“You Gotta Perform Or You’re Gone”
May 12th, 2022
A lot of Bucs fans toss and turn at night wondering who will win the Tampa Bay starting left guard job for opening day.
But deeper thought is required at the position.
With Ali Marpet retired, there will be no gifted job. And offensive line coach Joe Gilbert made it clear this week that Aaron Stinnie, the Super Bowl starter at right guard, will compete with rookie second-round pick Luke Goedeke, Nick Leverett and last year’s third-round pick, Robert Hainsey. Combined, the foursome has four career NFL starts, all belonging to 28 year old Stinnie.
Joe will hote there’s a lot of love for Hainsey at One Buc Palace and Gilbert even emphasized how Hainsey is “a football junkie” who is “all-in.”
Interesting was how Gilbert stressed players are evaluated daily and the initial starter may not keep the job. Protecting Tom Brady leaves no room for error, Gilbert said. “You gotta perform or you’re gone.”
The three preseason games will be a huge factor, Gilbert said, but Joe thinks the left guard job likely will be decided by the time the Bucs finish scripted practices for two days with the Tennessee Titans before their game in Week 2 of the preseason.
As Joe shared yesterday, a huge NFL voice says the Bucs are expecting/hoping Goedeke takes the job and runs with it.
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May 12th, 2022 at 12:08 pm
If any player on the Bucs isn’t “all in” they probably shouldn’t be playing in the NFL 🤷
May 12th, 2022 at 12:17 pm
Ali said he was looking forward to being involved in the Tampa community in his retirement. Any sightings? If so a certain tell he is not coming back would be his weight!
Or loss of weight.
May 12th, 2022 at 12:29 pm
The bucs 2021 picks do not look very good. Look at the first four Tyron, Trask, Hainsey and Darden pretty sad.
May 12th, 2022 at 12:45 pm
Allbuccedup Says:
May 12th, 2022 at 12:29 pm
Disagree.
Tryon had a pretty good rookie year and should make a big jump this year.
Trask continues to have plenty of support from his coaches. They have nothing but positive things to say. The fact that he’s not beating out a 10 year veteran QB for the backup job does not bother me at all. At worst, the jury is still out on Trask. At best, he may have a chance to be our QBOF.
Hainsey can’t be faulted for being trained to play center behind one of the best centers in the league and not seeing much action. Again, if you trust the Bucs’ coaches, he’s a good player waiting for an opportunity. He’ll compete to start, but it appears they love Goedeke and will probably end up starting him.
Darden, that one looks like a bad pick at this point… but he still has a chance to improve going into this year.
KJ Britt was a good special teamer as a rookie and apparently is growing into his role as the top ILB backup. He may even be a future starter.
Grant Stuard plays special teams with his hair on fire. I think they’re very pleased with that pick.
So, it’s matter of perspective. We have a talented team so we didn’t have immediate impact starters from the 2021 draft… but if you look at it from a less biased lens, there’s nothing wrong with that draft at all. I don’t know why so many people are down on Tryon… probably because people have unreasonable expectations of rookie 1st rounders. I also don’t understand why the negativity about Hainsey. I mean, it’s a deep team, so he didn’t see much action in year one. This does not concern me. As for Trask, I wasn’t a fan of the pick initially, but I’m also not a scout or front office guy and don’t claim to know anything. The team, at least publicly, seems pleased with his progress.
May 12th, 2022 at 12:46 pm
Let’s say LG is a weakness. Several ways you can mask the problem. 21 personnel. You can have more two TE sets and motion one. Chip blocks are another way. The most effective, without having to do those others, is what Brady does best. The quick passing game has always been something he’s excelled at. I would worry to much about LG, even if they are below average at the position.
May 12th, 2022 at 12:47 pm
Just hearing the reaction from players and coaches about Ali’s possible return tells you there is no chance of that happening. He is finished with the ‘playing football’ part of his life.
May 12th, 2022 at 12:52 pm
TBBF was hoping that Carl Nicks’ big toe has healed by now and will play LG….
May 12th, 2022 at 12:54 pm
sasquatch, it’s fairly easy to see what’s going on. The bucs are pumping up gabbert, because they have soured on Trask. It’s the only plausible reason. The only other reason I’d even entertain, is they see something in gabbert nobody else does. No other teams wanted him, so I’ll believe the other 31 teams
May 12th, 2022 at 12:54 pm
I have zero concern about LG. We will have a more than adequate starter from the competition… and very good chance we will start the rookie Glass-Eater Goedeke, who may have some rookie mistakes, but should be very good.
