Hardy “Respect” For Donald Penn
January 24th, 2014Joe got a scouting report on Donald Penn at the Pro Bowl
Loyal JoeBucsFan.com readers know Joe isn’t in the camp of Bucs fans that wants to dump Donald Penn.
At worst, Penn is an average starting left tackle. His paycheck reads like that of an average starter at his position, and he’s extraordinarily durable and he’s a leader. Yet this is a guy some Bucs fans want to run out of town?
So in the spirit of all things Penn, Joe had his team of reporters at the Pro Bowl ask Panthers stud defensive end to share a bit of a scouting report on Penn. Hardy could have said little or nothing but instead chose to praise the Bucs’ ironman.
JoeBucsFan.com: Some Bucs fans think Donald Penn is washed up. What would you say to them?
Greg Hardy: He’s athletic, man, He’s got the size. He’s got the mobility. And he’s got the years. It’s been a lot, a lot, a lot of good battles between me and him over the years. So respect to him definitely.
Joe: So what’s his biggest strength compared to other left tackles?
Hardy: Just the combination of size and mobility put together, man. You don’t get a lot of guys that size at tackle in general. And especially a lot of guys at that size that can move and kick back with guys like me for four quarters. Because I promise you it’s rough.
So there you go, another voice in Penn’s corner, speaking with ease about Penn’s hefty upside. Joe suspects Lovie Smith won’t look at Penn and see anything but an asset.
January 24th, 2014 at 4:26 pm
Our Guard situation scares me a lot more than Penn. The guy train hard, fight hard and is clearly a Buc leader. Forget the Rams game, it was a lost cause back then.
Keep him
January 24th, 2014 at 4:27 pm
Penn is more than serviceable…still at this juncture of his career. Not bad for a former practice squad pickup.
January 24th, 2014 at 4:27 pm
He’s hardly a liability, but that still doesn’t mean I wouldn’t jump for joy if we landed Matthews at 7. It was nice landing Penn off the Vikes PS but he was the exception to the rule. If Clowney and Watkins are off the board then you have to jump at a blue-chip prospect like Matthews.
January 24th, 2014 at 4:28 pm
Penn’s play was a little subpar this year but I hardly think it warrants ejecting him from the team. If anything, the Bucs need him more than ever. You’re right Joe, at worst he’s average and given the other OL woes, he represents at leat some stability at that position.
January 24th, 2014 at 4:31 pm
I don’t understand this either. He is a capable tackle and my favorite thing about him is he doesn’t take crap from anyone. He also doesn’t let anyone give crap to any of his team mates. You need a guy like that in the huddle. It gets people pumped up and also creates chemistry. So, we dump him with no guarantee of getting someone better. Most likely we’ll get someone at the same skill level or worse given the other needs we need to address. Does anybody remember Kenyata “False Start” Walker? Do you want a guy like that?
January 24th, 2014 at 4:35 pm
hard to argue with the guy who goes to battle with penn twice a year, here’s to hoping they are battling against each other in training camp wearing the same uniform…good to hear a player with that kind of production possibly becoming a free agent having a positive outlook on the bucs a team in deperate need of what he brings to the table
January 24th, 2014 at 4:39 pm
Donald Penn, much like a lot of the players on the Bucs roster last year did not meet expectations. Look, I was all for Greg Schiano’s toes on the line and hard nosed style of coaching…..at first! He sucked!!! He lost the players, and they were all playing for they’re future jobs. I’m looking forward to seeing Penn, Vjax, one or two DL’s and some other players stepping up from last year if they make the final roster with Lovie in town. They will ALL perform better with the way they reinforced our front office with experience and leadership. We need an edge rusher and some big weapons on offense. I think if you get a big 6’3 – 6’4 receiver across from vjax and a speedy little slot guy we’d be in good shape. With the offensive game plan we had week to week and the lack of weapons on offense even Drew Brees would have looked bad in pewter and red last year. I would like to see them bring in another QB and get rid of Dan, but we need weapons. No sense in getting the engine running if all the tires are still flat.
January 24th, 2014 at 4:43 pm
Penn is not the problem with the Bucs. He’s a major asset and should be for several more years. They should be using draft picks on other positions of need like quarterback.
January 24th, 2014 at 4:52 pm
I saw Penn get beat way to many times to believe that he is at best average. I believe he is a tad below that on a good day. I’m not advocating running him out of town, but think he would be a good backup to a higher rated talent.
January 24th, 2014 at 4:52 pm
Penn is still a very good player. Nothing is broken with him so why has his play been in question? We need to upgrade at Guard first.
January 24th, 2014 at 5:06 pm
I thought he was getting paid the big bucks. If he is affordable keep him. The G spot is more important for now.
January 24th, 2014 at 5:07 pm
G for guard…….not “G spot”
for the slow ppl
January 24th, 2014 at 5:22 pm
guard is the most scary position on the oline
January 24th, 2014 at 5:33 pm
On what planet would a guy who might be Penn’s teammate in a few months, bad mouth him?
