“It Kind Of Hurts Me Watching Him Run”
October 9th, 2020
A former Bucs quarterback who watches film of every NFL game every week feels badly for one expensive Buccaneer.
Joe’s referring to SiriusXM NFL Radio host and the Pro Football Focus official quarterback grader, Bruce Gradkowski.
Yes, kudos to the PFF Tribe for paying Gradkowski to break down every last NFL quarterback. Gradkowski managed to hang around the NFL for 11 seasons and play for six franchises after the Bucs drafted him in 2006.
This morning on radio, Gradkowski had plenty to say about the messy Bucs performance last night, including that he’s not overly concerned with the Tampa Bay offense because the Bucs have had so many injuries on that side of the ball.
But one guy that has Gradkowski’s sympathy is Rob Gronkowski. He sees the future Hall of Fame tight end as a lesser version of old self.
“It kind of hurts me watching him run,” Gradkowski said of Gronk.
Joe has seen Gronk be a punisher in the run game at times this season. He’s certainly a willing blocker. But Joe agrees with Gradkowski in the passing game. Gronk seems like he’s running through mud most of the time.
He’s racking up a very high percentage of snaps, so maybe that’s part of it. And a Thursday road game after a Sunday is no picnic for a guy that just retired for a year because his body was worn out.
Still, it’s Week 5 and Gronk doesn’t seem to be the receiver Bucs fans fantasized about. He certainly doesn’t look like the guy defenses used to game plan to stop. And yes, Tom Brady missed him in the end zone earlier this season, but weren’t they supposed to have iconic chemistry?
Joe hopes a revitalized Gronk shows up against Green Bay.
October 9th, 2020 at 12:16 pm
He was revitalized in week one. We need the football Gronk next game. The guy who it doesnt pain to watch run. I’m not sure why everyone’s scared of GB tho. It’ll be just like 75% of NFL games, down to the last few minutes. Here’s to hoping Bruce and the zebras take heads out of butts!!
October 9th, 2020 at 12:19 pm
Pretty sure Brady’s arm was hit or interfered with when he overthrew Gronk in the end zone. Outside of that Gronk looked completely gassed at times last night. Still not in shape.
October 9th, 2020 at 12:19 pm
Pretty much sums up to Jameis made these “weapons” look better than they actually are.
October 9th, 2020 at 12:21 pm
Obviously he is not what he has been, super overpaid, but yesterday he had a good game…..
October 9th, 2020 at 12:23 pm
JW+🏈=🚽
if JW can only “make” himself like he “made” those weapons he would AT LEAST be a 2nd stringer….
GO BUCS!!!!!
October 9th, 2020 at 12:23 pm
Leave it to a #3 nuthugger (ie Lamarcus) to make that summation.
October 9th, 2020 at 12:27 pm
Its true and YALL KNOW IT
October 9th, 2020 at 12:27 pm
either gronk was in the wrong spot twice and he doesnt know what he’s doing or he’s just so slow he ends up in the wrong spot as the play develops….
if GRONK says he’s here to block then let him block….put him next to tackles…put him in the back field as a fullback and let him lead the way for rojo….
the man cant run….at least not yet…lol…maybe week10 he gets his legs under him….lol…
GO BUCS!!!!!
October 9th, 2020 at 12:31 pm
the weapons made JW…..
the weapons are still on the team….
JW is not….is he even a starter?….
GO BUCS!!!!
October 9th, 2020 at 12:32 pm
Gronk has maybeee 3 or 4 more games left in him. I have studied his MO. He has not completed a season since 2011 or so. Jr just does not look to be in shape to me.
October 9th, 2020 at 12:34 pm
Lamarcus it’s not true. That fact you have come to that conclusion reveals your bias. It’s blinding you. Evans has played 3 games with one leg, and Godwin has been hurt all year basically. OJ is on IR Jwat missed two games, and scooter is playing hurt. How can you quantify that Jamies made them better than what they were when they haven’t been able to be on the field together or healthy? It makes no sense.
October 9th, 2020 at 12:57 pm
Anyone who thought Gradkowski would be as good as in the past was fooling themselves. Personally, I could care less that he is on the team, but he is, so that’s that.
Last night, our offensive line stunk up the joint, and our defense screwed the pooch.
But now we know, and they can fix things.
I especially liked how Brady blew his top, holding hte oline accountable.
October 9th, 2020 at 1:01 pm
The plain and simple truth on Jameis is that he is not as bad as some people claim, and he is not as good as some others claim.
Personally, I believe he’s going to continue to get better, and it’s possible he might replace Brees eventually…which would be a bummer. Trim his turnovers down and he’ll be really good.
October 9th, 2020 at 1:03 pm
I think a guy like Gronk might shine a bit more in cold weather games. He’s no easy task to take down and he seems to be improving each week. That being said, he does look like he struggles to get going once the ball is in his hands. Part of this could be from sitting out two years and losing a feel for the speed of the game. Maybe he’s thinking vs reacting….or maybe he’s starting to remember why he left. I think he’s trending in the right direction…..time will tell.
