….
GO BUCS!!!!!
January 23rd, 2020 at 8:34 am
o-line is decent…very solid outside of RT imo…..our RBs vision is below average…..
GO BUCS!!!!
January 23rd, 2020 at 8:57 am
Jensen is a need bit of nasty for the OLine
January 23rd, 2020 at 8:59 am
813bucboi Says
“jensen looked like trash playing next to benenoch….lol…. ”
Probably because Jensen had to try to do part of Caleb’s job too.
Cappa is growing into a beast. I hope Arians has enough sense to keep him at guard.
January 23rd, 2020 at 9:04 am
I’d say that clip is pretty impressive. Granted, its only highlights. I’m sure he gets beat on some plays, but he’s definitely a fighter. He has that meanness that you’ve alluded to before.
January 23rd, 2020 at 9:21 am
His 11 penalties were SO bad in 2018 in both amount and timing that I had him burned into memory as subpar. Great article to highlight his return to form in 2019 with only 3 penalties. He’s got that edgy nastiness Joe was writing about earlier in the week… and now he’s controlling it and not shooting the team in the foot with ill-timed personal fouls. Now, about that RT…
January 23rd, 2020 at 9:28 am
Draft a RT in 1st round
Sign Derrick Henry
Re-sign all of DLine
Draft a safety in 2nd round
Sign a QB that doesn’t throw interceptions and draft another one.
January 23rd, 2020 at 9:39 am
Imperative to sign a RT that can step in and start and do well , no time to gamble on an unproven draft pick that may or may not pan out. Especially considering there are a lot of free agent RT’s available. Sign Jack Conklin or Gemain Ifedi and you are ready to start pounding the rock.
The real question is will BA really ever commit to running the ball???????? ROJO had a nice year , but only averaged 10 carries a game , you have to feed him more , because he breaks some nice long runs. Sign Kenyan Drake or Jordan Howard to add depth at RB.
January 23rd, 2020 at 9:40 am
I just watched the vid clips twice. Impressive! and fun to watch. Thanks!
January 23rd, 2020 at 9:48 am
LT, LG and RT all need upgrades….. Marpet is a part-time backup at best not an nfl starter. D smith is the laziest player I have ever watched and Dotson is pure garbage as a player. dotson always has been a 1-dimensional walking penalty machine. marpet is a decent backup swing guard…
#ParloeJameisTampaDoesNotDeserveTheSavior
January 23rd, 2020 at 10:01 am
Now that someone writes it, the folks that don’t actually watch the games agree. He’s done his job all season and yet until this article the sheep wanted to see him replaced. We do need a RT, Cappa is developing and will be a solid starter for years.
January 23rd, 2020 at 10:46 am
Only heretics doubted the power of my Viking blood! My pro bowl season snubbed! We shall dominate and crush all those before us next year
January 23rd, 2020 at 10:59 am
Moles, simple, Defenses stack the line to make us one dimensional, to take away the run game. They want JW to pass, so they can pick him off, which they do…a lot. He also holds the ball too long, which defenses know, so they tee up on him.
Pretty simple actually. No running backs do well against a stacked box.
In BA I Trust!
January 23rd, 2020 at 11:47 am
Glad he had a bounce back year because I was high on signing him prior to 2018 and felt like he was just another player that settled after a contract / lost the edge.
Our interior line pass protection was very good all year. In general probably the best pass protection year to the eye that I can remember, even with all the sacks, due to the nature of a longer developing offense and a QB that holds onto the ball too long.
One stat that I really wish they tracked, was average time in the pocket before pressure arrives. To me that is probably the ultimate way of judging pass protection that I don’t think anyone is tracking. Time to throw is misleading.
For example – Russel Wilson has a longer average time between the snap and his pass attempt than most QBs, which would make his O-line look good, but a lot of that is him evading the initial pressure and scrambling to create more time.
The “time from snap to initial pressure” stat would not only show the effectiveness of pass pro by the line, but also would show how much a QB is having to create on his own / avoid initial pressure.
i.e if Winston had an average pressure time of 2 seconds, but his average time to throw is 2.75 (not including the sacks), we would know he’s doing a lot of pocket evading / creating a lot of plays on his own. Or if the two times are very similar, it means he took too many sacks by not throwing the ball away sooner since he had at least 2+ seconds with a clean pocket on average.
January 23rd, 2020 at 12:38 pm
he did better this year, but to keep this roster together they will need to find a quality Center who does not cost $10 million by next offseason. the improvement at OL has come at a great expense, the team has had to pay (and sometimes overpay) large sums for adequate OL play due to the lack of a drafted pipeline in the trenches. In a perfect world you’ve drafted well enough to not be cornered into spending $26 million on Donovan Smith and a Center
January 26th, 2020 at 9:24 am
Where are we going to save money that we need for our D? Draft Badasszzz…play him as RG and move Cappa to RT…meanwhile learning behind Jensen for a year.
I just laid it out for you Mr. Licht 🙂