J.R. Sweezy Ready To Start Football Activities
January 26th, 2017
Ready
It’s always great to learn that the big money free agent you paid 10 months ago is finally ready for his first team practice.
High-fives all around!
Yes, Joe’s talking about guard J.R. Sweezy.
While the fellows at PewterReport.com were hustling around the Senior Bowl watching young 20-somethings step on scales in their underwear, they ran into Dirk Koetter and Jason Licht. The Bucs’ dynamic duo combined to tell them Sweezy is cleared to participate in football activities.
Translation: he can’t be on the injury list any longer until unless he gets injured again.
Licht and Koetter also reiterated that they love their offensive line and those who think the O-line is a problem area might be let down by offseason changes.
“I think, like Dirk has said before, we are fine with our offensive linemen, “Licht said. “We thought they played solid. But yeah, we could [draft someone]. I’m always going to keep an eye on offensive linemen in the draft. I’m not singling any particular person out and saying we need to upgrade that position. Let’s just say if Sweezy’s on our team he can be the prized free agent this year. We’ll throw him in the mix and there will be some different combinations that we go with.”
Licht went on to rave about his O-line, but Joe will zero in on Licht’s choice of language for Sweezy: “If Sweezy’s on our team,” Licht said. That’s hardly an endorsement of a guy finally ready to contribute.
For now, Sweezy’s presence could give Licht leverage in potential negotiations to re-sign guard Kevin Pamphile, who is entering his contract year. Any positive impact by Sweezy would be a blessing, even if it’s an off-field smokescreen.
January 26th, 2017 at 10:13 am
i’ll believe it when I see it…..glad licht is thinking the same thing….I would still sign a FA lineman(ron leary) and draft one as well….I would like to see pamphile stay outside at RT….I think he played better outside…he’s one of our more athletic lineman….GO BUCS!!!!
January 26th, 2017 at 10:15 am
If is a very strong word. Nothing definitely.
January 26th, 2017 at 10:17 am
Agreed! His presence can only be a good thing if for nothing other than legit depth. Get to work Sweezy! We need you.
January 26th, 2017 at 10:19 am
Too early to tell I guess.
Guess we all have to wait and see.
Positive news though.
January 26th, 2017 at 10:25 am
I honestly have been saying all along that our o line is not a huge issue. Of course we could upgrade but here is my logic, they needed time to gel and stay healthy. Sweezy will bolster the unit by a lot and I’m confident he will play this season, and play well. The guy is an animal in the run game.
Sweezy, Marpet, Hawley, Dot, and Smith with Benenoch, Pamphile, Gotschalk and another pick later in the draft seems solid to me. A lot will disagree with me but it seems like our coaches who get paid millions to make these decisions are leaning towards this route as well.
I wouldn’t mind TJ Lang though…
January 26th, 2017 at 10:26 am
BTW WR>OL in the round 1 of the draft hands downs!!!
January 26th, 2017 at 10:33 am
I cannot believe for one second that Light and Koetter are really satisfied with their offensive line play. There own statements at times have contradicted this.
If Sweezy is ready to return then Marpet can move over to center but they would still need to, at the very least, draft a tackle.
January 26th, 2017 at 10:41 am
Hopefully Marpet plays center and Sweezy takes over right guard then sign Riley Reiff to play/compete with Dotson and Donovan, Reiff played left tackle for 4 years and right tackle one year
January 26th, 2017 at 10:54 am
Let the competition begin. Glad he is finally ready to go with some fresh legs sitting out the whole year. He can provide the nasty streak that joe hawley had when he started. Keep hawley as back up if need be. Maybe pamphil to right tackle? Cause Dotson not that strong a swimmer. Or move marpet to center. Need the best 5 on the field.
January 26th, 2017 at 10:57 am
What great news! The doctors were only off by 10 months! WTF Obamacare doctors are the Bucs employing? I’ll tell you, the wheels are in motion for this signing to move into Alvin Harper territory.
January 26th, 2017 at 11:02 am
Sounds familiar to the VJac story of last year ready to play…that didn’t bight us in the arse at all
January 26th, 2017 at 11:14 am
Great news
January 26th, 2017 at 11:21 am
I say we draft a C in the later rds maybe in the 4th Tyler Orlosky 6’4 300 out of West Virginia a greatd pass blocking technician built for the zone run game, or Kyle Fuller Baylor 6’5 315 more of a mauler type blocker. Hope we can get one of these guys to battle Hawley for the starting position.
