Three Linemen Officially Out
December 23rd, 2016
Run!
The final injury report is in — and it is as feared.
Demar Dotson (concussion), Gosder Cherilus (ankle/groin/pride) and Will Gholston (dislocated elbow) will not play tomorrow.
Do the Bucs dare go with undrafted rookie Leonard Wester at right tackle? Will it be rookie fifth-round pick Caleb Benenoch? What about Kevin Pamphile moving to right tackle with Evan Smith jumping in at left guard?
Joe suspects the latter, especially in a loud-ass Superdome that has a way of swallowing up inexperienced tackles.
We shall see. Tie those sneaker laces, Jameis.
The Gholston absence means a huge measuring-stick game for Noah Spence at defensive end. He and Gholston are sort of total opposites on the field. It’ll be interesting to see how Mike Smith approaches this.
Joe will have extra Tums ready after jambalaya tonight.
December 23rd, 2016 at 5:15 pm
8-8 here we come lol
December 23rd, 2016 at 5:18 pm
Honestly don’t get what is taking dot so long to get out of the protocol, when it wasn’t even a concussion that took him out of the game. Something seems fishy here.
December 23rd, 2016 at 5:25 pm
The fact that it feels like Arena League football in N.O….and the right tackle position is a turnstile/revolving door…I’m hoping for a W but am bracing for a L.
December 23rd, 2016 at 5:26 pm
I can tell Joe is on Bourbon St. LOL
Honestly, Gosder was sooo bad I am not that nervous. It can’t get much worse, can it?
Who knows, maybe this is Smith’s or Pamphile’s calling. I don’t get as discouraged from the next man up mentality. There are diamonds in the rough that could be discovered. Their pass rush isn’t great, either.
December 23rd, 2016 at 5:30 pm
Oh well, I guess we’ll take it as it comes.
Go Bucs!!!
December 23rd, 2016 at 5:36 pm
The Saints will hopefully be doing a lot of passing, if you get my drift, so Noah Spence is the guy who’d be in over Ghoulston most of the time anyway. I do expect Pamphile on the RT with Smith at LG.
December 23rd, 2016 at 5:40 pm
Speaking for Pablo
“Pablo doesn’t understand how Dotson could have been hit in the head. Pablo thinks Dotson is about 8’6″ tall…..Pablo thinks he must have banged it on a jumbo-tron.”
December 23rd, 2016 at 5:43 pm
Yea it was reported yesterday that the latter is most likely.
December 23rd, 2016 at 5:43 pm
If I’m Koetter, I give Wester a shot…..better than messing with the left side of the line. We absolutely need a gameplan with short passing and screens. I would be surprised if our running game is effective with Martin.
December 23rd, 2016 at 5:46 pm
Well fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
That sucks.
December 23rd, 2016 at 5:48 pm
Joe just heard that Doug Martin is inactive tomorrow. Healthy inactive? Have you heard anything Joe??
Sounds like you’re making stuff up? –Joe
December 23rd, 2016 at 5:49 pm
I actually expect a big day from Martin tomorrow.
December 23rd, 2016 at 5:53 pm
If I Remember correctly, a couple of years ago the Falcons OL was so banged up they had to use a TE for one of the spots for a couple of games. I believe DK was OC that season.
December 23rd, 2016 at 5:58 pm
Excuse train stops here!!! Next man up. All teams have injurys including the Saints.
December 23rd, 2016 at 6:30 pm
Lack of depth is showing its ugly face right now. Dotson being in probably woukd have made the difference last week, hopefully one of these rookies is a hidden gem. They need some good draft picks to pan out and sigh some fa to compete next season.
December 23rd, 2016 at 6:53 pm
We need to throw the quick short passes to Doug Martin and Sims also QUIZ! Hopefully he is active tomorrow. Control the clock and keep Brees on the sidelines. No more 2nd and 2 plays that lose 5 yards. Hopefully the D is more aggressive tomorrow than they were against Dallas
December 23rd, 2016 at 7:05 pm
Given the RT situation, the offense can do three-step drops and overall draw up plays that get the ball out of the QB’s hands quickly, a classic problem for Bucs QBs. ME13’s detractors say that he doesn’t have speed, but he doesn’t have to burn anyone if he can use his physicality against the Saints’ DBs, although I have the feeling he’ll be double-covered for much of the game. Hump and Brate will have to step up more than ever. One issue is that they are trying to integrate Sims and Huff into the passing game, and that might be slowing the offensive game-planning down a little. The running game was not good in the last game against NO (Martin had 23 attempts for 66 yards), but the offense must not abandon it. Is Jacquizz Rodgers active? Throwing in some stretch plays might help against those NO D-linemen. I expect more back-and-forth scoring this time around.
December 23rd, 2016 at 7:15 pm
Somebody get Dr Strouds gameplan to Dirk! He has it all figured out lol.
December 23rd, 2016 at 8:26 pm
Can anyone explain why Wester is ahead of Benenoch on the depth chart? I don’t remember reading anything about why Wester is considered better.
December 23rd, 2016 at 9:33 pm
We won 1 game with gosder and took the cowboys down to the wire. If we can do that with one of the worst Rts i’ve ever seen, i am not worried about anyone that replaces him. It literally couldnt be any worse.
December 23rd, 2016 at 9:46 pm
Trubuc…trudat.
Pun intended too!
December 24th, 2016 at 12:55 am
Man we’re all conditioned to losing over the years. Then a 5 win streak has everyone thinking nobody can beat us. I’m the same. But here we are in reality. The reality is this team can actually beat anyone and will take some losses as well. I truly believe we can beat the saints and panthers. Crazy how that sounds. We lost to the NFC leader by 6 points with 4 turnovers and in the final minute of the game. This team is better than everyone thinks. Now let’s prove it in the final two weeks of the season. No excuses. The future is now and it’s ours for the taking.
December 24th, 2016 at 4:53 am
The Messiah must take us to the promise land.
Go Bucs!!!
December 24th, 2016 at 6:53 am
Bottom line is this…Noah Spence has enough experience now. It’s time for his breakout game.
Three sacks or more to prove he will be an immediate superstar.
Less than that means slow developer at best.
GMC needs his best game of the season.
December 24th, 2016 at 6:55 am
McCoy needs 3 sacks over these last two games.
December 24th, 2016 at 7:20 am
wer’e so screwed
December 24th, 2016 at 9:33 am
Super Sam it must suck to be you. Missing a terrible right tackle a decent right tackle and a run stopping and against a team that throws 49 times a game and u assume it’s a loss. I hate this site more and more (comments not articles Joe) bunch of losers out of touch w reality. Losers. Literally.