No “First-String, NFL-Caliber guard”
August 18th, 2014
Starting left guard Oneil Cousins won’t be sending former Bucs tight end Anthony Becht a Christmas card
The Tampa Bay offensive line looked improved Saturday night but that’s not saying a whole lot.
That was the message from former Buccaneers, Jets, Rams, Chiefs and Cardinals tight end Anthony Becht.
Becht, a voice on the Buccaneers Radio Network, joined WDAE-AM 620 this morning and said his analysis of the O-line and the roster reveals no “first-string, NFL-caliber guard.” Out of Saturday’s game against the Dolphins, Becht liked the improved push on the line in the running game but said the pass blocking was suspect.
A decent guard surely could be developed through the season, Becht said, but he acknowledged that’s not a very comforting thought.
You can listen to Becht’s full interview below.
August 18th, 2014 at 10:33 am
No starting NFL caliber guards…that’s what I’ve been screaming! Could argue the same for rest of oline and QB for that matter. Get your Rolaids ready!
August 18th, 2014 at 10:35 am
Hard to disagree with this, IMO. It was definitely improved, but can we go thru a full season like this? Even more concerning, if the Oline has an injury, there is certainly NO depth. That is very scary
August 18th, 2014 at 10:41 am
No starting NFL caliber defensive ends as well.
August 18th, 2014 at 10:45 am
Somehow, though, this will all be Schiano’s fault and Lovie will get a pass.
August 18th, 2014 at 10:50 am
Lightning- in the media yes you are right. Morris and Schiano would be crucified by the media & fanbase if they fielded the same team this regime has.
August 18th, 2014 at 10:59 am
With guard being practically the only hole on our team, do u all really think all 32 teams have filled all holes. Come on guys look at every team they all have weaknesses and holes. That’s why there is a salary cap
August 18th, 2014 at 11:00 am
No second string nfl caliber guard either. What a mess.
August 18th, 2014 at 11:01 am
lightningbuc and DallasBuc both Morris and Schiano were given a chance it is funny how Lovie’s team hasn’t even played the first real game. Did you really think they would be heading to the superbowl this year. It takes time to build a team to their mold and fill all the holes they had to fill. Give them a bit of time. They will be a better team then last year.
August 18th, 2014 at 11:02 am
^There’s a problem though when our “holes” lead a defensive linemen with the shortest possible route to our Quarterback…
August 18th, 2014 at 11:08 am
Seems like it’s about time to begin trade discussions for Alex Boone before out quarterback ends up at TGH
August 18th, 2014 at 11:10 am
The new regime hasn’t fielded a team yet. Or played a game.
Lovie will have his team ready to play and win, as he did in Chicago. Something the post Gruden incompetents never did.
Takes a little time for a bunch of new guys to mesh on an O-line.
Who knew so many fans were so butt hurt over the loss of the great Greg Schiano and Raheem Morris.
Please.
August 18th, 2014 at 11:11 am
@lightning, of course, its the “honeymoon” period.
@Realist, you must lay awake at night grinding your teeth over your boy Clayborn. I don’t quite get your obsession over him when Cheeseburger Bowers has been the much bigger bust, IMO.
August 18th, 2014 at 11:13 am
IDK if its because its Monday but I feel the hate from some viewers today lol.
Omameh played great, Cousins not so much lol.
D-line wasn’t that great except Gerald McCoy like usual. With time, Michael Johnson will get going and so will Clayborn (not slowborn) and McDonald. I think our 1st team defense was FANTASTIC. Cant wait to see them play a whole game.
GO BUCS!
August 18th, 2014 at 11:21 am
Half the league doesn’t have any “starting caliber” guards. Welcome to the seller’s market that is the OG position. Every year there are a couple positions in the NFL where demand exceeds supply (of course QB is always one of those). Right now OG just happens to be one.
Those who love giving advice to NFL coaches and front offices need to sit down and be quiet and let the pros do their job. Picking a starting OG off the shelf is about as easy this year as grabbing a franchise QB.
August 18th, 2014 at 11:28 am
So when we need 2 starting guards:
Trade one competent one for a 5th rounder (Zuttah).
Cut one coming off an injury who looks pretty good with his new team (Joseph).
Keep the terrible one (Meredith).
Sign the worst one in the NFL (Cousins).
Ignore the problem until the 5th round (Edwards).
It is the same problem he had in Chicago. People are worried. Just quit whining. Good lord.