January 26th, 2017 at 11:27 am
Eric … Guess I’m one of those who disagree with you. GMs & HCs are just posturing right now … I’m convinced they’ll be aggressive in upgrading our OLine. I trust Koetter & company to figure out who’d do best at what position, but we’ve got to upgrade the talent pool if we’re gonna compete with teams like the Falcons & Patriots (both of whom we play this year a total of 3 times).
Of the 5 starters you named, I’d start Smith, Marpet & Sweezy (if he’s truly read-to-go) plus Pamphile. Hawley & Dotson are fine as backups, but both had some pretty significant ups and downs this past year. Would love to see us grab a highly-experienced tackle in FA plus draft another this year. An experienced center FA wouldn’t hurt either.
January 26th, 2017 at 11:31 am
Defense.. I agree with everything you said but I guess I’m in the minority that thinks Sweezy will work out and work out well.
Dot and Hawley were also banged up this season. I think they can improve.
I am all for additions. like I said I wanted TJ Lang and have them all compete and shuffle them as necessary. If we get some receivers in FA then I am down for ramcyzk as well. I just am not as concerned with the unit as most are and imo WR needs to be the first pick if it isn’t fully addressed in FA.
January 26th, 2017 at 11:32 am
All I know is when he was good Marshawn Lynch rushed for most of his yards running behind this dude. I get a little giddy thinking about what a certain draftee may do behind him and one of those 6ft+ 250lbs+ FBs we signed a month or so go. One word “scary”. Y’all think zek ran wild “Just wait on” seeing my boi do his thang. 1700 total combined yards rookie season. Easy. No other rookie at any other position will have a bigger immediate day one impact as far production is concerned. Bank it.
January 26th, 2017 at 11:42 am
This year’s Free Agent Prize? …….didn’t we get him last year! Never stop Building the WALL!
January 26th, 2017 at 11:43 am
imo I think he gets released, kinda starting to like the things I hear about forest lamp tho
January 26th, 2017 at 11:57 am
Nole… I 100% agree. People may think we’re crazy haha.
January 26th, 2017 at 11:59 am
Good news. Hope it works out
January 26th, 2017 at 12:32 pm
I consider Sweezy damaged goods. What is the nature of the back injury? Herniated discs? A secret? He will continue to milk the Bucs until he reinjures his back. A certainty in my opinion. Teams don’t let good players go.
January 26th, 2017 at 12:43 pm
Eric what is going over a lot posters head is they seem to desire a run block O line. I’ll continue saying this is a Playaction offense run block in my opinion is of bigger concern than pass protect O linemen. D. Smith solid pass blocker great run blocker,Mongo solid pass blocker great run blocker,Sweezy okay pass blocker fantastic run blocker etc etc etc.
January 26th, 2017 at 12:44 pm
Teams don’t let good players go huh?
Darelle Revis, Michael Bennet, Martellus Bennett, Matt Forte, Aqib Talib, Vincent Jackson, Legarette Blount, Brett Favre, Steve Young, Doug Williams, Josh Norman, Marshawn Lynch, Deangelo Williams, Jimmy Graham, Lamar Miller, Brandon Marshall, Demarco Murray, Drew Brees, Suh, Alex Mack, etc..
11 teams wanted Sweezy…
January 26th, 2017 at 12:45 pm
And let’em go ahead and continue thinking we crazy Eric. Draft night quickly approaches. They’ll see for themselves what’s good then.
January 26th, 2017 at 12:48 pm
Nole
You’re absolutely right. I seriously cannot wait for him to lead the way for our back in 2017. The guy is definitely one of the best run blockers in the league. Play action is our bread and butter and he is definitely going to help quite a bit. A lot of these posters don’t realize how good he is either…
January 26th, 2017 at 12:53 pm
“Let’s just say if Sweezy’s on our team he can be the prized free agent this year. We’ll throw him in the mix and there will be some different combinations that we go with.”
How I read that is “We’ll throw him in the mix and there will be some different Draft Day trade combinations that we go with.
January 26th, 2017 at 12:54 pm
NOSBOS You know I’m with you and Eric on this one.
I think we are solid at 80% of our Oline including even depth.
