Grading The Bucs’ Offensive Line
January 13th, 2023
Offensive line drills.
Joe knows many Bucs fans love to stomp their feet about the Bucs offensive line.
If you listen to these folks, the front line of the Bucs is so awful they are the reason the federal government now wants to ban gas stoves.
The line isn’t as good as last year’s, but that doesn’t mean they are bad. Joe is convinced what Joe’s standard for bad is and what others consider bad are night and day different.
(The Bucs’ offensive line in 2014 including the likes of Anthony Collins, Oneil Cousins, Evan Dietrich-Smith and Garrett “Whoops!” Gilkey was bad.)
Why is Joe bringing this up? Well, Maxx Forde, a former PAC-12 and CFL defensive lineman, typing for The33rdTeam, decided to rank the offensive lines of each NFL playoff team.
Seven playoff teams’ offensive lines ranked worse than the Bucs’, who he ranked at No. 7 out of 14.
The Bucs are better at pass blocking than run blocking, but in their system, they use the short pass so frequently as an extension of the running game that the lack of push running the ball isn’t a major concern. It’s not an imposing group, but they were able to keep the GOAT upright and out of harm’s way, allowing the lowest pressure rate in the league while quietly throwing for nearly 4,700 yards this season.
Maybe folks think only a good block is a pancake block? That’s the only thing Joe can think of why fans keep hollering how bad the Bucs are at blocking (allegedly).
If a quarterback is able to get a pass off without being touched, that’s all you need.
The biggest problem with the Bucs’ offensive line? Staying healthy.
January 13th, 2023 at 3:30 pm
Comparing the Bucs injured offensive line to teams that had a fully healthy offensive line at full strength isn’t a scientific or an unbiased approach. Arguably our best offensive lineman and notorious bad boy Ryan Jenson was out for the season. But again, I give all credit to Tom Brady because he is the best ever at adjusting pass protections before the ball is snapped so he can stand upright and out of harms way in the pocket.
January 13th, 2023 at 3:33 pm
It’s really pretty simple… We had a solid line then you minus Jenson, Cappa and Marpet and add Hainsey, Mason and Goedeke and you now have a below average line (average at best)…
Then you add injuries to both Wirfs and D. Smith and you are really below average.
This past Carolina game was probably our line’s best game since the first Cowboys game…
I hope this trend continues.
January 13th, 2023 at 3:46 pm
Big boy Mike from the cowturds is expecting to see Jensen out there this week according to his presser he had today or yesterday. God I hope he’s right. Let’s go big red we need your fire out there this week
January 13th, 2023 at 3:51 pm
When we lost Hansey in Atlanta we couldn’t do anything right. But we were playing practice squad guys.
January 13th, 2023 at 4:04 pm
Losing Jensen and Marpet turned out to be huge. I thought, and Mason was an upgrade over Cappa but it’s hard to say.
If they are completely healthy, and left guard is the only thing they need to deal with, it could have been much better. Why the run blocking became so atrocious also how to do with scheme …. BL
January 13th, 2023 at 4:18 pm
That’s the only thing Joe can think of why fans keep hollering how bad the Bucs are at blocking (allegedly).
They’re the worst rushing team in NFL and Brady keeps himself upright with his quick release
January 13th, 2023 at 4:32 pm
Even though Joe Thomas, a future HOF, has said this OL was bad, Joe continues to push the propaganda that this OL is just fine. And he’s not the only one who’s made this observation.
January 13th, 2023 at 4:47 pm
The effectiveness of the line is contingent on who the QB is–if it’s Brady, very few sacks/pressures. If it’s Carson Wentz, 4-5 sacks per game
January 13th, 2023 at 4:48 pm
Unfortunately for us, the Cowboys, Eagles and Niners are all very very good stopping the short passing game.
January 13th, 2023 at 4:53 pm
Marine Buc..perfect. Go Bucs
January 13th, 2023 at 5:20 pm
The Buc oline is absolutely terrible at run blocking….it doesn’t help that the play calls are so predictable.
Our Backs are constantly hit in the backfield or stuffed at the line…..many other teams are able to open up gaping holes for their running backs….even against us at times.
Our pass blocking is adequate and we have protected Brady well for 3 years….(no injuries to him that we know of)
I do think Brady lacks trust in our oline….and that causes him to get rid of the ball too quickly at times…..
January 13th, 2023 at 5:21 pm
Look Joe, sorry but I disagree. Why do I say this line is bad or at least, well below average? It’s because of the push they do or don’t get. On pass plays, the pocket is pushed well back into Brady’s lap, on TOO many pass plays = happy feet and dirt balls by Brady. No deep game because no time.
In the run game, very little if any push downfield. Sure, they get hat-on-hat, but that’s only half the line’s job. Stick a hat on a guy and PUSH him downfield. When this line gets stood up at LOS on a run play, which happens FREQUENTLY, it is not a good job by the line, and leads to penetrators, which leads to TFL’s. Too many TFL’s means this isn’t a good line.
You’ve just said some fans (meaning myself) are upset because of no pancake blocks. Those are nice to see but few and far between in the NFL. I’m upset at our line because they get stood up at LOS way too much. If you think that during pass plays the line has done their job just because 3 guys didn’t come free and crush Brady, and in their pass-pro they delayed the D linemen “just enough,” that isn’t a good or a winning line.
It’s an average line, on their best day of regular offense. In the hurry-up/no-huddle, they seem to shine, so maybe it’s the motivation and play-calling that’s more suspect, not the talent?
