Shaun King: High On Bucs, Down On Offensive Line
June 17th, 2024
Former Bucs QB Shaun King with Tampa Bay GM Jason Licht at a Bucs practice in 2016.
Not everyone in general manager Jason Licht’s corner thinks the Tampa Bay offensive line is a quality group.
Former Bucs QB Shaun King, one of four quarterbacks to the lead the Bucs to the NFC Championship game, is one of Joe’s favorite analysts. It helps that King has connections at One Buc Palace and has been a devout Bucs fan since his childhood days in St. Petersburg.
Visiting The Coach JB Show recently, King took a look at the NFC South.
He’s down on the slimy Saints like any wise fan. “They missed their window,” King said, noting it ended when Sean Payton left the building.
King also is down on Saints quarterback Derek Carr.
King is high on the Bucs’ chances to repeat as division champs and considers them the NFC South favorite. He’s very bullish on Baker Mayfield if, per King, Mayfield stays within himself and gets away from sometimes thinking he’s Brett Favre. If that happens, King thinks the Bucs have enough around Mayfield to make “a significant run.”
“The Bucs are live,” King added.
Interestingly, King isn’t sold on the Buccaneers’ offensive line and called it “my only concern.” He likes the first-round pick of center Graham Barton, but King thinks the Bucs need two more upgrades at O-line positions versus what they showed last season.
“Not a good unit overall,” King said.
Perhaps King watched a few too many Bucs running plays last season.
June 17th, 2024 at 4:25 am
Hes right.
But we know it lat year also.
June 17th, 2024 at 4:36 am
Burger King is high on cholesterol.
June 17th, 2024 at 5:05 am
Shaun King – One of two quarterbacks to “lead” the Bucs to a LOSS in the NFC Championship game while his defense gave up less than 10 points….
June 17th, 2024 at 5:54 am
Burger King. šš
June 17th, 2024 at 6:15 am
The offensive line is a work in progress. It doesnāt take rocket scientist to know thatās itās a weak link until it isnāt. However, they brought in new pieces how long it takes them to become good will determine how far we go this season.
June 17th, 2024 at 6:34 am
āWe knew that last year,alsoā
Sorry, Coffee hadnt kicked yet.
Shaun is spot on.
For 2 years, we havent been able to run the ball.
Last in the league two years in a row.
At this point, we are starting Mauch, who was HORRIBLE last year as a rookie.
Guess we hope he’s improved
Barton at Center. Hes played Left tackle last 3 years. And hes a rookie. All rookie lineman struggle their first year. The majority are horrible. Plus Hes trying to play a position he hasnt played in 3 years.
Sua Opeta is a 6 year career backup. He could never win a spot on the Eagles line. Hes strong as a bull, but immobile. Wont be able to do the sweeps and Pulls an NFL HAS to be able to do.
Still weak in the middle. Again.
If Mauch has improved, thats good. Next Year, Barton should have gotten stronger, and adjusted to NFL speed and length of the season.
But this year, we will have a weak interior line.
And we seem to be ok with that
Start Barton at Left Guard this year. So much easier to go from Left tackle to Left guard, than trying to adjust to Center.
Sign an NFL starting caliber Center.
See how mauch is doing in PreSeason. If he is struggling, sign a good guard to rotate with him.
Opeta and Bredeson are decent backups.
Start training Klein at Center. He is amazingly wide. Perfect build for a center.
But Id bet that they are done.
Running the ball, and rushing the passer, dont seem like priorities.
As long as they keep winning the NFC South, hard to argue their strategy.
June 17th, 2024 at 6:39 am
āBut we knew that last year, alsoā
Sorry, coffee hadn’t kicked yet
June 17th, 2024 at 6:46 am
You can’t do the things King says the Bucs will do this year without a good offensive line. He thinks we’ll win the division, and can make a playoff run. With a bad O line? Don’t think so.
June 17th, 2024 at 7:12 am
“Not a good unit overall”
So who exactly is he talking about? Barton I get being a rookie center means he will be far from his career best as a rookie, but we don’t even have the guard spots fully sorted out let alone the lineup we’ll eventually finish the season with.
