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.

Cody Grimm and Davin Joseph Heading to IR

All teams deal with injury and the Buccaneers are no different.

Starting safety Cody Grimm left the field Sunday with a broken ankle which will not heal before the season is over.  He will be declared for injured reserve this week.

Davin Joseph also left the game on Sunday with an injury -- it may be the same nagging knee injury which has limited his time in recent weeks both on game day and during practice -- and he, too, will be heading to IR.

Certainly this will create a lot of activity in the Buccaneers front office this week and we'll be watching every step of the way.

Faine, Vincent, And Now Trueblood Not Practicing

Tampa Bay Buccaneers center Jeff Faine continues to be sidelined with a quadricep injury sustained in Week 6 against the New Orleans Saints.  Faine was inactive in Week 7 against the Saint Louis Rams and is not expected back for at least a couple more weeks. Unfortunately, while Faine heals, things are continuing to get thinner on the Buccaneers offensive line.

Let me start by stating I owe Ted Larsen a big, fat apology for thinking he would not see the field this season.  Larsen made me look foolish and I will not underestimate the young man again.  Arriving in Tampa the day after training camp in a post-roster-cutdown haul pulled together by General Manager Mark Dominik, Larsen stepped in at left guard and helped Tampa Bay defeat the Saint Louis Rams, pushing their record to 4-2.  Less than 10 days ago, Larsen was on the practice squad.  Now he has an NFL game under his belt.  Hats off to Larsen and Offensive Line Coach Pete Mangurian for all their hard work being ready to step in and play.  Larsen was pressed into service because veteran guard Keydrick Vincent ended up inactive last Sunday due to back issues.  Vincent missed quite a bit of practice time last week as well.  The extent of his injuries are not known, but he did not practice on Wednesday this week either.

It could have been a complete disaster up front as veteran guard Davin Joseph was nursing a sore knee last week.  Fortunately, Joseph was able to play.  It is not clear if this will be something which nags Joseph for the rest of the season, but for now he appears to be the steady force in the middle of the Buccaneers offensive line.

During the Saint Louis game, Jeremy Trueblood left with an knee injury.  It now appears the injury is more serious than was hoped.  Trueblood did not practice on Wednesday, meaning the Buccaneers could possibly be three men short up front going into the weekend.  This is clearly a bad situation which has gotten worse.

In weeks past, the Buccaneers have taken seven offensive linemen into game day.  If all three injuries are serious the Buccaneers may be promoting another player from the practice squad to the active roster.  It will not be G John Malecki who was added to the practice squad this week after the promotion of OT Derek Hardman last week.  That leaves G Brandon Carter (6'7" 344lbs) and T Will Barker (6'7" 230lbs) as promotion candidates should the team feel the need to tap the practice squad.  However, if the Buccaneers promote another lineman they will have 10 offensive linemen on their 52-man roster, meaning not only will the offensive line be thin, but other areas may also have a shortage of bodies when it comes to making the 45-man game day roster.  The season is almost half over, meaning there is far too much football yet to be played to put any of these men on injured reserve (and thereby losing them for the season).  General Manager Mark Dominik has some serious decisions to make.

The Buccaneers cannot afford any more significant injuries to the offensive line -- they need their most experienced players taking the majority of the snaps if they are going to keep up a playoff pace.

Offensive Line Showing Strength

If there is one thing we now know about the 2010 Tampa Bay Buccaneers it is the offensive line is ready to go.

Facing a blitz on nearly every down last Saturday night against the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium, the quarterbacks and offensive line worked in tandem to audible out to quick hit pass plays and slowly dissected the Chiefs.  How good was it?

Zero sacks.  None, nada, zip, zilch, zero.  Granted the Chiefs were a 4-12 team last year and gave up the most yards in team history against the Cleveland Browns last year.  But still it was mostly 6-8 versus the Buccaneer's front 5 for most of the night.  And zero sacks against anyone in the NFL is not easy to do.

The Buccaneers 53-yard touchdown from Josh Johnson to Micheal Spurlock was a prime example:  facing an all out  blitz (including the Cheifs top draft choice Eric Berry from the safety position) the offensive line reacted correctly and accounted for all the defenders, Spurlock evaded one-on-one coverage from Kansas City corner Brandon Flowers, and Josh Johnson laid in a quick but accurate throw.  Touchdown!