That’s my opinion, for what it’s worth.
January 13th, 2023 at 5:25 pm
PS: Joe, wanna know my definition of a “good offensive line?” Since it’s Dallas Week – I go back to the line Emmitt Smith ran behind. That O-line ALWAYS pushed the D back nearly 5 yards consistently. THAT’s a good O-line, maybe one of the best. (And I hate the Cowboys, but was always impressed with their line).
The Hogs of the Washington Redskins was also exceptional.
January 13th, 2023 at 5:27 pm
The line wasn’t as good as last year but they did a great job protecting the GOAT. Now the playoffs are here and we are pretty healthy. If Jensen can play that will give us a huge boost. We miss his mauler attitude and physicality.
January 13th, 2023 at 6:01 pm
OLine may be better at pass blocking but they often don’t give the receivers enough time for the play to develop down field. It would be nice to see Brady get another 2 seconds.
January 13th, 2023 at 6:25 pm
Agree Joe Brady is sacked the least but yet has the most pass attempts most fans have no clue what they are talking about. The run blocking tho has bin terrible. Unfortunately teams that do well in the playoffs are physical and have a good running game.
January 13th, 2023 at 6:35 pm
1st CB Cam Smith
2nd LT Jaelyn Duncan….and we’ll have to trade up for him.
January 13th, 2023 at 6:40 pm
Cherry-picking stats again Joe? Bucs at 8-9 are a mid-level team. Yes the Bucs had 4,586 net passing yards, BUT … it took us 751 passing attempts to get that (most in the league). That represented only 5.9 yards/attempt (when 22 sacks factored in) … 20th in the NFL. Add in our NFL-worst 1,308 rushing yards in 385 rushing attempts (both league worsts as was our 3.4 yards per rushing attempt average) and we ended up with a grand total of 5,894 yards on the season … 14th worst in the league. IOW, mid-pack which is pretty much what our 8-9 record is telling us.
Compare that to last year when we had 6,901 total yards … over 1,000 MORE yards in the same 17 games but in 20 less plays. Obviously our offensive productivity is way down, with the same OC & the same QB, pretty much the same RBs, pretty much the same WRs but different TEs, AND with major changes in our OLine this season. I guess I’m one of those who’s thinking that most (but not all) of our drop in productivity was due to our OLine performance this season.
January 13th, 2023 at 7:08 pm
Alanbucsfan Says:
January 13th, 2023 at 4:18 pm
That’s the only thing Joe can think of why fans keep hollering how bad the Bucs are at blocking (allegedly).
They’re the worst rushing team in NFL and Brady keeps himself upright with his quick release
______
Correct
January 13th, 2023 at 7:20 pm
At full health we actually have a pretty great oline. Wirfs, mason, jensen, smith and leverret has played well at lg and hainsey has played very well considering. Godecke in my opinion is our worst linemman. Hes worse than any undrafted player or practice squad linemen. I still dont get why people keep whining about the cappa situation. I think mason is an upgrade if se get lucky and jensen and hainsey play sunday, thats a really good oline. Smith, hainsey, jensen, mason and wirfs
January 13th, 2023 at 9:28 pm
Agree with D-Rok and DefenseRules. Joe keeps straining to forgive this OL, which is mediocre at best, often bad, and simply a patchwork of JAGs of backup quality.
January 13th, 2023 at 11:48 pm
The OL has crushed all of our hopes and dreams this season. This entire season has been affected because we can’t run the ball. Our offense couldn’t keep possessions. So our elite defense was gassed a lot of games.
January 14th, 2023 at 12:00 am
The qb can throw it faster than an unblocked man can get there.
Therefore, to say: The Bucs line is good at pass blocking because the hit/sack ratio is low, is not true or accurate.
That said, the Bucs have crafted a quick out offense mostly, and survived, with this oline doing a relatively good job.
Big win Monday night coming for our Bucco’s.
GO BUCS!!!
January 14th, 2023 at 12:04 am
Joe Says:
Way to regurgitate FuxNooz talking points Joe.
January 14th, 2023 at 12:04 am
The o-line must have compromising pictures of Joe.
It’s the only thing that makes sense any more 😂
Average at pass blocking, below average at run blocking. Same as (almost) ever. Their play was significantly better in 2020 and 2021 for sure. They’ve regressed back to their norm.
January 14th, 2023 at 12:05 am
Oh, and they have an offensive coordinator that does them ZERO favors to help them overcome their weaknesses, so that doesn’t help either…
January 14th, 2023 at 1:27 am
See joe is cherry picking analysts to try and prove his point but the bucs record is a testiment to how bad the oline has been all year against bad teams. They throw short passes so often for a reason say what you want joe but this oline is just not good nothing wrong with living in reality come join us joe.
January 14th, 2023 at 5:34 am
So, Joe telling us this O line isn’t so bad is the same as Joe continuing to pound the table with the, “this team has so much talent”. Such a joke.
January 14th, 2023 at 5:54 am
#lovejohnnie
😂😂🤣
January 14th, 2023 at 10:25 am
Brady kept Brady upright this season by getting the ball out in a Nano second. That’s why the unusual low passing yards per attempt.
January 14th, 2023 at 3:21 pm
Brady’s release is the main reason why this unit is solid put any other qb in there it would be a lower rank out bad side is the left side and it needs to be addressed smith is and always had troubles being on his own without marpet there to clean up. We need a guard to help him out he’s solid enough to get the job done when there is a strong guard there next to him our right side is Fort Knox your not getting in