June 17th, 2024 at 7:18 am
As usual agree with Pickgrin’s take and as far as analysis I think Bucs since 76 has nailed it.
June 17th, 2024 at 7:27 am
Probably need to draft some more tackles to play center and guard
June 17th, 2024 at 7:40 am
The Bucs rebuilding one position at a time & winning while they are doing it. That in itself keeps me very happy with the organization. Say what you will about the offensive line and edge rushers, but it’s not like they aren’t trying to fix the issues. Struck out on a couple though it looks like several players will be surprising this year.
June 17th, 2024 at 7:45 am
The excuses has started already lol š¤£š¤£ every body was happy about the Barton and now people are afraid. It’s NFC Championship or bust no more excuses. All I heard was this is our division and Baker is a great quarterback and how this year he would be better because our offensive line will give him more time to throw. And now some of y’all are starting to change y’all views on all that talk about. Their is no more excuses NFC Championship or bust!!
June 17th, 2024 at 7:58 am
So when do we start talking about the 2025 draft ? If Baker doesn’t play better this year then it’s time to talk Riley Leonard in the first round at quarterback!!
June 17th, 2024 at 7:58 am
There are no excuses only facts! The Bucs have been rebuilding since the losses of JPP, Suh, Brady, Jensen, Shaq, and others. Winning while rebuilding is a great thing for fans. Are we there yet? don’t think anyone on here thinks we are Super Bowl ready but to think we aren’t doing well rebuilding is ignorant.
June 17th, 2024 at 8:42 am
The Ol is questionable until proven otherwise.
Really, the entire team…
June 17th, 2024 at 8:42 am
Agree with plenty of the above comments. The Bucs have attempted to upgrade the O line through the draft and free agency, now it just comes down to the new offensive line coaching and if they can get these guys to gel as a cohesive unit. We’re not going to know much until preseason. Hope it all works out for sure. As for going out and signing couple FA starting caliber linemen, I don’t think the combo of availability and cap space will allow major changes. I think we have who we have for this season unless some special/magical move happens between now and training camp after Wirfs gets a contract to allow some cap space. Regardless, I think our offensive line gets better and if our new OC can call plays that don’t expose our offensive lines greatest weaknesses, we can have improved offensive output. That didn’t happen enough last season.
June 17th, 2024 at 8:45 am
Starting LG is the biggest weakness on the team it seems like. There’s at least much more logical reasons to expect improvement at C (Barton) and RG (Mauch + 15 lbs and in year 2). But at LG it’s journeymen again unless we found a gem 6th rounder
June 17th, 2024 at 8:54 am
Always liked and respected Shaun. Met him years ago. A humble and committed athlete. Yes, he was benched and replaced by Brad Johnson. And then moved on to other teams. Still a good guy throughout and agree somewhat to the things he said.
I am not a fan of Sean Payton, Bounty-Gate comes to mind. He hasn’t done well since coming back to the NFL with the Broncos. And once he didn’t have Drew Brees on the Saints, it was over. It ended before he left the building.
Like Todd Bowles said, we will see more once the pads are on. And similar to what others are commenting look at preseason and make changes. Our O-Line can’t be called a bad unit quite yet. They are still in the getting to know each other phase, along with Coen.
June 17th, 2024 at 9:00 am
DISAGREE
I donāt see too many holes on this team ā¦ maybe RB. Depth at MLB and CB is a concern. The Bucs won the division and beat the Eagles in the playoffs last year. This yearās team is improved across the board. I wouldnāt be surprised by 11 wins and a NFC Championship appearance.
June 17th, 2024 at 9:06 am
Really, when it comes to the offensive line, I am concerned about the depth of our Offensive Line coaches.
They may turn out to be great. But typically, there are a lot more misses on offensive line coaching that hits. There is a reason the guys like Joe Gilbert and Harold Goodwin get jobs. They know how to teach and implement good pass protection schemes.