August 18th, 2014 at 11:28 am
Some of you guys are crying about an offensive guard? Really?
If that’s all you got then go get a stinkin hobby already. That is the ideal position to be weak at if you were to have a weakness. You can just plug anyone in those spots and may not notice the difference.
Additionally, you clowns crying about offensive line play, I can guarantee you that most of you don’t even know how to scout the o-line position. You have no idea what is good play vs bad play. You are a bunch of clowns, repeating what someone else is telling you what is good vs bad line play. Clowns I tell you.
The next good complaining about guard play needs to prove that they know what they are talking about… provide some evidence, give the play, the quarter and the time the “bad” play happened.
August 18th, 2014 at 11:34 am
“Those who love giving advice to NFL coaches and front offices need to sit down and be quiet and let the pros do their job.” Just because it is their job doesn’t necessarily mean they are good at it. How many play off games have we won since our SB season? Zero. Only 2 appearances. I am tired of watching bad Buc football and I am tired of other fans that are content with it telling me to stop complaining. I am not sorry that I have expectations for my pro football team and will not stop complaining until they field a respectable football team. What’s the matter with some of you?
August 18th, 2014 at 11:37 am
Can’t we all just get along?
August 18th, 2014 at 11:45 am
That Damn Lovie Smith.
Hasn’t won the Super Bowl before the season starts.
Jerk.
August 18th, 2014 at 11:48 am
@Eric
you are mistaken, Lovie was awarded the superbowl trophy but, then they played the first pre-season game. Check the comments before and after,
August 18th, 2014 at 11:50 am
Realist- hah! Nice.
August 18th, 2014 at 12:02 pm
Wow lotta hate here Iam sure L&L know what there doing
a lot more than we do
August 18th, 2014 at 12:09 pm
Joe You posted a few days ago, that you don’t care what happens on the o-line in the second half because those players will be high school coaches……
However no other team has such a poor performance in the offensive line.
Yes there are 90 players on the team.
But every team has 90 Players that means 35+ players will be gone.
But why is only the bucs having such poor play from the O-Line.
In two games they have 12 sacks.
The bucs are different either because of the coaching staff does not know how to coach or the front office does not know how to draft and evaluate talent.
There is absolutely no Reason not to have Incognito in Camp.
August 18th, 2014 at 12:19 pm
@FLBoyInDallas Says:
“…Those who love giving advice to NFL coaches and front offices need to sit down and be quiet and let the pros do their job…”
Then who are you to give advice? So we should not have questioned Raheem? Dom? Schiano? And god forbid we question Gruden and his drafting abilities. Maybe some of it is justified since Lovie is infamous at putting together BAD Olines in CHI?
Let me clarify as well. I love the L&L hire. But regardless, it does not mean L&L are infallible.
August 18th, 2014 at 12:43 pm
Bunch of Cry Babies….SHUT THE HELL UP already. All yall can do is Bit## and moan and not be happy about anything its really starting to get depressing coming on here and looking at these comments. I mean i totally understand the high expectations but if any of you really think we are actually gonna be playing in a Super Bowl this year YOUR CRAZY 85% of you probably never played a snap of football and have NO CLUE how much time it takes to mesh as a Offense. So get on board or SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 18th, 2014 at 12:48 pm
Ill take one of those bad offense super bowl teams please.
I guess the niners are toast too. 3 points in preseason.
Gruden had four winning seasons. Three division titles and a super Bowl
Id take that over the next seven years.
Some folks never learn. SMH.
August 18th, 2014 at 12:52 pm
I get that some of you don’t like what they’re doing, but, perhaps they deserve a smidgen more time.
Whether or not you thought Dominik did a good job, I doubt most of you were calling for his head after Preseason Game 2 in 2009.
They are completely remolding the team. 40+ new players. New OC. New offense. New QB. New defense.
It’s entirely possible it will take more than 6-7 months to build your Super Bowl team. They are very sorry that’s it’s not exactly perfect just yet.
Hell, even Bellichick started with a losing season in N.E.
If you’re mad about all the losing seasons in between our S.B. and now, guess what, you’re mad at the wrong guys. They are trying to fix all the mess. And, occasionally, that takes more than ONE OFFSEASON.
JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZ.