October 9th, 2020 at 1:34 pm
Gronkowski and Methuselah are showing their age. So what? Methuselah goes down and we are stuck with Gabbert. Wow. Glad team is 3-2 cos the young players aren’t the reason team lost last night.
October 9th, 2020 at 1:48 pm
6 carries in the 2nd half with Mack breathing down our collective neck. Coaching malpractice!!!
October 9th, 2020 at 1:50 pm
Is RoJo the best, probably not. Was he gashing them? Heck yea. I know you’re down to 1 RB, but you get back 2 next week. Disgraceful
October 9th, 2020 at 1:56 pm
@Mike Johnson Says:
“Gronk has maybeee 3 or 4 more games left in him.. I have studied his MO. He has not completed a season since 2011 or so……”
———————————-
who has??? look how many are hurt, out, or questionable !!!! Gronk is doing his part not more not less then the other……we DIDN’T lose because of Gronk….We lost because of OC,HC and bad quality depth we have. I will put some blame on TB12 as well…..
BA = Lovie S 2.0
October 9th, 2020 at 2:27 pm
Gronk doesn’t have TE1-level receiving or run after catch ability any more. He is good for 1-2 receptions a game but he doesn’t demand any extra attention or scare defenses. Howard was the guy who could stretch the field. Post-Howard injury, our TE group is meh. I’m hopeful they block hard in the run game and we can leave the receiving to ME, CG and SM once all are healthy.
October 9th, 2020 at 2:30 pm
“ Leave it to a #3 nuthugger (ie Lamarcus) to make that summation.”
It’s true though, can anyone tell me what Breshad Perrimans up to these days? What has Adam Humphries done Since he left the Bucs? Why are Cam Brate and Mike Evans stats down? Shall I continue?
October 9th, 2020 at 2:46 pm
Save it Tbbucs, the hatred is real. They will never give JW any credit for some of the amazing numbers he put up in Tampa. They enjoy saying he is a 3rd stringer but we all know that he won’t be next year or the following year when Brees walks. They will not be handing the job over to that gadget QB. Hell if Bridgewater started over him when push came to shove last year.
October 9th, 2020 at 3:27 pm
Lamarcus? Do you mean the weapons that Brady didn’t have last night? You’re not making sense man. Godwin out. Evans is playing at probably 40%. Miller banged up. Rookies and practice squad guys are playing in these games. It’s a miracle we were able to get in their red zone at all. Those weapons? It’s been some really bad luck that Godwin and Evans got hurt along with Vea last night, but that’s how it goes. Byron apparently didn’t realize that ROJO was unstoppable last night. An offensive coordinator that has his brain attached would have run at least 10 – 15 more times.
October 9th, 2020 at 3:29 pm
Exactly Brad. Exactly. The coaching was criminal.
October 9th, 2020 at 4:01 pm
Our offense will be fine if the blocking holds up. Brady has thrown to nobodies for years and put up great numbers.
Our offense moved the ball just fine last night until the penalties hit.
Our defense was a different story…..why in the hell were CBs playing 10 yards off the ball allowing 5 yard completions?!?!?!!?!??!
October 9th, 2020 at 5:09 pm
@Pa Privateer … “why in the hell were CBs playing 10 yards off the ball allowing 5 yard completions?”
Sounds like you watched the same game that I did Privateer. And they were doing the same thing in the Chargers game. I have no idea what’s changed in these past 2 games defensively, but I’m not seeing that same ‘fire’ that I saw in the first 3 games.
I can understand it from our offense. New QB, several new moving parts, quite a few injuries, BL as our OC, I get it. Playing against the better defenses (say Broncos & Bears), our offense has generated 17 & 18 first downs respectively. Not really bad, but we should be doing a LOT better.
Our defense though has seemed hesitant these last 2 games for some reason. Far too many tackles in the Secondary (never a good indicator). Far too few PDs (not a good indicator either). Average QBs are taking our lunch money: Rookie Justin Herbert threw for 80% completions; journeyman Nick Foles threw for over 71%. And those were in games where we held the Chargers to 46 rushing yards on 23 attempts (2.0 YPC) and the Bears to 35 rushing yards on 14 attempts (2.5 YPC). We FORCED them to pass, and we still couldn’t stop them. In both games, the short passes ate us alive, and especially the short passes over the middle (Foles only missed 2 of those all night). I just don’t get it. If you KNOW what your opponent is doing, make him stop it & do something else. It’s not rocket science.
October 9th, 2020 at 5:15 pm
We didn’t lose last night bc our depth.
It was our starters who failed us, along with coaching.
Defense didn’t wake up until the 3rd quarter (again)
While the Offense stopped playing in the 3rd quarter (except RoJo)
This team won win squat if they can’t figure out how to play a full 4 quarters. And for gods sake can someone teach Leftwich how to call a 4-minute offense?
October 9th, 2020 at 6:20 pm
5109
October 9th, 2020 at 9:42 pm
We have more time than usual to prepare for the Packers. IMHO, that game will tell us if we are Contenders, or Pretenders.