Kevin Carberry is such an unknown. He has never, ever been the primary offensive line coach for a team. Sure, he was an assistant offensive line coach when the Rams won a Super Bowl, but the Rams actually “fired” him after the next season.
It’s not impossible that he be effective as an Offensive Line coach. It just seems that his experience is very limited. If he was a savant at offensive line, I doubt he gets fired by the Rams.
June 17th, 2024 at 9:16 am
Have to disagree. I think they completely upgraded.
Wirfs is all-pro
LG Has competition and looks to be an upgrade
Center Is definitely an upgrade, even with a rookie
RG and RT have upgraded simply by having another year experience
June 17th, 2024 at 9:21 am
Onelilbuc…how long have you been an aints fan…it’s so obvious
June 17th, 2024 at 9:36 am
First of all, the Burger King looks like he could suit up at offensive tackle. Good golly, Burger, take the lard sticks out of your mouth for a few months and get yourself fit.
Second of all, he didnāt lead any team to anything. The 1999 defense carried his lazy arse to the NFC Championship where he was so inaccurate he would have missed the ground if the threw a football at it. If Dilfer played QB in that game with that defense, Bucs go to the Super Bowl.
Finally, Burgerās criticism of the OL is warranted. On paper theyāve made changes, but wonāt demonstrate itās really improved until live games.
Have another burrito, Burger.
June 17th, 2024 at 9:40 am
And Osqueeltard really needs to ingest copious volumes of sedatives and just go to sleep for a very long time. She gonna be a Browns fan now that JaMiss is there.
June 17th, 2024 at 9:47 am
Buc61. How long have you been a Browns fan is the real question ? You came on this site because of Baker Mayfield and you insulted everyone that criticize Baker when he played bad . And now you and others want to start making excuses for Baker. All I heard was the offensive line will be good and they will block for Baker. Then I heard that Barton was a great draft pick and Jason Licht got the right guy and now that the season is near the excuses are being set up now just encase Baker doesn’t play well. Because we all know he’s never played good 2 seasons in a row and last year was a very average season for quarterbacks but it was Baker best year he’s ever had. Once Baker leaves you will be gone just like all the Brady fans lol š¤£š¤£ .
June 17th, 2024 at 9:52 am
Baker61. It’s NFC Championship or bust no excuses because as a real a bucs fan I don’t approve of mediocrey like a lot of y’all do . I the team to dominate and 9-8 or 8-9 even if they win the division is still not good enough for me Baker 61!!
June 17th, 2024 at 10:29 am
King needs to get out of those buffer lines at the Golden Corral on Cortez Ave. in Bradenton. The place is obviously to close to the IMG Academy,
June 17th, 2024 at 10:37 am
It always makes me laugh when people pull the āsign a good centerā, āsign a good guardā card. Hey, why donāt we also sign An all pro QB and Reggie White in his prime since we are apparently living in fantasy land? If anyone thinks a starting caliber talent is on the street right now they are out of their mind.
June 17th, 2024 at 11:26 am
Oneilbucs stopped being a Saints fan when ATM was kicked to the curb. Now he’s a Browns fan, following ATM.
June 17th, 2024 at 11:28 am
Ensign Capt.Tim Says:
June 17th, 2024 at 6:34 am
“āBut we knew that last year, alsoā
Sorry, coffee hadnāt kicked yet”
June 17th, 2024 at 6:39 am
“āBut we knew that last year, alsoā
Sorry, coffee hadnāt kicked yet”
on this website,
redundancy will not be tolerated,
on this website
June 17th, 2024 at 12:01 pm
All the Hate for Shaun King
How Many NFC Championship games have you Fing losers been in? Lol
And being Fat doesnt mean he doesn’t know a good OLine from a bad one.
Lord Cornelius- ā Mauch plus 15 pound in year Twoā . I put on 15 pounds at Lings Sushi bar last week. Doesnt mean Im a better Guard. I agree that most rookies make a huge leap in year two. But not all. Mauch came from a really small division 2 school. He was bad last year. Hope hes ready this year.
