“Why Not” Start Ali Marpet?
August 14th, 2015
John Clayton dishes on Bucs G Ali Marpet.
Yes, yesterday the human windup doll, “The Professor,” John Clayton of BSPN, was at One Buc Palace, as the blanket of coverage by national networks continues on “America’s Quarterback,” Bucs signal-caller Jameis Winston.
Joe refers to Clayton as a windup doll because Clayton is so knowledgeable when it comes to the NFL. You ask him a question and he talks in rapid-fire succession for minutes on end, barely taking a breath.
Last year, watching defenses face the Bucs offensive line was like watching a cattle stampede. So with many of those same culprits back from last year, Clayton told Joe yesterday that starting a Division-III rookie like Ali Marpet couldn’t be any worse.
“I think you can see [Marpet] is very talented,” Clayton said. “OK, somebody [try to] beat him [out for a starting job]. It is as simple as that. If nobody can beat him, then he is good enough to be able to try to start. Why not? They tried the veteran route last year and that didn’t work, as far as the offensive line.
“Now, it’s, OK, you have two good young offensive linemen at the left tackle with Donovan Smith and Marpet. Give it a shot. See what you can do. As long as he can hold up, as long as he doesn’t make the mental mistakes – and there will be mental mistakes – you might as well try to do it because you have a rookie quarterback and you have two young offensive linemen and try to have them grow together. If it doesn’t work, hey, you can sit them down for a couple of weeks and then bring them back. I think you can see he has the talent to do this.”
That’s convincing enough for Joe. Yeah, in many ways, Marpet is raw. But he does have talent. Wednesday, Joe saw Gerald McCoy work over Marpet in two successive plays. But in the third play, Marpet ‘rassled GMC totally out of the play. It’s not like GMC owned Marpet.
And this has been a theme in training camp. Of course GMC is going to get the best of a rookie from Hobart College. GMC is arguably the best 43 defensive tackle in the game. But Marpet is holding his own. He’s not getting totally embarrassed.
Joe knows the Bucs realistically were looking at starting Marpet sometime later this season. But Marpet has shown enough that, as Clayton asked, why not start him now? He couldn’t be worse than Oniel Cousins (currently out of football) was last year.
August 14th, 2015 at 3:08 pm
Start him!!!! He will have his butterfly moments then he will start stinging his opponents. ” He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. ” Muhammad Ali
August 14th, 2015 at 3:15 pm
I suppose the pre-season experience won’t hurt his progress. I agree with Clayton.
August 14th, 2015 at 3:16 pm
Start Mongo! Let’s start a new tradition for the Buc’s OL.
August 14th, 2015 at 3:18 pm
I really don’t understand the logic of not starting him. It’s not like we would be sitting an all-pro in order to let him play. I don’t care what anyone says, there is no substitution for game experience. I’m as big of a homer as there is, and even I know a championship isn’t realistic, so why not let the guy learn and get better. The quicker he gets in, the quicker he gets better. It’s safe to say he’s got more upside than any other guard on our roster, so it’s a complete no-brainer to me.
August 14th, 2015 at 3:34 pm
We should start Ali Marpet and next season we should draft a Left Guard with our 1st or 2nd pick. Logan Mankins has a year or two left, so next season we need to prepare for life without him. If we don’t start him, we will have to start Garrick Gilkey or Kadeem Edwards. Starting Gilkey could be a disaster, even though he has improved a lot from last season. I also believe that Kevin Pamphile could be a better guard than tackle.Edawn Coughman could be one of our best tackles, he just need a chance to prove himself.
August 14th, 2015 at 3:39 pm
Maybe he is having a harder time with audible calls???? don’t really know, we have only heard that he is quick and very strong. have not heard one way or another if he he digesting the playbook or not. We will have a glimpse in a little over 24hrs!!!!
August 14th, 2015 at 4:01 pm
Love seeing Clayton interviewed yesterday on television….so knowledgable and very intriguing to listen to. He is so animated one can’t help listening to his every word. He gave high praises to Mariota and called Winston “amazing”. Hope to hear his updated analysis later in the year.
August 14th, 2015 at 5:46 pm
Clayton is the coolest geek on tv. Doesn’t look or even sound like he loves football but he knows his stuff. At least he’s a Clayton we all don’t roll our eyes and shake our heads when his name is mentioned ala Michael
August 14th, 2015 at 5:50 pm
Why not indeed? Unless the rookies are so unprepared for this level that it obviously puts Jameis at risk – then let them start and get the experience ASAP and take their lumps now rather than later.
August 14th, 2015 at 8:20 pm
He had the job to lose day one
August 14th, 2015 at 10:03 pm
He’s the future, put him in…
August 14th, 2015 at 10:31 pm
Unless he is a liability because of not knowing the playbook, I’d say start him. He’s the most athletic o lineman we have. His natural talent and instinct will push him to succeed. But if he doesn’t know the playbook, then idc how good he is, that’s just never a good idea.
August 15th, 2015 at 1:04 am
Mariotta had a rough day
August 15th, 2015 at 1:40 am
Nothing to lose. Start him
August 15th, 2015 at 12:17 pm
Why didnt we draft
Lael Collins?
We couldve fixed our o-line for years to come!!!
August 15th, 2015 at 2:25 pm
All for starting him when the season starts, but as far as today? I think the entire oline should play at least the first half.