Rookie Dominance
January 1st, 2021
Makes Bucs fans smile.
Readers are aware what Joe thinks of the PFF tribe.
One of the Joes is good with their stats; the other Joe has no use for them in any way. Neither Joe will wipe their arses with the PFF tribe’s grades, even in the teeth of a pandemic where toilet paper is hoarded off store shelves.
Easily the biggest disconnect between NFL folks and fans is offensive line play. It’s a Gulf of Mexico-wide gap. What an NFL scout/coach/front office suit considers good blocking, fans think is complete trash.
The PFF tribe tries to bridge this gap, but it is a failure. Joe has never seen NFL suits freak out (worse than fans about alleged bad offensive line play) like they do when you mention the PFF tribe’s offensive line grades. Joe means they go wild.
Joe is convinced that if you locked an NFL scouting director in a room with one of the PFF tribe’s Irish dorm data input servants and a rabid NFL fan, one would get punched if not beat up.
The main reason the PFF tribe’s grades spark outrage among NFL types is a very fair critique: They don’t know what the specific line calls were on a given play. That means their grades are based on total guesswork. Bill Belicheat specifically spoke about this once.
So when the PFF tribe puts out anything about an offensive lineman, Joe is immediately suspicious.
The PFF tribe did just this with outstanding Bucs right tackle Tristan Wirfs. But a member of the Bucs’ media relations staff retweeted this with additional information. The team has significantly more intel on its players than the PFF tribe ever will, so Joe is comfortable writing about the following:
Wirfs is having a dynamite rookie season and Joe believes he is the best draft pick that Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht has made since Mike Evans in Licht’s first year in charge of scouting.
Rookie T @TristanWirfs74 has allowed just one sack in all of 2020.
He’s the only RT in the NFL to have played 900+ snaps and allow one-or-fewer sacks and less than 10 QB hits this season. #GoBucs https://t.co/ZK8uwrLgkl
— Andrew Holman (@andrew_holman2) December 31, 2020
If you talk to Bucs types, they will say they figured Wirfs would be good. They didn’t dream he would be this dominant right away in his rookie year, stunted by a pandemic.
This right here is why Joe has zero desire to move Wirfs to left tackle, which seems to be the wet dream of many Bucs fans.
Joe just does not believe in fixing something that is not broken. And folks, Wirfs at right tackle is the exact opposite of “broken.”
January 1st, 2021 at 12:05 pm
Tell me he can’t play LT again? Save money ..move him to LT and draft another RT again.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:13 pm
Is cloning possible yet?
January 1st, 2021 at 12:18 pm
Not sold on moving him to the left BUT, we absolutely need better play on the left. DS shows up regularly, but is he really earning his pay? Not my call but I think he/we can do better.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:23 pm
I thought Wirfs would dominate Day 1. There was nothing in any of his college reels that would indicate otherwise.
I was SHOCKED when he fell to the Bucs.
He has so far been a man among boys in the rookie OT class.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:29 pm
That’s the 15 million dollar question all lives. I would leave him where he’s played since college. Teams don’t rush from one side anymore. They just move their best guy to the other side.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:31 pm
but, but, but, he cost us a 4th rounder to move up 1 spot! lol
January 1st, 2021 at 12:38 pm
Ya I guess I’m a fan with that wet dream. Wirfs at lt while keeping Shaq and Godwin sounds a lot better than Donny at lt wirfs at rt and losing Shaq or Godwin.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:41 pm
I have confidence that JL can find another good lineman to help Brady next year.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:42 pm
We’re looking at a possibility in 2021 rookie draft that by the late spot the Bucs will be drafting, the best value pick at that spot (mid-20s) will be for a decent Right Offensive Tackle anyway. If Wirfs is talented enough to flip to the Left OT, it could make for an intriguing improvement to a decent OL that still needs it.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:44 pm
Draft or trade for a new LT.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:45 pm
By the by, how HAVE the other Big Four OTs of 2020 been doing this year? I thought I saw Willis was playing well, not sure about Becton or Thomas.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:50 pm
Pretty much all 4 have been playing really well lately.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:50 pm
Paul, Thomas has been a disappointment from what I’ve heard. Becton has been fine but not as good as our guy.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:51 pm
Glad you said it Joe.
Do
Not
Move
Him
To
LT!
The next year they have a? At both tackles. Idiotic. Kind a like moving Ali pet to center. When someone is a stud at one position, leave them and fill the other hole, don’t create two holes
January 1st, 2021 at 12:51 pm
I like the thought of Wirfs at Left Tackle, the kid is as consistent as I’ve seen for a rookie. His good friend at Iowa, Alaric Jackson, is projected as a 3rd Rounder. Jackson played LT at Iowa, but is said to be a RT-type. Just a thought.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:51 pm
Big ugly again this year either side of the ball
January 1st, 2021 at 12:51 pm
Well, Smith has another year of his contract anyhow, after THAT, a rookie tackle on a rookie contract might make more sense
January 1st, 2021 at 12:54 pm
Joe says:…”Joe believes he is the best draft pick that Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht has made since Mike Evans…”
Jaymiss concurs 100%. During games I often just watch Wirf’s in one on one situations and kind of miss the actual play. He is an AWESOME draft pick! well done Mr. Licht!
January 1st, 2021 at 12:55 pm
David: Do you love the play of Donovan Smith? I don’t dislike the guy, I do dislike the times he seems uninterested in blocking the guy in front of him. Not wanting to improve the Bucs in any way possible, that would be idiotic.
