Upgrading The Offensive Line
May 3rd, 2014
If the Bucs trade back in the first round, would that set the table for Jason Licht to pick UCLA G Xavier Su’a-Filo?
Whenever a new coach and a new general manager comes in, what they think of players isn’t a secret very long. Players the new leadership isn’t fond of are nearly always traded, cut or benched.
So let there be no doubt how Bucs coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jason Licht felt about the offensive line. Only one full-time starter* from last year returns, right tackle Demar Dotson.
Gone is Donald Penn. Gone is Davin Joseph. Traded was Jeremy Zuttah.
Holes to plug remain, notes Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune notes.
The Bucs spent the offseason overhauling this unit but still have some work to do, particularly at the guard spots. The team worked undrafted second-year pro Patrick Omameh at right guard during a recent minicamp, but is expected to seek an upgrade early in the draft. The Bucs hope two-time Pro Bowler Carl Nicks can bounce back from consecutive injury-riddled seasons and start at left guard, but they might look for some insurance, if not a long-term replacement. The rest of the line seems set with Anthony Collins at left tackle, Evan Dietrich-Smith at center and Demar Dotson at right tackle, but this draft contains some quality tackles who might be too good to pass on. The team has versatility and depth in Jamon Meredith and Oneil Cousins, but that depth would improve markedly if one of the projected starters was replaced by a high draft pick.
Licht has stated his desire to make draft-day trades to cobble together extra draft picks. Perhaps, if Licht trades back far enough, would he grab guard Xavier Su’a-Filo from UCLA, or perhaps with an extra pick, select guard David Yankey from Stanford?
Though others chuckle at the thought, Joe still is of the mind that Licht could pick a tackle at No. 7 and do some juggling on the offensive line.
* — Jamon Meredith was not a full-time starter and Carl Nicks, sadly, has never been a full-time starter with the Bucs due to ongoing foot issues.
May 3rd, 2014 at 8:01 am
L&L also jettisoned Larsen & Carimi….
I doubt we will pick a Tackle or Guard @ 7…..we could trade down a couple of slots and still pick a quality Olineman.
L&L will be tempted to choose Mack, Watkins or even Evans @ 7.
There will still be FAs available and we can free-up some cap space by cutting Koenen
May 3rd, 2014 at 8:21 am
No need to trade back up. For one the Bucs won’t be getting any more picks that can help trade up. It certainly seems like Glennon will be here draft night, which devalues him to about a 5th at best. I know you mentioned Doug Martin but that’s probably a 2nd at best. Don’t see any way they have enough ammo to get back into the 1st round.
May 3rd, 2014 at 8:25 am
I’d have NO problem sitting tight with our first 2 draft positions as they stand now and taking a tackle in round 1 and a guard in round 2….
May 3rd, 2014 at 8:32 am
5 more days!
May 3rd, 2014 at 8:38 am
We shouldn’t be too concerned about the O-Line this year at the guard position. There are at least 6 OGs or OTs that can play OG available in the 2nd round. Xavier Sua-Filo and Morgan Moses could be late 1st round picks. If the Bucs are going to trade down and take an OG, then Zach Martin, Notre Dame should be the target – the best combination OT/OG in the draft. There are other high potential picks throughout the draft.
SECOND ROUND OGs
1.Xavier Su’a-Filo, UCLA
2.David Yankey, Stanford
3.Gabe Jackson, Mississippi State
SECOND ROUND OTs (who can play OG)
1.Morgan Moses, Virginia
2.Joel Bitonio, Nevada
3.Billy Turner, North Dakota State
ThIRD ROUND OGs
1.Trai Turner, LSU
2.Cyril Richardson, Baylor
3.JuWuan James, Tennessee
4.Dakota Dozier, Furman
OTHER LATE ROUND OGs
1.Kadeem Edwards, Tennessee State
2.Brandon Thomas, Clemson (was high 2nd round pick, ACL tear, now late round value pick)
May 3rd, 2014 at 8:56 am
I’d also be willing to bet there will be a pretty good O-Lineman or two available in 2nd free agency after the draft as some higher-priced veterans are released in favor of new draftees. Last report, we have some 13mil in cap space to pursue any O-Lineman that may become available.