I think, looking at both games so far this preseason, it's becoming obvious that the offense is quite a bit ahead of the defense so far.  It should not be a surprise -- rookies on the defensive line take time to adjust to NFL schemes and trickery.  If it is the case the defense needs more time to jell, then it will be up to the offensive line to move the chains and win time of possession which will limit the number of opportunities for the opposing team.  It appears the offensive line is up to the task.

The same unit has started both preseason games so far in 2010 and is the same group that started most of the 2009 season:
Left Tackle:  #70 Donald Penn
Left Guard:  #76 Jeremy Zuttah
Center:  #52 Jeff Faine
Right Guard:  #75 Davin Joseph
Right Tackle:  #65 Jeremy Trueblood

Coach Morris has already announced the Keydrick Vincent, a 10 year pro and 2010 free agent signing, will replace 3rd year pro Jeremy Zuttah at Left Guard this Saturday night against Jacksonville.  Zuttah was pressed into service with the unexpected departure of Aaron Sears during the 2008 offseason.  Zuttah has shown some versatility this preseason:  when Vincent entered the game Zuttah moved inside and took snaps at center.  This is an important need for this team -- when Center Jeff Faine went down with an injury for a few weeks last season the offense sputtered and the team had to go to the waiver wire to find a suitable replacement.  Was it actually because there was no suitable backup for Zuttah?  It would explain the offseason signing of Vincent, but only the GM knows for sure.  Nonetheless, if Zuttah can back up both Left Guard and Center his value to this team skyrockets, and anything he learns from Vincent is icing on the cake.

The opponent this Saturday night is the Jacksonville Jaguars, well known for their defensive-minded coach and recent efforts to rebuild a defense which has been very stout in the past.  If the offensive line can continue to protect the quarterback in passing situations and furthur develop the running game this week it could establish itself as the strongest unit on the team going into Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns.  It may even be possible to control and win some of the early season games with ball control, giving the youthful defense more time to develop.

A strong showing by the offensive line this week will set a strong tone for early part of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers season.  If it gets contagious for this young team big things could happen this year!

CBA Impact: Four- To Six-Year Players

With the CBA now officially heading for it's Final League Year (starting March 1st) some of the fog for the 2010 offseason has been lifted.  The first group of players to be examined are players with four, five, or six years of NFL experience.  For players in this experience range who's contract ended with the 2009 season the news is probably not what they want to hear.  Instead of being unrestricted free agents (can sign with anyone for any price) in an uncapped year, they are instead restricted free agents (giving Tampa Bay the option to match the best offer they can find).  Here is a list of Bucs players with 4-6 years of experience (in jersey number order):

24  Williams, Cadillac (5) -- signed 5-year contract in 2005; will be a Restricted Free Agent (RFA)
48  Economos, Andrew (4) --    signed 5-year contract in 2008; under contract through 2012
50  McCoy, Matt (5) -- drafted in 2005, signed with Buccaneers in 2008, on and off roster for 2009, suspect short term contract; will be RFA(?)
51  Ruud, Barrett (5) -- 2009 was last contract year; will be an RFA
65  Trueblood,  Jeremy (4) -- signed 4-year contract in 2006; will be an RFA
70  Penn, Donald  (4) -- signed one year tender in 2009; will be an RFA
75  Joseph, Davin (4) -- signed 5-year contract in 2006; under contract through 2010
85  Stovall, Maurice (4) -- contract expires at end of 2009, will be an RFA

I have no doubt that the one year tender offer given to Donald Penn last year was, in his mind, a bridge to unrestricted free agency.  That bridge is now gone. 

Williams was the team's leading rusher last year and showed great promise in returning from severe injury.  Penn played well against most of the best defensive ends this past season and solidified his position as a rare talent at left tackle.  If the deep pockets come calling, those will be the first places they stop.  Trueblood has also shown he is a more than capable right tackle, and Stovall and Ruud were important contributors as well.

The good news is that Tampa Bay gets to match any offer other teams bring to the table.  The bad news is that all five players highlighted above were important contributors last year and losing any of them will be problematic.