Easier Road For Robert Hainsey
August 9th, 2022
Starting center hopeful Robert Hainsey.
The Robert Hainsey files open wide tomorrow when injured Ryan Jensen’s backup will face Dolphins defensive players trying mightily to confuse him and rip his head off.
Sure, manbeast Bucs defensive linemen Vita Vea, Akiem Hicks and others have been trying to test/prep Hainsey, but nothing matches the reality of a guy in a different jersey.
Listening to various national media chatter from former players and coaches, Joe has caught a common theme over the past week: Hainsey has a much easier road to success than other young centers in the NFL.
And like most things Bucs, that comes back to Tom Brady. The prevailing analysis is that Brady will handle every line call, identify every protection and not let Hainsey get caught with his pants down or confused by a defense. Not every QB can handle that, so Hainsey has a huge edge, in theory.
If you buy that, then all Hainsey has to do is block, study and listen to everything Shaq Mason and Brady are telling him on the field to be successful.
It’s nowhere near that simple, but the message is that Hainsey has it easy, if his skills and brain are there. He’s not a rookie and it’s not his first season in the offense. However, that Brady reality makes it that much more likely that a center coming in off the street could be successful in a hurry.
Why? Because he won’t need the mastery of the offense required of most centers around the league — the same reason Hainsey benefits from Brady.
No matter how you spin it, Hainsey is on a short leash. He’s got about 2 1/2 weeks to show he’s ready for primetime. The Bucs aren’t going to start an inexperienced question mark in front of the franchise.
August 9th, 2022 at 5:26 am
Your last sentence says it Joe. They’re not bringing someone in cold off the street at this point. Forget learning the playbook he’d have to learn about where to place the towel! That alone could take weeks. Hainsey will be fine. The fact we haven’t heard anything negative these two weeks, only how smart and prepared he is. I’m more worried about who will play LG at this point
August 9th, 2022 at 6:15 am
When will we know the extent of Jensen’s injury?
August 9th, 2022 at 6:42 am
Has Jensen had surgery? Has the extent of his injury been disclosed?
August 9th, 2022 at 6:49 am
Timing wise, Jensen’s injury was day one, not day 21. That’s significant. Hainsey will have three preseason games of first team reps plus camp against Vea and the rest.
Hainsey has also been there a year. He’s not a rookie. He went to a top school.
He’s ready. He’s getting the coaching he needs. By game 1, he will have what he needs. By game 3, he will be completely acclimated and comfortable.
August 9th, 2022 at 7:00 am
I think Hainsey will be fine , they’ll let him do his job and make the line calls. Brady will step in and correct it if necessary. The front office has proven they know how to draft O line guys IMO.
August 9th, 2022 at 7:05 am
Ali Marpet.
Will return in Week 8 alongside Gronk for one last run.
August 9th, 2022 at 7:12 am
Tretter. Get him before there’s another injury.
Suh.
August 9th, 2022 at 7:12 am
Any kind of updates on the Stinnie/Goedeke competition? I assume it must be progressing well, since with OL no news is usually good news…
August 9th, 2022 at 7:22 am
Most preseason snaps will be with Gabbert. Is Gabbert going to do the same thing as Tom? Doubt it. I seem to remember quite a few training camp notes with the phrase “Gabbert waits… waits… waits…” in them.
August 9th, 2022 at 7:45 am
Tim
As of right now , goedeke is not even really in the discussion. Its stinnie , walton and leverette. I know who is walton ?
Coaches have even hinted that goedeke will be a good player “down the road”. Sounds like he is a great run blocker. However, it appears he is struggling a little in pass protection assignments. They want to keep brady upright and healthy. Could he change that in a few weeks? Anything is possible. But moving from tackle to guard and not running with starters may put him behind the eight ball for a while.
August 9th, 2022 at 7:46 am
Tim.
