Who better to analyze the Bucs’ offensive line than former Bucs right tackle Jerry Wunsch? A graduate of Wisconsin, Wunsch was drafted in the second round by the Bucs in 1997. He spent five years with the Bucs and three more years with Seattle.

A Tampa Bay area resident, Wunsch is the owner and  proprietor of “Big Mike’s Pizzeria and Back Porch” in Largo. To this day, Wunsch brags that, while at Wisconsin, he never gave up a sack to future Bucs teammate Simeon Rice, who Wunsch battled when Rice played at Illinois.

Wunsch has been kind enough to share his thoughts with Joe on the Bucs offensive line in between his duties at his restaurant. Wunsch is also an assistant football coach at Indian Rocks Christian High School.

By JERRY WUNSCH

Zone blocking is something you have to learn if you are lead-stepping your entire career, meaning you take a step forward when you begin your block at the snap of the ball. To learn to take a step backward and lead with your shoulders, which is the proper technique in zone blocking, to get momentum to move people off the ball is a very difficult thing to learn.

When someone like Bucs center Jeff Faine said it takes [eight] months to learn, he is being very generous.  It’s a whole different way of blocking. To learn how to do it properly and to get people to move off the ball is very difficult and that is probably why you are not seeing as much movement this year of moving people off the ball to get the running game going.

Another issue with the Bucs offensive line is they are not implementing other types of strategies to be able to cut the defense and not strictly zone block. As they grow and learn, and learn what they are about, I think that will definitely change. When you change offensive coordinators and work on different things, it is very difficult on players. Hopefully, they have found their wheelhouse and what they feel comfortable with.

I played for a lot of great offensive line coaches. The Bucs are in a precarious situation. I see [Jeremy] Trueblood and Faine playing good football. [Donald] Penn is playing good football. Yes, they can finish better more often but that may be a wind-is-out-of-their-sails type of thing.

I think the biggest problem is, you look at the tight ends blocking, the H-backs. They are not fighting and trying to finish.

I see some holes in the scheme. I see blitzers walk right up and [the Bucs are] letting guys go right through the A-gaps. That’s on the offensive line coach. That’s scheme.

You can’t let guys in the A-gap rush the quarterback untouched because he will disrupt the play. He will get there faster than anyone else blitzing. I have seen that over and over again this year, which means it is either the players are not getting it after how many times? Or, it’s not being coached.

In order to get the ball off [on pass plays] you have to protect the most immediate inside gaps when a casino or all-out blitz is coming.

If you think about it, the guy rushing the A-gap immediately will disrupt any slant [pass] possibility you will have. On an all-out blitz or casino blitz, the only thing you have is a slant, or if you know the guy is over-playing the slant, you might have a slant-and-go.

So the onus is on the offensive line to pick up those initial blitzers because when a slant is run, the outside linebackers who are blitzing are outside the window and you can still throw.

But what the Bucs are doing is letting inside guys go. Those are the people who can immediately influence the passing window for the quarterback and not allow him to have the time or ability to throw.

There are a lot of things and dynamics that are going on within their offensive scheme that is creating problems in the running game and also in the passing game. We’ll see how they can correct those things in the last couple of games.

When I played with the Seahawks we went on a three-game winning streak our last three games that catapulted us into the next season, which allowed us to go to a playoff.

What you want to see the next few games is how much the Bucs want to play for their head coach and how much they want their head coach to stick around and how much they want their own jobs.

So I think it is essential to win these games. Going to the west coast, even though Seattle is not a very good football team, that’s not easy. That’s difficult. Any west coast game you win is a good thing.

What I will look for this week is for the Bucs to go back to the running game, take pressure off [Josh] Freeman and start picking up their blitzes right. This would allow Freeman to settle down.

A lot of Freeman’s [trouble] now is he is not comfortable in the pocket and I can’t blame him. The fullbacks and tight ends are having a hard time blocking. Kellen [Winslow] and [Jeremy] Stevens, when asked to block, are not getting the job done by any means and that problem needs to be fixed.

That was one thing about Dave Moore. He would block, run, catch passes, anything you asked him he did 110 percent, which is what got him to a Pro Bowl. I don’t see that multifaceted play from the tight ends right now.

The change in offensive coordinators has really hurt not just the offense, but the line. Here’s why:

If you have a new offensive coordinator, there’s going to be changes and if there is a change, how do we deal with that change?

If you think about it, half of your practices happen before you even start the football season. Think about it: two-a-days for how many weeks? You will do more practices in that time period than you will do the entire season.

So to fire the offensive coordinator just before your first real game, you just lost half of your season of practice. All the things you were working on… just from that [standpoint] you are behind the eight-ball.

Treat yourself this holiday season and stop in at “Big Mike’s Pizzeria and Back Porch.” The eatery is located at 999 Missouri Ave. in Largo, just north of Largo High School next to Wal-Mart. Phone number is (727) 586-5170. Wunsch will be happy to talk Bucs (or Big Ten) football with you over a cold pint of beer (or two).