A Healthy Xs-And-Os Marriage
April 29th, 2015
Lovie Smith orders to new Bucs offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter will impact the draft
Lovie Smith doesn’t like change. That was a painful reality for Bucs fans last year.
So that means Lovie wants to pound the rock and play-action pass, and stick firmly to his Tampa-2 fundamentals.
The predictability of Lovie on the field is what makes the Bucs’ draft pick tomorrow clear cut, says Jamie Dukes, the former NFL offensive lineman and current NFL Network and Atlanta radio personality. Dukes says Lovie and Jameis Winston are a perfect marriage of Xs and Os, which is why Jameis Winston is the only choice.
“A run-oriented, play-action football team, that’s what Lovie Smith is going to install in Tampa, and that’s why I think it’s going to be successful,” Dukes said on WDAE-AM 620.
Joe likes Dukes’ simplicity. It really isn’t complex. Lovie isn’t seeking to revolutionize the game. He’s aching to the run the ball and look for big plays, while letting his defense dictate the game.
Winston has been widely praised for his commitment to being a pocket passer, and his dedication to the pocket even under a heavy pass rush. Marcus Mariota, on the other hand, likely would require a lot of time to become that player. Or, Lovie and Dirk Koetter would have to build an offense around Mariota’s skills in order for him to succeed quickly. Winston is the much easier route.
Dukes, who has intricate knowledge of Koetter, says the new offensive coordinator will be a great fit with Winston. And Winston should have little learning curve because he’s already proficient at “working and manipulating safeties,” among other pro-ready skills.
Yes, Joe realizes Lovie hired Jeff Tedford last year, a guy the regime considered a playcalling artist who was going to be creative and smart. However, Lovie had no interest in hiring a quarterback that was capable of anything unique, outside of new ways to throw interceptions.
You can hear all of Dukes’ chat below via the 620wdae.com audio player.
April 29th, 2015 at 3:03 pm
It’s a lock at #1 JW is our guy. Now we must support him to get his best. I want some swagger this year during the game, ya know instead of praying by the trash cans at Ray J. Let’s bring some fun back into our lives and win football games in style.
April 29th, 2015 at 3:06 pm
I don’t know if people realize how important the OC is with a HC like Lovie. Last year, Andrew Luck would have had problems w no Oline and a JV playcaller. Hopefully Dirk Is the man and will be around 3 to 5 years to develop Jameis and the offense. Plenty of good qbs have failed bc they went to poor coaches and poor rosters.
April 29th, 2015 at 3:16 pm
…”besides new ways of throwing interceptions” LMAO Yess! I will never forget the play where he tried to throw it twice! Hahahah worst performance by a QB over a season I have ever witnessed. Whichever QB we pick tmrw, I think we can all agree will be better than what we saw last year.
April 29th, 2015 at 3:30 pm
Jay cutler knows play-action. Just saying…
If lovie brings cutler to town, Baltimore wont be the only team playing in an empty stadium.
April 29th, 2015 at 3:31 pm
For this vanilla type offense Winston is perfect. He doesn’t have to do anything.
April 29th, 2015 at 3:33 pm
(Jefferson Davis)… in this case Jamie Dukes…”J.D.” Hogg, better known as “Boss” Hogg needs to shut the FUK up and take his a$$ back to Hazzard County.
April 29th, 2015 at 3:39 pm
i can’t wait till tomorrow!! this is gonna be fun either way! lol
April 29th, 2015 at 3:43 pm
The Godfather – Tony Dungy – created a great defense in Tampa, but had a lame offense. Could not get over the hump and lost his job.
Went to the Colts, installed his great defense, but had a Franchise QB and OC and won a Championship.
Lovie – installed the Godfathers defense in Chicago, it got him to the big dance, but the offense let him down in the end.
Take 2 for Lovie here in Tampa…..will he follow the Godfather’s footsteps and get a Franchise QB and a good OC?
