Internal Offensive Line Grades Revealed
December 21st, 2022
A rare peek into minds of the Buccaneers’ coaching staff was delivered yesterday.
Joe was so damn intrigued.
So how bout that Tampa Bay offensive line! Is it good, great, average or worse?
Bucs co-offensive line coach and assistant head coach Harold Goodwin, known as a hard-ass tough guy taskmaster, visited the Buccaneers Radio Network and was talking about offensive line grades.
Not only was Goodwin asked to provide the O-line’s collective grade for Sunday’s game against the Bengals, but Goodwin was queried on the line’s grade for the entire season to date.
Keep in mind Goodwin said he is a tough grader.
For Sunday’s game against the Bengals, Goodwin said the line earned a “low B/C+”. For the season, the Tampa Bay offensive line gets the same grade, he said, “low B/high C.”
Goodwin noted the line has performed at a high level but inconsistency is what keeps the grade down. He said he’s not factoring injuries because the unit must perform no matter who is on the field. Goodwin added that the line’s best attribute is its attitude and fight. Zero quit in the line, Goodwin said, and he said that can happen.
That got Joe thinking about Tom Brady. If he believes he’s playing behind a “B-” line with a great attitude, and Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen is coming back, and the Bucs are willing to invest more into the offensive line this offseason, then maybe Brady would view the 2023 Bucs O-line as at least a B+ group with potential for more.
Could that sway Brady’s decision on his 2023 home?
Overall, it’s kind of scary to Joe that the O-line is grading slightly above average but the offense is averaging just 17.6 points per game, which ranks 28th in the NFL.
December 21st, 2022 at 10:00 am
Donovan Smith is the curve breaker.
December 21st, 2022 at 10:05 am
When he grades them he’s also grading himself. Using a heavy thumb on that scale.
December 21st, 2022 at 10:07 am
Old school Bucs fan here and with holidays feeling a bit nostalgic. I remember and have been conditioned to think in all my years watching the Bucs that 17 pts is a lot of points (for us). Of course there were a few years our Tampa Two D could held other teams below 17 and we found some success. As for 2022, I keep hoping to see another W and we gain some momentum going into the playoff round but my hope is now running near empty.
December 21st, 2022 at 10:09 am
That is scary to think Goodwin is thinking the play of the line is on a B graded level.
But Joe……cmon now, he’s doing the whole sports politics thingy in the media again. No way is he gonna trash his whole O Line…..because if he does then that’s an indictment against his coaching abilities and I’m sure he doesn’t want his players losing faith in him.
December 21st, 2022 at 10:18 am
No, Brady will be long gone before the draft gets here. It also doesn’t work because Bowles cleaner is a defensive guy. The majority of the draft will be D-line and DBs.
The reason he ended up here is because the offensive future of the Pats looked bad, but it looked better than the situation here does right now.
December 21st, 2022 at 10:33 am
If you think OL is what is keeping Brady from returning that’s an easy fix.
At least no single unit has a bigger need than our OL so we can spend draft choices. #1 pick best tackle in the draft…hopefully a left tackle but if Wirfs needs to move to the left he has enough talent.
If we are HONEST…TB’s decision is not based on our coaching, fans, OL, receivers, or D. TB has to look deep inside and wonder how much he has left in the tank.
I don’t see his tank as empty yet but it’s definitely in the red range of the gauge. Brady TRULY needs to maximize what is left of this year. He may not have a next year.
He still has a last chance. The Bucs are actually set up well for the playoffs. If they could simply play like they did the first 20 minutes of the Bengals game…an SB team…they can play with anybody! They were in CONTROL! The defense was stifling, the offense finally clicking, it was the Bucs of old.
Find out how to reproduce those twenty minutes!!!! Scrw next year!!!!
December 21st, 2022 at 10:35 am
The chance of Brady returning to The Bucs is at best in the single digits percentage wise. Three weeks left in The Brady Era…maybe a 4th…but even that’s tough to envision. The season was cursed from the start…plain and simple. Look at The Rams turned lambs…we saw how lucky they were last season…now the franchise is on the verge of a complete overhaul. It happens…especially in The NFL.
December 21st, 2022 at 10:38 am
LT first pick…wherever we’re picking….or RT and move Wirfs to LT!
December 21st, 2022 at 10:41 am
This whole organization gets an F- for the entire 2022 season.
December 21st, 2022 at 10:44 am
Ummm. Last I checked a “B” grade meant “good”.
Are we using some sort of new grading scale put out by the idiots who run our schools?
December 21st, 2022 at 10:53 am
Unless we at least go deep into the playoffs, Brady won’t be back. He may get away with one bad season but not two in a row. He needs to go out a winner.
December 21st, 2022 at 10:58 am
I’d say C+ is about right. PFF has the unit ranked 12th.
December 21st, 2022 at 11:16 am
Brady was hit 7 times out of 44 attempts, (likely were many more mere pressures) Is that good?
December 21st, 2022 at 11:25 am
B- to C+ on the season is a joke. Bucs have 2 decent RBs in Fournette & White, yet the former is only averaging 3.6 YPC while the latter is averaging 3.8 YPC. TOGETHER they don’t even have 1,000 yards rushing yet in 14 games. Last year Bucs averaged 4.3 YPC; this year it’s 3.3 YPC rushing as a team. Pitiful.
Our passing performance is just as bad though. Last year Brady averaged 6.9 yards/attempt; this year it’s down to 5.8 YPA, a huge difference. It’s not hard to see in most games that our OLine isn’t able to pass protect long enough or well enough to give the intermediate & deep patterns time to develop properly, and that TB12 very often gets ‘antsy’ in the pocket because it’s collapsing and has to release quickly and often to his checkdown.
