Alex Cappa & Right Tackle
February 13th, 2020
At 6-6, 315 pounds, Bucs starting right guard Alex Cappa looks like a tackle, the position he played in college.
The 25-year-old blossomed last season and looked like a great third-round pick, and he won the hearts of Bucs fans and coaches when he played through a first-half broken arm against the Saints, then had surgery and only missed two games.
Cappa has trained at tackle with the Buccaneers, and it would be such a Bucs thing to do to move Cappa to tackle after a strong season at guard. (See Ali Marpet 2017).
But it’s possible Cappa is better suited for tackle, so Joe is keeping an open mind.
That brings Joe to Steelers guard Ramon Foster. He could be a salary cap casualty of the Steelers in the coming days. Pittsburgh is really up against the cap.
Foster has a been a rock for the Steelers since Bucco Bruce Arians was their offensive coordinator, and Hall of Fame GM Bill Polian was raving about him last night on SiriusXM NFL Radio, saying Foster is still playing well. He’s 34 and has been extremely durable, missing just 16 games over 11 seasons.
Pro Bowl Steelers guard David DeCastro has called Foster a major leader in the locker room and a guy he’s looked up to for years.
Due only $4 million next season, Joe’s wondering if Arians might be looking for a change agent like Foster in the locker room, in addition to a rock of a guy who could kick Cappa out to right tackle.
Joe wouldn’t make this move, but Joe is not envisioning Arians sticking with Demar Dotson or rolling with a rookie at right tackle.
February 13th, 2020 at 10:04 am
Risky to move around players on the OL BUT it could pay off. This would allow us to take a different position of need with the 1st round pick.
February 13th, 2020 at 10:21 am
Google new buccaneers uniforms and the new unis are already up on Buccaneers.com. I thought I found an old webpage but it appears to be legit. Joe did the bucs pr screw up and post these photos already?
February 13th, 2020 at 10:23 am
If Dotson is still healthy and wants to play we should bring him back as a backup. He stayed healthy last season, knows the offense and was graded out slightly better than LT Smith (Dotson 71, Smith 70). Cappa is built like a tackle but I’m not sure about his footwork.
February 13th, 2020 at 10:27 am
why are we always talking about old expensive FA’s????
February 13th, 2020 at 10:37 am
We need to stop getting cheap with our Oline……time for a high draft pick there…..#1 or #2……Leave Cappa where he is.
I suspect we will have at least 35 Olinemen trotted out for us to consider and none will be a Buc.
February 13th, 2020 at 10:46 am
give this young man a new uni…
now
February 13th, 2020 at 10:48 am
leave cappa at RG…..
draft and develop…..
GO BUCS!!!!
February 13th, 2020 at 11:03 am
Imagine the surprise if we signed Foster and then in the 1st round selected Alabama WR Jerry Jeudy. Oh my!
Evans and Godwin and Jeudy, Oh my!
We could then draft a RG next year with the 32nd pick in the NFL draft.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:07 am
don’t sleep on cappa…
he’s gonna settle in on this line and play 10 solid years for the bucs…
you watch and see…
February 13th, 2020 at 11:22 am
excellent ideal ..although Cappa played great at RG he truly is a prototypical tackle, and I think moving him back to tackle wouldn’t be a leap of a transition. It’s much easier to find free agent guards before tackles, and Foster would be an excellent acquisition.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:31 am
I’d rather keep Cappa at RG (remember moving Marpet around so much?) . There are a couple of decent, cost effective RT’s in Free Agency IMHO, (Dennis Kelly and Big V). Tackle is also supposed to be a position of strength in the 2020 Draft, meaning we could get a decent one in the 3rd or 4th Round.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:37 am
glad to hear jaymiss is all fixed up by surgeries now ….
wondering what day licked , glazers. and bucco bruce have scheduled for lasik eye surgeries…..
they obviously need it…….
February 13th, 2020 at 11:46 am
One of Licht’s few strong points is drafting obscure but good O-linemen. We would be better off drafting a Cappa or Marpet clone. Then we could re-sign Dotson and have him work his way towards being a back-up.
One of the keys to having good line depth is having players versatile enough to be moved around. We have 2, a third would be spectacular.
Versatile players are also necessary to make a run game work. RoJo needs a hole and with three linemen ca[able of pulling a stunt RoJo could double his yardage, as seen by the last two games where Cappa blasted holes for him
February 13th, 2020 at 11:57 am
nope …34
February 13th, 2020 at 12:08 pm
Makes much more sense to me to sign a FA lineman, than a FA Running back. Draft a RB, a QB, a DE, and a Safety.
February 13th, 2020 at 12:14 pm
Short 32 5/8in arm length makes Cappa a G in the NFL.
He doesn’t have the reach to play RT in the league.
I’m all for signing a VET if needed, but would really like to see FO take OT Mekhi Becton (UofL)in the 1st…Or maybe RT Isaiah Wilson (UGA) in the 2nd……(If JW3 is back)…Both are massive T’s with wingspan.
Otherwise… look for a developmental RT on Day 3…Alex Taylor (SCSt) or Matt Peart (UConn),
February 13th, 2020 at 12:48 pm
lol that would sadly fit with the Bucs crap team building philosophy
1. Prioritize positions in the draft like CB / S / WR / TE / LB / K even though those players are objectively less valuable than trench players on the open market
2. Spend big $$ on older players at the most costly positions like DT/DE/O-line when that is where you should be building your core, so that your cap situation ends up being terrible.
3. When a young player is having success at a position move him so that he can’t continue to excel at that position.
GO BUCS!
February 13th, 2020 at 1:31 pm
Trenches with first 4 picks…
February 13th, 2020 at 3:11 pm
Uh, catcard makes an interesting argument for long arms. OTH, we should be shown the arm data for Dotson and Smith if Cappa fails catbird’s short arm inspection.
February 13th, 2020 at 4:07 pm
[Got scammed by those a couple of weeks ago. Not legit, even though the Bucs kept those images live. — Joe]
February 13th, 2020 at 5:08 pm
I doubt a switch of on RG to RT is nearly the transition for a guy who has played RT before, than a switch from RG to C for a guy who never played C before.
It may make more sense to get a solid RG in FA or the draft than RT. I think Cappa can make the switch. Dude is tougher than woodpecker lips.
February 13th, 2020 at 9:31 pm
I think his game is set up for tackle but I believe his arms are prob a lil short for tackle in the NFl …….. But I hope he goes to tackle and proves me wrong , Marpet goes back to RG and they fill left guard with a strong vet
February 13th, 2020 at 9:32 pm
Cappa has shorter than ideal arms. Coaches want their tackles to have at least 33″ arms, Cappa’s are about 32.5″. This is a major reason why he is not considered a tackle. That and less than ideal foot quickness. He’s guard and will be a good one.
February 14th, 2020 at 7:09 am
Geez, it’s time to draft a tackle. Cappa is just getting the hang of playing guard. I’ve never been fond of the pick, put let the kid settle in at guard. There’s no way around us not taking a OT, or two in this draft.