But RT is a HUGE hole. Gosder is simply done….nice dude…gave it his best but stick a fork in him please!!! Dot is in the same boat. At his best he was a servicable right tackle…that was back in 2014. He’s getting old enough to be hurt frequently and we simply cannot count on either of these guys.
Benenoch is a very interesting player but he played guard. He is relatively new to American Football because he came over in high school from Nigeria.
Maybe we can develop another “Nigerian Nightmare”. But if he’s been a guard can he even be converted to tackle? Who on this roster can play RT…certainly not Dot or Gosder.
Talk me down from the ledge guys. Where are we going to find an RT.
January 26th, 2017 at 1:14 pm
@stpete
What about dot’s extension? didn’t he just get one? I feel like they’re gonna roll with him primarily for that reason. I agree though he needs to be upgraded. He’s extremely average.
I keep harping TJ Lang. I wonder if he can play RT.
I don’t think any other player besides Gosder who is definitely done can play RT so there is no depth there either.
January 26th, 2017 at 1:17 pm
” I’m not singling any particular person out and saying we need to upgrade that position. ”
OK then I will Jason. Hawley was injured too much and manhandled too often. Love his “tude” – but the Center position needs an upgrade and Hawley needs to be a back-up if he is re-signed. Dotson did not play nearly well enough to justify the new deal that Licht signed him to. In fact, he regressed majorly in 2016. He gets beat regularly in pass protection and gets penalized WAAAAY too often. RT needs an upgrade and Dot needs to be relegated to the bench as a swing tackle back-up.
At minimum we need better players and better play at Center and Rt Tackle positions. I will also point at that Donovan Smith at LT was not very good in 2016 either. That’s a tough one because good left Tackles are very hard to find and even harder to acquire. So we just have to hope that Smith continues to develop and that his play improves substantially moving forward. At least Smith is durable having played every snap the last 2 years – so that is a positive.
If Sweezy can stay healthy and If either Pamphile or Benenoch can be better than Dot at RT this year to take over that spot and IF Marpet can make a successful transition to Center – then perhaps we are OK with what we have for this season and can bolster other areas. But that’s a lot of IFs!
We have a young franchise QB who needs the benefit of a top 10 Oline in front of him. We are nowhere close to that yet. So I hope Licht understands all this and continues to do whatever is reasonable in acquiring more talent for the Oline.
January 26th, 2017 at 1:22 pm
The other part of the equation is the backfield. I want Dalvin AND Foreman.
If we did BucBonzai’s deal and got two number ones for GMC this is easily doable.
If we have a stud RB who can pound it…ten game over 100 yards and can block…whewee could Koetter have some fun with two back sets.
I know FB’s are no longer in vogue in the NFL but our HC has a history of using them very effectively.
Forman…can’t catch like Alstott our of the backfield…just as good a power runner and better blocker.
Dalvin…Warrick Dunn with even more explosiveness.
Back to Thunder and Lightning! And I still want to see #3 with play action passes when the D’s stack the box.
January 26th, 2017 at 1:28 pm
SPBF – beginning with his Freshman year, Benenoch started 31 games at RT for UCLA and out of necessity started 4 games at guard his final junior season which showed his versatility to NFL scouts. Caleb, like Pamphile is a Tackle that has been converted to an NFL guard – for now.
January 26th, 2017 at 1:28 pm
@pickgrin I agree with everything you said but I do think we’re a lot closer to a top 10 unit than you are. We have solid to very good pieces so far. Just need a few adjustments and additions but that’s my opinion.
@stpete I sure hope we don’t go 2 rbs in this draft. But I’m biased and have confidence in doug’s resurrection and I really like sims as a receiving back ONLY. I would only go davlin if he is obviously still there and we addressed wr in fa already. I WANT A WR!!! BADLY! give me desean, stills, or pryor and ill calm down for the draft.
January 26th, 2017 at 2:05 pm
Pickgrin
Thanks for that information. I didn’t realize he was a tackle just helping out at guard.
Benenoch excites me because he was a soccer player before playing American football in HS. Quick feet! I think he has a lot to learn but that also means a lot of upside.
The fact that both Pamphile and Benenoch can play both G and T is a giant advantage IMO but at some point barring injury I’m hoping all these guys finally find their spots so we can begin to jell as a unit.
January 26th, 2017 at 2:14 pm
That last word from St.Pete and Eric I quietly feel we are closer to top 10 as well.