January 1st, 2021 at 1:06 pm
Idiots don’t move him
Smith is a good left tackle
We have a great OL stop the whinny chants
January 1st, 2021 at 1:09 pm
Let’s put it another way…Because of the salary cap, who would you rather have on the Bucs?
Chris Godwin, or Donovan Smith?
Lavonte David, or D Smith?
Shaq Barrett, or D Smith?
We’d love to keep them ALL, but what if the Bucs have to make a choice?
January 1st, 2021 at 1:10 pm
Who are you keeping, Fernando?
January 1st, 2021 at 1:11 pm
I could not agree with you more, Joe, than on this subject. I agree 1,000 %. Don’t mess with success.
Wirfs will be a superlative right tackle for the many remaining years of his career!
If you really want to replace Smith simply find a young guy who is better at the position.
(P.S. I would guess that JL and staff have been on the lookout for that guy for several years. He just has not become available to us under the right circumstances yet.)
January 1st, 2021 at 1:14 pm
You don’t fix what ain’t broken…Leave Wirfs at RT. He’s a stud there.
But this is the draft class to go get Smith & Jensen’s replacements.
January 1st, 2021 at 1:18 pm
I swear to Christ if this guy doesn’t make at least 2nd team all pro it’s a crying shame he has been the best right tackle in the league and I don’t think it’s even close. He’s had one bad game all year long and that was against Khalil Mack and that wasn’t even a bad game more like a bad 4th quarter. He’s our best Draft Pick since Mike Evans.
January 1st, 2021 at 1:21 pm
In today’s NFL it really doesn’t matter as much to put your best OT on the left side. NFL teams put their best pass rusher on the side they think has the weakest OT. Saints, Steelers, Washington, 49ers, Bucs etc.
January 1st, 2021 at 1:22 pm
catcard,
I mentioned that awhile back and still think it’s a solid plan. We can draft some fresh corn-fed uglies to plug in and shed 20 million.
January 1st, 2021 at 1:23 pm
I’d be careful how many rookies you put on the o-line. Word is a diamond in the rough, not all great college linemen make it in the NFL. The #1 priority on this team is keeping Brady upright. The run blocking has not been very good of late but that could be due to loss of Rojo and Fournett’s not that good.
January 1st, 2021 at 1:32 pm
You guys are clueless. If asked, what do you think Wirfs would say about moving to LT?
He’d say He|| yeah.
Left Tackles make more money than Right Tackles so by not giving him a shot is denying him a chance to advance his career. If you’re Wirfs, you want that opportunity but some of you would rather penalize him for being too good at RT.
January 1st, 2021 at 1:35 pm
A smart GM would draft an OL from Iowa Every year.
January 1st, 2021 at 1:43 pm
Happy New Years my brothers!
January 1st, 2021 at 2:03 pm
I’ll be watching Donovan Smith closely in the playoffs. If he’s good or even adequate, which I hope he is, then fine. If he looks like Caleb Benenoch’s brother out there and doesn’t know how to block (which we all have seen at times), in that case it IS broken and DOES need to be fixed.
January 1st, 2021 at 2:04 pm
Draft a left handed QB, problem solved.
January 1st, 2021 at 2:48 pm
Try him and see if he works on the left side. If it works great if not he stays at RT easy as at.
January 1st, 2021 at 2:57 pm
this yung gun is the best right tackle in the whole gawd dam league
January 1st, 2021 at 2:59 pm
he and cappa on the right side of jensen is getting really nice…
leave it as is…
let these yung dudes marinate and get even better together
January 1st, 2021 at 3:04 pm
Smith is an average left tackle 5 or 6 mil max not 14. Arians didn’t know any better when he came just listened to Licht. Trade Smith if possible, resign Wells and sign Kelvin Beachum for insurance. Draft a left or right tackle in the first or second round. Use Wells or Beachum as a bridge to the rookie.
January 1st, 2021 at 3:51 pm
Allbuc – True. Smith is average. Overpaid.
January 1st, 2021 at 6:31 pm
I’m in complete agreement with the Bucs using a high draft pick on a O-Lineman, 1st or 2nd Rounder.
January 1st, 2021 at 7:12 pm
Man, he´s so good. We should draft one or two OL early next year and turn this unit into one of the best in the league. Marpet, Jensen, Wirfs and someone like Cosmi or Slater would make our O-Line top 5 for the next ten years.
January 1st, 2021 at 8:35 pm
How many sacks has our left tackle given up?
January 1st, 2021 at 9:05 pm
6 sacks allowed, tied for 7th most allowed. I’ve seen conflicting reports on Donovan Smith’s penalties, either tied for 1st with 11 penalties, other references show he has 9 or 10 penalties, among the top 5 most, either way.
January 2nd, 2021 at 7:26 am
You also then dont see the need to fix something that is broken. The revolving turnstile that is Donovan Smith. Ok. Dont move Wirfs, but move on from Smith and find a LT in this years draft or in free agency. Please!
January 2nd, 2021 at 10:53 am
Wirfs is a Future All pro.
I believe he should be at Left tackle
Cappa has fully adjusted to NFL speed.
Hes a big, mean mauler. Projected as a RT by many
Move him to RT
Jensen is a beast. Played great at RG. Has had trouble snapping.
RG
Now, draft a Center that Brady likes.
I really like Donovan Smith. He is a very Good LT.
But hes expensive, and we will be cash poor.
This keeps Cappa and Jensen playing beside each other.
Also(hopefully) improves so of the snapping issues.
Its a thought, that saved money