Ex-Buc: O-Line Let Down Peyton Barber This Season
December 24th, 2018
Today a former Buccaneer made a case for Peyton Barber as the Buccaneers’ offensive MVP for the season.
Yes, he was of sound mind and body and acknowledged that Mike Evans has put up big numbers.
The case made by ex-Bucs tight end Anthony Becht, who breaks down game film for Buccaneers.com, was really all about how much the offensive line has gotten worse through the season and has been a disappointment overall.
Becht was chatting on WDAE-AM 620 this morning and lamented how the play of Ryan Jensen and Demar Dotson has “dipped down” in recent games. And Becht pointed a finger at coaching and what may or may not being stressed in practice. “Poor habits” and bad technique aren’t being fixed on a weekly basis, Becht said, and they’re “really crushing this football team.
The Bucs legitimately have one of the very worst running games in the NFL based on two major statistics (see the previous story on the home page).
But Peyton Barber does not get the blame, Becht said.
Barber is Becht’s likely MVP and he said Barber would be “probably a thousand-yard rusher anywhere else.”
Strong statements from Becht, who acknowledged that he thought offensive line would be strength of the team this season. Yes, Donovan Smith didn’t escape Becht’s critique. He said Smith’s bad play is outweighing the good.
December 24th, 2018 at 2:42 pm
The O-line has let everyone down, namely Rojo and Jameis.
December 24th, 2018 at 2:48 pm
We need at minimum 2 new starters on the right side of the line. And if Donovan Smith dont come back for peanuts then we need a new LT as well.
December 24th, 2018 at 2:49 pm
ESPN is reporting that Peyton Barber bought all his OL Legos as a Christmas present so they can actually see what blocks look like.
December 24th, 2018 at 2:52 pm
D.Smith is gonna get Winston killed. That guy is either causing a penalty or missing blocks. This is just another reason why Kotter is not HC material
December 24th, 2018 at 2:53 pm
I’m sure I’ll get heat for this but I think this Oline has been terrible at run blocking for longer than just this year…..I think it failed Doug Martin also.
December 24th, 2018 at 3:10 pm
Pugs&Bucs with the comment of the day!
December 24th, 2018 at 3:16 pm
Pugs and bugs
That’s hilarious
December 24th, 2018 at 3:18 pm
Yes Barber was a bright star for the Bucs this year and what could have been if.
December 24th, 2018 at 3:39 pm
Muscle Hamster is suddenly up from 2.9 yds per attempt to 4.0 when not playing behind this O-line.
December 24th, 2018 at 3:48 pm
Koetter’s offensive philosophy is very pass heavy & 100% west-coast finesse…Great between the 20’s & good for FFB stats…But have never seen his teams show the physicality needed to consistently run against NFL DEF’s.
December 24th, 2018 at 3:51 pm
Barber is a bum
December 24th, 2018 at 3:53 pm
Pugs that comment is pure gold. Haha
December 24th, 2018 at 3:53 pm
and so is becht doesn’t know what he is talking about when barber is in the open field he fails wow haven’t you seen it he cant keep his feet
December 24th, 2018 at 4:07 pm
You mean America’s QB, ProBowler JayMiss Winnone isn’t the offensive MVP? Really? His play most of the season has been truly offensive.
December 24th, 2018 at 4:29 pm
Maybe they need to invest in the O-Line with solid players
Instead of these scrubs
December 24th, 2018 at 4:56 pm
3 fatguys was walking on the streets of Washington DC and pickedup and suited up to play offensive line for the redskins
40 year old Adrian Peterson gained over 1024 yards in 15 games with 7 tds and 4.2 avg
“I dont like fat guys”
Jason Gump
December 24th, 2018 at 5:33 pm
The O Line is awful except for Jensen. None has Jensen’s nastiness. Marpet is okay but not aggressive. Smith is not a LT and he looks like he could not care less. Bentcock needs to go to the XFL taxi squad.
You can pile up yards and even win in the NFL with a great WR corp, which the Bucs have, and a great WEB, which they do not, but you can’t win without a running game. Barber is also not a top half RB without a better line.