January 26th, 2017 at 2:20 pm
Impossible to tell what he’s going to be as a player going forward now. Any film he did have is useless to judge by until they see him on the field. They still need to move forward as if he isn’t a factor.
January 26th, 2017 at 3:13 pm
The caption says ready. So that’s how I’m looking at it. Move yo @$$ forward.
January 26th, 2017 at 3:30 pm
With the statement I just read from Joe Hawley we will probably be looking for at least one Olineman. Guy says he needs to the Bucs to pay up
January 26th, 2017 at 3:31 pm
Bucs payed the guy $9.5mil last year… wow. They can cut him and basically gain nothing, a $2.5-mil cap savings, but a $2.5 cap hit – so not sure why at this point you wouldn’t keep him around unless you really dislike the guy internally, and if that’s the case then why did you already give him $10-mil of the Glazers money ($12-mil guaranteed in total).
So at this point keep the guy around, you don’t have much of anything to lose.
January 26th, 2017 at 4:08 pm
Like I said.
Too early to tell.
Nothing to Sweez at…
Ya see. Ya see what I did there. I’m cool. 🙂
January 26th, 2017 at 4:50 pm
😊Got ya 87. Ima roll the dice with Sweez. Earlier I said okay pass blocker that was a little unfair h3ll maybe even disrespectful. This dude man handled Aaron Donald both meetings against him in 2015. That’s saying something. Is he the best pass blocking guard no. But after seeing that performance he’s a long way from the worse in my book.
January 26th, 2017 at 4:51 pm
And for anyone that cares I’m endorsing Cooper Kupp. That whiteboy nice. No disrespect intended.
January 26th, 2017 at 5:38 pm
@Nosbos
Good guy to endorse. He is going to be a good #2 receiver for somebody. I think I’m gonna change my tune (again) a little bit and endorse Tre’davious White CB out of LSU. Good size, long arms, a little too handsy but that can be fixed. Would be nice to have a bigger corner opposite VH3, Especially going up against Julio Jones, Kelvin Benjamin, and Michael Thomas twice a year. And White can replace Grimes potentially
January 26th, 2017 at 6:11 pm
Joeypoppems – White is 5-11″. Hardly a “bigger corner”. Grimes is 5-10″ Hargreaves is 5-10 1/2″.
Whites draft profile says his strength is man coverage (and he has experience returning with 3 TDs on returns). But his weaknesses are troubling:
“Finesse cornerback with relatively slender frame” – “Physicality and play strength a concern” – “Tackles when necessary, but doesn’t seek out contact” – “Lacks run-support physicality to be an every-down corner” – “he can cover but he’s kind of soft”
Um – NO – pass….
January 26th, 2017 at 6:23 pm
Hawley and Dotson need to be replaced imho…as for finding corners that can cover Julio Jones…there aren’t any currently in the league or coming into the league that have any chance of covering him 1 on 1….Jones gave both Richard Sherman and Patrick Peterson the business and both of these guys are big CB’s…the best way to stop Julio is to get to Matt Ryan…
January 26th, 2017 at 6:23 pm
Sign some undrafted guys but I wouldn’t spend picks on o line I want WR RB TE defense lol
January 26th, 2017 at 6:32 pm
@Pickgrin
That’s fine. It was just my opinion. Not trying to convince you or anyone to take him lol. You can read what other people say about him and form an opinion. I trust what I see. And the gap between 5′ 11″ and 5’10” might not seem like much but then factor in his arms are almost 2″ longer and he may have a higher vert at the combine and it starts to add up.
January 26th, 2017 at 7:05 pm
Amen 55.
January 26th, 2017 at 10:22 pm
Baby steps for Sweezy: Year 1: Redshirt Year 2: Walk-thru 3: Training Camp
January 27th, 2017 at 11:25 am
Note the comment about moving Marpet to center. I suspect that will indeed happen. Hawley is an OK center, but he is injury prone and got pushed around a lot in 2016.
L-R, Smith, Pamphile, Marpet, Sweezy and Dotson may be the new first line OL…
January 27th, 2017 at 4:48 pm
Gettin his money for nothing and his chicks for free!!! I laugh everytime I hear My mans’s name mentioned…Big Money (EASY) Sweezy!!..Smokin a few bowls in rehab..for pain of course.