Hardy may respect Penn, or he might think he’s a turnstile. But, the last thing I’m going to believe is the public interview of a a free agent.
C’mon man!
Again, if Hardy didn’t want to talk about Penn, he could have answered very differently. C’mon man, yourself! –Joe
January 24th, 2014 at 5:36 pm
We need to work on restructuring the contracts of Penn, Joseph & Nicks…..and draft a couple of younger Olinemen for depth.
Take the restrucured money & buy a DE & CB….
Bridgewater
Manziel
Clowney
Matthews
Bortles
Watkins
Barr
Mack
Carr
We will have a choice of 3 of them…..likely the last 3….but hopefully someone will take Barr earlier and give us a shot at Matthews or Watkins.
January 24th, 2014 at 6:07 pm
Penn has been the most consistent Buccaneer, a great teamate! He had an off year due to a turnstile next to him….That said I hope we don’t Draft for need! Instead take the best player available! I also think the zuttah problem is the instability on both sides of him.
Hey Joe what kind of salary will Hardy command in your opinion?
or J. Allen?
January 24th, 2014 at 6:10 pm
Players aren’t going to restructure to play for Tampa. Our team isn’t where it needs to be to be asking guys to take a pay cut. We have to over pay players just to get them here. Now you ask them to take a pay cut? Good luck with that.
Penn is a great LT. Did he get beat some times? Yes he did, but when he never knew who was going to be playing next him week to week, and going against some of the best pass rushers in the league, that stuff is going to happen.
Did you people not read that schiano demoralized the team to a point that guys didn’t want to work for him and his idiotic schemes. Schiano didn’t put the bucs in the best position to do be successful as a team and on a player to player basis. I’m sure the players weren’t thrilled that schiano derailed the offense every time they got a little bit of success.
January 24th, 2014 at 6:10 pm
Turnstile.
January 24th, 2014 at 6:34 pm
@ Joe
Penn’s play for the FIRST HALF of the season was above average, but for the second half of the season it was below average. I counted 5 sacks in 3 games allowed by Penn during the second half of the season, and thats only counting 3 games. He had more after that, but I dont know many. If Penn can play like he did for the first half of the season, then yes I think he stays. But If he continues to play like he did the second half, then he needs to be replaced.
January 24th, 2014 at 6:38 pm
oh and that was 3 consecutive games.
January 24th, 2014 at 6:42 pm
He’s solid but that’s a critical position that we can upgrade potentially. Joe you keep teasing us with Hardy quotes we will want him to be a Buc!
January 24th, 2014 at 6:45 pm
@ Truebucfan22
Players will restructure if they see it in their best interest….It might be a pay cut or an extended contract for the same or even more dollars.
A pay cut may be better than an outright cut and be forced our to bargain elsewhere. These players may not do better in the open market and their agents know that.
There are also things like “guaranteed money” etc that can be negotiated.
So…the bottom line is that there is nothing to be lost by attempting to restucture contracts…the player can always reject that and take his chances.
January 24th, 2014 at 6:54 pm
I have a feeling Licht is gonna trade down for more draft picks. I don’t think this is going to be a “sexy” draft for us. Just a feeling. The way Licht talks about the “right pieces” instead of just the most talented leads me to believe he is going to be trying to make smart not sexy picks.
Watkins is a stud and I would love him as a Buc. However, if Licht is content with our #1 & #2 WR situation, a #3/slot WR can be had in later rounds of this year’s draft. This draft class is loaded with smaller speedy slot WRs. I think the same thing is applicable to O-linemen and QB’s. I think after Bridgewater and Manziel, the rest of the QB class is a crap shoot and plenty of them will be available in later rounds.
I can see Licht dropping back and attempting to acquire as many draft picks as possible so he can build HIS and Lovie’s team the way they envision it.
January 24th, 2014 at 6:56 pm
We can worry about replacing Penn after we’ve replaced good guy, bad player Joseph.
January 24th, 2014 at 7:05 pm
Penn is a good LT. The 2nd best this team has had in their almost 40 years of existence. Good LT don’t grow on trees so to say we should just go get a better one and keep Penn for O-line depth is ridiculous. The other idea was the the Bucs should get a 6’4″ WR that’s way better than Mike Williams opposite VJax, and a great speedy guy in the slot. Piece of cake, I don’t know why a coach here has not thought of that. Lets go ahead and trade the Broncos a 7th round pick for Payton Manning before we wake up.
January 24th, 2014 at 7:11 pm
it’s great that penn has wound up on the better end of some one-on-one battles with very good pass rushing DEs over the years, but with our years-long inconsistency on our interior OL plus the callow QBs we’ve thrown out under center since jeff garcia, the easiest way to disrupt a bucs offense is straight up the middle, not off the edge. it’s kind of like having a solid #1 CB and having myron lewis on the opposite side….how often is the solid player really going to get tested when you could attack lewis all day?
January 24th, 2014 at 7:16 pm
*not saying ditch penn or that garcia was great, just that the book on shutting down the bucs does not require defenses to challenge penn. the gameplan was to overwhelm our constantly injury depleted interior line (weakest link) and frighten & confuse josh freeman with pressure up the middle on early downs.
