My thoughts on the Offensive line

nitey · 2014-02-01T13:49:41Z

There is an old adage that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link that would aptly apply to the offensive line as well. After looking decent the year before with missing pieces and cast off replacements, the line was a sore spot in 2013. The line did show sporadic flashes of good play against inferior defensive lines, but got man handled by teams with better defensive lines and speed on the right side.Our Bucs have a number of issues that were exposed last season, but none, at least in my opinion, were bigger than the lack of play by our offensive line, especially the middle of the line.Generally, the consensus is that Dotson was the only player on the line to play consistently well the entire season, so you do have something to build with. But the rest of the line is suspect for various reasons.Donald Penn came into training camp for the 2013 season in what was considered to be his best shape ever. Watching during training camp, it seemed to me that Penn was smaller than prior years, I suspect that he was at a lighter weight than he normally played at as a step to improve his overall quickness. That makes me wonder if the target weight was too light and while Penn gained quickness, he lost anchor weight. Over the prior years, Penn has been a fairly consistent performer and my guess is that depending on how Penn assesses his 2013 play to the new coaches and their overall evaluation, Penn will be retained by the club, perhaps at a reduced rate for 2014. At the age of 30, it’s more possible that this was just a down year rather than the beginning of a downhill slide. However, the coaching staff will look at, draft or otherwise acquire another potential left tackle in the offseason. And, the person that they could be looking at is Dotson, who does have some experience playing that position when Penn was out during a contract holdout. I’m not sure if Penn can play right tackle (I think he did play some there at the beginning of his career) so a swap of positions between Penn and Dotson is also a reasonable possibility. Another possibility is that the Bucs see the writing on the wall with Penn, get him to take a pay cut and then trade him for a mid to lower round draft pick during the draft. With a couple of off season preseason camps before the draft, the Bucs should get a handle on how Penn fits in 2014. My projection however, is that Penn will be the opening day starter at left tackle in 2014. Jeremy Zuttah, is the current starting center, but has played almost as much at left guard during the last couple of years as he has at center. At times, his play is generally acceptable, but I’ve never heard his play as being described as pro bowl worthy at either position. My opinion of Zuttah is that he’s a marginal starter in the league, and probably better off being a sub off the bench. Ted Larsen, his backup at both center and left guard is also nothing more than a second team player at best and is a free agent this off season. This is a position where the Bucs really need to improve during the offseason. Currently, I don’t think there is anyone on the roster that can be a starter at this position. I think the Bucs will attempt to make a play for Alex Mack from Cleveland if he makes it to free agency and that would be a big upgrade at this position. Another candidate is Brian De La Puente or Evan Dietrich Smith from the Saints and Packers respectively. Although a draft choice is not out of the question here, looking for a better center at a reasonable price is probably what I feel the Bucs front office will do.Our current guards are Davin Joseph and Carl Nicks. Like Penn, Joseph had a poor season which may or may not been because he still wasn’t completely healthy coming back from his 2012 injury. My guess with Joseph, who is also 30 like Penn, will be asked to take a pay cut for 2014 and will be brought back to compete for the starting right guard position. Nicks on the other hand, is much more unlikely to return based upon his injury situation. It’s paramount that the Bucs grab at least one of the top FA guards and may also use a high draft choice on one as well. As I mentioned, I think Zuttah is best as a substitute off the bench, so I’m not looking at him as a potential starter. My guess here is that the Bucs will hope Joseph will return to form and will nail down one guard position and that they can find a FA guard to compete with or take over the left guard position. Some names to watch are Willie Colon (Jets), Geoff Schwartz (Chiefs) or Jon Asamoah (Chiefs). My thoughts are that Penn and Joseph will return, asked to take pay cuts and part of that money will be used to attract some additional talent that can compete for those starting positions. The Nicks situation at this point has to be looked at as a loss and will actually probably cost us cap space if he retires (again, I suspect that here some type of injury settlement will possibly help reduce that cap charge). I think the Bucs will look to shor...

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Anonymous

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Cabin Boy Guest

Sucks that we dont have a 3rd. That would be an opportune point to grab an OT who could either push Penn out directly, or take over at RT when Dotson slides over to LT.

Posted : Feb. 1, 2014 7:24 pm

Anonymous

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Cabin Boy Guest

Can't say anything that hasn't already been said.

Posted : Feb. 1, 2014 7:36 pm

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My thoughts on the Offensive line

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