I’m a lot more concerned about D-line depth, keeping the secondary healthy, Lavonte’s injury recovery, and Godwin’s knee recovery and who picks up the slack if he misses the first half of the season. Also whether Gronk returns and how Otton develops if he doesn’t… So, the left guard situation is waaaay down the list of concerns.
May 12th, 2022 at 12:57 pm
GOB Says:
May 12th, 2022 at 12:54 pm
That’s one interpretation, not a fact by any stretch.
It should be noted that Arians has been pumping up Gabbert for a few years, even before they drafted Trask. So I think the organization’s positivity over Gabby is genuine, and has nothing to do with Trask.
May 12th, 2022 at 1:08 pm
sasquatch, it’s true. BA loved him some gabbert.
May 12th, 2022 at 1:14 pm
Worst case scenario we have Aaron Stinnie as our starting LG who was good enough to be a starting guard for a team during the playoffs and through their Super Bowl win. He is no worse than average. Anyone, including him, can come in and be better than average, and win the spot. Having an all-pro guard isn’t a requirement for a team to be a contender.
May 12th, 2022 at 1:18 pm
Sasquatch is correct- the DLine is dangerously thin if Bucs don’t sign Suh.
Suh is just as important to the Defense as Gronk is to the Offense.
May 12th, 2022 at 1:39 pm
I agree sasquatch Tyron wasn’t too bad but the jury is still out on the other three.
May 12th, 2022 at 1:40 pm
I think we can do better than Suh for less money.
May 12th, 2022 at 1:42 pm
Yes I agree Suh should be as much a priority as Gronk ! He’s been a Rock for the Dline and doesn’t miss games EVER ! He and Gronk must be signed ASAP
May 12th, 2022 at 1:44 pm
Only Suh and White started all 17 games and Suh was 3rd in QB hits.
May 12th, 2022 at 1:48 pm
Suh.
May 12th, 2022 at 2:24 pm
Why TF do we have so much inside oline depth
May 12th, 2022 at 2:28 pm
As long as BA has any connection with the team Gabbert will be TB’s backup, even if I think Trask should be.
May 12th, 2022 at 2:42 pm
@Sasquatch I agree 100 percent with everything you wrote. I literally could nit have wrote/said it better 👍 👌 🤙
May 12th, 2022 at 3:15 pm
Gabbert didn’t even play in 2019 and Griffin has taken 4 nfl snaps in his entire career and hes thirty something. Hopefully Brady will be healthy one more year.
May 12th, 2022 at 3:34 pm
SB~LV, look on the Bucs website at the most recent community event. There are at least a couple of photos of Ali Marpet. It would appear that Marpet is serious about his retirement because he looked quite a bit thinner to me in those photos. It would take a heck of a lot of time, food and effort to put the weight back on.
May 12th, 2022 at 6:06 pm
I absolutely love Gilbert. He’s a no nonsense straight shooter, and he’s actually competent at his job, unlike Keith Armstrong. that’s a different story. Brady is a prized treasure. You have to protect the general. Our OL was the most valuable part of our offense last year. They’ve done a great job and have been rewarded financially. Cam Jordan said Brady gets his OL paid. Jordan is a blowhard, but he’s correct. It’s been that way since NE. Wirfs said in his first year Brady told him just don’t get beat fast and inside and he’ll be fine. Wirf’s second contract will be huge. When Brady came to town, the spotlight has been on our OL. I’m glad Cappa cashed out. He’s been a warrior. I don’t know what to make of the LG situation, but I love that Gilbert will hold these guys accountable. Will Brady have a say in the LG decision?
May 12th, 2022 at 8:49 pm
Bucsfan13 Says:
May 12th, 2022 at 6:06 pm
Why do people want to believe Brady has his hands in everything? This is stupid. The answer is no… unless the coaches decide to start a guy who isn’t going to get the job done. Then Brady might speak up… but that’s an unlikely hypothetical.
Brady does his job extremely well. He trains his body, he works with his teammates, and he works with BL to create gameplans and tweak the offense. He doesn’t have time to be a GM or coach.
May 12th, 2022 at 9:57 pm
@sasquatch. I absolutely agree that Brady’s shadow GM lore was ridiculous. I also don’t believe Brady has much sway in the game plan as folks say. If so, we would see more motion and play action. However, seeing how important it is to protect him. The OL coach has said as much. I think Brady might have a little input. He won’t have the final say. I think Rodgers would also have some input on who might be protecting him. They’re made men and have earned that right to have some say. Brady also call the protections at the line. Brees made a comment on Manningcast that he liked to handle the protection calls instead of the center because he’s the one who has to take the hits. Bottom line, the relationship between the QB and OL is very important, and superstar QBs should have some input on personnel.