May 3rd, 2014 at 9:15 am
No need to “trade back up”…. Trade down, select a G later in the first and use the extra pick from trading down to solidify another area of need. As the cliche goes, this draft is deep w WRs and line positions! Go Bucs!
May 3rd, 2014 at 9:43 am
My thinking on this is if the Bucs can find a willing trade partner then they should trade down to pick up an extra draft pick or two.
With that in hand their first three choices should be guard-wide receiver-guard. Carl Nicks is just too much of an iffy proposition at this point and the starting right guard slot is essentially vacant Of course, we still need the #2 WR, but this draft is wide out heavy.
Leave the “franchise QB” to another year when the choices are more solid. All the ceaseless blather about Johnny Football, Blake Bortles, Teddy Bridgewater, et al is indicative of one thing – huge question marks surround all the QB hopefuls in his year’s draft. Were there any questions about Andrew Luck? No – case closed – leave the franchise QB for next year.
May 3rd, 2014 at 9:55 am
Their first three picks ‘should’ be O-line and/or WR. Those will have the biggest impact on the QB position.
‘If’, at the end of the season, they feel they need an upgrade at QB, then next years’ group has some bonafide first round talent. They will have all of their draft picks (plus), and should be able to get close enough to grab one.
May 3rd, 2014 at 9:58 am
Sorry, Rick. We must have been writing at the same time. Great minds think alike.
May 3rd, 2014 at 10:09 am
I would like to stay put at #7 . A great player will fall to us. It ‘s all
Depend on Houston and Jags . QB stock will start to rise again as we get closer to the draft. My only concern is that Bortles hype has died down a bit and I would have liked him to get pick in the first 6 picks but Now I doubt it.. Unless houston trade with falcons and Manziel is off the board..
I’ve changed my mind so many times since start of the year. Now my wish list is:
Manziel, Bridgewater, clowney, Robinson, watkins, mack, donald, matthews, evans, ebron..
I trust LiLo with their plan.
May 3rd, 2014 at 10:22 am
How is it that stories like this come along every so often, but when its a story about Glennon, its his fault for the last place offense….Oh but Tim Wright had a wonderful rookie year (and who was throwing those passes? DUH!) ….smdh!
May 3rd, 2014 at 11:39 am
That confuses the crap out of me to MadMax. I’d be willing to bet you anything that a 1st round pick with the same results would be worshipped like that piece of crap 1st round QB we had prior to Glennon
May 3rd, 2014 at 1:08 pm
@Rick in Fort Myers All of you who are saying “leave a franchise QB for next year” because there are questions on this years crop…you do realize that EVERY QB is going to have question marks unless you get very lucky and end up with a top 3 pick during a very, very good draft class. There were no questions on Luck, yes, but he was an incredibly rare prospect and there was only one of him. We are NOT getting a chance to draft a Luck anytime soon–which makes this a great year to shoot for a QB.
May 3rd, 2014 at 2:45 pm
MadMax, Couch Fan,
Not everybody feels that way. I don’t know if you guys watch NFL Network, but Curtis Conway, former Bears WR, thinks Glennon is an excellent QB with lots of upside, just needs time to develop. He’s almost adamant in his support for Glennon.
May 3rd, 2014 at 3:44 pm
everyone mentioning the xavier guy, if hes so popular why go in the 2nd. just people spouting the same crap they see on tv
May 4th, 2014 at 9:31 am
@ VinceNY,
What makes this year better than next year? There is only ONE QB that the scouts give a first round grade, in this years’ draft. That means the ‘value’ pick is going to be in the later rounds. Once you get to the third round, you have the Glennons, and that isn’t good enough for some Buc fans, so it’s now too late to get a ‘franchise’ QB. Next years’ crop of QBs looks to have several that will be considered first round ‘values’. Also next year the Bucs will have ALL of their draft picks and in better shape to trade a couple in order to move up(if needed).
Lovie was quoted recently as saying that McCown is an “excellent” QB, Glennon is an “excellent” QB, and Kafka is a “good” QB. (It sounded like he felt the same about McCown and Glennon, but McCown gets the initial nod because of his experience) Lovie finished by saying he’d be happy to go into this season with those guys.
May 5th, 2014 at 12:00 pm
McCown and Glennon. A QB in later rnds to groom.