High Standards For Offensive Line, Says Donovan Smith
September 17th, 2021
Bucs LT Donovan Smith.
Joe has learned one thing in the past year watching the Bucs with Tom Brady at quarterback.
As long he has time to throw, the Bucs are going to win a lot of GD football games with the park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring, down-forgetting, handshake-stiffing, jet-ski-losing, biscuit-baking, tequila-shooting, smartphone-phobic, waffle-grilling, trophy-throwing, roller-coaster-scared, numbers-rules-peeved, helmet-tossing, football-punting, Bucs-Super-Bowl-winning quarterback.
Proof was last week. Lousy tackling. Turnovers. Dropped footballs. Penalties. Yet when the Bucs needed points, the offensive line gave Brady time and he put the Bucs in position to win.
In fact, Brady was hit just twice the whole night. When you factor in DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory on the other side of the line of scrimmage, that is damn impressive.
One of the big men responsible was left tackle Donovan Smith. He said yesterday the standard for the offensive line is simple: no sacks.
“Obviously, that’s the standard – no sacks given up each week,” Smith said. “What better way to start Week 1 than doing that?
“It definitely feels good but hats off to all five guys and the receivers, quarterbacks [and] running backs because it falls on all of us, but we take the brunt of it. But it was a good job by everybody.”
Now there is a teammate. The front line could give Brady all night to throw. And if Brady doesn’t make the right throw or the receivers don’t haul in the ball, it doesn’t matter.
But the first step is giving Brady time. The rest falls into place after that.
September 17th, 2021 at 8:54 am
I am convinced this is the key to us winning…..we can overcome a weaker defensive secondary if we score at will.
We need two elements to perform well…..the defensive front 7 & the Oline…..
Brady, the WRs, TEs & RBs will take care of themselves.
September 17th, 2021 at 9:25 am
You may remember, it was only a few short years ago, many on this site were bashing the o-line, D. Smith in particular. Now, his play is stellar on a dominating Bucs o-line. No doubt their play is critical to keeping Brady upright and giving him time to make some of the long throws. Keep it up guys!
September 17th, 2021 at 9:44 am
So great seeing him get some love. He has been a consistent top 1/3 left tackle in the league for a long time. He’s always had trouble with real quick speed rushers,… Not many left tackles don’t.
The last two years though, he has improved. A lot of that is a smart quarterback helping with reads and positioning and getting rid of the ball.
I will argue it’s not all about not giving up the sack. I want to see dominant run blocking to close out the games
September 17th, 2021 at 9:46 am
You cannot evaluate the OL in a vacuum. There is a feedback loop. Good OL gives the QB time to throw and a good QB needs less time to throw making the OL job easier. You need both the OL and the QB to be good for this to work. If one of them is off, then both are off.
September 17th, 2021 at 9:49 am
Donovan ranked 28th @ LT last season re: winning one on one blocks (with no help from TE’s & RB’s). Plus, TB12 gets rid of the ball in 2 seconds so there be no sacks or even PRESSURES donnie
September 17th, 2021 at 9:50 am
When you have a QB that executes at a high level, you’ll get the best of everyone else.
September 17th, 2021 at 10:11 am
agree 100% Tampabaybucfan…and let me add this, front 7 will have to put the fear of god to opposit QB, because if not, our CB will be severly exposed…..
September 17th, 2021 at 10:17 am
Always was up in the air on D smith but it goes to show that maybe he just needed some help in the trenches. When you put some solid talent around him he does well
September 17th, 2021 at 10:28 am
Swapping out Dotson for Wirfs, having Smith’s play get to slightly-above-average made all the difference
September 17th, 2021 at 10:55 am
We need 1 or 2 new corners to win the Super Bowl.
Cockrell will get picked on all season.
He’s a 4.56 CB. That’s too slow. Backup safety? Fine. Starting nickle. Not ok.
Stephon Gilmore. We need him by Week 6.
We will then have a legit chance to 3-peat.
Go Bucs!
September 17th, 2021 at 11:04 am
Re: “But the first step is giving Brady time. The rest falls into place after that”
One caveat on that thought….Stop throwing away downs especially in our end of the field. Prime example – running up the middle on first downs. Everyone in the stadium knows that we are going to call that play probably 80% of the time. So are we so blessed with downs that we can afford to throw away 33% of our downs (before having to punt!!) After being stuffed on the majority of these calls, we have only 2 downs to gain the remaining 7 to 9 downs required to keep the drive alive.
A smarter mind than mine has said (and I paraphrase)…
Go where they ain’t, NOT where they is!!
September 17th, 2021 at 11:38 am
Winning the SB doesn’t whitewash Smith’s inconsistent play over the years, even early on last year.
Smith improved last year and I hope he continues that trend.
I think good OL play is always a key in offensive success.
“Zero sacks!” Love it!
September 17th, 2021 at 1:29 pm
D Smith has sure grown up