August 18th, 2014 at 12:54 pm
To those of you who say we should stop complaining about the offensive line, or that we aren’t qualified to critique their performance, etc…. there is a really easy way to shut us up…show up and play well! You don’t have to be a former coach or GM to see that our O-Line has been mediocre at best so far this preseason. Our QBs have been rushed, harassed and sacked too much, and our running game has failed to produce any long runs because there just aren’t any holes to run through! Our O-line, and in particular our Guards, have at times looked slow footed, over powered and lethargic. Now that being said, it is still PRESEASON and a certain amount of rust is normal…especially when we have a brand new lineup this year and the depth chart is still being tinkered with. There was some progress from game 1 to game 2. I hope that we see continued progress over the next 2 games. I would also expect some moves to be made to bring in some more talent and push the layers already on the roster. I don’t think anyone believes we should give up before the first regular season game is even played, but I think we would ALL feel a lot better if the starting O-line can turn in a dominant performance against Buffalo this weekend! Then we can all get back to talking about fun stuff, like our great defense, our triple towers receiving game and whether GMC will be Defensive Player Of The Year (I think he will!) PLEASE O-Line…shut us all up!!!!!
August 18th, 2014 at 1:04 pm
Jeagan- “there is a really easy way to shut us up…show up and play well!” Amen!
August 18th, 2014 at 1:09 pm
@Eric,
I did not say Gruden was not a great coach. Gruden was a masterful offensive coach and smart enough to let Monty do his thing (which in hindsight is pretty amazing considering how some let their egos get in the way) and he was pretty good at finding decent FA. But the draft was not one of his strong points.
August 18th, 2014 at 1:14 pm
@Love and Warrick Dunn (a/d/a ODB)Says:
“…It’s entirely possible it will take more than 6-7 months to build your Super Bowl team. They are very sorry that’s it’s not exactly perfect just yet…”
Totally agree. We should all be thankful we have Lovie. Would Bucs fans prefer another year of Rah or Schiano, or maybe another unknown coach?
But can I get a guarantee on ur prediction of the 6-7 months? LOL
August 18th, 2014 at 1:29 pm
@Harry,
I meant from when they were hired to now (I didn’t feel like looking up the exact hire date).
Considering the 5 year leash the last GM regime was given, I’m a little surprised at the impatience of some posters.
This wasn’t a brand new car that L&L hopped into. They were some nice rims (David), and a perfect frame (McCoy), and some other features, but, this car still needed a major rehaul. Lots of rust, the engine needed major work, bad brakes, etc.
You just don’t blink and suddenly have a perfect team when you have that much to fix.
Dominik got 5, count em 5 years!! I’m not going to be angry at L&L just yet. Criminy! It’s still preseason of season 1.
August 18th, 2014 at 1:58 pm
We will sorely regret dumping on proven starters like Donald Penn, Jeremy Zuttah and even an injured Davin Joseph. I don’t see one of their replacements playing as well as the guys curbed.
August 18th, 2014 at 2:33 pm
The first two games the Bucs play this year will be rough from a offensive standpoint. Those are some stout D-lines. We might be able to catch them looking, however. We stand a puncher’s chance. I think they will still do well this year.
As far as the guys that were let go, they were let go because they were underachievers and made too much money. Do you want a new guy not playing that well or would you rather let Davin play poorly? Poor play is poor play, it doesn’t matter whose name is on it when that happens.
This is preseason also, remember.
If the law didn’t give NFL players the ability ot play their season rather than face the music like the rest of us, greg Hardy;s gun/girlfriend problem from a couple months back would keep him out of the game vs the Bucs. If it were anyone else working at some other place, that person would be in jail already, and have to pay his bail. There should be much more uproar over it.
August 18th, 2014 at 2:52 pm
All of this after 2 preseason games!? haha!!! These guys have barely played 2 quarters together! I saw improvement from Week 1 to Week 2 so for that I am still optimistic…I would like to see them bring in 1 more lineman for depth concerns but other then that let them play a full game, one that counts, before we complain!
August 18th, 2014 at 3:16 pm
The hostility here is palpable…
August 18th, 2014 at 3:28 pm
No one is expecting a superbowl or even a winning season.
I am happy with 6-10.
However what I am not happy about is not putting the best team on the field because of the coache’s “Church” going standards for evaluating talent.
Even though Football is played on Sunday its not church.
August 18th, 2014 at 5:54 pm
You all are forgetting to give Credit or cite ‘L&L’ at the bottom of your post.
*RastaMon#1: L&L