Aaron Stinnie The Run Blocker
November 3rd, 2023
Key to run game?
This is for the folks who enjoy habitually snorting and stomping and braying about the Bucs offensive line.
Did Aaron Stinnie save the Bucs from missing out on a Super Bowl back in 2020? Joe isn’t sure about that. But Joe is sure that Stinnie played a very underrated role in the Bucs running the table in the 2020 playoffs, ending with doing confetti angels on the turf of The Licht House not quite three years ago.
In the wild card game against Washington, right guard Alex Cappa broke his foot. Stinnie came off the bench to replace him and started the final four games that ended in the Super Bowl win.
Stinnie played so well Cappa was barely missed.
Cappa’s injury could have been a disaster for the Bucs but Stinnie rose up and played very solid ball.
So last week was the first time this year the Bucs started someone on the offensive line other than the five starters they began the season with. Only the Bucs had a perfect attendance mark on the offensive line in all of the NFL until Stinnie started for the injured Matt Feiler at left guard.
And it seemed, for the first time this year, the Bucs showed a flash or two of being able to run the ball. Was it because of Stinnie?
This morning, Bucs coach Todd Bowles lauded Stinnie as a run blocker.
“He’s a very physical player, he’s a very good run blocker,” Bowles said. “He did a good job last week getting up to the second level.
“He’s quick. He’s like a third starter for us at guard.”
So was it a coincidence that the Bucs seemed mildly capable at times of running the ball because Stinnie was blocking or was it that Buffalo has a smelly run defense? The Bills are second-worst in the NFL defending the run, allowing 5.1 yards a carry.
We should have a better idea Sunday. The Texans, under former Bowles player DeMeco Ryans, has a strong run defense, currently fourth-best in the league, allowing 3.6 yards a carry.
November 3rd, 2023 at 5:04 pm
Well, if Buffalo allows 5.1 ypc, we still blew chunks because we were not close to that average.
November 3rd, 2023 at 5:19 pm
The Bucs are in a situation where they had to pick the least worst option putting the offensive line together this year. Aaron Stinnie and Feiler aren’t that much different except I think Stinnie has a little more athleticism about him.
*Neither should be starting* – but that’s a problem for the next offseason and better days with the salary cap and draft.
November 3rd, 2023 at 5:31 pm
We did look a bit better…..Our problem is the interior blocking….so maybe he helps….
November 3rd, 2023 at 5:32 pm
Better than Feller
November 3rd, 2023 at 5:38 pm
I don’t think it was a coincidence at all. Feiler isn’t really athletic enough. He’s not bad for the money we are paying him, but he’s not doing much to earn a better contract either. I see him retiring or somewhere else next year.
Go Stinnie!
November 3rd, 2023 at 5:43 pm
And Leverett is better then Mauch. Delaney is better then Neal. Crappy coaching.
November 3rd, 2023 at 5:50 pm
Joe said:
This morning, Bucs coach Todd Bowles lauded Stinnie as a run blocker.
“He’s a very physical player, he’s a very good run blocker,”
If he’s a very good run blocker and we’ve been struggling in the run game, why not play Stinnie? Starting Feiler, Ryan and Mayfield shows that Bowles has a tendency to start inferior players when more talented players are available on the roster.
November 3rd, 2023 at 5:56 pm
Hodad, you are right on too. Mauch may be good one day, but he just isn’t ready yet. Leveret was pretty good last year, but on the other side. Delaney isn’t much on run support yet, but he attacks the ball and is vastly more fluid and twitchy in coverage.
November 3rd, 2023 at 6:00 pm
Maybe keep Neal on likely running plays, but I see him take bad angles and botch tackles too… Naaa, just play Delaney full time.
November 3rd, 2023 at 6:02 pm
I think one thing (out of several) that TB needs to get better at (which I have mentioned before) is evaluating players. I HOPE HE IS TRYING TO IMPROVE. oops
November 3rd, 2023 at 6:11 pm
Take Mauch out and replace him with Leverett. Run two TEs. Do some RPO plays. Anything to take pressure off of Baker.
November 3rd, 2023 at 6:15 pm
So the bucs running game was better. But the offense still struggled. How about we turn our attention to the passing game. Can’t ignore the elephant in the locker room forever.
November 3rd, 2023 at 6:30 pm
Hodad … ‘And Leverett is better then Mauch. Delaney is better then Neal. Crappy coaching.’
Bingo Hodad. If what you’re doing isn’t working, try something else. What have we got to lose? More games? We’re on a 4-out-of-5 losing streak.
If Mauch is viewed as our next Center, why are we wasting our time with him at Guard? Replace him with Leverett and let’s see if our offense picks up any. Delaney is kind of a ‘tweener’ but he’s still better at Safety than Neal has shown himself to be.
