Second Rate Physicality Was An Issue
March 19th, 2024
“Matt, we’ll miss you, bro. We need to get nastier.”
So Bucs officials said last month that they want to get bigger and stronger on the offensive line.
Comments from 2023 offensive coordinator Dave Canales explain why.
Now head coach of the Panthers, Canales got candid in a sitdown with Joe at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Per Canales, the Bucs rarely had a physical advantage in the offensive trenches. He cited the pivotal December Bucs game at the Falcons as an example. Tampa Bay was driving late for the win and relied heavily on the run.
Canales explained he trusted those run calls partly because “that was one of the few games that we were able to do that,” referring to outmuscling the opponent at the line of scrimmage.
“At the half, you know, we go into the locker room and Coach Bowles was like, ‘Hey, for once we have the advantage up front, let’s get after these guys,'” Canales said.
Hearing that makes it easy for Joe to understand why the Bucs waved goodbye this offseason to offensive linemen Matt Feiler, Aaron Stinnie and Nick Leverett — and replaced them with Giants free agent guard/center Ben Bredeson and Eagles guard and Sua Opeta.
Center Robert Hainsey will need to be sharp this summer to retain his starting job, Joe believes.
March 19th, 2024 at 3:05 pm
The two free agent IOL we’ve signed are not really upgrades. I think they’re depth and capable spot starters, similar to the guys who left. I’m not counting on much more. I could see us drafting 2 IOL between day 1 and 2, with the hope of plugging them in immediately at LG and C.
March 19th, 2024 at 3:07 pm
I’m sure Hainsey is doing all he can Joe. Shipley who works with him quite a bit has reported as much the past 2 offseasons…
And thats the problem. Hainsey’s best preparation and effort – with 37 starts under his belt now – is clearly not good enough.
Powers-Johnson in the 1st round please!
March 19th, 2024 at 3:13 pm
Hainsey just doesn’t have the massive trunk for the position. He’s built more like an OT, except with shorter arms. He’s gonna have to transform his body to be the player they want… and that seems kinda unlikely. Nice to have him around as a backup.
March 19th, 2024 at 3:14 pm
Per Canales, the Bucs rarely had a physical advantage in the offensive trenches.
Takes an ex Bucs coach to admit what fans have said the last two years. Yes please get more physical upfront signed sincerely Rashaad white
March 19th, 2024 at 3:21 pm
Bucs will draft a powerful IOL with one of their first two picks. I think it will be powers-Johnson who is high on their board. They may just trade that 92nd pick to move up and grab him.
March 19th, 2024 at 3:29 pm
No doubt we need to get stronger & nastier………new LG/C……2 of the first 4 draft picks…..and let’s get another TE, RB & WR.
Time to help the offense.
March 19th, 2024 at 3:31 pm
Good news is this draft is very deep along O line. Won’t be hard to find nice players in rounds 3,4, 5………Bucs need to get bigger and faster along line. There will be plenty of room after they take care of EDGE in rounds 1 and 2.
March 19th, 2024 at 3:33 pm
Hainsey will be a backup next season, come hell or high water.
March 19th, 2024 at 3:47 pm
Forcing Hainsey into the starting lineup cost us the last two seasons
When Jensen went down, we all hollered for a new center. Licht stuck with draft pick. A former RT with zero center experience.
And the results?
Two of the worst rushing attacks in NFL history!
We have one of the best young tackles to EVER play the game. Wirfs is one of a kind.
Goedeke looks like an old school dirty RT.
Mauch is a freak athlete and very smart. He’s a keeper.
But we need a Center. The Eagles could easily run the ball thanks to Kelce.
I think every team should invest in a 1st or 2nd round center.
March 19th, 2024 at 3:52 pm
Absolutely! It was obvious all year they were losing the battle in the trenches. Now draft the beast of a center out of OREGON!!
March 19th, 2024 at 3:54 pm
Get some Beef
March 19th, 2024 at 3:56 pm
Hainsey needs to go. He is horrible at run blocking. The guy is a backup at best.