It’s more of a Leverate v Stinnie v B. Walton competition. Leverate probably has the edge. Goedeke is still at the watch what they do phase. Playing with the backups while the other 3 rotate in with the first team. They’re going to make the decision before the 2nd preseason game in order to give whoever it is time to gel with their line-mates.
August 9th, 2022 at 8:13 am
His strength is his smarts, and he wants to play with a nasty edge. All arrows point to Hainsey. I expect him to have a vice grip on the position quickly.
August 9th, 2022 at 8:30 am
I think Notre Dame leads the NFL in the amount of Linemen it turns out ?
Hainsey is a Notre Dame Guy.
I think we are going to be just fine at Center.
As has been pointed out in the article, Hainsey will benefit greatly from Brady, who will quickly recognize the defense, and call the correct protection.
August 9th, 2022 at 9:30 am
I’D FEEL BETTER WITH TRETTER
What if Hainsey gets injured? What then?
GET TRETTER NOW
August 9th, 2022 at 10:31 am
All indications from previous linemen are that Hainsey is making the calls at the line and doing a good job with it.
August 9th, 2022 at 11:23 am
Glad Hainsey is doing well.
Any updates on Jensen?
August 9th, 2022 at 11:41 am
I think Jensen plays this year if not they would of got someone else in for camp.
August 9th, 2022 at 11:46 am
He may play this year. Thinking he is getting a second opinion (listen to Ira’s pod this week for details).
Joe has spoken with *many* Bucs types from players to coaches to others, and there is strong, vocal support for Robert Hainsey. Very strong. Joe understands fans don’t want to hear that but the way they talk about Hainsey sounds as if folks in the building will storm Jason Licht’s office if Hainsey doesn’t get a shot.
Feel confident after three preseason games if Bucs are spooked by Hainsey they will go out then and get someone.
If this is a sales job Bucs types are doing on Joe, then they are pushing Hainsey more than Billy Mays would.
August 9th, 2022 at 2:49 pm
@Joe The coaches and players are hardly neutral observers. Joe,it’s a total sales job. The way the team has been pushing him you would think the guy was the next Mike Webster. Brady had a chance to give a solid endorsement of Hainsey and he didn’t . He spoke about how people in the organization have a lot of trust him. He never said that HE had trust in Hainsey. He also mentioned how it doesn’t matter how hard you work in the offseason. You have to get the job done in actually games. Remember how all the talk was about Hainsey working out with AQ in the offseason? Brady doesn’t give a damn about offseason workouts. he wants results on the field.
Why wait until the preseason? If you bring a vet in now, they will have to take time to learn the offense, Why not bring a vet in now to at least challenge him? What Ira said on the podcast about the state of this OL was right on. It’s unstable. The team is really ready to go into the season with a C who’s a converted tackle?
August 9th, 2022 at 2:55 pm
Update: Bowles said they make their decision on the RG before the 3rd preseason game in Indy.
August 9th, 2022 at 3:15 pm
To see if they need a make a move, obviously.
If the front office and the coaches trust Hainsey, haven’t they built up street cred to trust their beliefs? They’ve seen the guy go up against Vea and Suh every day last year. No one else has.
If these guys are publicly supporting Hainsey this deeply and he isn’t all that, then they’ve effectively thrown Hainsey under the bus and pretty much have blown up his career before it got started. That’s not very smart and Joe doesn’t think the Bucs coaches or front office are a collection of complete dumbarses. They did build a Super Bowl team after all and Brady had enough trust in them to come to Tampa (and to re-up and stay for this season)
If this were Koetter’s clown coaches, then yeah, Joe would go out and get a guy in a heartbeat, even if that meant getting raped by some team. (Hint: The Bucs are in no bargaining position if they were to go out and get a lineman.)
August 9th, 2022 at 8:30 pm
@Joe I agree. Let’s use Gabbert and Trask as our crash test dummies in preseason before we put Tommy boy behind center. Sacrificial lambs!