Luke Goedeke’s Offseason Offensive Line Coach Predicts He Will Start For Bucs Soon
May 9th, 2022
Bucs G Luke Goedeke.
Those who listen to “Movin’ the Chains” regularly on SiriusXM NFL Radio know offensive line coach Paul Alexander is a regular guest.
He may know his stuff but Joe finds him somewhat boring and it is sometimes an effort to hear the entirety of his spots. A big reason why Alexander is always on the show is that he and co-host Pat Kirwan go back to their Jets days.
When one discusses great offensive line coaches, Joe isn’t sure Alexander is up there with Dante Scarnecchia or Bill Muir or Russ Grimm or Mike Munchak. But hey, Alexander survived decades in the NFL so he must know something.
So why is Joe bringing you intel on this Alexander if Joe finds him boring? Well, because Alexander runs an offensive line camp for guys prepping for the draft. And Bucs’ second-round pick offensive lineman Luke Goedeke was one of his clients this offseason.
Now Joe doesn’t expect a guy to trash one of his clients on a popular national radio show. Still, who would know better about Goedeke outside of Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht and Goedeke’s coaches at Central Michigan?
Alexander was a long-time offensive line coach at Cincinnati from 1994 to 2017, and he spent one year coaching God’s gift to offensive lines in Dallas in 2018 (#SarcasmAlert). He believes Goedeke will be your Week 1 starter at left guard.
“I’m obviously influenced a little bit,” Alexander said as he began his breakdown of Goedeke. “He is really versatile. I think he is hoping he can compete at left guard. I think that is probably what might make sense. He can play either tackle. He is one of those guys that can naturally — we worked as much at left as well as right, at tackle as well as guard with him — as he is very versatile. He can snap the ball, he can play center.
“He is a big, strong tough guy. Talk about guys with great fits, I think he is going to go in there at guard. He’s going to be there for 10 years. Really, that’s what I think. He’s a big, tough, smart, young, competitive guy with great football instincts. It’s not going to take this guy a while. He’s just a football player. And you will see him [at left guard] pretty quick.”
Before discussing Goedeke in detail, Alexander had a very interesting thing to say that Joe thinks is probably spot-on about the draft. Alexander stressed it is much more important what team drafts a player than what round a player is drafted in.
“A right fit is more important than anything else whether or not the guy has an NFL career,” Alexander said.
When Alexander was asked to break down Goedeke, he started off by saying, “Boy, you talk about a right fit… “
Seems like Licht has built a helluva reputation for having an organization that pumps out offensive linemen.
May 9th, 2022 at 12:02 pm
Jason Licht has gotten very good at picking O Linemen.
Marpet was a tough act to follow, but think this guy is gonna do very well for us.
May 9th, 2022 at 12:11 pm
If you can’t trust this pick from Licht, you can’t trust any pick…..
At the very, very least…we now have fabulous depth on our Oline.
May 9th, 2022 at 12:16 pm
Agree. Our OL depth is terrific.
May 9th, 2022 at 12:22 pm
With Wells being the swing tackle, this guy should pencil in at LG. His versatility is nice, especially if someone gets hurt. Experts say this bucs line isn’t as good as last year, I disagree. Mason is a big upgrade over cappa. And, this kid should sufficiently mitigate the loss of marpet.
May 9th, 2022 at 12:41 pm
Excellent piece Joes. Love hearing that a draft pick is ‘a big, strong tough guy’ who’s also ‘versatile’. Sounds like Goedeke can play virtually any position on the line (that’ll be super-important when 2023 rolls around & we lose a bunch of players due to salary CAP).
Speaking of salary CAP BTW, Bucs now sit at $13.0 mil available with 79 players signed. Our draft class (8 picks) will cost us $7.8 mil, but the CAP hit should only be $5.0 mil. We’re already paying Suh $6.8 mil Dead CAP & Gronk $5.0 mil Dead CAP this year, so I’m guessing that we could sign the 2 or them for maybe another $8 mil total with some ‘creative’ salary CAP work. That plus the rookies’ salaries pretty much eats up our $13.0 mil.
Seems interesting that we’ve pushed so many salaries into 2023 & beyond via restructuring, BUT haven’t restructured Donovan Smith ($18.4 mil CAP hit) or LVD ($14.8 mil CAP hit). Something tells me neither one of them will be with us next year.
May 9th, 2022 at 12:43 pm
It all starts in the trenches.
May 9th, 2022 at 12:57 pm
Licht has more than proven himself as an OL expert. I do wish, however, that we could find a decent swing tackle… I wasn’t impressed with Josh Wells… nor do I think anyone was. Haeg wasn’t particularly good either. I’d love to see someone take the lead as the 3rd OT… it seems Licht can find good guards anywhere. Drafting Marpet, Cappa, and signing Jensen, Stinnie, and pretty much everyone else that has seen snaps, Licht has an eye for talent. He’s unearthed some gems at nearly every position (except QB).
May 9th, 2022 at 1:42 pm
Defense Rules, the Cap doesn’t exist. Not in the way you’re describing anyway. The slimy saints (as they’re referred to by Joe) actually have a better roster this year than last. They magically managed to go from 65 million over, to about 10 under, just to have a chance at Watson. It’s about real dollars.
May 9th, 2022 at 3:45 pm
Gotta love a Big Ugly who calls himself a “glass eater.”
The last such glass-eating neanderthal I’m aware of was Tim Rossovich. I personally witnessed Rosso take a bite out of a beer pitcher.
May 9th, 2022 at 4:39 pm
GOB … ‘the Cap doesn’t exist’.
Believe what you want. Teams can manipulate the daylights out of it by kicking the can down the road. But unless the NFL changes the rules, it’ll eventually catch up with the Saints. And yes, with us too.
May 9th, 2022 at 6:09 pm
I really like listening to Paul Alexander. Offensive line isn’t exactly the most exciting subject but it’s really interesting to hear an offensive line coach break down a lineman.
May 9th, 2022 at 7:51 pm
Casual Observer Says:
“Our OL depth is terrific”
Inside – absolutely.
Outside? Not so much….
If either Donnie or Wirfs go down – Wells as your next man up at swing tackle does not inspire much confidence. Maybe this kid can play tackle better than Wells in a pinch – but I don’t think you want either ‘protecting’ the edge for TB at any point this year. Maybe Hainsey? Leverette?? See what I mean? Those guys are all college Tackles converted to Guards. But can they play Tackle in the NFL? Probably not for anything other than a very short period.
Bucs need to find a veteran Tackle prior to the season who is a legitimate option to back up the starting Tackles.
May 9th, 2022 at 8:15 pm
Between him, the TE, the RB, the CB, and the DT… I’m getting really optimistic that this class will have a lot of contributors over the next few years and some contributing right away
May 10th, 2022 at 5:02 pm
There’s a rumor that Brady is recruiting Trey Flowers.
May 10th, 2022 at 6:46 pm
Cobraboy Says:
“Gotta love a Big Ugly who calls himself a “glass eater.”
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Ditto. Cobraboy, you have an amazing knack to just NAIL it with a few words.
STRONG. And Agreed.