What Kotter did with Ryan, I think we have a OC that can groom Jameis.
1 more friggin day…..Come September, I want the cannons on that ship in Ray Jay to melt from over use.
April 29th, 2015 at 3:51 pm
Cutler, forte, Bennett, 1st n 2nd for our 1st n Martin.
April 29th, 2015 at 4:00 pm
Bradford, Mychal Kendricks, Fletcher Cox, and Eagles given up 3 #1s plus their #2 this year
April 29th, 2015 at 4:03 pm
play action pass and run the football sound good. but what do both of those require? a good 0-line. what will jameis require being a pocket passer? a good 0-line.
what do the bucs currently have? the worst o-line in the NFL.
what have the bucs done to improve the o-line? zero….
will rookie o-linemen do any of the above? doubtful
April 29th, 2015 at 4:03 pm
“RayRice”….take a deep breath!!! With any rookie QB, a run oriented offense is common sense. That is exactly what Seattle did three years ago with their rookie QB. Dirk Koetter is the key, NOT the QB.
April 29th, 2015 at 4:30 pm
Come on, guys. This is Lovie and Licht we’re talking about. Would it really surprise you if they do not take Winston OR Mariota, and say they have full confidence in Glennon being the ‘Quarterback of the Future’ under Koetters’ direction?
And for those who are keeping count (God only knows why), it doesn’t matter if every other human being on the planet says that the Bucs will take (insert name). It only matters if two of those people are Lovie and Licht.
I am going to be selling popcorn at the Skyway tomorrow night. I have a feeling that (one way or the other), I will have a crowd watching all the ‘jumpers’.
April 29th, 2015 at 4:52 pm
@WS99 you have gone off the rails with that trade proposal. Are you sure you didn’t leave your brains in that hotel room?
April 29th, 2015 at 5:02 pm
I’m not so sure it’s a lock…I think Koetter would prefer Marcus but would be happy with Winston as well. Lovie may prefer Winston but he may not like is BIG HEAD and might let Koetter work with Marriota while Glennon starts 2015. I think either way Glennon starts the year no matter who they take at least until the bye. It will Automatically by Lovie another two years in 2016 and 2017 by starting Glennon and drafting one with the first pick. If he starts the rookie QB and has two bad years he will be gone in 2016. Draft your guy and start glen under Koetter.
It would also boost Glennons trade value next year for Ammo…..no brainer.
April 29th, 2015 at 5:06 pm
The great Jameis Winston smokescreen???? I hope not but it’s possible! 27 more frakking hours!!
April 29th, 2015 at 5:20 pm
Drafting an elite QB is a rare opportunity. JW might be a bust, MM might be a bust, they both have the potential to be great.
What often gets lost is how hard it is to even get a shot at QB’s like these. Sure the OL stinks and it will be difficult for any QB to produce wins behind it. So what? A good QB will play 15 years and it’s almost a certainty that over those 15 years he will have to deal with less than desirable play from his OL.
I can’t agree with the logic that we pass on a QB because of our OL. It’s easier to get a QB now and build the OL next, than it will be to build the OL now and find a QB later.
I realize people will point to Brady, Wilson, Romo, or the FA’s like Manning and Brees as a solution. But look at teams who were stuck in mediocrity for years (sometimes decades) hoping to find that bargain of a QB. The Steelers were there for a long time, the Ravens, Chiefs, Jets, Dolphins, Bears, I could go on and on listing teams that were solid almost everywhere but QB and could never find one.
Want an example of a team making the smart long term decision? Look at the Colts. They could have traded down and kept Manning, and they would have been much better the following year. Heck, probably for the next few years with a great shot at a championship or two. But the recognized how hard it is to find a QB and they looked 15 years down the road, not the next year, or even the next few years.
We’d be foolish to trade down.
April 29th, 2015 at 5:21 pm
By not committing to pick Winston Licht might worry Tennessee that we could take Mariota instead. So if tenn wants to be sure to get Mariota they need to make a deal with the Bucs for the first pick. So give us a third pick and you can pick first.
