Buccaneers still seeking height up front

The Buccaneers have continued to seek out one specific trait more than others in offensive linemen: height. This offseason is no different as there are four rookie offensive linemen on the practice fields at One Buccaneer place 6'5" or taller, with three measuring 6'7"!

For comparison, the World Champion New York Giants have two offensive linemen listed at 6'7". The other Super Bowl team, the New England Patriots, have four offensive linemen listed at 6'7" or 6'8". The Buccaneers appear to be taking it to the next level with five players currently listed at 6'7" or higher.

Here are the measurables for the offensive linemen currently on the Tampa Bay Buccaneer offense:

Pos	Name	Ht	Wt	Yrs
C	Economos, Andrew	6'1"	250	7
C	Petrus, Moe	6'2"	302	0
C	Larsen, Ted	6'2"	305	3
G	Joseph, Davin	6'3"	313	7
G	Zuttah, Jeremy	6'4"	308	5
G	Wynn, Desmond	6'5"	295	0
G	Nicks, Carl	6'5"	343	5
T	Meredith, Jamon	6'5"	312	4
T	Penn, Donald	6'5"	305	7
T	Hardman, Derek	6'6"	300	3
T	Sowell, Bradley	6'7"	320	0
T	Hardrick, Jermarcus	6'7"	320	0
G	VanDerMeulen, Mike	6'7"	304	0
T	Trueblood, Jeremy	6'8"	320	7
T	Dotson, Demar	6'9"	315	4

Is this a new trend in the NFL? Possibly, but more likely it's a tactical maneuver. Big and heavy has been around for a while. For example, Carl Nicks is 6'5" and a whopping 340+ lbs, plenty big to stop a bull rush with good technique. But what about a speed rush? It's difficult to get in front of a guy who's legs are just as long as yours but 30 lbs lighter, and that is how defensive ends have been making a living for the past few years. Defensive ends run forward, offensive linemen backpedal; if you have to be bigger than a defensive end to stop a bull rush, how do you find an advantage against speed? The answer is genetics, specifically height. Longer legs cover more ground in the same number of steps; longer arms impede speed by forcing the defensive end to take a wider track to the quarterback.

Tampa Bay is looking for players who are heavier than most NFL Defensive Ends (to counter a bull rush) and who have long legs (to counter a speed rush). Apparently the Buccaneers are not having much trouble finding them.

Buccaneers put their money up front

General Manager Mark Dominik has made one thing clear since taking the reins of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2009: if you can protect the quarterback, you'll get a top flight salary.

The 2012 offseason has only solidified how much value Dominik puts on the offensive line. Even with the free agent contracts for WR Vincent Jackson and CB Eric Wright landing in the Top 5 of the current team payroll, the entire starting offensive still occupies half of the Top 10 slots:

#2 G Davin Joseph $9,500,000
#6 G Carl Nicks $6,500,000
#8 T Donald Penn $5,100,000
#9 T Jeremy Trueblood $5,000,000
#10 C Jeremy Zuttah $3,375,000

This is not something new this offseason. Center Jeff Faine, who was recently released, spent his entire Buccaneers career in the Top 5 of the team payroll, and Davin Joeseph has been a fixture there as well. How much Dominik valued Faine also shows in his buyout: $2.4 million for this year.

There are young players up and coming in the persons of Ted Larson and Derek Hardman (as was Zuttah until this offseason). Thus far, Dominik has been fortunate to not need to spend a significnat amount of draft capital on the offensive line. Except for recently signed Carl Nicks the starting squad is made of players remaining from the old regime.

At some point the defense-heavy drafting by Dominik will have to give way; one would think OL will be where picks will need to be spent. But there is another angle which is in play: If Tampa Bay becomes known for spending big bucks in the trenches, the best young linemen may beat a path to the door of One Buccaneer Place (like Carl Nicks). With the salary structure of the team already built to pay big along the line, Tampa Bay is well positioned to take advantage of anyone who comes knocking.

This could allow the drafting of young talent into the defensive unit to continue for a couple more seasons, resulting in a very talented young defense which can grow together for years to come. In essence, spending along the offensive front may allow for more opportunities on both sides of the ball in the near future.

And that is exactly where this team needs to be.

Bye Week Analysis: Practice Squad

There has been a lot going on in the front office of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers since the season started, not the least of which was stabilizing the practice squad.

Even this week, changes continued as the Buccaneers worked their own 2010 7th round pick Erik Lorig back off the practice squad and onto the active roster.  Lorig gets promoted because of the loss of Tanard Jackson, which left a vacancy on the practice squad.  That empty spot was filled with the addition of JD Folsom, a linebacker from Weber State, earlier this week.

If last year was any indication, these types of transactions will happen all season long.  Last year a large number of defensive backs came through the practice squad as the Buccaneers continued to look for upgrades.  Apparently none of those players made a serious impact so the Buccaneers drafted Myron Lewis (CB) and Cody Grimm (S).  Keeping an eye on the practice squad may give some clues as to what General Manager Mark Dominik is looking to improve on his roster.

The current practice squad, as of this moment, this day (School link is a Bio; draft link has review/career information):

Brandon Carter (G), 6'7" 344 lbs (and an attitude), Texas Tech, 2010 Undrafted

Derek Hardman (T), 6'6" 300 lbs, Eastern Kentucky, 2010 Undrafted

Dezmon Briscoe (WR), 6'3" 200 lbs, Kansas, 2010 6th Round (Bengals)

Will Barker (T), 6'7" 320, Virginia, 2010 Undrafted

Ryan Purvis (TE), 6'4" 260, Boston College, 2009 Undrafted, spent 2009 on the Tampa Bay practice squad

George Johnson (DE), 6'4" 265, Rutgers, 2009 Undrafted, first signed by Tampa Bay in August 2010

Vince Anderson (CB), 6'2" 205, Webber International (NAIA), 2009 Undrafted, NY Giants practice squad 2009

JD Folsom (LB), 6'3" 230, Weber State, 2009 7th Round (Dolphins), 2009 Chicago Bears practice squad 

So far, this has been a pretty stable group, with only the Buccaneers 2010 draft pick Brent Bowden (P) and practice squad journeyman (Denver, Arizona, Tampa Bay) Lee Robinson (LB) having passed through.

Mesh the first five in this group into the Young Core Offense and you see where this could be going.  In fact, you really hope these guys can stay with the Buccaneers and add key depth to the roster!