March 19th, 2024 at 4:07 pm
Hainsey is a backup in my opinion. We need to get nasty along the OL. I hope we draft both a LG and a C early. If we have an elite line teams are going to really have a problem defending us.
March 19th, 2024 at 4:10 pm
Here’s an idea… your line was built to pass block… so use them in a way that takes advantage of their abilities and minimizing what they’re not good at.
March 19th, 2024 at 4:16 pm
Hainsey doesn’t need to go anywhere!
He was asked to step in and play center a position that he is not physically equipped to play at a high level. He has earned a roster spot for his versatility and playing his role last year.
I hope we draft a center early in the draft even if it means taking the one earlier than slotted. The OL will be much better in 2024 than last year.
March 19th, 2024 at 4:20 pm
I think it’s pretty bad that the Oline has been so horrible the last two years. Why Jason didn’t do anything is beyond me. Mauch may develop into a good player, but why Jason even drafted that guy so high is beyond me. I don’t think he brings much to the table in terms of run blocking. Hopefully this situation will improve.
March 19th, 2024 at 4:28 pm
Hanisey is a really valuable player, he’s a guy that can start at center, guard or tackle – and he’s not going to kill you, even if he’s not a top half starter. Still, I think the plan should be to move him to guard where I think he can improve quite a bit – then get a ready to play center early in the draft – assuming there is anyone available.
But Hainsey is not a liability, he’s just not a good run blocker, but is a solid pass blocker. Which makes sense, as this team was built to throw the ball.
March 19th, 2024 at 4:35 pm
Buc Fan again with trade up not happening they may get him where they are but they are not trading up for him.
March 19th, 2024 at 4:41 pm
It really speaks to a disconnect between the coaching staff and GM. It Bowles was dead set in running the ball, why does Licht keep drafting pass-blocking linemen? He did the same thing this past season, taking the smaller, lighter Mauch when O’Cyrus Torrence was on the board.
Furthermore, if Canales knew his o-line was regularly outmatched in the running game, why did he insist on running up the gut so often?
March 19th, 2024 at 5:01 pm
Bucs are in a bad draft position. There are 5 teams ahead of them looking at G and C: Seattle, Pitt, Miami, Philly and Dallas. Highly doubtful JPJ will be available at 26.
Bucs need to draft an Edge in the 1st round or they won’t get one of the top 9 as they will be gone by the middle of the 2nd round. The Bucs best solution is to sign G Dalton Risner as a FA. This allows the Bucs to go after a C in round 2 (Frazier or Van Pran) and LB/CB/power RB in rounds 3 and 4.
I would love the Bucs to draft a #1 TE in round 2, but they have bigger needs and want to see what t G ey have with Durham.
March 19th, 2024 at 5:12 pm
Bucforever-Lance Zierlein had Cody Mauch as a mid 2nd round pick. If you average all the scouts they had him ranked #50 overall (the bucs original pick) player that year. So if you think the bucs reached for him it was by much. Jason moved up 3 spots to 47 because there a intel that the Stealers were going to grab him right before the Bucs. If you have better sources you should definitely get in touch with the Bucs brass.
March 19th, 2024 at 5:15 pm
I am encouraged by our new OL depth/ starter competition. Opeta was behind a top OL and Brederson hopefully needs a change of scenery and the chance to get consistent play at LG or C, wherever the best fit is after the draft. All his Michigan line mates turning into decent starters makes me think he could do the same alongside other quality OL protecting a guy like Baker and not Daniel Jones (haha).
The OL and offense is not much of a concern to me at the point. Arrow is up on the whole team right now, getting an edge rush is the main concern.
March 19th, 2024 at 5:15 pm
Bucs upgrade center and left guard through the draft and they will be a tough offense.
March 19th, 2024 at 5:50 pm
JPJ will be long gone. We can maybe get Zach Frazier, and probably Mason McKormick.