April 29th, 2015 at 5:26 pm
@Bill well put but you will be ignored anyway
April 29th, 2015 at 5:59 pm
Owlykat: If we traded with Tenn they would take Winston. Then we would have to trade Mariota because he wouldnt be a starter in our Offense. IMO. No way tenn would take Mariota over Winston. IMO. Just take the QB who can run a pro offense day one and will be around for the next 10 to 15 years. Winston.
April 29th, 2015 at 6:27 pm
NFL Network reporter in Tampa just relayed a couple stories, that a) current Bucs have been texting Licht the last several months with their thoughts on No. 1, almost unanimously supporting one player (unnamed); and b) when FA period opened, Licht had agents calling him wondering who they were picking No. 1, as they had clients who would be interested in TB if player X (unnamed) was the pick.
The implication of course is that the player is Winston, and I’d pretty much guarantee that to be the case. This is one thing I haven’t seen considered by the “we should trade down, we have too many holes to fill” crowd: Winston is the type of person and leader that his peers (teammates and otherwise) will gravitate towards. A force of nature. Assuming he shows even a glimpse of star quality in 2015, as I think he will, there will be free agents around the league – at all positions – who will look to TB as a more desirable place. Much more than they do now, and more than they would with a passive leader and smaller personality like Mariota.
April 29th, 2015 at 6:32 pm
#5
April 29th, 2015 at 6:54 pm
Dirk Koetter said that his offense here is not going to look like what it did in Atlanta. He said that it would be a no-huddle fast paced offense with a lot of short timing patterns. That doesn’t exactly sound like something that Jameis woiuld be good in. Sounds more like Mariota
April 29th, 2015 at 7:34 pm
Actually it sounds like Glennon.
April 29th, 2015 at 7:42 pm
Sounds like a smokescreen!
April 29th, 2015 at 7:48 pm
Lovie, pick Jameis! Take the risk!
April 29th, 2015 at 8:36 pm
no Lovie ..pick the best qb and add some real excitement to the bucs..M.M. is the man
April 29th, 2015 at 9:01 pm
Nothing like building a future nfl player up with fluff and stuff that the player will need to fulfill or not fulfill. With the dreams and claims of greatness from fans who make claims player will be this do that improve the teams success and line the owners pockets with cash from the simple thing of drafting the said player. How long will it be before said player does not meet claimed greatness and team success. What happens then?
I’m glad I do not need to make a living off the success of players, who need to preform on a very unforgiving stage.
Glad that the draft will be over soon and we can get back to how new players are doing with their new teams and not speculate on what they might or might not do.
So very tired already of the greatness of Mr. Winston and how he will change our fortunes , all while he has yet to play a single down in the NFL.
Yeah I will be a Bucs fan no matter who we draft this season, just like all those other players drafted since 1976.
Go Bucs!
April 29th, 2015 at 9:04 pm
The look on your faces when the pick isn’t Winston #PriceLess
#DP #HGH #PEDs #MushBrainRetard
April 29th, 2015 at 9:32 pm
No the look on the faces of people who want Winston would be disgust knowing we just made the biggest mistake in the history of our franchise. And that is saying a lot. Mariota is not a leader of MEN he is the guy on the back of the room waiting for guys like Winston to lead them and that is reason enough to choose Jameis over Mr. Quiet.
April 29th, 2015 at 10:22 pm
You mean Mr. Commotion = state of confused + noisy disturbance. Got it!
April 30th, 2015 at 12:24 am
“Mariota is not a leader of MEN he is the guy on the back of the room waiting for guys like Winston to lead them and that is reason enough to choose Jameis over Mr. Quiet.”
Joe Flaco and Montana were “quiet” guys. I ‘d like Winston, but you can’t say Mariota can’t win just because he’s quiet…thats pretty silly.