Numbers tell deeper story.

It seems unless every person on the Bucs’ offensive line pancakes a dude on each and every play, some fans, like a habitual, knee-jerk reaction, will scream that the line is garbage, win or lose today.

And of course, because some dudes in a college dorm “graded” how offensive linemen played before the last beer of the afternoon is guzzled, without even knowing what the line calls are, doesn’t mean it is so. You know, like how the statgeeks beat up Donovan Smith constantly?

Joe remembers last winter at the combine in Indianapolis, winning Bucs coach Dirk Koetter mentioned how in one cut-up of a certain play, the Bucs used five different running backs. That, Koetter said, was the problem with blocking. Not so much the offensive line, but the line couldn’t get their timing down because of so many different running backs being used — each with his own style and speed.

So this offseason, Joe ran into former Bucs scout and former Jets coach and director of player personnel Pat Kirwan and tossed out Koetter’s suggestion to him.

Kirwan had a quick and direct response.

“I agree with that!” Kirwan said.

Kirwan went into detail.

“Ask an offensive lineman,” Kirwan said. “They know what the running back’s discipline is at the point of attack. Blocking, I don’t care what it is, zone or man, it doesn’t matter. We have a point of attack.

“There is some flexibility in that with cut-backs and everything else. Undisciplined runners who don’t stay true to the scheme and don’t’ get enough reps to be true to the scheme; can end up frustrating the coach and the linemen. So, to me, the right formula in today’s game is three guys: one power back, one third-down guy and a utility guy who can sub for either one of those guys. And drill, drill, drill.”

Talk to some folks inside the NFL and they will tell you there is a near epidemic of bad blocking. Part of this, NFL types believe, is the pox of spread offenses in college.

Another element, some believe, is the lack of padded practices. It’s hard to learn blocking when you can’t hit. Kirwan seems to believe the latter is true.

“The biggest problem too, and I think Dirk would back me up on this; we don’t enough live nine-on-seven any more,” Kirwan said. “Nine-on-seven is when you really coach the running game. Walk-throughs don’t give you the read, right? All of a sudden they are going full-speed [in a game].”

The main reason Joe isn’t throwing darts at the offensive line is simple. For example, Doug Martin last year had the worst yards-per-attempt in the NFL. Worst! As much as folks want to rag on Donovan Smith, the Bucs did not have the worst offensive line in the NFL last year. Not even close.

Yet running backs who played behind worse offensive fronts did better than Martin. That’s all you need to know.