Geno711-very good point about the Coaches. Yet another question mark.
David- yes, we have competition at Left guard. But its a couple backups. Any 2/knuckleheads make Competition. These 2 shouldnt be competing for a starting spot.
Brian in St Pete.- Dalton Rizner, Connor Williams.Mason Cole, DJ Fluker, Nick Gates, Trai Turner, Pat Eflien. All starters, plus about 8 more that would be upgrade.
Connor Williams especially was playing at a ProBowl level, before a bad knee injury. But he is a young and very talented Center. Let Bredesen start at Center for 4-6 games, until Williams recovered.
With Barton at Guard, Williams at Center,and IF Mauch is improved( I think he is), then we have a fantastic young line.
Mission accomplished!
That line will open up the running game- finally!!
June 17th, 2024 at 1:18 pm
I live how in 1 comment Capt Tim mentions how āHORRIBLEā Mauch was and then says we āHOPEā he improves, but then uses the excuse that Barton is a rookie and āALL ROOKIES STRUGGLE IN YEAR 1ā.
I mean which is it man?
One of them has to be good by your own logic!!!!
Everyone and their aged grandma knew why Mauch struggled and he WORKED in the offseason to transform his body with play strength.
Barton will have his rookie moments but not to the degree that Hainsey had his year 2 moments. And some say Opeta and Bredeson are a downgrade from Feiler, but point to his BEST years which are far removed.
Lime others have said, of course itās a concern, until itās NOT, but I like the outlook way better than the past 2 years. They are heading in the right direction and itās still possible if the LG isnāt cutting it, Licht swings a trade. I actually think this O Line could be Top 10 because the bookends are solid and that does most teams in. You can, and should RUN AWAY from your weakness. A concept Canalysis just couldnāt comprehend.
June 17th, 2024 at 1:55 pm
Yeah I know saints fan šš that’s the only thing you guys say when I’m talking about the bucs. I’ve been a bucs fan for 30 years and I actually go to games and I don’t live in Tampa. Yeah you right I’m the saints fan that flew to Tampa in November when Josh Mccown was the quarterback and we were out of the playoffs hunt lol š¤£š¤£ ok !! What it is I don’t have this undying hate for Jamies or any other players the bucs drafted and they left. But again the facts are the facts with you guys comments. You didn’t care about the running game or the O line and the defense until Brady came here and now you care so much because of Baker Mayfield not the bucs!! Oh yeah but I’m a saints I decided to root for a team that has the most losses out every NFL team in the history of the game. And that’s the same team I’ve been a fan for 30 years. Ok lol š¤£š¤£
June 17th, 2024 at 2:54 pm
@mark
Hahahaa!
Hainsey was a RT. Never played center. Ever.
We put him in front of a 45 year old Tom Brady!
Goedeke was a RT. We put at him at LG in front of a 45 year old Tom Brady.
Benenoch was a tall and skinny RT. We tried to make him a RG. He sucked.
Cappa was a LT. But we gave him a red-shirt rookie season. And he wasnāt good his 2nd or 3rd year. He was good his 4th season.
We should have traded back into the 2nd round and drafted that West Virginia center who was a champion wrestler.
We needed a LG and a Center this last draft
June 17th, 2024 at 2:55 pm
I don’t “hate” ATM. I don’t “hate” anyone.
I’m just tired of Winston’s turnovers., 5 seasons worth, sandwiched between pick-6s, first and last throw as a Buc.
Oh, and eating W’s and other brainiac Winston moves, like disobeying coach order and throwing a TD at the end of the last game that cost the team draft position.
I’ll bet Saint’s fans are also smoking that Winston, once again, disobeyed coach orders and pumped the stats of a teammate in a blowout.