January 24th, 2014 at 7:34 pm
@ Nate_Tweetz
I tend to agree….Trading down would be smart….we only have 5 picks and there will be some great players of need for several slots below us…..we need:
WR, O-line, DE, TE, CB, LB (not in priority order)
Drafting smart along with FA….we could fill a lot of holes and add depth.
January 24th, 2014 at 7:51 pm
Hardy may, or may not have been being political. I like Penn; we could do far worse. Yes, maybe Penn had a mediocre year. But I am not sure it is due more to the weak guard play next to him and the rest of the poor play of the O-line.
I am much more concerned about both guard positions than either tackles.
January 24th, 2014 at 8:26 pm
All of a sudden everybody likes Penn? Seems a little while ago everyone was calling to dump him. lol
January 24th, 2014 at 9:36 pm
Penn went from average to below average last year; Robert Quinn wasn’t the only one that abused him.
January 24th, 2014 at 10:21 pm
Anybody know of a website that records individual O lineman sacks allowed? looked all over couldnt find one. I think the would really help Joe understand.
Sacks allowed are one of those wacky stats that can’t take into account how a QB’s mobility, or lack thereof, affects a play, and whether a QB holding the ball too long is a factor. There are also O-linemen that will plan a cut block, which demands the QB get rid of the ball within a certain count or a sack is imminent. The Lions gave up very few sacks last year, for example, but that hardly was the best O-line in the league. –Joe
January 25th, 2014 at 1:22 am
Is Penn the fourth best left tackle in the division?
January 25th, 2014 at 1:24 am
@Andrew 1
To answer your question. Donald Penn gave up 11 sacks in 2013.
January 25th, 2014 at 2:00 am
Donald Penn time with the Buccaneers
2008-*(8 sacks allowed)*(8 QB Hits)*(21 Hurries)*(6 penalties)
2009-*(5 sacks allowed)*(9 QB Hits)*(32 Hurries)*(11 penalties)
2010-*(6 sacks allowed)*(8 QB Hits)*(37 Hurries)*(4 penalties)
2011-*(9 sacks allowed)*(7 QB Hits)*(26 Hurries)*(7 penalties)
2012-*(5 sacks allowed)*(8 QB Hits)*(34 Hurries)*(5 penalties)
2013-*(11 sacks allowed)*(6 QB Hits)*(28 Hurries)*(5 penalties)
(Career Highlights)
*Penn was named to the 2011 Pro Bowl as an alternate. He replaced Green Bay Packers tackle Chad Clifton, whose team advanced to Super Bowl XLV
*Ranked #97 in the Top 100 Players of 2012
*Donald Penn has the 2nd most consecutive starts by a Left Tackle in Team History
-2006-12 *(96/92)
*On player with more is former *(1988) 1st round *(4th pick overall), 2× All-Pro selection 1991, 1992)…2012 Ring of Honor inductee Paul Gruber
-1988-99 *(183/183)
January 25th, 2014 at 2:13 am
*Correct Donald Penns career
*(Games played-112) *(Games started-108)
January 25th, 2014 at 6:44 am
Penn is fine. Give me 2 new starting guards please.
January 25th, 2014 at 12:32 pm
There is no doubt that D. Penn is still a solid LT. He struggled against the better DEs he faced…Our immediate area of need is Guard. Leave Penn alone for now and look for his replacement next year…
One solution is to find a solid Center via FA and slide Zuttah over to Guard. Use our 2nd round pick on a Guard. I would keep D. Joseph and let him compete for the starting spot. If D. Joseph can’t beat out the rookie then trade him or ask him to take a pay cut…I am not going to expect C. Nicks to do shit next year…Let’s hope I am wrong on that…
January 25th, 2014 at 1:08 pm
“Does anybody remember Kenyata “False Start” Walker?”
I remember his brother “Facemask Grabbing” Walker from UF.
January 25th, 2014 at 2:08 pm
Again, Some fans that post here are clueless. Penn is an above average LT. What’s even more amazing, is that we didn’t spend a high first round pick for him. That’s what it will take to replace him. Then, if we get lucky, that first round pick will develop in a couple years- and be as good as Donald Penn!!
This guy is do good, everyone has come to take him for granted.
You won’t when he’s gone
That said- I still think we may trade him to a contender- for draft picks.
Penn will soon start to decline. This is a rebuilding team( even though no one admits it! No QB? – rebuilding!). Let Penn go play for a great team, while we start grooming Rookies(again!). He would get a 2nd or 3rd round pick easily.
Penn and Dotson are the only decent linemen we have. Nicks is great- if he plays.
The rest will be replaced as soon as they can get rid of them.
January 25th, 2014 at 2:25 pm
Andrew 1 ,Penn has been doing that for a few years.
January 26th, 2014 at 5:19 pm
What else do you expect Hardy to say… since he and others in the NFL beat him like a drumyou want him in the game….it makes you look like a stud….if you want to keep penn you might want to attend some games and see what you can’t see on the tude…them dominate Penn’s fat slow ass..