Bucs Offensive Line Coach George Warhop Assesses Rookies and Vets By Jenna Laine May 15, 2015, 17:41 PM 
Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive line coach George Warhop is excited about his two new pupils — rookie left tackle Donovan Smith and rookie guard Ali Marpet. He recently spoke about those two and what the team’s plans are with them, along with plans for some of the other players, including Matt Masifilo, who is making the transition from defensive line to offensive line.“I like them. I think they will help us,” Warhop said. “They bring some things to the table that we like. We want athletic guys. They are both extremely athletic. We want bright guys. They are both extremely bright. They will come in and compete right away and we’ll see where it goes from there.”He acknowledged that a position switch isn’t always easy, but in Marpet’s case, he’s been working at it for a while — really since the Senior Bowl.“He really did a nice job. The first day there he was at tackle, the rest of the way he was at guard and he did a nice job. That’s one reason we were encouraged by him. So far here, he has done a nice job with it.”The jump from division III to the NFL may be another story, but Warhop thinks he can handle that too, just like he did in Mobile, where he performed up-to-par with and even better than prospects from bigger schools.“You couldn’t tell he wasn’t a Division I player. There was no drop off with him and he was actually playing better than some of the higher ranked players that were at the Senior Bowl.”As far as Smith goes, Warhop believes he has all the qualities necessary to start, even as a rookie.“For your left tackle, you want a guy that is smart, you want a guy with size, a guy with range, you want a guy with athleticism. The best guys I’ve been around have all had that,” Warhop explained.“He’s got size. He’s very, very bright. He’s very athletic. We are putting in a lot of stuff. I don’t know about a true mistake he has made so far. So far he has a good start, but Kevin Pamphile is in front of him. He has to beat Kevin out to be the starter at this point.”Warhop said his college tape shows what he’s capable of though.“The better the competition the better he played. He is going to see that every week. Some of these guys that were high draft picks that he went against in this draft, he got after them very well, so we are excited about it. He’s not going to back off in those situations.”VIDEOlink