I dunno; maybe casuals like that stuff, you know, Player Worship over team…
June 17th, 2024 at 3:47 pm
Corbraboy. I don’t think he done it to help another player get his money just like Brady did with Gronk . BA told Brady he was done for today and Gronk said I need one more catch to get his incentive and I don’t blame Brady or no other player for helping anyone get their money. And go ask the saints fans who they wanted to start at quarterback. I’ve learned that we are the only fan base that say you a fan of a player and not the team. I’ve seen other teams fan sites in the NFL like the bears and others and they never say you’re a fan of a player then the team even when they do have disagreements about the team. Now I know Baker has his own fan base just like Brady did and to me their comments really don’t matter because they don’t care about the team they only care about Baker Mayfield or Brady when they were here. So those are the guys I be talking about when I call them a Baker fan boy their not real bucs fans .
June 17th, 2024 at 4:00 pm
Did the coaches tell Brady to take a knee on the goal line?
I’m OK with feeding a player if the coaches are OK with it. The difference is Winston violated his coach’s trust.
Maybe you’re OK with that. But it just shows why ATM is a talented also-ran: no discipline.
The NFL is not the NBA or WNBA. In the NFL, discipline matters.
I’ like the vast majority of Buc fans, am glad Winston got the hook. Didn’t he want gargantuan cheese from the Bucs to return? I gave the dude five years of my life hoping upon hope he’d turn the corner and stop throwing the ball to the other team, and stop putting the ball on the ground. Five. Years.
He never learned how not to be a dumbass.
June 17th, 2024 at 4:21 pm
BillyB,
Its exactly what I said. Mauch was horrible last year. Barton will be horrible
This year. At least at times.
Because rookies struggle. The players are ALL bigger, Stronger,Faster.
The plays are more complicated. The Season is SOOOO much longer.
Good rookies spend their first off season in the weight room, and with Coaches.
The good ones come back reborn bad ass.
I believe Mauch has done the right things. But he has the additional issue of being from a division 2 small school. Might take him a little longer.
I think Mauch will be good. I think Barton will be great.
But both will struggle this year. Hopefully Mauch has taken some steps forward.
Our Problem was the catastrophic event 3 years ago
Cappa left in FA. I think the Bucs were prepared for that.
Then Marpet retired. Then Logan Hall ended Jensens career.
Puts us in a bad place. In a perfect world, you have 4 starters,and bring in a rookie. The vets can help cover for the rookie.
But we were in a stupid place
Goedeke was playing Right Tackle for the First time in the NFL.
Wirfs was playing Left tackle for the first time in his NFL career.
Hainsey was a Right tackle and a backup.He was forced to start at Center.
Feilder, then Stennie were both horrible. Backups forced to start.
No one on that line was able to help Mauch. They were all making adjustments to new positions themselves.
Barton will have Mauch on one side. Mauch still wont be comfortable enough to help cover Barton.
Opeta is a heavy legged Backup.I like his game- but if he starts, he wont be able to get outside on runs.
And defenses will scheme for him- funneling their speed guys right at Opeta.
He aint gonna be able to help our Rookie.
Barton will ve a great Linemen. But hes gonna struggle this year and heāll be alone more that a rookie should ever be.
The Bucs should bring in a vet starter to help give Barton help.
But they shoulda helped Mauch last year.
Weāll see what happens
June 17th, 2024 at 4:54 pm
@Pickgrin
11 is less than 10 points?
June 17th, 2024 at 5:05 pm
Osqueeltard really needs to stick her tongue in a light socket. The electricity might just jolt the ignorant right out of her.
As an eater of food, Burger King obviously excels.
As a football player, not so much.
June 17th, 2024 at 5:27 pm
Heās down on the slimy Saints like any wise fan. āThey missed their window,ā King said, noting it ended when Sean Payton left the building.
————
I hope that’s right. However, they were still a 9-win team while getting some really bad injury plagued play from Carr. I’m not fan of Carr, in the least, but he’s not as bad as he looked last year, when at times, the guy was throwing the ball worse than Brees at the very end of his career. Assuming he’s healthy, he’s going to be better – and I wouldn’t completely discount them, yet.
June 17th, 2024 at 5:35 pm
Wait, did Joe just admit that the o-line bears some responsibility for our woeful run game?
Oh my.