And while we’re at it, if we lose at Houston, give Trask a shot. And try White out at slot receiver. Scoring 17 PPG won’t git ‘er done in today’s NFL. Neither will averaging less than 300 yards per game of offense. If what you’re doing isn’t getting the desired results, try something different.
November 3rd, 2023 at 6:32 pm
Here’s another idea … if White is having a good day, stop taking him out of the game.
As for Stinnie, I didn’t really notice him, which means he did a good job. Meanwhile with Feiler, every week I’d notice him because multiple times a game he’d completely wiff on his blocks and let people run free to either blow-up run plays or passing plays. Feiler is fine when he’s not letting guys run free, and he’s going from tackle to guard, so he’s got a learning curve there, but I’m not sure why he’d play over Stinnie based on what we’ve seen so far this year.
November 3rd, 2023 at 6:38 pm
Defense Rules Says:
If Mauch is viewed as our next Center, why are we wasting our time with him at Guard?
———–
Who says he’s the next center? Also Licht and the Bucs like to play guys at all positions. He needs the reps, while he also needs to jump on the sauce to gain weight and muscle.
As for Trask, Bowles isn’t going to do anything until this team is 3-9 or 4-11 – and each week we’ll hear about how close they are to figuring it out. Basically the Glazers will have to tell Bowles they’re going to fire him because he admits he majorly screwed up by giving the job to Mayfield before camp even started. With that said I highly doubt Trask will be better, but who knows, maybe he will be. With Mayfield, we have years of tape, everyone knows what he is – and his lukewarm streak to start the year was just that, a mini-streak that is over.
With all that said, I still hope they blow out the Texans in a way that actually makes me have some hope on Sunday afternoon, instead of turning the page to the 2024 draft.
November 3rd, 2023 at 6:41 pm
Joe – Stinnie was the worst person on the Oline last week. He still may be better than Feiler but LG was still our weak spot. As for Mauch, he actually has a lot of quality snaps for a rookie. Fans are off the mark to want him replaced. let him get the experience
November 3rd, 2023 at 6:44 pm
A QUESTION THAT PUTS THINGS INTO PERSPECTIVE …
If the Bucs had the best personnel in the NFL (Chiefs, Eagles, etc), would this coaching staff be able to lead them to the Super Bowl?
The answer is, No. In fact, it’s more likely the offense would still be terrible. That’s how inept this coaching staff is.
November 3rd, 2023 at 6:56 pm
BTW, just an FYI.
The Bucs offense is averaging 16.2 points a game, as the defense has a TD.
Also I haven’t done the work, but how many of those points from the offense have come off short fields provided by the defense getting a turnover giving the offense a very short field?
The NFL needs its own AI, or at least it needs to feed all the game stats and play by play info to AI, since it would take less than a second to get the answer.
November 3rd, 2023 at 7:07 pm
I still detect, snorting and stomping and braying, Joe.
I read somewhere, “There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth”
I think it was a sports-blog description, because it is very common, lol
November 3rd, 2023 at 7:47 pm
Definitely Better than Feller!!
November 3rd, 2023 at 8:04 pm
The run game was starting to pick up an the end first half and we were driving.
4th and 2 Bowles had a chance to inject some confidence into his run game and go for it around midfield. Instead we went with some analytics or some BS play calling trying to pull Buffalo off and then go backwards with a delay of game instead. Football is an emotional game but we seem to have a robotic coach.
November 3rd, 2023 at 8:51 pm
Long story short .it is the coaching . Not rocket science .😁
November 3rd, 2023 at 8:57 pm
If White sucks again in defense, bench him and don’t resign him. As far as offense goes, Canales is finally getting on the same page with his players. He’s calling for BM to spread the ball to all sorts of receivers including the RBs. Only reason Bills won was refs, period. Hard to believe? Not really. The one stinko game was the Atlanta defeat. Philly was the better team. Detroit? A lot of ref crap in that one so hard to say tho Canales blew it on offense. I’m waiting for this Bucs team to totally jell with all the changes. Hope it will be this weekend.
November 3rd, 2023 at 9:11 pm
I think the difference was that Buffalo has one of the worst run defenses.
November 3rd, 2023 at 11:40 pm
who is feller?
is the ghost of bob feller in the building
November 3rd, 2023 at 11:43 pm
can we just start cloning tristan wirfs ?
November 4th, 2023 at 1:15 am
Sasquatch we actually averaged 4.5 yds a carry but Canales didn’t stick with the run. White had inly 9 carries.
Yet another problem recognizing what is working.
November 4th, 2023 at 8:34 am
Mayfield may not be the better QB, but who thinks a statue would fare better than a guy who can at least escape a pass rush?
IMO, Trask would get murdered as QB.
November 4th, 2023 at 8:47 am
Hope he can handle his assignments. He and Leverett looked awful, and I do mean awful, in the preseason games.
Go Bucs!
November 4th, 2023 at 7:55 pm
Feiler should be cut.