December 24th, 2018 at 6:01 pm
Jason Licht is the problem
We have 6-10 talent
December 24th, 2018 at 6:26 pm
The o-line isn’t good….said that for years on here. You can’t say the o-line is good while also highlighting Winston’s top stat is throwing on the run. Anyone that watches the games can see there’s no consistent effort…when they do gel for a play or two, It’s just enough for a 3-4 yd run. Not nearly enough to make you hope there’s talent to work with.
That’s all on Licht….he’s played musical chairs with that line with guys all developing but never actually becoming anything more then “effort” guys.
December 24th, 2018 at 6:41 pm
Idk about Barber man he broke free on Sunday but didn’t have the speed to score. Got caught from behind, no surprise. If you guys think Barber is good then you haven’t been watching enough non-Bucs football.
December 24th, 2018 at 6:47 pm
Watching the play–Randy Gregory hunting Winston. Donovan Smith looked entirely out of position, he had no effect whatsover on the forward progress of Gregory. It should be shown all over the league, the poor play of the lazy left tackle gets the franchise damaged. And Koetter and Warhop, as usual, praising Smith. I can’t wait to see warhop out the door, hoping Logan Mankins could be enticed to come out of retirement for some one on one instruction of our new offensive line players we will get in 2019.
December 24th, 2018 at 7:07 pm
The offensive line did not let Barber down so much. Barber runs with his eyes closed. Because the reflex is autonomic, not sure it can be fixed.
December 24th, 2018 at 7:41 pm
@Pugs 😂😂😂
Seriously the o-line is more disappointing than the defense at this point.
Something I’ve been screaming about all season, despite some people wanting to just stick their heads in the sand and blame the running backs.
December 24th, 2018 at 8:06 pm
meanwhile, half (joe run a poll?) this site would rather cut our qb before addressing what our actual problems are.
Not to mention we haven’t seen a solid pass rush (outside of 3 fingers) in over 15 years. How come we continuously suck?!? Must be because our qb turns it over too much…
December 24th, 2018 at 8:29 pm
Also, happy holidays Joes and fellow Bucs fans!
December 24th, 2018 at 8:49 pm
DestinJohnny is correct! Warhop should be replaced too.
December 24th, 2018 at 10:47 pm
MVP ha ha weed must be legal there
December 24th, 2018 at 11:21 pm
It’s not shocking. Winning in the NFL is a result of good offensive and defensive lines. Everything else is a by-product of that. It’s easy to criticize the Bucs secondary but they have to cover for 10 seconds on every play. Licht has ignored the lines in the draft as it relates to offensive linemen. Marpet and D Smith are the lone exceptions. D Smith ain’t cutting the mustard. Marpet is the only lineman that gets positive marks.
December 24th, 2018 at 11:26 pm
Barber would be a 1,000 yard rusher only on the Ravens and that is because they run the ball on 99% of the plays. So, maybe 450 carries gets him to 1,000 yards. Becht is reaching as usual. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that our O Line has been brutal of late but let’s not pretend Barber would be the second coming of Barry Sanders with a good O Line. The dude is the second slowest RB in the NFL behind Jacquizz Rogers.
December 25th, 2018 at 1:06 am
This org is not prepared.
December 25th, 2018 at 1:06 am
Merry Christmas er’one!
December 25th, 2018 at 11:31 am
Pugs&Bucs Says:
December 24th, 2018 at 2:49 pm
“ESPN is reporting that Peyton Barber bought all his OL Legos as a Christmas present so they can actually see what blocks look like.”
Savage, but true. I think Barber has developed into a great back, but he is not getting a chance with such poor OLine play. Not to mention almost always playing from behind.
December 25th, 2018 at 11:44 pm
I got breaking news as well it’s not that the players aren’t good enough either. It’s purely coaching and not Koetter either. The blame is on George Warhop folks the offensive line coach who should’ve been fired instead of Lovie Smith all those years ago. It was smart to fire Lovie but to bring in Mike Smith as defensive coordinator instead of associate head coach was baffling. They have kept Warhop too long folks. Mike Smith had to go but they should’ve fired Warhop during that bye week though and fired Koetter instead of Smith. They should’ve made Smith the interim because of his head coaching experience. This will not be easy for the Glazer’s but the way this has been handled they may have to ride Koetter another season though and completely clean house next year instead of this year