Shorter passes have also yielded a LOT less YAC, which is critical to our bread-and-butter explosive plays. Last year we gained 777 yards YAC rushing & 2,790 yards passing for a total YAC of 3,567 yards on 385 rushes and 492 completions. That’s an average YAC of 4.07 yards per run/completed pass. This season we’ve gained 386 yards YAC rushing & 1839 yards passing for a total YAC of 2,225 yards on 311 rushes and 411 completions. That’s an average YAC of 3.08 yards per run/completed pass. That’s roughly a 25% REDUCTION in YAC this year, a huge difference.
It all ties together and it all starts with the OLine.
December 21st, 2022 at 11:59 am
@ DR
I agree.
Looking forward to next year this offensive line will be the only unit on the team who has all the players returning and under contract…
Smith, Goedeke, Hainsey, Jenson, Mason and Wirfs will all be back unless the Bucs cut or trade someone.
I don’t know if that is good or bad. lol
December 21st, 2022 at 12:20 pm
Donnie locked in for one more year, I don’t think they can get rid of him, and good LT’s are more rare than good QB’s in the draft
December 21st, 2022 at 12:32 pm
Brady would not have specified in his contact no tagging free agent after this year if he had any intention of coming back to Tampa. The only way I see him coming back if no one else wants him or needs him
December 21st, 2022 at 12:53 pm
Ah, so the man whose job depends on the performance of his OL rates his unit at B-/C+? Yeah, I inflate my self-assessment at work every year and so does everybody else, we laugh about it. However, in football all the fans and media are watching and B-/C+ is laughable. Based on the running game alone the OL gets a grade of D+ tops and that’s not even counting their costly penalties.
“Goodwin added that the line’s best attribute is its attitude and fight.” Great, he gives his unit a participation trophy. I guess that’s a sign of the times.
No way Brady comes back to the Bucs next season. Heck, he didn’t want to come back this year. He has seen enough of Bowles and Leftwich and probably knew this season would be a disaster. He will play for a winner next season and be a huge factor in their success.
December 21st, 2022 at 12:55 pm
This is exactly what I was mentioning in an earlier article. Everyone knows Smith is an F-, but the oline is not terrible like people want to use for one of the top reasons stated why Brady has been terrible every week. He has had plenty of time in situations and can’t put the ball where it needs to be. We have a top WR/TE corps, yet he collapses in the pocket constantly, and it is not because he is never provided time.
December 21st, 2022 at 1:06 pm
He was asked to grade his own work yup that seems reliable. Every fan can see how inconsistent the line has played and it’s the reason tom is so jumpy because its impossible to know when they are going to hold up or not what a joke.
December 21st, 2022 at 2:53 pm
The Oline is a D at best-gimme a phugging break
December 21st, 2022 at 3:58 pm
We are last in the league running the ball and score in the bottom 6 of 32 teams
Our OLine deserves a D
The numbers are the facts, not coach speak fiction
December 21st, 2022 at 4:03 pm
DSmith is the most penalized OL in the NFL!!
Hainey is so soft in the middle, he gets abused by average sized DT’s routinely
Goedke was a total bust and Leverett is a try hard guy but undersized for sure
Mason doesn’t dazzle anyone and is undersized also
Wirfs has even had more lapses than usual prior to getting hurt
Definitely not a B or even a C+
The coaching downfall has been across the board on offense
December 21st, 2022 at 4:22 pm
The Buc w-l record is under 50%.
December 21st, 2022 at 4:37 pm
We must draft a left tackle in the first round in April. If we need to trade all of our picks to move up then that is what you do. D Smith is horrible. There must be some accountability. If he is allowed to keep his job then what is the message that gives to our young linemen. And is it fair to the other guys to let his play drag down everyone’s grade on the line. I don’t think so
December 21st, 2022 at 5:07 pm
I like it when Goodwin speaks much more than listening to the HC. He actually talks with some substance–agree with him or not. As for Brady, if he doesn’t retire (which he may) I believe he will stay with the Bucs and I also think some other changes will evolve. Of course, I could be as wrong as many of you prognosticators but I don’t think he would desire to start over with some new team. I sure hope he stays.
December 21st, 2022 at 5:16 pm
The line stats show differently cuz Tom throws the ball so quick. The sacks count is low cuz Tom throws the ball quick. If Tom is having to worry about getting hit constantly then the bucs cannot be successful with him at qb. He’s too old to be taking huge hits and he gets rid of the ball in panic bcuz his season/career could end on one big hit. The younger qbs can take the damage. Tom can still be great if he can just get some time from the oline and confidence back in the pocket. That’s what happened in the first half. Second half they were all over Tom. The results were obvious
December 21st, 2022 at 5:48 pm
The Olinemen are playing pretty good individually.
But they arent playing like a unit- and thats the key to Oline success.
Only an idiot would think that you can replace your entire interior line, 2 with first time starters, and the offense play well.
Its just that simple.
Oh, and our coaches are horrible. Thats the other shoe dropping
December 21st, 2022 at 6:16 pm
Don’t underestimate the downgrade effect of replacing 2 physical TE’s (Gronk and Howard) with 2 rookies, in addition to the loss of Marpet, Jensen and Cappa.
December 22nd, 2022 at 8:04 am
These Bucs coaches are an absolute downright embarrassment. What Arians has done to the team leaving it with these incompetent coaches is cancerous.