There must be pigs flying š¤£
June 17th, 2024 at 6:15 pm
Read a recent article from SI that was saying the LG job is Brededson’s to lose at this point. The writer stated that at the beginning of OTA’s opeta was taking the snaps with the first team and by the end of mini camp brederson had taken over and had all the snaps at LG. Therefore, expect him to continue when they reconvene in July.
The job is someone’s to win, not someone’s to lose. The Bucs want the competition. They don’t want to shut it down. Inside One Buc Palace, people have their favorites, but they’re not all the same. –Joe
Shaun King isn’t wrong.
June 17th, 2024 at 6:29 pm
Corbraboy. At this point Jamies is gone and I’m not going to sit here and blame him for everything that happened when he was here like the rest of y’all do. Again the national meadi has influenced a lot of y’all about certain players in the NFL. The one thing about when Jamies was here that is true is we had a top 5 offense every year he was here with no running game but 1 year and that’s a fact. But again nobody cared about the running game back then but I told everyone when Jamies does leave how it’s going to be a different how y’all talk about other quarterbacks and the excuses you guys will give them that you didn’t give Jamies. The difference between me and you guys is I don’t care who the player is if they play bad then I would say it and if they play good I will give them their credit. But now it’s funny how you guys told me that the running game didn’t matter when he was here but now it matters so much after he left. And again ain’t no more excuses for Baker it’s NFC Championship or bust!!
June 17th, 2024 at 6:43 pm
But now that it’s getting close to the season and all the talk and the insults of other people on this site because of different opinions and facts is being said. Now the excuses are being set up for this season already I thought Barton was a great pick and now the offensive line will be better because of him ? I thought the line was going to help Baker become the MVP? Lol š¤£š¤£ I don’t want to hear these lame excuses. If you guys have that much confidence in Baker Mayfield being able to carry the offense instead of just being a game manager then you guys should be raising the stakes for this season. At least have the confidence that team can make it to the NFC Championship. I mean I really believe they can get their I have more confidence in the bucs than most of y’all have.
June 17th, 2024 at 6:49 pm
kaimaru Says:
@Pickgrin
11 is less than 10 points?
———————————————————
2 of those 11 points were from a safety
So yes – the defense only gave up 9 points in the ’99 NFC Championship game.
Same in ’79 – Defense only gave up 9 points….
And the Bucs LOST both games.
June 17th, 2024 at 11:11 pm
No sir, Joe. The article was quite clear that it is bredesons to lose at this point due to him beating out opeta for first team snaps. It’s already been won, based on actions on the field. Competition is great but someone is going to stand out by this point. It’s not rocket science and keeping a competition going just for the sake of a competition doesn’t make sense. The OL needs to gel sooner rather than later. Anyway I haven’t read anything about whom is where on the field from yous to help with perspective. The opeta to brederson snap count change seems worth mentioning
June 17th, 2024 at 11:37 pm
You are forgetting one major element: There is zero hitting in underwear football. Joe had a prominent coach tell him last week how nothing can be certain with offensive linemen until the pads come on.
June 18th, 2024 at 11:54 am
I guess we:ll see in late July. Can’t wait. Go Bucs!
June 18th, 2024 at 3:35 pm
Osqueeltard makes everyone else seem smarter with every ignorant meandering 3865 word run-on post she drools out of her Browns spooning position to keep an eye on her fantasy JaMiss.
Other than a complete disconnection from reality, sheās an entertaining maroon if you like maroonity.
June 19th, 2024 at 12:11 am
Did King step away from the buffet line long enough to take notice?
I’m confused.
June 19th, 2024 at 12:15 pm
First… My goodness King, call Jenny Craig stat! Not healthy to carry around all that excess baggage.
Second… He’s right, and I’m in agreeance with him here. Barton was a good pick, and a need. But he alone can’t make up for lack of talent at BOTH guard positions. Cody has put on 15 pounds of rip (he looks like he could stuff last years Cody into the locker and steal the rest of his teeth) but its still 50/50 if that translates on the field. As usual, we’ll see what happens