FAB 2. Jensen Is Slimmer, Smarter, Better For Bucs

I went to interview Bucs center Ryan Jensen this week and the first words out of my mouth were, “Ryan, you didn’t play well last year.”

That’s when the big, 6-foot-4 center with the long, red, curly hair stopped me and took exception to what I said.

Bucs C Ryan Jensen – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“You can say it – I played bad last year,” Jensen said. “Last year was bad. I didn’t play up to par.”

Then Jensen’s took his self-criticism a step further.

“Honestly, I hate to say this, but I think I relaxed too much last year,” Jensen said. “I got that contract … and my entire career I’ve always been a bubble roster guy and I think I got away from that last year – away from that mentality.”

Bucs general manager Jason Licht knew that Ali Marpet was a better guard than he was a center, and wanted to move him to left guard to play next to left tackle Donovan Smith in 2018. That meant finding a veteran center to help Tampa Bay’s struggling ground game and fourth-year quarterback Jameis Winston.

Licht looked to Baltimore and signed Ryan Jensen, who had nine starts at guard from 2015-16 and 16 starts at center in 2017, to a four-year, $42 million contract, which made him the league’s highest paid center.

Jensen said that big contract got in his head – and also affected his waistline.

“I don’t want to say I coasted into last year, but this year I came into camp better shape,” Jensen said. “I look at old film from last year and I was a lot bigger than I am this year. I was 325-330 last year, but I was a bad 330. Now I’m between 317-320 and I am carrying my weight better.

“Coming into this year I wanted to get back to that [former mentality] for myself. That’s not who I was. That’s not who I am as a person. That has a lot to do with what’s going on this year with me having a better year.”

Bucs C Ryan Jensen – Photo by: Getty Images

And Jensen is having a much better year in 2019. The Bucs’ ground game, which is mainly between the tackles – and to Jensen’s liking – has shown some improvement this year, and Jensen has really reduced his penalties from a year ago when he led the team with 11.

In 2018, Jensen was called for holding five times, had four unnecessary roughness penalties and two false starts. This year, he’s only been flagged once, which was a false start.

And instead of committing the stupid personal fouls this year, Jensen is causing his opponents to commit those stupid unnecessary roughness penalties instead.

“Yeah, he’s pissing a lot of people off and I think that’s playing to his game,” Marpet said. “We saw Joe Hawley do that before. Ryan is doing a good job at it. It’s the second guy who is always getting caught, so he’s doing a good job as an instigator. If he’s not getting a penalty on them, he’s getting them rattled and just getting them out of their game, which is good.”

One of those unnecessary roughness penalties came against Arizona pass rusher Chandler Jones, which helped set up a Bucs field goal. The first time he drew an unnecessary roughness penalty on an opponent was in Week 2 when he got into it with former teammate Gerald McCoy. After some pushing and shoving, McCoy lost his cool and was flagged 15 yards, which helped set up a Tampa Bay touchdown drive in the team’s win at Carolina.

Bucs C Ryan Jensen – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“There is a little bit of an art to it,” Jensen said with a smile. “Last year I got caught doing the stupid stuff. Now I’m getting other guys to do the stupid stuff. That’s kind of what I did my last year in Baltimore – I was an instigator. I think last year I tried to do that and I think I tried a little too hard to live up to that reputation. I obviously cost us – I think I had four personal fouls last year. That’s been a big part of my turnaround.”

The other part has been a trimmer and more agile Jensen getting out on the perimeter as a lead blocker, whether it’s on pulled running plays or on screen passes.

“Ryan is playing well and getting us to play at a high level,” Marpet said. “He’s playing better than he did last year. You would have to ask him what changes he’s made mentally. From a physical standpoint he’s in much better shape and looks really good out there.”

Mentally, he and quarterback Jameis Winston have a better rapport and have both done a good job of grasping Bruce Arians’ offense, which has fewer running plays and a simpler concept upfront.

“People don’t really understand, last year was Ryan’s first full year of playing center,” Winston said. “I just think he’s owned the position that he’s in, and he knows that he’s a leader for us. It’s me and him that makes the show go. He does an incredible job.”

Winston loves Jensen’s scrappy demeanor and believes that has helped make the offensive line more physical this year without drawing the personal fouls that he did a year ago.

Bucs C Ryan Jensen and QB Jameis Winston – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“That’s the type of mentality we want our offensive linemen to have,” Winston said. “I think he’s doing a better job of deciding when to do that. He’s done an excellent job for us. I love that I have him as a center and he just needs to keep doing what he’s doing.”

What Jensen is doing is playing better than he did a year ago – and living up to that hefty paycheck.

“He’s doing a heck of a job,” Arians said. “He does all the identification up there and he’s playing at a really high level right now. I love his attitude when he plays.”