March 19th, 2024 at 5:55 pm
I could see Hainsey being moved to guard, someone bigger at center. We tried Marpet at multiple spots on the line before settling in at LG. I get the impression Hainsey was never intended to be a full time center. He was a quality backup that got forced in the role with Jensen’s injury. Bucs were optimistic Jensen would possibly return last yr, unfortunately he didn’t.
March 19th, 2024 at 5:56 pm
So what is Hanseys natural position?
March 19th, 2024 at 6:19 pm
Why do people keep saying Hainsey should move to LG? Guards are generally bigger and stronger than Centers. Guards deal with 1-on-1 matchups more often. Hainsey’s lack of strength and anchoring ability will only be exploited more at LG. He’s simply not cut out to be a starting offensive lineman in the NFL. He’d be even worse at Guard.
March 19th, 2024 at 6:39 pm
If we successfully replace Hainsey with a better center I would expect him to compete for the starting left guard nevertheless. The objective is to upgrade the offensive line play overall in any case.
March 19th, 2024 at 6:47 pm
I’ve never forgiven Logan Hall for killing our Centers career!
Yes we need mean uglies who play through the whistle like Jensen! Thanks Ryan you were great player and Buccaneer!
As for Logan, take the Bus with JTS. Your play is poor too
March 19th, 2024 at 9:03 pm
Our linemen are a bunch of pu**ies. Disgustingly weak and cowardly.
When I saw that lil ghetto safety that plays for the saints, tyrann mathieu, deliberately cheapshot and injure or QB- I knew we had to dump some of these offensive linemen.
They saw that, then just stood there, kicking rocks.
It was a disgrace to every Olinemen that ever played the game.
I dont care if you are a Baker fan or hater. Id be saying the exact same thing if it had been Trask or Woolford.
An offensive linemen that wont defend his QB is a coward. Im sure their line coach, who was going crazy on the sideline- made that perfectly Clear.
Personally, I coundnt see Stennie hit the road soon enough. Tyrann ran thru him.
Ill be happy to see Hainseys butt sitting on the bench too.
My opinion of Wirfs, Goedeke, and Mauch will depend on how our next game against the saints goes.
But its no wonder we cant run the ball. Girlscouts!
March 19th, 2024 at 9:42 pm
Wouldn’t surprise me at all if two of our top three picks are spent on offensive linemen.
March 19th, 2024 at 9:53 pm
Would love for the Bucs to draft 2 IOL, a C and G in Top 4 rounds. Definitely have no problem with trading a 3rd to move up to get JPJ. He’s what we want in C. Barton or Frazier would also be good
March 19th, 2024 at 10:46 pm
Canales also pointed out that the ATL DL is soft by saying that the Bucs OL was dominating the dirty birds in the trenches in that 2nd game vs them. Keep that in mind while the national media continues to hype the ATL’s acquisition of “talent” on the offensive side of the ball even though it is no guarantee that Cousins is going to light up the ATL scoreboard, especially at his age coming off a significant injury.
March 20th, 2024 at 12:16 am
We clearly need to address Center…but Robert Hainsey needs more power and nastiness no matter where he plays.
March 20th, 2024 at 6:54 am
So everyone agrees we need a Center and LG, but you have all said JPJ or Barton in the 1st or Fraziers and Van Pran in the 2nd. Then 6 teams were listed who ALL pick before us and need a C/LG. If Barton and JPJ are gone in the 1st, that still leaves 4 teams ahead of us in the 2nd to grab Fraziers and Van Pran. This is why FA is so important. We have strapped ourselves into NEEDING positions badly one again. Then guys say no way we trade up. Maybe not in the 1st, but certainly in the 2nd they HAVE to, unless the perfect guy falls and I don’t see it.
March 20th, 2024 at 12:32 pm
HAINSEY is an unsung hero of doing a job he wasn’t expecting to do. He, if isn’t the starting center will be a versatile tool in the box to have.
March 20th, 2024 at 7:26 pm
Id be happy with coming out of this draft with trenches on both aides of the ball, as long as they also find a legit ILB and good slot WR.